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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8188367 | Multilayer structure to form absorber layers for solar cells A method of forming a doped Group IBIIIAVIA absorber layer for solar cells by reacting a partially reacted precursor layer with a dopant structure. The precursor layer including Group IB, Group IIIA and Group VIA materials such as Cu, Ga, In and Se are deposited on ... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8076571 | Front electrode for use in photovoltaic device and method of making same This invention relates to a front electrode/contact for use in an electronic device such as a photovoltaic device. In certain example embodiments, the front electrode of a photovoltaic device or the like includes a multilayer coating including at least one transpare... | 12/13/2011 |
| 7964791 | Chalcopyrite type solar cell A first electrode layer 14 is formed on a mica substrate 54, and then first scribe portions 64 are disposed. Next, a light absorbing layer 16 and a buffer layer 18 are disposed on the first electrode layer 14, and through ho... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7888594 | Photovoltaic device including front electrode having titanium oxide inclusive layer with high refractive index Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to an electrode (e.g., front electrode) for use in a photovoltaic device or the like. In certain example embodiments, a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) of the front electrode for use in a photovoltaic device is... | 02/15/2011 |
| 7838763 | Manufacturing apparatus and method for large-scale production of thin-film solar cells A method of manufacturing improved thin-film solar cells entirely by sputtering includes a high efficiency back contact/reflecting multi-layer containing at least one barrier layer consisting of a transition metal nitride. A copper indium gallium diselenide (Cu(In | 11/23/2010 |
| 7767904 | Compositions including controlled segregated phase domain structures A composition includes a chemical reaction product defining a first surface and a second surface, characterized in that the chemical reaction product includes a segregated phase domain structure including a plurality of domain structures, wherein at least one of the... | 08/03/2010 |
| 7605328 | Photovoltaic thin-film cell produced from metallic blend using high-temperature printing The metallic components of a IB-IIIA-VIA photovoltaic cell active layer may be directly coated onto a substrate by using relatively low melting point (e.g., less than about 500° C.) metals such as indium and gallium. Specifically, CI(G)S thin-film solar cells may b... | 10/20/2009 |
| 7557294 | Solar cell and production thereof A solar cell is configured to include: a substrate (21); a conductive film (22) formed on the substrate (21); a compound semiconductor layer (23) formed on the conductive film (22), including a p-type semiconductor crystal containi... | 07/07/2009 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 7255926 | Barrier layer made of a curable resin containing polymeric polyol A component involving a substrate, a layered structure arranged on the substrate, and a barrier layer arranged over the layered structure, wherein the barrier layer has the reaction product of an epoxy resin and a polymeric polyol. ... | 08/14/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7235736 | Monolithic integration of cylindrical solar cells A solar cell unit comprising a substrate and a plurality of photovoltaic cells is provided. The substrate has a first end and a second end. The plurality of photovoltaic cells, which are linearly arranged on the substrate, comprises a first photovoltaic cell and a s... | 06/26/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7163835 | Method for producing thin semiconductor films by deposition from solution A method is described for producing thin semiconductor films on a substrate by contacting a substrate with a solution containing a metal salt, a source of a Group VIa element, and chelating agent, and a noble metal in its elemental form. The resulting semiconductor ... | 01/16/2007 |
| 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 |
| 7087831 | Photoelectric conversion device and method of production thereof A photoelectric conversion device comprising at least an electron acceptive charge transfer layer, an electron donative charge transfer layer, and a light absorption layer existing between the charge transfer layers, wherein either one of the charge transfer layers ... | 08/08/2006 |
| 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 |
| 7053294 | Thin-film solar cell fabricated on a flexible metallic substrate A thin-film solar cell (10) is provided. The thin-film solar cell (10) comprises a flexible metallic substrate (12) having a first surface and a second surface. A back metal contact layer (16) is deposited on the first surface of the flex... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7026543 | Photovoltaically active materials and cells containing them In a photovoltaic cell having a photovoltaically active semiconductor material constituted by a plurality of metals or metal oxides, the photovoltaically active material is selected from a p- or n-doped semiconductor material const... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7022910 | Photovoltaic cells utilizing mesh electrodes In one aspect, the invention provides photovoltaic cells that utilize a mesh electrode on at least one exposure side of the photovoltaic cell. Preferably, the mesh electrode is a metallic mesh. In one embodiment, the invention provides dye-sensitized solar cells (DS... | 04/04/2006 |
| 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 |
