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US 2010/0147372 A1Published application
Via structures in solar cells with bypass diode
AssigneeEmcore Solar Power, Inc.
InventorsRobert Meck, Paul R. Sharps
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A solar cell including a semiconductor body with a multijunction solar cell and an integral bypass diode, at least one via extending between the upper and lower surfaces of the semiconductor body and electrically conducting elements of the solar cell.
Claims20
A solar cell comprising:
- a substrate with a first side and an opposing second side, the second side having a first section at least partly covered by an insulative material and an adjacent second section;
- a sequence of layers of semiconductor material and a bypass diode each on the first side of the substrate, the sequence of layers of semiconductor material being separated into a first region forming a multijunction solar cell with a plurality of subcells and a second region forming a support for the bypass diode;
- a first contact disposed on the first section of the second side of the substrate on the insulative material;
- a second contact disposed on the second section of the second side of the substrate so that the second contact is electrically connected to the multijunction solar cell through the substrate;
- a first electrically conducting via extending through the bypass diode, the second region of the sequence of layers of semiconductor material and the substrate to the first contact, the first via electrically connecting the first contact to the bypass diode.
2 more elements
A solar cell comprising:
- a substrate with a first side and an opposing second side;
- a multijunction solar cell positioned on a first section of the first side of the substrate and having at least a bottom-most cell and a top-most cell with the bottom-most cell in closer proximity to the substrate than the top-most cell;
- a bypass diode positioned on a second section of the first side of the substrate and spaced away from the multijunction solar cell;
- a top-most layer of the top-most cell of the multijunction solar cell having a conductivity type that is opposite of a top-most layer of the bypass diode;
- and
- an electrically conducting via that extends through the second section of the substrate to electrically connect a top-most layer of the bypass diode to a first contact on the second side of the substrate, the first contact being insulated from the substrate and spaced apart from a second contact on the second side of the substrate, the second contact being electrically connected to the substrate.
3 more elements
A solar cell comprising:
- a semiconductor body including a sequence of layers of semiconductor material formed on a first side of a substrate, at least a portion of the sequence of layers of semiconductor material forming a multijunction solar cell in a first region of the semiconductor body with a plurality of cells and at least a portion of the sequence of layers of semiconductor material forming a bypass diode in a second region of the semiconductor body;
- the plurality of cells including a top cell with a top-most layer having a conductivity type that is opposite of a top-most layer of the bypass diode and a bottom cell with a bottom-most layer having a conductivity type that is opposite of a bottom-most layer of the bypass diode;
- and
- a first via extending through the sequence of layers of semiconductor material and the substrate in the second region of the semiconductor body, the first via being insulated from the sequence of layers of semiconductor material and electrically connecting the top-most layer of the bypass diode to a first contact formed on an opposing second side of the substrate, the first contact being insulated from the substrate and spaced apart from a second contact on the second side of the substrate, the second contact being electrically connected to the bottom cell through the substrate.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.