The Shockley-Queisser limit for the maximum possible efficiency of a solar cell. The x-axis is the bandgap of the solar cell, the y-axis is the highest possible efficiency (ratio of electrical power output to light power input). (Assumes a single-junction solar cell under unconcentrated light, and some other assumptions too.) The curve is wiggly because of IR absorption bands in the atmosphere: I used the actual AM1.5G solar spectrum data. Sometimes people approximate the solar spectrum by a 6000K blackbody spectrum instead, and they get a smoother curve with slightly different values. I cross-checked my curve with independently-calculated ones and they agree to high accuracy, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OSE-2010-SWA1">[1]</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OSE-2010-SWC4">[2]</a>.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sbyrnes321" title="User:Sbyrnes321">Sbyrnes321</a>
2011-02-08
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>