Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080314447 | Single P-N Junction Tandem Photovoltaic Device - A single P-N junction solar cell is provided having two depletion regions for charge separation while allowing the electrons and holes to recombine such that the voltages associated with both depletion regions of the solar cell will add together. The single p-n junction solar cell includes an alloy of either InGaN or InAlN formed on one side of the P-N junction with Si formed on the other side in order to produce characteristics of a two junction (2J) tandem solar cell through only a single P-N junction. A single P-N junction solar cell having tandem solar cell characteristics will achieve power conversion efficiencies exceeding 30%. | 12-25-2008 |
20090173373 | Group III-Nitride Solar Cell with Graded Compositions - A compositionally graded Group III-nitride alloy is provided for use in a solar cell. In one or more embodiment, an alloy of either InGaN or InAlN formed in which the In composition is graded between two areas of the alloy. The compositionally graded Group III-nitride alloy can be utilized in a variety of types of solar cell configurations, including a single P-N junction solar cell having tandem solar cell characteristics, a multijunction tandem solar cell, a tandem solar cell having a low resistance tunnel junction and other solar cell configurations. The compositionally graded Group III-nitride alloy possesses direct band gaps having a very large tuning range, for example extending from about 0.7 to 3.4 eV for InGaN and from about 0.7 to 6.2 eV for InAlN. | 07-09-2009 |
20100095998 | LOW RESISTANCE TUNNEL JUNCTIONS FOR HIGH EFFICIENCY TANDEN SOLAR CELLS - A semiconductor structure comprises a first photovoltaic cell comprising a first material, and a second photovoltaic cell comprising a second material and connected in series to the first photovoltaic cell. The conduction band edge of the first material adjacent the second material is at most 0.1 eV higher than a valence band edge of the second material adjacent the material. Preferably, the first material of the first photovoltaic cell comprises ln].χAlχN or lnt_yGayN and the second material of the second photovoltaic cell comprises silicon or germanium. Alternatively, the first material of the first photovoltaic cell comprises InAs or InAsSb and the second material of the second photovoltaic cell comprises GaSb or GaAsSb. | 04-22-2010 |
20100175751 | Dilute Group III-V Nitride Intermediate Band Solar Cells with Contact Blocking Layers - An intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) is provided including a p-n junction based on dilute III-V nitride materials and a pair of contact blocking layers positioned on opposite surfaces of the p-n junction for electrically isolating the intermediate band of the p-n junction by blocking the charge transport in the intermediate band without affecting the electron and hole collection efficiency of the p-n junction, thereby increasing open circuit voltage (V | 07-15-2010 |
20120031491 | Single P-N Junction Tandem Photovoltaic Device - A single P-N junction solar cell is provided having two depletion regions for charge separation while allowing the electrons and holes to recombine such that the voltages associated with both depletion regions of the solar cell will add together. The single p-n junction solar cell includes an alloy of either InGaN or InAlN formed on one side of the P-N junction with Si formed on the other side in order to produce characteristics of a two junction (2J) tandem solar cell through only a single P-N junction. A single P-N junction solar cell having tandem solar cell characteristics will achieve power conversion efficiencies exceeding 30%. | 02-09-2012 |
20120273037 | DILUTE GROUP III-V NITRIDE INTERMEDIATE BAND SOLAR CELLS WITH CONTACT BLOCKING LAYERS - An intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) is provided including a p-n junction based on dilute III-V nitride materials and a pair of contact blocking layers positioned on opposite surfaces of the p-n junction for electrically isolating the intermediate band of the p-n junction by blocking the charge transport in the intermediate band without affecting the electron and hole collection efficiency of the p-n junction, thereby increasing open circuit voltage (V | 11-01-2012 |
20130126892 | P-Type Amorphous GaNAs Alloy as Low Resistant Ohmic Contact to P-Type Group III-Nitride Semiconductors - A new composition of matter is described, amorphous GaN | 05-23-2013 |
20140261690 | INTERMEDIATE BAND SOLAR CELLS WITH DILUTE GROUP III-V NITRIDES - A single junction solar cell may be manufactured with a material having multiple bands. That is, a single semiconductor with several absorption edges that absorb photons from different parts of the solar spectrum may be constructed. The different absorption edges may be created by splitting a conduction band of the solar cell material into multiple intermediate sub-bands. The solar cell may include a photovoltaic material deposited on a substrate, in which the photovoltaic material is a III-V semiconductor alloy, such as AlGaNAs, AlGaAsNSb, or AlInGaNAsBi. | 09-18-2014 |