Jump to Content
View Cart
LOG IN or SELECT A PURCHASE OPTION:
J. Appl. Phys. 32, 510 (1961); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1736034 (10 pages)
Detailed Balance Limit of Efficiency of p‐n Junction Solar Cells
(Received 3 May 1960)
Alerts
Alert Me When Cited
Alert Me When Corrected
Tools
Download Citation
Add to MyScitation
Permissions / Reprints
Blog This Article
Print-Friendly
Research Toolkit
Share
Email Abstract
CiteULike
del.icio.us
BibSonomy
Tweet this Article
Add to FacebookIn order to find an upper theoretical limit for the efficiency of p‐n junction solar energy converters, a limiting efficiency, called the detailed balance limit of efficiency, has been calculated for an ideal case in which the only recombination mechanism of hole‐electron pairs is radiative as required by the principle of detailed balance. The efficiency is also calculated for the case in which radiative recombination is only a fixed fraction fc of the total recombination, the rest being nonradiative. Efficiencies at the matched loads have been calculated with band gap and fc as parameters, the sun and cell being assumed to be blackbodies with temperatures of 6000°K and 300°K, respectively. The maximum efficiency is found to be 30% for an energy gap of 1.1 ev and fc = 1. Actual junctions do not obey the predicted current‐voltage relationship, and reasons for the difference and its relevance to efficiency are discussed.
© 1961 The American Institute of Physics
RELATED DATABASES
Scopus
View This Record in ScopusARTICLE DATA
Digital Object Identifier
PUBLICATION DATA
Publisher
For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.
References
D. M. Chapin, C. S. Fuller, and G. L. Pearson, J. Appl. Phys. 25, 676 (1954)RSINAK000020000012000876000001.W. G. Pfann and W. van Roosbroeck, J. Appl. Phys. 25, 1422 (1954)JAPIAU000025000011001422000001.
M. B. Prince, J. Appl. Phys. 26, 534 (1955)JAPIAU000026000005000534000001.
J. J. Loferski, J. Appl. Phys. 27, 777 (1956)JAPIAU000027000007000777000001.
A treatment of photovoltage, but not solar-cell efficiency free of such limitations, has been carried out by A. L. Rose, J. Appl. Phys. 31, 1640 (1960)JAPIAU000031000009001640000001.
W. van Roosbroeck and W. Shockley, Phys. Rev. 94, 1558 (1954).
A. G. Chynoweth and K. G. McKay, Phys. Rev. 106, 418 (1957).
W. Shockley and J. L. Moll, Phys. Rev. 119, 1480 (1960).
This Publication
Scitation
Google Scholar
PubMed