Did You Know...
...that when IBM conducted a market study of Chester Carlson's invention in 1959, the company concluded that it would take only 5000 units of his new product to saturate the market? IBM therefore declined to be part of the new product introduction. Too bad for IBM. Carlson's invention was the xerography process, and his new product was the beginning of the Xerox Corporation. It is estimated that every day, worldwide, 3,000,000,000 copies are made!!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6534704 | Solar cell A solar cell includes a first semiconductor layer that is p-type, and a second semiconductor layer that is n-type formed over the first semiconductor layer. The solar cell includes a layer A made of a semiconductor different from the first semiconductor l... | 03/18/2003 |
| 6486391 | Diode structure, especially for thin-film solar cells The invention relates to a diode structure, especially for thin film solar cells. The aim of the invention is to provide a diode structure for thin film solar cells. Said structure allows for an assembly of a thin film solar cell, whereby said assembly is... | 11/26/2002 |
| 6307148 | Compound semiconductor solar cell and production method thereof An indium layer and a copper layer, and whenever necessary, a gallium layer or a gallium-alloy layer, are laminated on an electrode film formed on one of the surfaces of a substrate to form a metallic film. The metallic film is then subjected to sulfuriza... | 10/23/2001 |
| 6274805 | Solar cell and manufacturing method thereof A solar cell having a semiconductor layer of a chalcopyrite structure as a light absorption layer and using a flexible film as a substrate, breakdown and peeling caused to the semiconductor layer of the chalcopyrite structure due to warp of the flexible f... | 08/14/2001 |
| 6258620 | Method of manufacturing CIGS photovoltaic devices A method of manufacturing copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CuInx Ga1-x Se2 or just CIGS) photovoltaic devices using elemental selenium and without requiring complex codeposition or requiring the use of toxic H2... | 07/10/2001 |
| 6259016 | Solar cell The present invention includes a substrate, a lower electrode film, a p-type semiconductor layer (a second semiconductor layer), an n-type semiconductor layer (a first semiconductor layer), an upper electrode film and an anti-reflection film, which are st... | 07/10/2001 |
| 6188013 | Solar cell A solar cell comprising a substrate of insulating material, a bottom side electrode layer formed on one surface of the substrate, a semiconductor photoelectric conversion layer formed on the bottom side electrode layer, a transparent top side electrode la... | 02/13/2001 |
| 6153895 | p-type semiconductor, method for manufacturing the p-type semiconductor, semiconductor device, photovoltaic element, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device A p-type semiconductor composed basically of an Ib-IIIb-VIb2 group compound semiconductor (especially CuInS2) which is improved in carrier concentration and has advantages in manufacture and performance. In order to obtain the p-type... | 11/28/2000 |
| 6127202 | Oxide-based method of making compound semiconductor films and making related electronic devices A method for forming a compound film includes the steps of preparing a source material, depositing the source material on a base and forming a preparatory film from the source material, heating the preparatory film in a suitable atmosphere to form a precu... | 10/03/2000 |
| 6117703 | Process and device for producing a CIS-strip solar cell The invention relates to a method of fabricating a strip CIS solar cell and an apparatus for practicing the method. It is the task of the invention to describe a method and an apparatus for providing a technical solution as well as the required layer stru... | 09/12/2000 |
| 6048442 | Method for producing thin-film solar cell and equipment for producing the same A thin-film light absorbing layer which is regulated so as to have any desired gallium concentration and which is capable of attaining a high open-circuit voltage is formed by a simple method at a temperature lower than the softening point of the soda-lim... | 04/11/2000 |
| 6040521 | N-type window layer for a thin film solar cell and method of making Transparent conductive ZnO films are formed at a high rate, are equal in performance to those formed by MOCVD and have a large area, while the influence of sputtering bombardment is reduced. A method for producing transparent conductive ZnO films is used ... | 03/21/2000 |
