Bizarre Patents
Combination Beverage Container and Spittoon
A combination beverage container and spittoon includes a bottom portion including outer wall and a first inner wall defining a spittoon space.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8188365 | Electrode paste for solar cell, solar cell using the paste, and fabrication method of the solar cell An electrode paste for a solar cell, a solar cell electrode using the paste, a solar cell having such an electrode, and a fabrication method of the solar cell are described. The paste for a solar cell electrode comprises a first component that includes silver (Ag) o... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8158880 | Thin-film photovoltaic structures including semiconductor grain and oxide layers Photovoltaic structures for the conversion of solar irradiance into electrical free energy. In a particular implementation, a photovoltaic cell includes a granular semiconductor and oxide layer with nanometer-size absorber semiconductor grains surrounded by a matrix... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8153888 | Lateral ultra-high efficiency solar cell A high-efficiency lateral multi-junction solar cell (C) includes ultra-low profile planar spectral band splitting micro-optics having a shortpass filter (48) reflecting desired frequencies of light (24) to a reflective mirror (58) combined with ... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8153887 | Method and structure for hydrogenation of silicon substrates with shaped covers Method and structure for hydrogenation of silicon substrates with shaped covers. According to an embodiment, the present invention provides a method for fabricating a photovoltaic material. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate. The method also inc... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8148628 | Solar cell receiver for concentrator modules A solar cell receiver comprising a III-V compound semiconductor solar cell and a diode mounted on a board including a connector for electrically connecting to adjacent receivers. The diode is connected in parallel with the solar cell, for reverse biasing the diode a... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8143513 | Solar cell with superlattice structure and fabricating method thereof A solar cell with a superlattice structure and a fabricating method thereof are provided, which includes fabricating a superlattice structure of GaAsN/GaInAs, GaAsN/GaSbAs, or GaAsN/GaInSbAs between a base and an emitter of a middle cell of a triple junction solar c... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8129612 | Method for manufacturing single-crystal silicon solar cell and single-crystal silicon solar cell There is disclosed a method for manufacturing a single-crystal silicon solar cell including the steps of: implanting a hydrogen ion or a rare gas ion into a single-crystal silicon substrate; forming a transparent insulator layer on a metal substrate; performing a su... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8129613 | Photovoltaic cell comprising a thin lamina having low base resistivity and method of making Fabrication of a photovoltaic cell comprising a thin semiconductor lamina may require additional processing after the semiconductor lamina is bonded to a receiver. To minimize high-temperature steps after bonding, the p-n junction is formed at the back of the cell, ... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8119903 | Method of manufacturing single crystal silicon solar cell and single crystal silicon solar cell There is disclosed a single crystal silicon solar cell includes the steps of: implanting hydrogen ions or rare gas ions to a single crystal silicon substrate; performing surface activation on at least one of an ion-implanted surface of the single crystal silicon sub... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8119904 | Silicon wafer based structure for heterostructure solar cells A multi-junction photovoltaic device includes a silicon substrate and a dielectric layer formed on the silicon substrate. A germanium layer is formed on the dielectric layer. The germanium includes a crystalline structure that is substantially similar to the crystal... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8106289 | Hybrid photovoltaic device A hybrid photovoltaic device comprising a plurality of nanostructures embedded in a matrix of a photosensitive material including one or more layers. A combination of innovative structural aspects of the hybrid photovoltaic device results in significant improvements... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8106290 | Method for manufacturing single crystal silicon solar cell and single crystal silicon solar cell A method for manufacturing a single crystal silicon solar cell includes implanting either hydrogen ions or rare-gas ions into a single crystal silicon substrate; bringing the single crystal silicon substrate in close contact with a transparent insulator substrate vi... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8088992 | Solar cell receiver having an insulated bypass diode A solar cell receiver comprising a solar cell having one or more III-V compound semiconductor layers, a diode coupled in parallel with the solar cell and operable to be forward-biased in instances when the solar cell is not generating above a threshold voltage, a co... | 01/03/2012 |
