Modeling the impact of different wavelengths of sunlight on the performance of a silicon photovoltaic (PV) cell

Previous studies have experimentally investigated the impact of filtered sunlight or monochromatic LEDs on PV cell performance. However, theoretical analyses of wavelength-specific effects remain limited. This work addresses this gap using a 1-D model to investigate the impact of different wavelengths of sunlight on the performance of a silicon PV cell, addressing the limitations of experimental studies. In this work, 1-D theoretical analysis considers the wavelength ranges or color of incident sunlight to analyze their effects on short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and performance parameters such as conversion efficiency (η), series resistance (Rs), and shunt resistance (Rsh). The analysis focuses on the effects of visible light color (rainbow colors) on the performance parameters (η, Rs, Rsh) and then the overall performance of the PV cell, classified according to the colors of the rainbow. Simulation results show that the conversion efficiency and shunt resistance reach their maximum values (ηmax = 32.383% at λ = 0.88 µm and Rshmax = 2429.928 Ω.cm² at λ = 0.80 µm) in the near-infrared region, while the series resistance reaches its minimum value (Rsmin = 1.092 Ω.cm² at λ = 0.70 µm) in the red region. The results also show that the overall performance, obtained by considering the three performance parameters, decreases when the PV cell is successively illuminated by red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet colored light. The practical implications of these results could inform how to design PV cells for specific colors of sunlight. Key words: Photovoltaic (PV) cell, 1-D, rainbow colors, performance, modeling.