The 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2009) 18-23 May 2009, Bangkok, Thailand

World Renewable Energy Congress 2009 - Asia

Theoretical Study Of Compton Effect On A Solar Cell

Lingam Rajendra Reddy1,* and Dr.S.Srinivas Rao2
1 2

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India * Corresponding author: orca.nitw@gmail.com

Abstract: When light falls on the semiconductor material the electrons come out because of the energy supplied by the light in the form of multiples of h. Compton conducted an experiment to prove the materialistic nature of light, he derived the relationship between the change in incident light wavelength and scattering angle. The same equation was further modified to give the relationship between incident light frequency and the energy supplied to the electron. Based on this relation one can decide the frequency of incident light to be fallen on the solar cell so that one can derive maximum efficiency and minimize the heating of solar cell thereby improving efficiency. Keywords: Compton Effect , Solar Cell, Efficiency, Frequency, Light 1. INTRODUCTION The current generated in a solar panel is based on the photoelectric effect where in light is considered as a packet of energy having energy in the multiple/s of h. When the light falls on the semiconductor material the electrons come out because of the energy supplied by the light in the form of multiples of h. Based on this principle current is generated in the semiconductor material i.e. solar cell. . 2. EXPERIMENTAL MODEL As I have already said current is generated in semiconductor material because of photoelectric effect the energy given to an electron depends on the frequency of incident light. Compton conducted a experiment to prove that light consists of materialistic properties and found that when monochromatic X-rays are scattered by a suitable scatterer, the scattered radiation contains two components, one at a original wavelength and other a longer wavelength. He found that the wavelength difference was a function of the angle of scatter only and was independent of the wavelength of the incident radiation. It was observed that very close to 0, only the unshifted line occurred. As the angle was increased the shifted line moved away from the unshifted line and grew stronger. The rate at which it grew depended on the wavelength, being more rapid the shorter the wavelength. In this wavelength region the electrons are regarded as free. Compton therefore proposed to treat the problem as an elastic collision between a photon, treated as a particle, and a stationary electron. In such a collision the scattered particle (the photon) has less energy after the collision than before and, being a photon, will have a longer wavelength. Using relativistic mechanics and energy conservation principle Compton wrote the following equations-

Fig. 1Compton effect If we neglect any binding energy that the particle may have and apply law of conservation of energy, the kinetic energy of ejected particle is given by E p = hc-1- hc-1=mc2 -m0c2 , Applying conservation of momentum in x-direction h-1cos+mvcos =h-1 Applying conservation of momentum in y-direction h-1sin mvsin = 0, m = m0(1- v2/c2)-1/2, From the equations (1)-(4) we can write -1 -1=(h/m0c2)(1-cos) (5) (3) (4) (2)

(1)

The 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2009) 18-23 May 2009, Bangkok, Thailand

World Renewable Energy Congress 2009 - Asia

The change in energy of the photon is the energy supplied to electron. The energy supplied to the electron is given by the equation E=h-h =(h2/m0c2)(1-cos)=3.34*10-35(1-cos) ev (6) 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The percentage change in energy of the photon with respect to the photon after collision is given by the equation 0 = 0.808*10-18(1-cos) (7)

(4) (5) (6)

1018 1019 1020

1.616 16.16 161.6

Table 2 Frequency Vs 0 for =90 Frequency 0 () 12 (1) 10 0.808*10-6 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 1014 1016 1018 1019 1020 0.808*10-4 0.808*10-2 0.808 8.08 80.8

The relation between frequency of photon after collision and before collision can be derived from equations (5) = /(1+K) Where K = 8.083*10-21*(1-cos) (8)

From equation (9) a typical graph for scattering angle of =135 is drawn .It can be seen that though (9) is parabolic equation the graph is almost a linear supporting the approximation made for equation (9).

From the above equation (8) we see that for =180 K=1.616*10-20,there is a maximum change in frequency of photon after collision. Frequency () Hz 1012 1014 1016 1018 1019 1020 Frequency () Hz 9.99*1011 9.99*1013 9.998*1015 9.841*1017 8.608*1018 3.822*1019

Energy(ev) Vs Frequency(Hz)
5.71E-03 1 5.71E-07 5.71E-11 5.71E-15 5.71E-19 5.71E-23 5.71E-27

10000 10000000 1E+12

1E+16

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

From above it can be seen that there is no significant change in frequency of light after collision at lower frequencies. So we can make a approximation to equation (6) that = so as to get a better understanding of the energy changes taking place. Therefore equation (6) becomes E= h - h = 3.34*10-35(1-cos)2 ev (9)

3.2 Units and Symbols All the units used are in SI Units Notation followed:-

The above relation is strictly a function of scattering angle and frequency only. 3.1 Figures and tables

Table 1 Frequency Vs 0 for =180 Frequency 0 () (1) 1012 1.616*10-6 (2) (3) 1014 1016 1.616*10-4 1.616*10-2

h- Plancks constant =6.626*10-34 J/s mo - Mass of electron at rest =9.101*10-31 Kg m- Mass of electron in motion i.e after collision c- Velocity of photon =3*108 m/s v- Velocity of electron after collision in m/s - Frequency of photon before collision in Hz -Frequency of scattered particle i.e. photon Hz - Scattering angle in Degrees - wavelength of photon before collision in m - Wavelength of scattered particle i.e. photon in m

The 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2009) 18-23 May 2009, Bangkok, Thailand

World Renewable Energy Congress 2009 - Asia

4. CONCLUSION From the above relations it can be seen that there is a maximum change in energy of photon for scattering angle =180, which is the energy supplied to electron. Using the above relations one can get brief idea about the frequency of incident light to be fallen on the solar cell. If the energy supplied to the electron is not sufficient to make it a free electron the energy supplied may lead to heating of the solar cell, thereby decreasing efficiency. With this one can decide the frequency of light to be fallen on solar cell ,so that one can derive maximum efficiency and minimize the heating of solar cell there by improving efficiency

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author Lingam Rajendra Reddy gratefully acknowledges Prof.S.Srinivas Rao,Mr.J.Ravi Kumar of ECE Dept. NIT Warangal, Mr.K.Jayachandra Reddy,Hyderabad Chapter, NIT Warangal for providing constant support and encouragement. 6. REFERENCES [1] J.C.Willmott A Text Book on Atomic Physics, John Wiley