| 6023020 | Solar cell and method for manufacturing the same A solar cell utilizing a chalcopyrite semiconductor and reducing the density of defects on the junction interface of pn junctions is provided. This solar cell includes a substrate, a back electrode formed on the substrate, a p-type chalcopyrite semiconduc... | 02/08/2000 |
| 6020556 | Solar cell A solar cell comprising a substrate of insulating material, a bottom side electrode layer formed on one surface of the substrate, a semiconductor photoelectric conversion layer formed on the bottom side electrode layer, a transparent top side electrode la... | 02/01/2000 |
| 5994163 | Method of manufacturing thin-film solar cells A method of manufacturing thin-film solar cells that include a layer of copper indium selenide (CuInSe2) that is applied in one manufacturing step onto a substrate that includes a metal layer that defines an electrical back contact layer of the... | 11/30/1999 |
| 5985691 | Method of making compound semiconductor films and making related electronic devices A method of forming a compound film includes the steps of preparing a source material, depositing the source material on a base to form a precursor film, and heating the precursor film in a suitable atmosphere to form a film. The source material includes ... | 11/16/1999 |
| 5981868 | Thin-film solar cell comprising thin-film light absorbing layer of chalcopyrite multi-element compound semiconductor A solar cell with a heightened open-circuit voltage and improved junction quality of the interface between an interfacial layer (or buffer layer) and a thin-film light absorbing layer is disclosed. A thin-film solar cell is fabricated on a glass substrate... | 11/09/1999 |
| 5948176 | Cadmium-free junction fabrication process for CuInSe2 thin film solar cells The present invention provides an economical, simple, dry and controllable semiconductor layer junction forming process to make cadmium free high efficiency photovoltaic cells having a first layer comprised primarily of copper indium diselenide having a t... | 09/07/1999 |
| 5871630 | Preparation of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide precursor films by electrodeposition for fabricating high efficiency solar cells A photovoltaic cell exhibiting an overall conversion efficiency of 13.6% is prepared from a copper-indium-gallium-diselenide precursor thin film. The film is fabricated by first simultaneously electrodepositing copper, indium, gallium, and selenium onto a... | 02/16/1999 |
| 5866471 | Method of forming semiconductor thin film and method of fabricating solar cell A silicon thin film is formed by coating on a substrate a solution of polysilane represented by the general formula --(SiR12)n --, where R1 substituents are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alk... | 02/02/1999 |
| 5858121 | Thin film solar cell and method for manufacturing the same A thin film solar cell having high conversion efficiency is provided. The band gap of the thin film solar cell can be controlled while keeping the quality superior to conventional solar cells. The absorber layer for photovoltaic energy conversion is a Cu(... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5804054 | Preparation of copper indium gallium diselenide films for solar cells High quality thin films of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide useful in the production of solar cells are prepared by electrodepositing at least one of the constituent metals onto a glass/Mo substrate, followed by physical vapor deposition of copper and sel... | 09/08/1998 |
| 5779877 | Recycling of CIS photovoltaic waste A method for extracting and reclaiming metals from scrap CIS photovoltaic cells and associated photovoltaic manufacturing waste by leaching the waste with dilute nitric acid, skimming any plastic material from the top of the leaching solution, separating ... | 07/14/1998 |
| 5730852 | Preparation of cuxinygazsen (X=0-2, Y=0-2, Z=0-2, N=0-3) precursor films by electrodeposition for fabricating high efficiency solar cells High quality thin films of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide useful in the production of solar cells are prepared by electrodepositing at least one of the constituent metals onto a glass/Mo substrate, followed by physical vapor deposition of copper and sel... | 03/24/1998 |
| 5728231 | Precursor for semiconductor thin films and method for producing semiconductor thin films A precursor for manufacturing a semiconductor thin film in which an oxide thin film comprising at least one element as a dopant, selected from a group which consists of Groups IA, IIA, IIB, VA, and VB elements, and Groups IB and IIIA elements which are ma... | 03/17/1998 |
