Is a solar cell an endoreversible engine?

Abstract

Endoreversible processes are a special class of irreversible processes: the irreversibilities are all located in the transport of heat from the heat sources to the heat engine and from the heat engine to the heat sinks. It has been demonstrated before that photothermal solar energy conversion can be modeled as an endoreversible process. In the present paper, we investigate if a solar cell can equally be considered as an endoreversible engine.

We will demonstrate that in fact a photovoltaic converter is somewhat more complicated than a photothermal converter. This forces us to introduce a more general model of endoreversible engines, where thermodynamic reservoirs are not only characterized by a temperature, but also by a chemical potential, and where not only energy, but also matter is exchanged between reservoirs.