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US 12,249,668 B2Granted
Multijunction solar cells
AssigneeSolAero Technologies Corp.
InventorsJohn Hart, Daniel Derkacs, Zachary Bittner, Andrew Espenlaub
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A multijunction solar cell including an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap and positioned for receiving an incoming light beam; and a second solar subcell disposed below and adjacent to and lattice matched with said upper first solar subcell, and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; wherein at least one of the solar subcells has a graded band gap throughout the thickness of at least a portion of its emitter layer and base layer.
Claims20
A multijunction solar cell comprising:
- a first solar subcell, having an emitter layer and a base layer which form a photoelectric junction;
- a second solar subcell disposed below and adjacent to the first solar subcell, having an emitter layer and a base layer which form a photoelectric junction;
- and
- a third solar subcell disposed below the second solar subcell, having an emitter layer and a base layer which form a photoelectric junction;
- wherein the base layer and the emitter layer of at least a particular one of the first solar subcell, the second solar subcell, and the third solar subcell has a graded band gap throughout at least a portion of a thickness of the emitter layer in a first region in the emitter layer adjacent to the photoelectric junction, and throughout at least a portion of a thickness of the base layer in a second region in the base layer spaced apart from the first region and adjacent to the photoelectric junction, with the band gap in the first region and the band gap in the second region being in the range of 20 to 300 meV greater than the band gap away from the photoelectric junction in the emitter layer and the base layer in the at least a particular one of the first solar subcell, the second solar subcell and the third solar subcell, and
- wherein the thickness of the first region is less than the thickness of the second region.
3 more elements
A method of fabricating a multijunction solar cell comprising:
- forming a first solar subcell having an emitter layer and a base layer which form a photoelectric junction;
- and
- forming a second solar subcell disposed below and adjacent to the first solar subcell, having an emitter layer and a base layer which form a photoelectric junction;
- and
- wherein the base layer and the emitter layer of at least a particular one of the first solar subcell and the second solar subcell has a graded band gap throughout at least a first portion of the thickness of its emitter layer in a first region in the emitter layer adjacent to the photoelectric junction, or throughout at least a second portion of the thickness of its base layer in a second region spaced apart from the first region and adjacent to the photoelectric junction, with the band gap In the first region and the band gap In the second region being in the range of 20 to 300 meV greater than the band gap away from the photoelectric junction In the emitter layer or the base layer in the particularly one solar subcell, and
- wherein the thickness of the first region Is greater than the thickness of the second region.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.