Approaching the Shockley-Queisser limit: General assessment of the main limiting mechanisms in photovoltaic cells

Abstract

In principle, the upper efficiency limit of any solar cell technology can be determined using the detailed-balance limit formalism. However, “real” solar cells show efficiencies which are always below this theoretical value due to several limiting mechanisms. We study the ability of a solar cell architecture to approach its own theoretical limit, using a novel index introduced in this work, and the amplitude with which the different limiting mechanisms affect the cell efficiency is scrutinized as a function of the electronic gap and the illumination level to which the cell is submitted. The implications for future generations of solar cells aiming at an improved conversion of the solar spectrum are also addressed.

Rigorous wave-optical treatment of photon recycling in thermodynamics of photovoltaics: Perovskite thin-film solar cells

“…15 refers to the relative portion of the emitted power which escapes the solar cell thereby giving the wave optical description of p e . Equation 15 inherently considers the impact of spatial dependent local density of photonic states, which is not done in Eq. 14.…”

Thermophotovoltaics: a potential pathway to high efficiency concentrated solar power

“…6 and 7 show that the efficiency of the system is proportional to the volume to surface are ratio, because the electrical output scales with the system volume, while the heat leakage scales with the system's surface area. 4, we have quantified the system efficiency as a function of the quantifies the degree of non-radiative recombination losses in the TPV cell 107,108 . Figure 3 shows that the efficiency increases with increasing the volume to surface area ratio (ɸ=V/A) due to the fact that at higher ɸ, the heat leakage from the system is small compared to the power generated internally.…”

“…109 , which quantifies the fraction of internally emitted photons that are ultimately able to escape through the front surface of TPV cell[107][108][109] . The cell architecture and consequently EFE  play an important role on the overall efficiency of power block, which should be taken into account when estimating the effects of non-radiative recombination in an actual cell.…”

Effects of non-ideal losses on the optimal bandgap arrangement of multi-junction solar cells comprising up to 5 subcells

“…The amplitude of the decrease in efficiency relative to the maximum efficiency expected in the SQ limit can be assessed through the calculation of the SQ index, which basically reflects the ability of a given cell technology to approach its own theoretical limit [4]. Figure 2 shows how the SQ index of a single-junction solar cell is altered by series resistance losses as a function of the semiconductor bandgap and the illumination level to which it is submitted.…”