Analysis of the thermal heating of poly-Si and a-Si photovoltaic cell by means of Fem

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to propose the

tridimensional model of a photovoltaic cell implemented in

Comsol Multiphysics environment, a finite element method

(FEM) based software. The analysis of the thermal behaviour of

the implemented model has been conducted to simulate the

behaviour of the device under operating conditions. The model

has been implemented according to the geometrical and

physical features of commercial photovoltaic cells. Two

technologies have been considered: poly and amorphous silicon

based cells. The implemented model has also been validated

from an electrical point of view. Simulation results confirm the

goodness of the proposed model for the thermal behaviour of

PV cells.