Ideal solar cell efficiencies

In a recent paper, Guillemoles et al. attempt to clarify and explain the often cited paper by Shockley and Queisser2 (SQ), which defines the limits to photovoltaic conversion by a single-junction solar cell. The SQ paper is not easy to read and is therefore easily misunderstood. As modern solar cells approach theoretical efficiency limits, the fundamentals become particularly important and the effort by Guillemoles et al. is therefore to be welcomed. However, in doing so, the authors have fallen into several pitfalls, and the aim of the present note is to clarify a number of misconceptions and correct some errors in that paper for specialists and non-specialists alike to help disentangle the complexities of the SQ paper.