Voltage deficit in solar cells with suppressed recombination

The observed open circuit voltages in best performing solar cells are explained outside of the recombination paradigm, based on such factors as electrostatic screening, Meyer-Neldel effect, and lateral nonuniformities. The underlying concept of suppressed recombination presents a long neglected alternative pathway to efficient PV. The criterion of suppressed recombination is consistent with the data for best performing solar cells. Also, consistent with the observations, is the open circuit voltage deficit that exhibits a lower bound of about $0.2-0.3$ V, does not correlate well with the optical gap, and shows a significant dispersion for materials possessing the same gap values.