A simple analytical model is presented describing the quantum efficiency of cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells. This model is based on a consistent set of parameters that were extracted from electrical and optical measurements. These measurements also reveal the CdTe solar cells to mainly rely on carrier generation as well as carrier collection within the space-charge region. Recombination in this part of the cell is hence taken into account. As a result, quantum efficiency spectra can be closely fitted by an expression that includes the lifetime of the minority carriers and the width of the space-charge region as free variables. The comparison of the calculated quantum efficiency curves with the experimental ones gives fundamental insight into the specific operation of CdTe solar cells. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.