QUALITY PERFORMANCE OF MONO - CRYSTALLINE SILICON SOLAR CELLS IN 137CS - BASED RADIATION RICH ENVIRONMENT

This work explores the effects of 137Cs γ-irradiation on the Photovoltaic parameters of a mono-crystalline silicone solar cell. A suitable (light source- solar cell) geometry was instrumented. It consists of a halogen lamp of 500W power and 100mW.cm-2 light intensity, and a mono-crystalline silicone solar cell with an active area of 10cm?5cm. At room temperature, the forward bias (I(current)-V(voltage)) and (P(power)-V(voltage)) characteristics were determined under illumination, before and after irradiation with different 137Cs gamma-exposure doses; 280mR, 560mR and 837mR, respectively. The results demonstrated that gamma-exposure doses have a significant effect on the photovoltaic parameters and it controls the quality and performance of the solar cell. The open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current (Isc), maximum output power (Pm), fill factor (FF) and efficiency (η) are found to be decreased with gamma exposure doses.