The effect of electric and magnetic fields on the operation of a photovoltaic cell

In this work, we have investigated the effects of electric and magnetic fields on the operation of a CdS/CuInSe2 photovoltaic cell. Various electric field intensities changing from 0 to 35000 Vdc/m, were applied to the sample while it was irradiated by a He–Ne laser with a wavelength λ=670 nm. As a result, the typical values for the open circuit voltage of the photovoltaic cell significantly changed with various intensities of the electric field Edc. We also applied magnetic fields varying from 0.003 to 0.079 T using a solenoid with an inductance of 10.55 mH and the response of the sample was observed. In the third step of the experiment, instead of the laser beam, various intensities of white light of 50, 100,150 and also 250 lux were utilised. 250 lux was measured to be equivalent to the radiation power of He–Ne laser beam on the surface of the photovoltaic cell. The effect of electric fields from 0 up to 3×105 Vdc was applied and some significant experimental results were obtained. As a result of the illumination of the photovoltaic cell by the stimulated and spontaneous light emission sources under the effect of various intensities of electric field Edc, different electrical behaviours were observed.