Hot Carrier Photocurrent as an Intrinsic Loss in a Single Junction Solar Cell

In photovoltaics, hot carriers are mainly considered as a workforce for efficient hot carrier solar cells or as a reason of unfavorable heating of classical solar cells.Here we present experimental evidence of the hot carrier photocurrent, i.e., the current induced across a p-n junction by the hot carriers before their thermalisation.Competition between two photocurrents, the hot carrier and the generation-caused, is highlighted through excitation intensity, wavelength, sample temperature and bias voltage.The adverse impact of the hot carrier effect on the successful operation of a single junction solar cell is demonstrated, suggesting the need to discuss it as a novel form of intrinsic loss mechanism.