| 5714391 | Method of manufacturing a compound semiconductor thin film for a photoelectric or solar cell device This invention relates to a manufacturing method of a compound semiconductor thin film derived from a metal sulfide produced by thermal decomposition of a sulfur-containing metal organic compound, the compound containing at least one functional group havi... | 02/03/1998 |
| 5676766 | Solar cell having a chalcopyrite absorber layer A solar cell has a chalcopyrite absorber layer that is applied on the substrate side over an adhesive layer which is chosen from chromium, titanium, tantalum, and titanium nitride.... | 10/14/1997 |
| 5626688 | Solar cell with chalcopyrite absorber layer A substrate-independent manufacturing method for a solar cell with chalcopyrite absorber layer (4, 5) is proposed wherein a desired alkali content is obtained in the finished absorber layer by dosed addition of Na, K, or Li during the manufacturing proces... | 05/06/1997 |
| 5500056 | Solar cell containing low melting point glass layer A solar cell includes a compound semiconductor, which is a laminated film having compound semiconductor layers, and low melting point glass. When the solar cell is heated by fire, the low melting point glass melts to seal the compound semiconductor so tha... | 03/19/1996 |
| 5477088 | Multi-phase back contacts for CIS solar cells Multi-phase, single layer, non-interdiffusing M-Mo back contact metallized films, where M is selected from Cu, Ga, or mixtures thereof, for CIS cells are deposited by a sputtering process on suitable substrates, preferably glass or alumina, to prevent del... | 12/19/1995 |
| 5474939 | Method of making thin film heterojunction solar cell A thin film photovoltaic device comprises a metal back contact having a first p-type semiconductor film of CVD CIS thereon; a second, transparent, n-type semiconductor film of CVD zinc oxide on the CIS and a thin interfacial film of transparent, insulatin... | 12/12/1995 |
| 5445973 | Method for manufacturing solar cells A method for manufacturing solar cells, more specifically thin-film solar cells, particularly thin-film solar cells on which CuInSe2 is deposited. A substrate is provided on which a multi-layer structure is formed by depositing thereon a layer ... | 08/29/1995 |
| 5437736 | Semiconductor fiber solar cells and modules A semiconductor solar cell formed on a optical fiber or fibers, including layers of semiconductor materials surrounding an annular extent of each fiber. The cell is embedded into a superstrate which is a collimating lens. A method of manufacturing the cel... | 08/01/1995 |
| 5399504 | Method of manufacturing CuInSe2 thin film solar cell The quality of CuInSe2 solar cells is estimated during the manufacturing process by using a photoluminescence analysis. Emitted luminescence is measured upon irradiation of a CuInSe2 thin film with laser light, and estimation is perf... | 03/21/1995 |
| 5328519 | Solar cells A solar cell comprising a plurality of photovoltaic elements electrically serially connected with each other on a common conductive substrate, each of said photovoltaic elements comprising a first insulating layer, a first electrode layer, a semiconductor... | 07/12/1994 |
| 5261969 | Monolithic voltage-matched tandem photovoltaic cell and method for making same A monolithic photovoltaic cell (20) that includes at least one upper cell (24) and two or more lower cells (26) is disclosed. The upper cell is separated from the lower cells by an intrinsic isolation layer (28) to which both the upper and lower cells are... | 11/16/1993 |
| 5259891 | Integrated type solar battery An integrated type solar battery comprises a plurality of solar batteries serially connected. An upper electrode of one of a pair of adjacent solar batteries and a lower electrode of the other solar battery are connected via a lead wire. A groove of the b... | 11/09/1993 |
| 5251880 | Cooling system and cooling method for hot isostatic pressurizing equipment A cooling system for the hot isostatic pressurizing equipment which is provided with valves and actuators at the lower part of the equipment so that they are not subject to thermal deformation. The valves and actuators are installed independently from eac... | 10/12/1993 |
| 5141564 | Mixed ternary heterojunction solar cell A thin film heterojunction solar cell and a method of making it has a p-type layer of mixed ternary I-III-VI2 semiconductor material in contact with an n-type layer of mixed binary II-VI semiconductor material. The p-type semiconductor material... | 08/25/1992 |
| 5137835 | Method for manufacturing a chalcopyrite solar cell A method for producing a solar cell having a semiconductor layer of copper gallium diselenide covered with a window layer of copper aluminum diselenide by first producing a semiconductor material of one type of conductivity by forming either a copper gall... | 08/11/1992 |
