I'm using two different simulation tools to simulate solar cells. One of them uses FED, and the other one uses FDM. What are the main differences between those methods?
Is it acceptable to get different results between them and why?
What are the best resources to get the fundamental description of those methods?
Thank you,
Dear Malak, in general FEM is suitable for more complex geometry than FDM, but it can require more computational resources (e.g. RAM memory) than FDM. FDM discretizes derivatives at nodes of an homogeneous mesh, while FEM discretizes equations at cells of a mesh. For simple but useful introduction, see relative items in Wikipedia and its bibliography. Gianluca
Dear Malak,
To solve for the electrical characteristics of solar cells one has to describe the device performance by differential equations called in this case the semiconductor equations with the appropriate boundary conditions. One can find analytical solutions in case of very simplified equations that may not reflect the real behavior of the device but idealized one. Normally one needs to solve these differential equations in x,y and t. Under steady state conditions one needs only to solve differential equations in x and y.
The numerical solutions dictates the discretization of solution space. The discretization scheme differs from the finite difference and finite elements as hinted by Gianluca. while the mesh is square in the FDM, it can take flexible geometrical forms in FEM.
The solution by the two methods differ only in the discretization and calculation errors. FEM methds can achieve better accuracy than FDM.
For more information about the these numerical solution methods please follow the link: https://www.google.com.eg/search?q=finite+elment+and+finite+difference+method+for+solar+cells&oq=finite+elment+and+finite+difference+method+for+solar+cells&aqs=chrome..69i57.28699j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Best wishes
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Computer Communications (Networks)
- Simulators