Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100300507 | HIGH EFFICIENCY LOW COST CRYSTALLINE-SI THIN FILM SOLAR MODULE - One embodiment of the present invention provides a double-sided heterojunction solar cell module. The solar cell includes a frontside glass cover, a backside cover situated below the frontside glass cover, and a number of solar cells situated between the frontside glass cover and the backside glass cover. Each solar cell includes a semiconductor multilayer structure situated below the frontside glass cover, including: a frontside electrode grid, a first layer of heavily doped amorphous Si (a-Si) situated below the frontside electrode, a layer of lightly doped crystalline-Si (c-Si) situated below the first layer of heavily doped a-Si, and a layer of heavily doped c-Si situated below the lightly doped c-Si layer. The solar cell also includes a second layer of heavily doped a-Si situated below the multilayer structure; and a backside electrode situated below the second layer of heavily doped a-Si. | 12-02-2010 |
20110068367 | DOUBLE-SIDED HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELL BASED ON THIN EPITAXIAL SILICON - One embodiment of the present invention provides a double-sided heterojunction solar cell. The solar cell includes a lightly doped epitaxial crystalline Si (c-Si) base layer, a front-side passivation layer situated on the front side of the lightly doped epitaxial c-Si base layer, a back-side passivation layer situated on the back side of the lightly doped epitaxial c-Si base layer, a front-side emitter situated on the surface of the front-side passivation layer, a back surface field (BSF) layer situated on the surface of the back-side passivation layer, a front-side electrode, and a back-side electrode. | 03-24-2011 |
20110108100 | ALUMINUM GRID AS BACKSIDE CONDUCTOR ON EPITAXIAL SILICON THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a substrate, a first heavily doped crystalline-Si (c-Si) layer situated above the substrate, a lightly doped c-Si layer situated above the first heavily doped crystalline-Si layer, a second heavily doped c-Si layer situated above the lightly doped c-Si layer, a front side electrode grid situated above the second heavily doped c-Si layer, and a backside electrode grid situated on the backside of the substrate. | 05-12-2011 |
20110272012 | SOLAR CELL WITH OXIDE TUNNELING JUNCTIONS - One embodiment of the present invention provides a tunneling junction based solar cell. The solar cell includes a base layer; a quantum-tunneling-barrier (QTB) layer situated adjacent to the base layer; an emitter; a surface field layer; a front-side electrode; and a back-side electrode. | 11-10-2011 |
20110277816 | SOLAR CELL WITH SHADE-FREE FRONT ELECTRODE - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell with shade-free front electrode. The solar cell includes a photovoltaic body, a front-side ohmic contact layer situated above the photovoltaic body, a back-side ohmic contact layer situated below the photovoltaic body, a front-side electrode situated above the front-side ohmic contact layer, and a back-side electrode situated below the back-side ohmic contact layer. The front-side electrode includes a plurality of parallel metal grid lines, and the surface of at least one metal grid line is curved, thereby allowing incident light hitting the curved surface to be reflected downward and absorbed by the solar cell surface adjacent to the metal grid line. | 11-17-2011 |
20110277825 | SOLAR CELL WITH METAL GRID FABRICATED BY ELECTROPLATING - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a photovoltaic structure, a transparent-conductive-oxide (TCO) layer situated above the photovoltaic structure, and a front-side metal grid situated above the TCO layer. The TCO layer is in contact with the front surface of the photovoltaic structure. The metal grid includes at least one of: Cu and Ni. | 11-17-2011 |
20110303278 | TRANSPARENT CONDUCTING OXIDE FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a Si base layer, a passivation layer situated above the Si base layer, a layer of heavily doped amorphous Si (a-Si) situated above the passivation layer, a first transparent-conducting-oxide (TCO) layer situated above the heavily doped a-Si layer, a back-side electrode situated below the Si base layer, and a front-side electrode situated above the first TCO layer. The first TCO layer comprises at least one of: GaInO, GaInSnO, ZnInO, and ZnInSnO. | 12-15-2011 |
20120060911 | SOLAR CELL WITH ELECTROPLATED METAL GRID - One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for fabricating solar cells. During operation, an anti-reflection layer is deposited on top of a semiconductor structure to form a photovoltaic structure, and a front-side electrode grid comprising a metal stack is formed on top of the photovoltaic structure. The metal stack comprises a metal-adhesive layer comprising Ti or Ta, and a conducting layer comprising Cu or Ag situated above the metal-adhesive layer. | 03-15-2012 |
20120085384 | SOLAR PANELS WITH INTEGRATED CELL-LEVEL MPPT DEVICES - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell panel that includes a front-side cover, a back-side cover, a number of solar cells situated between the front-side cover and the back-side cover, and a number of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) devices situated between the front-side cover and the back-side cover. | 04-12-2012 |
20120305060 | TUNNELING-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL WITH COPPER GRID FOR CONCENTRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC APPLICATION - One embodiment of the present invention provides a photovoltaic module. The photovoltaic module includes an optical concentrator and a tunneling-junction solar cell. The tunneling junction solar cell includes a base layer, a quantum-tunneling-barrier (QTB) layer situated above the base layer, an emitter layer, a front-side electrode, and a back-side electrode. | 12-06-2012 |
