Transparent contacts for stacked compound photovoltaic cells

Title: Transparent contacts for stacked compound photovoltaic cells

A microsystems-enabled multi-junction photovoltaic (MEM-PV) cell includes a first photovoltaic cell having a first junction, the first photovoltaic cell including a first semiconductor material employed to form the first junction, the first semiconductor material having a first bandgap. The MEM-PV cell also includes a second photovoltaic cell comprising a second junction. The second photovoltaic cell comprises a second semiconductor material employed to form the second junction, the second semiconductor material having a second bandgap that is less than the first bandgap, the second photovoltaic cell further comprising a first contact layer disposed between the first junction of the first photovoltaic cell and the second junction of the second photovoltaic cell, the first contact layer composed of a third semiconductor material having a third bandgap, the third bandgap being greater than or equal to the first bandgap.

Inventors:: Tauke-Pedretti, Anna; Cederberg, Jeffrey; Nielson, Gregory N.; Okandan, Murat; Cruz-Campa, Jose Luis

Issue Date:: 2016-11-29

OSTI Identifier:: 1333727

Assignee:: Sandia Corporation (Albuquerque, NM) SNL-A

Patent Number(s):: 9,508,881

Application Number:: 13/649,238

Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000

Resource Relation:: Patent File Date: 2012 Oct 11

Research Org:: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org:: USDOE

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 14 SOLAR ENERGY

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Other works cited in this record:

High efficiency multi-junction solar cells
patent, December 1998

Lillington, David; Joslin, David
US Patent Document 5,853,497
URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/5853497

Multi-junction III–V solar cells: current status and future potential
journal, July 2005

Yamaguchi, Masafumi; Takamoto, Tatsuya; Araki, Kenji
Solar Energy, Vol. 79, Issue 1, p. 78-85
DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2004.09.018

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