1. The solar cell and the electrochemical cell
1.1 Principle of electricity generation in an electrochemical cell
1.2 Principle of electricity generation in a solar cell
1.3 Comparison between electrochemical cell and solar cell
2. Photons from the Sun
2.1 The wavelength of light and its energy
2.2 The wavelengths of sunlight
2.3 Black-body radiation
2.4 Definition of the solid angle
2.5 The photon flux from a black body
3. "Graphical solution" for the solar cell conversion efficiency in the completely ideal case
3.1 The conversion efficiency of a solar cell
3.2 The semiconductor band gap
3.3 Transmission and thermalization losses caused by the band gap
3.4 Definition of the ideal solar cell conditions
3.5 The three-dimensional visualization of the solar cell's output power
3.6 The derivation of the solar cell conversion efficiency curve for the completely ideal case
4. Influences of carrier generation and recombination on the solar cell conversion efficiency
4.1 The solar cell's energy input
4.2 The relation between electrical current and voltage
4.3 Short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage
5. The conversion efficiency of a solar cell as determined by the detailed balance model
5.1 The nominal efficiency
5.2 The detailed balance limit of the conversion efficiency
5.3 Losses in solar cells
6. Actual calculation of solar cell efficiencies
6.1 Single-junction solar cell
6.2 Concentrator solar cell
6.3 Multi-junction solar cell
6.4 Intermediate-band solar cell6.5 Two-step photon up-conversion solar cell
6.6 Solar cells with spectral converters
6.7 Influence of the weather
6.8 Influence of the temperature
6.9 Indoor photovoltaic cell
7. Application limits for the ideal conditions
7.1 Consideration of the absorption coefficient
7.2 The minority-carrier diffusion
7.3 Photocurrent densities calculated for different materials under consideration of the layer thickness
8. Fundamentals of semiconductors
8.1 The semiconductor band gap
8.2 The intrinsic semiconductor8.3 The extrinsic semiconductor
8.4 Energy levels of impurities and carrier generation
8.5 The carrier distribution within a band
8.6 The Fermi level
8.7 Temperature dependence of the carrier density
8.8 The currents in a semiconductor: drift current and diffusion current
8.9 The quasi-Fermi level
8.10 The p-n junction
8.11 Current-voltage characteristics of a p-n junction
About the Author: Takashi Kita is a Professor at Kobe University. He received his Doctor of Engineering degree from Osaka University in 1991. In 1990 he was appointed as Assistant Professor at Kobe University, and promoted to Associate Professor and his current position in 2000 and 2007, respectively. In 1996, he worked as a Visiting Researcher in the group led by Professor Hans-Joachim Queisser, Max-Plank Institute. His work is mainly concerned with the development of high-performance photonic devices, and has been recognized with the Japan Society of Applied Physics Fellow Award.
Yukihiro Harada is an Assistant Professor at Kobe University, where he received his Doctor of Engineering degree in 2009 and was appointed to his current position the same year. From 2016 to 2017, he worked as a Visiting Researcher in the group led by Dr. Nicholas J. Ekins-Daukes, Imperial College London, UK. His work is mainly concerned with the optical properties of semiconductor nanostructures. He is a member of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, the Physical Society of Japan, and the Optical Society of America.
Shigeo Asahi is a Project Assistant Professor at Kobe University. He received his Master of Engineering degree from the University of Tokyo in 2003. After working for a private company for ten years, he enrolled at Kobe University in 2013 and completed his PhD in 2016. He was appointed to his current position the same year. His work is mainly concerned with the development of high-efficiency solar cells.
