Solar-cell efficiency is the portion of energy in the form of sunlight that can be converted via photovoltaics into electricity by the solar cell. The efficiency of the solar cells used in a photovoltaic system, in combination with latitude and climate, determines the annual energy output of the system.
Solar cell efficiencies vary from 6% for amorphous silicon-based solar cells to 44.0% with multiple-junction production cells and 44.4% with multiple dies assembled into a hybrid package. Solar cell energy conversion efficiencies for commercially available multicrystalline Si solar cells are around 14–19%.
In the international renewable energy production frame, photovoltaics (PV) is a well-established technology, which aims to produce electric energy from the sun radiation . Above 90% of the current photovoltaic production is based on silicon (Si) solar cells. However, typical commercial solar cells have an average efficiency of around 15%.
The PV cell efficiency is the ratio of electric power output to input. You might find these chapters and articles relevant to this topic. Waldemar Kuczynski, Katarzyna Chliszcz, in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2023 When the solar cell is lit, a potential difference occurs between the electrodes.
D. D. Smith, “Silicon Solar Cells with Total Area Efficiency over 25%,” in Proc. of the 42nd IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, Portland, Oregon, USA, 2016. Proc. of the 17 th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Munich, Germany ( 2001), pp. 1483 - 1486
As the cell temperature increases, reduction in band gap of photovoltaic semiconductor occurs which reduces the voltage generated by each photovoltaic cell. This reduces photovoltaic module power and electrical efficiency . Solar cell temperature and electrical efficiency are inversely related to each other .