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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7968793 | Solar cell A solar cell includes a back metal-contact layer, a P-type semiconductor layer, a P-N junction layer, an N-type semiconductor layer and a transparent electrically conductive layer. The P-type semiconductor layer is formed on the back metal-contact layer. The P-type ... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7842882 | Low cost and high throughput deposition methods and apparatus for high density semiconductor film growth The present invention describes a method of obtaining an absorber layer for a solar cell, That method includes depositing a preparatory material comprising a melt of at least one Group IIIA material on a base to form a precursor layer, and reacting the precursor lay... | 11/30/2010 |
| 7807921 | Multijunction solar cell having a lattice mismatched GrIII-GrV-X layer and a composition-graded buffer layer A multijunction solar cell includes a first photoactive subcell layer having a first-subcell lattice parameter and a composition including (a) at least one Group III element, at least one Group V element other than (nitrogen, phosphorus), and (nitrogen, phosphorus),... | 10/05/2010 |
| 7663056 | Chalcopyrite type solar cell A chalcopyrite type solar cell has a mica aggregate substrate formed by binding mica particulates with a resin. A multilayer body consisting of a first electrode, a light absorption layer and a second electrode is formed on the mica aggregate substrate with a smooth... | 02/16/2010 |
| 7348259 | Method of fabricating a semiconductor structure that includes transferring one or more material layers to a substrate and smoothing an exposed surface of at least one of the material layers A method of fabricating a semiconductor structure. According to one aspect of the invention, on a first semiconductor substrate, a first compositionally graded Si1-xGex buffer is deposited where the Ge composition x is increasing from about zer... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7339109 | Apparatus and method for optimizing the efficiency of germanium junctions in multi-junction solar cells Apparatus and Method for Optimizing the Efficiency of Germanium Junctions in Multi-Junction Solar Cells. In a preferred embodiment, an indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) nucleation layer is disposed between the germanium (Ge) substrate and the overlying dual-junction ... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7319190 | Thermal process for creation of an in-situ junction layer in CIGS The present invention relates generally to the field of photovoltaics and more specifically to manufacturing thin-film solar cells using a thermal process. Specifically, a method is disclosed to manufacture a CIGS solar cell by an in-situ junction formation process.... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7309832 | Multi-junction solar cell device A multi-junction solar cell device (10) is provided. The multi-junction solar cell device (10) comprises either two or three active solar cells connected in series in a monolithic structure. The multi-junction device (10) comprises a bottom acti... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7297868 | Preparation of CIGS-based solar cells using a buffered electrodeposition bath A photovoltaic cell exhibiting an overall conversion efficiency of at least 9.0% is prepared from a copper-indium-gallium-diselenide thin film. The thin film is prepared by simultaneously electroplating copper, indium, gallium, and selenium onto a substrate using a ... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7285720 | Solar cell with high-temperature front electrical contact, and its fabrication A solar cell has an active semiconductor structure and a back electrical contact overlying and contacting an active semiconductor structure back side. A front electrical contact is applied overlying and contacting the active semiconductor structure front side. The f... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7279369 | Germanium on insulator fabrication via epitaxial germanium bonding A method of forming a germanium-on-insulator (GOI). An epitaxial germanium layer is formed on top of a first substrate. A first dielectric film is formed on top of the epitaxial germanium layer. A second substrate is provided. The first substrate is bonded to the se... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7271333 | Apparatus and method of production of thin film photovoltaic modules The present invention relates to light-weight thin-film photovoltaic cells, methods for making cells, modules made from cells, and methods for making modules from cells. The invention teaches a manner in which individual cells may be bonded to one another, eliminati... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7253355 | Method for constructing a layer structure on a substrate The invention relates to a method for constructing a layer structure on an especially fragile flat substrate. In order for thin, fragile flat substrates to be able to be subjected to refinement or construction of semiconductor components, a process is proposed with ... