Back to results
US 10,896,990 B2Granted
Group-IV solar cell structure using group-IV or III-V heterostructures
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsRichard R. King, Christopher M. Fetzer, Nasser H. Karam
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Device structures, apparatuses, and methods are disclosed for photovoltaic cells that may be a single-junction or multijunction solar cells, with at least a first layer comprising a group-IV semiconductor in which part of the cell comprises a second layer comprising a III-V semiconductor or group-IV semiconductor having a different composition than the group-IV semiconductor of the first layer, such that a heterostructure is formed between the first and second layers.
Claims23
A photovoltaic cell comprising:
- at least two group-IV subcells arranged as an upper group-IV subcell and a lower group-IV subcell within a multijunction cell, wherein the upper group-IV subcell is designed to be positioned closer to a primary light source than the lower group-IV subcell, and wherein the upper group-IV subcell has a higher direct or indirect energy bandgap than the lower group-IV subcell, the upper group-IV subcell further comprising a first layer comprising a solar cell emitter layer formed from at least one group-IV semiconductor material, the solar cell emitter layer being the primary photoabsorber, the photovoltaic cell further comprising a tunnel junction formed from at least one group-IV semiconductor layer, the upper group-IV subcell and the lower group-IV subcell being interconnected in series with the tunnel junction, wherein the tunnel junction is selected from the group consisting of:
- strained or unstrained p+Ge/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- strained or unstrained p+SiGe/n+SiGe tunnel junctions;
- strained or unstrained p+CGe/n+CGe tunnel junctions;
- strained p+SiGe/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- p+Ge/strained n+SiGe tunnel junctions;
- strained p+CGe/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- p+Ge/strained n+CGe tunnel junctions;
- p+SiGeSn/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- p+Ge/n+SiGeSn tunnel junctions;
- p+CSiGeSn/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- and
- p+Ge/n+CSiGeSn tunnel junctions,
- the upper group-IV subcell further comprising a back-surface field (BSF) layer between the solar cell emitter layer and the tunnel junction, the BSF layer being immediately adjacent the solar cell emitter layer.
11 more elements
A photovoltaic cell comprising:
- at least two group-IV subcells arranged as an upper group-IV subcell and a lower group-IV subcell within a multijunction cell, wherein the upper group-IV subcell is designed to be positioned closer to a primary light source than the lower group-IV subcell, and wherein the upper group-IV subcell has a higher direct or indirect energy bandgap than the lower group-IV subcell, the upper group-IV subcell further comprising a first layer comprising a solar cell emitter layer formed from at least one group-IV semiconductor material, the solar cell emitter layer being the primary photoabsorber, the photovoltaic cell further comprising a tunnel junction formed from at least one group-IV semiconductor layer, the upper group-IV subcell and the lower group-IV subcell being interconnected in series with the tunnel junction, wherein the tunnel junction comprises one or more tunnel junction semiconductors selected from the group consisting of:
- CGe and GeSn,
- the upper group-IV subcell further comprising a back-surface field (BSF) layer between the solar cell emitter layer and the tunnel junction, the BSF layer being immediately adjacent the emitter layer.
A method for energy generation comprising the step of:
- providing a photovoltaic cell comprising at least two group-IV subcells arranged as an upper group-IV subcell and a lower group-IV subcell within a multijunction cell, wherein the upper group-IV subcell is designed to be positioned closer to a primary light source than at the lower group-IV subcell, and wherein the upper group-IV subcell has a higher direct or indirect energy bandgap than the lower group-IV subcell, the upper group-IV subcell further comprising a first layer comprising a solar cell emitter layer formed from at least one group-IV semiconductor material, the solar cell emitter layer being the primary photoabsorber, the photovoltaic cell further comprising a tunnel junction formed from at least one group-IV semiconductor layer, the upper group-IV subcell and the lower group-IV subcell being interconnected in series with the tunnel junction, wherein the tunnel junction is selected from the group consisting of:
- strained or unstrained p+Ge/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- strained or unstrained p+SiGe/n+SiGe tunnel junctions;
- strained or unstrained p+CGe/n+CGe tunnel junctions;
- strained p+SiGe/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- p+Ge/strained n+SiGe tunnel junctions;
- strained p+CGe/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- p+Ge/strained n+CGe tunnel junctions;
- p+SiGeSn/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- p+Ge/n+SiGeSn tunnel junctions;
- p+CSiGeSn/n+Ge tunnel junctions;
- and
- p+Ge/n+CSiGeSn tunnel junctions,
- the upper group-IV subcell further comprises a back-surface field (BSF) layer between the solar cell emitter layer and the tunnel junction, the BSF layer being immediately adjacent the emitter layer.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.