Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120216858 | PSEUDOMORPHIC WINDOW LAYER FOR MULTIJUNCTION SOLAR CELLS - Photovoltaic cells with one or more subcells are provided with a wide band gap, pseudomorphic window layer of at least 15 nm in thickness and with an intrinsic material lattice constant that differs by at least 1% from an adjacent emitter layer. This window layer has a higher band gap than a window layer with substantially the same intrinsic material lattice constant as the adjacent emitter layer, which increases the light transmission through the window, thereby increasing the current generation in the solar cell. The quality of being pseudomorphic material preserves a good interface between the window and the emitter, reducing the minority carrier surface recombination velocity. A method is provided for building a wide band gap, pseudomorphic window layer of a photovoltaic cell that has an intrinsic material lattice constant that differs by at least 1% from the adjacent emitter layer. | 08-30-2012 |
20120285526 | WINDOW STRUCTURE FOR SOLAR CELL - A multilayer window structure for a solar cell comprises one or more layers where the bottom layer has an intrinsic material lattice spacing that is substantially the same as the emitter in the plane perpendicular to the direction of epitaxial growth. One or more upper layers of the window structure has progressively higher band gaps than the bottom layer and has intrinsic material lattice spacing is substantially different than the emitter intrinsic material lattice spacing. | 11-15-2012 |
20130118546 | High Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells - Multijunction solar cells having at least four subcells are disclosed, in which at least one of the subcells comprises a base layer formed of an alloy of one or more elements from group III on the periodic table, nitrogen, arsenic, and at least one element selected from the group consisting of Sb and Bi, and each of the subcells is substantially lattice matched. Methods of manufacturing solar cells and photovoltaic systems comprising at least one of the multijunction solar cells are also disclosed. | 05-16-2013 |
20130118566 | HIGH EFFICIENCY MULTIJUNCTION SOLAR CELLS - Multijunction solar cells having at least four subcells are disclosed, in which at least one of the subcells comprises a base layer formed of an alloy of one or more elements from group III on the periodic table, nitrogen, arsenic, and at least one element selected from the group consisting of Sb and Bi, and each of the subcells is substantially lattice matched. Methods of manufacturing solar cells and photovoltaic systems comprising at least one of the multijunction solar cells are also disclosed. | 05-16-2013 |
20130122638 | High Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells - Multijunction solar cells having at least four subcells are disclosed, in which at least one of the subcells comprises a base layer formed of an alloy of one or more elements from group III on the periodic table, nitrogen, arsenic, and at least one element selected from the group consisting of Sb and Bi, and each of the subcells is substantially lattice matched. Methods of manufacturing solar cells and photovoltaic systems comprising at least one of the multijunction solar cells are also disclosed. | 05-16-2013 |
20130263920 | MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELLS WITH THROUGH-VIA CONTACTS - Multi junction solar cell devices are provided in which through-wafer vias contacting the top surface eliminate the need for gridlines and enhance efficiency of epitaxially grown multi junction solar cell elements. | 10-10-2013 |
20130312817 | METHOD FOR ETCHING MULTI-LAYER EPITAXIAL MATERIAL - A single-step wet etch process is provided to isolate multijunction solar cells on semiconductor substrates, wherein the wet etch chemistry removes semiconductor materials nonselectively without a major difference in etch rate between different heteroepitaxial layers. The solar cells thus formed comprise multiple heterogeneous semiconductor layers epitaxially grown on the semiconductor substrate. | 11-28-2013 |
20140196779 | MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELLS WITH THROUGH-SUBSTRATE VIAS - Multi junction solar cells and methods for making multi junction solar cells are disclosed. Back-contact-only multi junction solar cells wherein the side facing the sun, is capable of withstanding environments for use in space are disclosed. | 07-17-2014 |