Udechukwu Ifeanyi and Okpala Uchechukwu V.
Photovoltaic implies converting photon energy into an electric current using photovoltaic effect. A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is an electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Solar cells are the building blocks of photovoltaic modules known as solar panels. It can appear yellow or red depending on the size of the particles. Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) as an attractive semi-conductor material used as anode material in thin film lithium batteries and as solar cells. In our research, we used plastic as the cavity material and ocean water as salt solution (electrolyte). We performed our experiment first with pure water and then with salt water and compared the results. Distilled water was used for this purpose, and then regular table salt (NaCl) was added to it to prepare the salt water solution. After comparing the results obtained we discovered that salt water was a better electrolyte. Hence, we used the aqueous sodium chloride (NaCl) solution as the salt water electrolyte for our cell. Different concentrations of this solution were used and corresponding results were observed and recorded. The goal of this project work was to produce alternate solar cells made from cheap materials. We have succeeded in designing and testing alternative ionic solar cells that could serve as a model for a new solar cell. It consists of a PN junction made of Copper I and Copper (II) Oxide along with ionic salt water (NaCl) solution
