USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Rochester Institute of Technology

United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

Ohio Aerospace Institute

Glenn Research Center

David Scheiman

Phillip P Jenkins

Robert J Walters

Ryne P Raffaelle

Stephanie Castro

David M Wilt

Donald L Chubb

Raymond Hoheisel

Justin Lorentzen

Woojun Yoon

A spectral radiometer system, measures incoming light intensity and spectral distribution in different wavelength-bands. An additional data storage device allows recording of the measured data. The inclusive sensor system yields very high sensitivity to incoming light. Furthermore, outstanding linearity of the detector response over several orders of magnitude of incoming light is achieved. Additional benefits are ultra low power consumption and minimum size. The sensor system can be used in remote solar radiation monitoring applications like mobile solar power units as well as in long-term environmental monitoring systems where high precision and low power consumption is a necessity.

Ultra low power solid state spectral radiometer

A method for making an ultra-thin, flexible crystalline silicon solar cell from thick, inflexible cells. A thick, inflexible cell having a plurality of electrical contacts on the back side thereof is adhered to a mount by means of a temporary bonding adhesive tape and a thickness of the mounted stack. A thickness of the bonding tape and the back-side contacts is determined and compared to a desired thickness of the final cell. Excess material is ground from the front side of the stack to obtain a thinned stack having the desired thickness and the thinned stack is removed from the mount to produce an ultra-thin, flexible rear-contact Si solar cell having a total thickness of less than 80 &#x3bc;m and a bending radius of less than 20 mm. The front surface can be textured, with a passivation layer and/or a dielectric layer being deposited thereon.

Ultra-thin flexible rear-contact Si solar cells and methods for manufacturing the same

A novel, low cost method for manufacturing flexible crystalline ultra-thin Si solar cells using previously fabricated inflexible crystalline Si solar cells. A stack of metal layers is coated onto a front side of previously completed inflexible crystalline Si solar cells. The stack serves as a bonding layer as well as an electrically conducting layer between the inflexible solar cell and the carrier substrate. The front side of the coated inflexible Si solar cell is bonded onto the carrier substrate. Back side layers from the starting inflexible solar cell are removed, as is much of the base layer, so that only a thin base layer remains, with the thin base layer and emitter region having a total thickness of between 1 &#x3bc;m and 30 &#x3bc;m and the final cell having a total thickness of about 10 to about 125 &#x3bc;m.

Flexible crystalline ultra-thin Si solar cells

An alpha voltaic battery includes at least one layer of a semiconductor material comprising at least one p/n junction, at least one absorption and conversion layer on the at least one layer of semiconductor layer, and at least one alpha particle emitter. The absorption and conversion layer prevents at least a portion of alpha particles from the alpha particle emitter from damaging the p/n junction in the layer of semiconductor material. The absorption and conversion layer also converts at least a portion of energy from the alpha particles into electron-hole pairs for collection by the one p/n junction in the layer of semiconductor material.

Alpha voltaic batteries and methods thereof

Growing community of inventors

Alexandria, VA, United States of America

David Scheiman