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7250330 | Method of making an electronic package A method of making an electronic package is described, wherein a substrate is provided with a pattern of conductive pads and a portion of solder positioned on selected ones of the pattern of copper pads. The solder is then reflowed to form partial hemispherically sh... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7217882 | Broad spectrum solar cell An alloy having a large band gap range is used in a multijunction solar cell to enhance utilization of the solar energy spectrum. In one embodiment, the alloy is In1−xGaxN having an energy bandgap range of approximately 0.7 eV to 3.4 eV, prov... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7202411 | Photovoltaic and thermophotovoltaic devices with quantum barriers A photovoltaic or thermophotovoltaic device includes a diode formed by p-type material and n-type material joined at a p-n junction and including a depletion region adjacent to said p-n junction, and a quantum barrier disposed near or in the depletion region of the ... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7179677 | ZnO/Cu(InGa)Sesolar cells prepared by vapor phase Zn doping A process for making a thin film ZnO/Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cell without depositing a buffer layer and by Zn doping from a vapor phase, comprising: depositing Cu(InGa)Se2 layer on a metal back contact deposited on a glass substrate; heating the Cu(I... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7173179 | Solar co-generator A solar co-generator for producing both heat energy and electricity is disclosed. A solar concentrator directs sunlight into a container lined with solar cells and filled with a thermal transfer fluid. The fluid is transparent with respect to certain wavelengths of ... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7148417 | GaP/silicon tandem solar cell with extended temperature range A two-junction solar cell has a bottom solar cell junction of crystalline silicon, and a top solar cell junction of gallium phosphide. A three (or more) junction solar cell has bottom solar cell junctions of silicon, and a top solar cell junction of gallium phosphid... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7148123 | Synthesis of layers, coatings or films using collection layer Systems and methods are described for synthesis of films, coatings or layers using templates. A method includes locating a template within at least one of a first precursor layer that is coupled to a first substrate and a second precursor layer that is coupled to a ... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7141834 | Method of using a germanium layer transfer to Si for photovoltaic applications and heterostructure made thereby Ge/Si and other nonsilicon film heterostructures are formed by hydrogen-induced exfoliation of the Ge film which is wafer bonded to a cheaper substrate, such as Si. A thin, single-crystal layer of Ge is transferred to Si substrate. The bond at the interface of the G... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7126052 | Isoelectronic surfactant induced sublattice disordering in optoelectronic devices A method of disordering a layer of an optoelectronic device including; growing a plurality of lower layers; introducing an isoelectronic surfactant; growing a layer; allowing the surfactant to desorb; and growing subsequent layers all performed at a low pressure of ... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7122733 | Multi-junction photovoltaic cell having buffer layers for the growth of single crystal boron compounds The present invention provides a solar cell comprising a substrate, a first buffer layer disposed above the base layer, a second buffer layer disposed above the first buffer layer, a first boron compound layer disposed above the second buffer layer, a second boron c... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7122734 | Isoelectronic surfactant suppression of threading dislocations in metamorphic epitaxial layers A method of reducing propagation of threading dislocations into active areas of an optoelectronic device having a III–V material system includes growing a metamorphic buffer region in the presence of an isoelectronic surfactant. A first buffer layer may be lattice... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7119271 | Wide-bandgap, lattice-mismatched window layer for a solar conversion device A photovoltaic cell or other optoelectronic device having a wide-bandgap semiconductor used in the window layer. This wider bandgap is achieved by using a semiconductor composition that is not lattice-matched to the cell layer directly beneath it and/or to the growt... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7115811 | Semiconductor body forming a solar cell with a bypass diode The present invention is directed to systems and methods for protecting a solar cell. The solar cell includes first solar cell portion. The first solar cell portion includes at least one junction and at least one solar cell contact on a backside of the first solar c... