Solar cell performance is determined by generation (of electron-hole pairs by the incident illumination) and recombination of electron-hole pairs. Efficiency is increased by increasing generation and decreasing recombination. This tutorial focussing on recombination losses in crystalline silicon solar cells under short-circuit and open-circuit conditions, but the general concepts apply more broadly than just to crystalline silicon.

Outline:

1. Introduction
2. Recombination at short circuit
3. Recombination at open circuit
4. Discussion
5. Summary

“Electronics from the Bottom Up” is an educational initiative designed to bring a new perspective to the field of nano device engineering. It is co-sponsored by the Intel Foundation and the Network for Computational Nanotechnology.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Mark Lundstrom (2011), "Solar Cells Lecture 2: Physics of Crystalline Solar Cells," https://nanohub.org/resources/11890.

1. bottom up approach
2. nanoelectronics
3. photovoltaics
4. solar cells
5. Summer School