A bright future: Seeking a third generation of better-performing solar cells

For a greener and more sustainable economy, building better and more powerful solar cells is a key research goal within the clean energy sector. But, in a typical single-junction solar cell, performance is capped at what is called the Shockley–Queisser limit (a theoretical limit for the maximum efficiency that a solar cell can reach). Efficiency determines how much of the light energy (photons) absorbed by the solar cell can be converted into usable electric current. The Shockley–Queisser limit puts the maximum possible efficiency at 33.7 percent for semiconductor-based solar cells.For a greener and more sustainable economy, building better and more powerful solar cells is a key research goal within the clean energy sector. But, in a typical single-junction solar cell, performance is capped at what is called the Shockley–Queisser limit (a theoretical limit for the maximum efficiency that a solar cell can reach). Efficiency determines how much of the light energy (photons) absorbed by the solar cell can be converted into usable electric current. The Shockley–Queisser limit puts the maximum possible efficiency at 33.7 percent for semiconductor-based solar cells.