The spatial collection efficiency portrays the driving forces and loss mechanisms in photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical devices. It is defined as the fraction of photogenerated charge carriers created at a specific point within the device that contribute to the photocurrent. In stratified planar structures, the spatial collection efficiency can be extracted out of photocurrent action spectra measurements empirically, with few a priori assumptions. Although this method was applied to photovoltaic cells made of well-understood materials, it has never been used to study unconventional materials such as metal-oxide semiconductors that are often employed in photoelectrochemical cells. This perspective shows the opportunities that this method has to offer for investigating new materials and devices with unknown properties. The relative simplicity of the method, and its applicability to operando performance characterization, makes it an important tool for analysis and design of new photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical materials and devices.

空间收集效率描绘了光伏和光电化学装置中的驱动力和损耗机理。它定义为在设备内特定位置产生的，对光电流有贡献的光生电荷载流子的分数。在分层平面结构中，可以凭经验从光电流作用谱测量中提取空间收集效率，而无需先验假设。尽管此方法应用于由易于理解的材料制成的光伏电池，但从未用于研究非常规材料，例如常用于光电化学电池中的金属氧化物半导体。此透视图显示了此方法必须提供的机会，以研究特性未知的新材料和新设备。该方法的相对简单性及其在操作性能表征中的适用性使其成为分析和设计新的光伏和光电化学材料和器件的重要工具。