Simple Data Acquisition of the Current-Voltage and Illumination-Voltage Curves of Solar Cells1

Three electronic circuits that facilitate the measurement of I-V characteristics of solar cells are described and analyzed. The first circuit enables the measurement of the one-sun illumination and dark I-V curve in a steady state fashion. The second circuit is based on a large capacitor, which, when discharged, forces the cell to progress in a quasi-static (QSS) transition through different voltage and current states. The circuit can also be used to set transient conditions and characterize the cell´s open circuit voltage decay (OCVD) and series resistance. The third circuit is a logarithmic converter, which allows, combined with a photodiode, for the detection of light intensity over eight decades of magnitude. It facilitates the measurement of wide ranges of QSS Suns-V_oc in a very inexpensive way. The accuracy of these circuits and measurement methods has been checked on silicon solar cells, leading to an excellent agreement with established techniques