Amorphous silicon solar cells
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsJeffrey C. Grossman, Alexander K. Zettl, Lucas Wagner
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Abstract
The present invention provides novel strategies for mitigating the Staebler-Wronski Effect (SWE), that is, the light induced degradation in performance of photoconductivity in amorphous silicon. Materials according to the present invention include alloys or composites of amorphous silicon which affect the elasticity of the materials, amorphous silicon that has been grown on a flexed substrate, compression sandwiched comprising amorphous silicon, and amorphous silicon containing nanoscale features that allow stress to be relieved. The composites are formed with nanoparticles such as nanocrystals and nanotubes. Preferred are boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) including those that have been surface modified.
Claims19
A photovoltaic cell comprising a layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon material applied to a substrate, wherein said hydrogenated amorphous silicon material contains within said layer a plurality of nanoparticles, forming a composite.
A photovoltaic cell comprising a layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon material applied to a substrate, the substrate comprising a patterned substrate having nanopores of between 1 and 20 nm in diameter, whereby the hydrogenated amorphous silicon material is in the nanopores and subjected to anisoptopic strain by depositing it into the nanopores.
A method of making a photovoltaic cell comprising a layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon material applied to a substrate, wherein said hydrogenated amorphous silicon material is mixed with a plurality of nanoparticles, forming a composite.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.