Practical Limiting Efficiencies for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

A review is given of the factors governing the conversion efficiency for crystalline silicon solar cells at AM1 and of the practical limits on cell efficiencies. Included are losses due to reflection, shadowing, carrier diffusion length, and dissipation. The influence of polycrystalline grain size on conversion efficiency is also discussed. For conventional cells having a planar junction, a practical limiting efficiency in production appears to be about 17% in the absence of sunlight concentration.