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A comment on Japanese company develops a solar cell with record-breaking efficiency. Parent comment

Re:Japanese company develops a solar cell with record-breaki... by seiferteric on Thursday March 23, 2017 @09:05AM (#13939370)
Is the maximum theoretical efficiency I often see stated just for type of technology we use today (pn junctions)? Or is it a hard physical limit for any light -> electricity system? Would it be possible that some new technology for solar cells could be more efficient?
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Re:Japanese company develops a solar cell with record-breaki... by averagewall on Thursday March 23, 2017 @09:10AM (#13939399)
I think the highest physical limit would be Carnot efficiency for a heat engine driven by the temperature difference between the sun and the earth. (6000K - 300 K) / 6000 K = 95%. There could be a different lower limit we hit before that though.
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Re:Japanese company develops a solar cell with record-breaki... by seiferteric on Thursday March 23, 2017 @09:20AM (#13939460)
That does make sense for an absolute upper limit, thanks.
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