Solar Cell With Reduced Absorber Thickness and Reduced Back Surface Recombination
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsHans-Juergen Eickelmann, Michael Haag, Ruediger Kellmann, Markus Schmidt, Johannes Windeln
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Manufacture of an improved stacked-layered thin film solar cell. The solar cell has reduced absorber thickness and an improved back contact for Copper Indium Gallium Selenide solar cells. The back contact provides improved reflectance particularly for infrared wavelengths while still maintaining ohmic contact to the semiconductor absorber. This reflectance is achieved by producing a back contact having a highly reflecting metal separated from an absorbing layer with a dielectric layer.
Claims12
A thin-film solar cell comprising:
- a stacked-layered light-absorbing structure, the structure comprising:
- a conducting material deposited on a substrate and in direct physical contact with the substrate;
- a reflecting element deposited on the conducting material and in direct physical contact with the conducting material;
- a dielectric deposited on the reflecting element and in direct physical contact with the reflecting element;
- a semiconducting material deposited on the dielectric and in direct physical contact with the dielectric, wherein the semiconducting material fills at least one aperture formed within the reflecting element and the dielectric, and wherein a second surface of the conducting material extends across a bottom surface of the aperture;
- a first transparent material deposited on the semiconducting material and in direct physical contact with the semiconducting material;
- and
- a second transparent material deposited on the first transparent material and in direct physical contact with the first transparent material, wherein the second transparent material is a conducting material.
A method comprising:
- forming a stacked-layered light-absorbing structure of a solar cell, the formation comprising:
- depositing a conducting material on a substrate and in direct physical contact with the substrate;
- depositing a reflecting element on the conducting material and in direct physical contact with the conducting material;
- depositing a dielectric on the reflecting element and in direct physical contact with the reflecting element;
- depositing a semiconducting material on the dielectric and in direct physical contact with the dielectric, wherein the semiconducting material fills at least one aperture formed within the reflecting element and the dielectric, and wherein a second surface of the conducting material extends across a bottom surface of the aperture;
- depositing a first transparent material on the semiconducting material and in direct physical contact with the semiconducting material;
- and
- depositing a second transparent material on the first transparent material and in direct physical contact with the first transparent material, wherein the second transparent material is a conducting material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.