| 7018858 | Light absorbing layer producing method A method of producing a light absorbing layer of CIGS for a solar cell by forming a precursor film on a back electrode and treating the precursor film in a selenium atmosphere, wherein an alkali layer is formed on the back electrode by dipping the back electrode in ... | 03/28/2006 |
| 6974976 | Thin-film solar cells A method of manufacturing improved thin-film solar cells entirely by sputtering includes a high efficiency back contact/reflecting multi-layer containing at least one barrier layer consisting of a transition metal nitride. A copper indium gallium diselenide (Cu(In | 12/13/2005 |
| 6951771 | Method of forming laminate and method of manufacturing photovoltaic device A method of forming a laminate and a method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device using the laminate are provided. The laminate forming method includes a first step of forming an intermediate layer on a base member, and a second step of forming a metal layer on the... | 10/04/2005 |
| 6949206 | Organic species that facilitate charge transfer to or from nanostructures The present invention provides compositions (small molecules, oligomers and polymers) that can be used to modify charge transport across a nanocrystal surface or within a nanocrystal-containing matrix, as well as methods for making and using the novel compositions. | 09/27/2005 |
| 6913943 | Photovoltaic device This invention is a layered thin film semiconductor device comprising a first transparent layer; a thin, second transparent layer having a conductivity less than the first transparent layer; an n-type layer; and a p-type layer comprising one or more IIB and VIA elem... | 07/05/2005 |
| 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 |
| 6864415 | Photoelectric cell and process for producing metal oxide semiconductor film for use in photoelectric cell A photoelectric cell that includes a first insulating base, having on its surface a first electrode layer, which has on its surface a metal oxide semiconductor film, which includes anatase titanium oxide particles, on which a photosensitizer is absorbed and a second... | 03/08/2005 |
| 6849798 | Photovoltaic cell using stable Cu2O nanocrystals and conductive polymers The present invention relates to the use of a nanocrystalline layer of Cu2O in the construction of photovoltaic cells to increase the ability of the photovoltaic cells to utilize UV radiations for photocurrent generation. ... | 02/01/2005 |
| 6825409 | Method for producing solar cells and thin-film solar cell A thin-film solar cell and a method of producing a thin-film solar cell. The thin-film solar cell includes an absorber layer and at least one transparent window electrode. The window electrode is produced with a first metal-based thin-film, which receives an anti-re... | 11/30/2004 |
| 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 |
| 6740807 | Light-receiving device and image sensor A differential response light-receiving device comprising: a semiconductor electrode comprising an electrically conductive layer and a photosensitive layer containing a semiconductor sensitized by a dye; an ion-conductive electrolyte layer; and a counter electrode, ... | 05/25/2004 |
| 6706959 | Photovoltaic apparatus and mass-producing apparatus for mass-producing spherical semiconductor particles A photoelectric conversion element is disposed in each of a plurality of recesses of a support. Light reflected by the inside surface of the recess shines on the photoelectric conversion element. The photoelectric conversion element has an approximately spherical sh... | 03/16/2004 |
| 6660931 | Substrate for solar cell, solar cell having the same, and production process of solar cell A substrate for a solar cell is provided which comprises a support having a metal surface and a zinc oxide film formed on the metal surface and having a water content of 7.5×10-3 mol/cm3 or less, preferably 4.0×10-4 mol/... | 12/09/2003 |
| 6639143 | Solar cell using ferroelectric material(s) A solar cell using a ferroelectric material(s) is provided with a ferroelectric layer at the front surface or the rear surface thereof, or at the front and the rear surfaces thereof. The ferroelectric layer is formed with a ferroelectric material such as ... | 10/28/2003 |
| 6559373 | Metal corrosion prevention system using a non-sacrificial photoanode under sunlight The present invention relates to a solar powered cathodic protection system using a photocatalyst which functions as a non-sacrificial photoanode under sunlight, wherein said non-sacrificial photoanode consisting of the photocatalyst such as TiO2 | 05/06/2003 |
| 6559372 | Photovoltaic devices and compositions for use therein Systems and methods are described for compositions, apparatus and/or electronic devices. A composition, includes a composition layer defining a first surface and a second surface, the composition layer including a collection layer that is located closer t... | 05/06/2003 |
| 6541695 | High efficiency solar photovoltaic cells produced with inexpensive materials by processes suitable for large volume production A thin film, photovoltaic, solar energy conversion device comprising: a thin-film, photovoltaic layer; a transparent electrical conducting layer in contact with said photovoltaic layer; a back electrical conducting layer in contact with said photovoltaic ... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6538194 | Photoelectric cell and process for producing metal oxide semiconductor film for use in photoelectric cell A photoelectric cell that includes a first insulating base, having on its surface a first electrode layer, which has on its surface a metal oxide semiconductor film, which includes anatase titanium oxide particles, on which a photosensitizer is adsorbed a... | 03/25/2003 |
