Comparison of Transparent Insulated and Non-Insulated Solar Cell

Abstract

In today’s world, non-renewable sources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas have become unreliable sources of fuel for energy production because of price volatility caused by geo-political issues and the depletion of these resources. Nonetheless, there’s a rapid increase in energy consumption globally. Therefore, alternate energy sources are seriously required if the above challenges are to be resolved. These alternate energy sources are wind power, hydropower, solar energy, biomass, biofuel, and geothermal energy. In the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), weather conditions favor solar energy applications. However, the efficiency of solar cells is negatively affected by high temperatures. Therefore, transparent insulation materials are applied to the solar cell. Transparent or translucent insulation materials (TIM) represent a new class of materials with a high potential for increasing the efficiency of solar thermal systems. This paper investigates the advantages of applying transparent insulation materials to solar cells with respect to their efficiency by theoretical and experimental analysis. The cells are attached to a levered plane with a protractor that acted like a “see-saw” to adjust the angle of the solar cells to the Sun. Around the plane, a column of cardboard was constructed with black fabric covering the inside and bottom surfaces to prevent unwanted reflections. The time of day, temperature, voltage, and current were recorded in the experimental analysis. Using Microsoft Excel, the data (voltage, current, and calculated power) was graphed with respect to time. In the result, we compare solar cells with TIM and solar cells without (TIM). The results of the investigation show that solar cells with TIM have better efficiency compared to solar cells without TIM.

Keywords

• Solar energy
• Solar cell
• Transparent insulation materials