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Guide for the perplexed to the Shockley–Queisser model for solar cells

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A Correspondence to this article was published on 24 February 2021

The Shockley–Queisser model is a landmark in photovoltaic device analysis by defining an ideal situation as reference for actual solar cells. However, the model and its implications are easily misunderstood. Thus, we present a guide to help understand and to avoid misinterpreting it.

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Fig. 1: Explanation of the key concepts used in the SQ model.
Fig. 2: Power losses as a function of bandgap and applied voltage in the SQ model.

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Acknowledgements

J.-F.G. thanks the French programme of “investment for the future” (ANR-IEED-002-0). D.C. thanks the Inst. PV d’Ile de France for a visiting professorship and the Ullmann family foundation (via the Weizmann Institute) for support. T.K. and U.R. acknowledge the Helmholtz Asssociation for funding via the PEROSEED project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, UMR 9006, Institut Photovoltaique d’Ile de France (IPVF), Palaiseau, France

    Jean-Francois Guillemoles

  2. IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany

    Thomas Kirchartz & Uwe Rau

  3. Fac. of Engineering and CENIDE, Univ. of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany

    Thomas Kirchartz

  4. Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    David Cahen

Authors
  1. Jean-Francois Guillemoles
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  2. Thomas Kirchartz
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  3. David Cahen
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  4. Uwe Rau
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jean-Francois Guillemoles, Thomas Kirchartz, David Cahen or Uwe Rau.

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information

Supporting data for the application of the SQ model to actual photovoltaic technologies.

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Guillemoles, JF., Kirchartz, T., Cahen, D. et al. Guide for the perplexed to the Shockley–Queisser model for solar cells. Nat. Photonics 13, 501–505 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0479-2

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