Which mechanism limits silicon solar cell efficiency through the relationship between band gap and operating energy?

💡 Explanation

When converting solar energy to electricity, the Shockley-Queisser limit arises because photons with energy below the band gap are not absorbed, and photons with energy above the band gap lose excess energy as heat through phonon emission. Therefore, radiative recombination creates a practical energy-conversion maximum, rather than grain boundaries or auger processes which are separate material defects.

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