Solar cell assembly with combined handle substrate and bypass diode and method

A solar cell assembly comprising:

• a handle substrate having a front surface and a back surface, wherein the handle substrate has a p-n junction providing reverse bias protection, and wherein the handle substrate functions as a bypass diode;
• a multijunction inverted metamorphic solar cell having a plurality of solar cell layers, wherein the multijunction inverted metamorphic solar cell has a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being attached to the front surface of the handle substrate;
• an electrical connector element wherein a portion of the electrical connector element is positioned adjacent the front surface of the handle substrate and the first surface of the multijunction inverted metamorphic solar cell;
• a first contact coupled to the back surface of the handle substrate;
• and,
• at least one second contact coupled to a portion of the second surface of the multijunction inverted metamorphic solar cell,
• and wherein the handle substrate and bypass diode are combined into one assembly with an entire front surface of the combined handle substrate and bypass diode in contact with an entire first surface of the multijunction inverted metamorphic solar cell, the combined handle substrate and bypass diode providing improved bypass protection to the multijunction inverted metamorphic solar cell.