text: The optical band gap (see below) determines what portion of the solar spectrum a photovoltaic cell absorbs. Strictly, a  semiconductor will not absorb photons of energy less than the band gap; whereas most of the photons with energies exceeding the band gap will generate heat. Neither of them contribute to the efficiency of a solar cell. One way to circumvent this problem is based on the so-called photon management concept, in which case the solar spectrum is modified to match the absorption profile of the solar cell.