| 8088991 | Three-terminal two-junction photovoltaic cells and method of use A method of operating a multi-junction photovoltaic cell with junctions connected in series includes operating each junction at a different, respective maximum power point. A photovoltaic circuit includes: at least one multi-junction photovoltaic cell, comprising at... | 01/03/2012 |
| 8084682 | Multiple band gapped cadmium telluride photovoltaic devices and process for making the same A heterojunction photovoltaic device for the production of electrical energy in response to the incident light includes an optically transparent substrate, a front contact formed of an transparent conductive oxide for collecting light generated charge carriers, an n... | 12/27/2011 |
| 8039734 | Electrode paste for solar cell, solar cell using the paste, and fabrication method of the solar cell An electrode paste for a solar cell, a solar cell electrode using the paste, a solar cell having such an electrode, and a fabrication method of the solar cell are described. The paste for a solar cell electrode comprises a first component that includes silver (Ag) o... | 10/18/2011 |
| 8035028 | Pyramidal three-dimensional thin-film solar cells A pyramidal three-dimensional thin-film solar cell, comprising a pyramidal three-dimensional thin-film solar cell substrate comprising a plurality of pyramid-shaped unit cells with emitter junction regions and doped base regions, emitter metallization regions and ba... | 10/11/2011 |
| 8003883 | Nanowall solar cells and optoelectronic devices A photovoltaic device that includes a substrate and a nanowall structure disposed on the substrate surface. The device also includes at least one layer conformally deposited over the nanowall structure. The conformal layer(s) is at least a portion of a photoactive j... | 08/23/2011 |
| 7999175 | Interdigitated back contact silicon solar cells with laser ablated grooves Interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells are produced by depositing spaced-apart parallel pads of a first dopant bearing material (e.g., boron) on a substrate, heating the substrate to both diffuse the first dopant into corresponding first (e.g., p+) diffusion ... | 08/16/2011 |
| 7994419 | Methods for fabricating thin film III-V compound solar cell The present invention utilizes epitaxial lift-off in which a sacrificial layer is included in the epitaxial growth between the substrate and a thin film III-V compound solar cell. To provide support for the thin film III-V compound solar cell in absence of the subst... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7977568 | Multilayered film-nanowire composite, bifacial, and tandem solar cells A photovoltaic device includes a substrate having at least two surfaces and a multilayered film disposed on at least a portion of at least one surface of the substrate. Elongated nanostructures are disposed on the multilayered film. The device incorporates a top lay... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7952018 | Stacked photovoltaic apparatus A stacked photovoltaic apparatus capable of improving the output characteristics is provided. This stacked photovoltaic apparatus comprises a second power generation unit including a second semiconductor layer having a first refractive index and a third semiconducto... | 05/31/2011 |
| 7943847 | Apparatus and methods for solar energy conversion using nanoscale cometal structures An apparatus and methods for solar conversion using nanoscale cometal structures are disclosed herein. The cometal structures may be coaxial and coplanar. A nanoscale optics apparatus for use as a solar cell comprises a plurality of nanoscale cometal structures each... | 05/17/2011 |
| 7923625 | Stacked photovoltaic device and method of manufacturing the same A back metal electrode, a bottom cell using microcrystalline silicon for a photoelectric conversion layer, a front cell using amorphous silicon for a photoelectric conversion layer, and a transparent front electrode are formed in this order on a supporting substrate... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7915521 | Type II quantum dot solar cells A device comprises a plurality of fence layers of a semiconductor material and a plurality of alternating layers of quantum dots of a second semiconductor material embedded between and in direct contact with a third semiconductor material disposed in a stack between... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7915520 | Photoelectric conversion device and manufacturing method thereof A photoelectric conversion device comprising: a pin-type photoelectric conversion layer constituted of a p-type semiconductor layer, an i-type semiconductor layer and an n-type semiconductor layer, wherein the p-type semiconductor layer contains silicon atoms and ni... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7906723 | Compositionally-graded and structurally-graded photovoltaic devices and methods of fabricating such devices A semiconductor structure is described, including a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor layer disposed on the semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor layer is both compositionally graded and structurally graded. Specifically, the semiconductor layer is co... | 03/15/2011 |
