ABSTRACT
This chapter gives a general overview about the working principle and basic models of solar cells. Solar cells convert the energy of the sun light to electricity. It is an optical to electrical energy conversion. It was firstly observed by A. E. Becquerel and practically implemented in a solar cell at Bell Laboratories in the United States. The current solar cell production is dominated by wafer-based crystalline silicon solar cells, which make about 90% of the market and only 10% are thin-film technologies based mainly on cadmium telluride and copper indium gallium diselenide. The solar cell is only a part, even so the functional device, of a full photo voltaic system. Such systems may be grid-connected or stand-alone systems, which mean that all produced electricity is consumed locally. A typical solar module contains 60 solar cells on an area of approximately 1.7 square metres. Solar cells are large diodes. They suffer under real operation from resistance losses.