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7087832 | Nanostructure and nanocomposite based compositions and photovoltaic devices Nanocomposite photovoltaic devices are provided that generally include semiconductor nanocrystals as at least a portion of a photoactive layer. Photovoltaic devices and other layered devices that comprise core-shell nanostructures and/or two populations of nanostruc... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7087833 | Nanostructure and nanocomposite based compositions and photovoltaic devices Nanocomposite photovoltaic devices are provided that generally include semiconductor nanocrystals as at least a portion of a photoactive layer. Photovoltaic devices and other layered devices that comprise core-shell nanostructures and/or two populations of nanostruc... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7081584 | Solar based electrical energy generation with spectral cooling Method and system for converting solar energy into electrical energy utilizing serially coupled multijunction-type photovoltaic cells in conjunction with a form of spectral cooling. The latter cooling is carried out by removing ineffective solar energy components fr... | 07/25/2006 |
| 7071407 | Method and apparatus of multiplejunction solar cell structure with high band gap heterojunction middle cell A method and a multijunction solar device having a high band gap heterojunction middle solar cell are disclosed. In one embodiment, a triple-junction solar device includes bottom, middle, and top cells. The bottom cell has a germanium (Ge) substrate and a buffer lay... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7053293 | GaAs substrate with Sb buffering for high in devices GaAs substrates with compositionally graded buffer layers for matching lattice constants with high-Indium semiconductor materials such as quantum well infrared photoconductor devices and thermo photo voltaic devices are disclosed. ... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7019208 | Method of junction formation for CIGS photovoltaic devices Sulfur is used to improve the performance of CIGS devices prepared by the evaporation of a single source ZIS type compound to form a buffer layer on the CIGS. The sulfur may be evaporated, or contained in the ZIS type material, or both. Vacuum evaporation apparatus ... | 03/28/2006 |
| 7019339 | Method of using a germanium layer transfer to Si for photovoltaic applications and heterostructure made thereby Ge/Si and other nonsilicon film heterostructures are formed by hydrogen-induced exfoliation of the Ge film which is wafer bonded to a cheaper substrate, such as Si. A thin, single-crystal layer of Ge is transferred to Si substrate. The bond at the interface of the G... | 03/28/2006 |
| 6998320 | Passivation layer for group III-V semiconductor devices A passivation layer for a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) is formed from a relatively high bandgap material that is lattice-matched to the HBT components it passivates. By selecting the passivation layer to have a higher bandgap than the HBT components, mino... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6921726 | Growing smooth semiconductor layers A method includes epitaxially growing a semiconductor layer with a free surface and performing an anneal that reduces atomic roughness on the free surface. The free surface has an orientation with respect to lattice axes of the layer for which atoms in flat regions ... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6878871 | Nanostructure and nanocomposite based compositions and photovoltaic devices Nanocomposite photovoltaic devices are provided that generally include semiconductor nanocrystals as at least a portion of a photoactive layer. Photovoltaic devices and other layered devices that comprise core-shell nanostructures and/or two populations of nanostruc... | 04/12/2005 |
| 6864414 | Apparatus and method for integral bypass diode in solar cells A solar cell having a multijunction solar cell structure with a bypass diode is disclosed. The bypass diode provides a reverse bias protection for the multijunction solar cell structure. In one embodiment, the multifunction solar cell structure includes a substrate,... | 03/08/2005 |
| 6822158 | Thin-film solar cell and manufacture method therefor A thin-film solar cell including a transparent electrode layer, a semiconductor photovoltaic conversion layer, a rear transparent electrode layer and a rear reflective metal layer, said layers being formed in this order on a transparent substrate, wherein the rear t... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6815736 | Isoelectronic co-doping Isoelectronic co-doping of semiconductor compounds and alloys with deep acceptors and deep donors is used to decrease bandgap, to increase concentration of the dopant constituents in the resulting alloys, and to increase carrier mobilities lifetimes. Group III-V com... | 11/09/2004 |
| 6787385 | Method of preparing nitrogen containing semiconductor material A method of combining group III elements with group V elements that incorporates at least nitrogen from a nitrogen halide for use in semiconductors and in particular semiconductors in photovoltaic cells. ... | 09/07/2004 |