| 7902453 | Edge illumination photovoltaic devices and methods of making same Edge illumination photovoltaic devices based on multicomponent semiconductors and low cost methods for fabricating such devices are provided. The photovoltaic devices can find application in a variety of photovoltaic and thermophotovoltaic systems including solar co... | 03/08/2011 |
| 7893347 | Photovoltaic solar cell A photovoltaic solar cell (SZ) of improved light-to-current conversion properties is provided with nano emitters (NE) of acicular or rib-like form and are separated from each other at a uniform distance D≦√{square root over (2)}L and penetrating to a penetration... | 02/22/2011 |
| 7893348 | Nanowires in thin-film silicon solar cells In some embodiments, the present invention is directed to photovoltaic (PV) devices comprising silicon (Si) nanowires as active PV elements, wherein such devices are typically thin film Si solar cells. Generally, such solar cells are of the p-i-n type and can be fab... | 02/22/2011 |
| 7893349 | Photovoltaic multi-junction wavelength compensation system and method Systems and methods are disclosed for current loss compensation in multi-junction photovoltaic cells. The use of direct electrical contact with the interconnect layers in a multi-junction PV cell can improve cell efficiency over variable lighting conditions. Electri... | 02/22/2011 |
| 7880081 | Limited discharge current propagation solar generator A solar generator has at least two branches electrically connected in parallel at opposite first and second ends of positive and negative polarity, respectively, each branch comprising one or more photoelectric cells electrically connected in series and having a fir... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7868247 | Photovoltaic device A method of forming a photovoltaic device includes a plurality of quantum wells and a plurality of barriers. The quantum wells and barriers are disposed on an underlying layer. The barriers alternate with the quantum wells. One of the plurality of quantum wells and ... | 01/11/2011 |
| 7863518 | Photovoltaic device A photovoltaic device capable of improving output characteristics is provided. This photovoltaic device comprises a crystalline semiconductor member, a substantially intrinsic first amorphous semiconductor layer formed on the front surface of the crystalline semicon... | 01/04/2011 |
| 7858876 | Graphite-based photovoltaic cells The present invention uses lithographically patterned graphite stacks as the basic building elements of an efficient and economical photovoltaic cell. The basic design of the graphite-based photovoltaic cells includes a plurality of spatially separated graphite stac... | 12/28/2010 |
| 7851697 | Thin film photovoltaic device The present invention provides a thin film photovoltaic device and a method of forming a thin film photovoltaic device. The thin film photovoltaic device has a substrate, a thin film layer formed on the substrate and first and second electrodes formed on one side of... | 12/14/2010 |
| 7851698 | Trench process and structure for backside contact solar cells with polysilicon doped regions A solar cell includes polysilicon P-type and N-type doped regions on a backside of a substrate, such as a silicon wafer. An interrupted trench structure separates the P-type doped region from the N-type doped region in some locations but allows the P-type doped regi... | 12/14/2010 |
| 7838761 | Method for manufacturing solar cell and solar cell manufactured by the method A method for manufacturing a solar cell includes (S1) forming, on a first conductive semiconductor substrate, a second conductive semiconductor layer having an opposite conduction type by means of ion implantation to form a pn junction in an interface thereof... | 11/23/2010 |
| 7812250 | Trench process and structure for backside contact solar cells with polysilicon doped regions A solar cell includes polysilicon P-type and N-type doped regions on a backside of a substrate, such as a silicon wafer. A trench structure separates the P-type doped region from the N-type doped region. Each of the P-type and N-type doped regions may be formed over... | 10/12/2010 |
| 7812249 | Multijunction photovoltaic cell grown on high-miscut-angle substrate The present invention provides a photovoltaic cell comprising a GaInP subcell comprising a disordered group-III sublattice, a Ga(In)As subcell disposed below the GaInP subcell, and a Ge substrate disposed below the Ga(In)As subcell comprising a surface misoriented f... | 10/12/2010 |