20120318340 | BACK JUNCTION SOLAR CELL WITH TUNNEL OXIDE - One embodiment of the present invention provides a back junction solar cell. The solar cell includes a base layer, a quantum-tunneling-barrier (QTB) layer situated below the base layer facing away from incident light, an emitter layer situated below the QTB layer, a front surface field (FSF) layer situated above the base layer, a front-side electrode situated above the FSF layer, and a back-side electrode situated below the emitter layer. | 12-20-2012 |
20130157404 | DOUBLE-SIDED HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELL BASED ON THIN EPITAXIAL SILICON - One embodiment of the present invention provides a double-sided heterojunction solar cell. The solar cell includes a lightly doped epitaxial crystalline Si (c-Si) base layer, a front-side passivation layer situated on the front side of the lightly doped epitaxial c-Si base layer, a back-side passivation layer situated on the back side of the lightly doped epitaxial c-Si base layer, a front-side emitter situated on the surface of the front-side passivation layer, a back surface field (BSF) layer situated on the surface of the back-side passivation layer, a front-side electrode, and a back-side electrode. | 06-20-2013 |
20130298973 | TUNNELING-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL WITH SHALLOW COUNTER DOPING LAYER IN THE SUBSTRATE - One embodiment of the present invention provides a tunneling junction solar cell. The solar cell includes a base layer, an emitter layer situated adjacent to the shallow counter doping layer, a surface field layer situated adjacent to a side of the base layer opposite to the shallow counter doping layer, a front-side electrode, and a back-side electrode. The base layer includes a shallow counter doping layer having a conduction doping type that is opposite to a remainder of the base layer. The emitter layer has a bandgap that is wider than that of the base layer. | 11-14-2013 |
20140096817 | NOVEL HOLE COLLECTORS FOR SILICON PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a base layer comprising crystalline Si (c-Si), a hole collector situated on a first side of the base layer, and an electron collector situated on a second side of the base layer, which is opposite the first side. The hole collector includes a quantum-tunneling-barrier (QTB) layer situated adjacent to the base layer and a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer situated adjacent to the QTB layer. The TCO layer has a work function of at least 5.0 eV. | 04-10-2014 |
20140096823 | PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES WITH ELECTROPLATED METAL GRIDS - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a photovoltaic structure and a front-side metal grid situated above the photovoltaic structure. The front-side metal grid also includes one or more electroplated metal layers. The front-side metal grid includes one or more finger lines, and each end of a respective finger line is coupled to a corresponding end of an adjacent finger line via an additional metal line, thus ensuring that the respective finger line has no open end. | 04-10-2014 |
20140102524 | NOVEL ELECTRON COLLECTORS FOR SILICON PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a base layer comprising crystalline Si (c-Si), an electron collector situated on a first side of the base layer, and a hole collector situated on a second side of the base layer, which is opposite the first side. The electron collector includes a quantum-tunneling-barrier (QTB) layer situated adjacent to the base layer and a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer situated adjacent to the QTB layer. The TCO layer has a work function of less than 4.2 eV. | 04-17-2014 |
20140196768 | MODULE FABRICATION OF SOLAR CELLS WITH LOW RESISTIVITY ELECTRODES - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar module. The solar module includes a front-side cover, a back-side cover, and a plurality of solar cells situated between the front- and back-side covers. A respective solar cell includes a multi-layer semiconductor structure, a front-side electrode situated above the multi-layer semiconductor structure, and a back-side electrode situated below the multi-layer semiconductor structure. Each of the front-side and the back-side electrodes comprises a metal grid. A respective metal grid comprises a plurality of finger lines and a single busbar coupled to the finger lines. The single busbar is configured to collect current from the finger lines. | 07-17-2014 |
20140283902 | BACK JUNCTION SOLAR CELL WITH TUNNEL OXIDE - One embodiment of the present invention provides a back junction solar cell. The solar cell includes a base layer, a quantum-tunneling-barrier (QTB) layer situated below the base layer facing away from incident light, an emitter layer situated below the QTB layer, a front surface field (FSF) layer situated above the base layer, a front-side electrode situated above the FSF layer, and a back-side electrode situated below the emitter layer. | 09-25-2014 |
20140345674 | MOISTURE INGRESS RESISTANT PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE - One embodiment of the present invention provides a photovoltaic (PV) module. The PV module includes a front-side glass cover facing sunlight, a plurality of interconnected PV cells situated below the glass cover, a plurality of bussing wires electrically coupled to the PV cells, and a back-sheet situated below the PV cells. The back-sheet comprises a metal layer sandwiched between a top and a bottom insulation layers. The back-sheet comprises a cut slot to facilitate the bussing wires to thread through the cut slot to reach a junction box situated below the back-sheet. The PV module further comprises one or more insulation layers inserted between the bussing wires and sidewalls of the cut slot in the back-sheet. The insulation layers are configured to insulate the bussing wires to the metal layer in the back-sheet. | 11-27-2014 |
20140349441 | SOLAR CELL WITH METAL GRID FABRICATED BY ELECTROPLATING - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a photovoltaic structure, a transparent-conductive-oxide (TCO) layer situated above the photovoltaic structure, and a front-side metal grid situated above the TCO layer. The TCO layer is in contact with the front surface of the photovoltaic structure. The metal grid includes at least one of: Cu and Ni. | 11-27-2014 |