Quantifying Losses in Open-Circuit Voltage in Solution-Processable Solar Cells

To compare and improve solar cells, merely knowing their percent efficiencies is insufficient; we need to be able to understand and quantify their different physical mechanisms of loss. The authors use the reciprocity relation between light absorption and emission to explore theoretical and practical performance limits for emerging technologies based on organics and perovskites, and compare them to state-of-the-art systems based on GaAs, c-Si, and CIGS. This study indicates the potential of the newer technologies, and shows the factors that limit present-day performance.