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The Shockley–Queisser limit, zoomed in near the region of peak efficiency. In a traditional solid-state semiconductor such as silicon, a solar cell is made from two doped crystals, one an n-type semiconductor, which has extra free electrons, and the other a p-type semiconductor, which is lacking free electrons, referred to as "holes."
Third-generation photovoltaic cells are solar cells that are potentially able to overcome the Shockley–Queisser limit of 31–41% power efficiency for single bandgap solar cells. This includes a range of alternatives to cells made of semiconducting p-n junctions ("first generation") and thin film cells ("second generation").
For these reasons, Silicon has been commonly used as the material for the conventional photovoltaic effect. Due to the Shockley–Queisser limit [6] it is known that a single p-n junction photovoltaic cell maximum solar conversion efficiency is around 33.7% for a bandgap of 1.34eV. However, Silicon has a bandgap of 1.1eV, corresponding to an ...
A multi-junction cell, however, can exceed that limit. The theoretical performance of a solar cell was first studied in depth in the 1960s, and is today known as the Shockley–Queisser limit. The limit describes several loss mechanisms that are inherent to any solar cell design.
The band gap (1.34 eV) of an ideal single-junction cell is close to that of silicon (1.1 eV), one of the many reasons that silicon dominates the market. However, silicon's efficiency is limited to about 30% (Shockley–Queisser limit). It is possible to improve on a single-junction cell by vertically stacking cells with different bandgaps ...
The Shockley–Queisser limit for the efficiency of a single-junction solar cell under unconcentrated sunlight at 273 K. This calculated curve uses actual solar spectrum data, and therefore the curve is wiggly from IR absorption bands in the atmosphere. This efficiency limit of ~34% can be exceeded by multijunction solar cells.
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The Shockley-Queisser limit for the theoretical maximum efficiency of a solar cell. Semiconductors with band gap between 1 and 1.5eV (827 nm to 1240 nm; near-infrared) have the greatest potential to form an efficient single-junction cell. (The efficiency "limit" shown here can be exceeded by multijunction solar cells