The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 01, 1978
Filed:
Feb. 11, 1977
John F Jordan, El Paso, TX (US);
Curtis Lampkin, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Photon Power, Inc., El Paso, TX (US);
Abstract
A large area photovoltaic cell comprising a layer of multicrystalline cadmium sulfide, about 1 to 2 microns thick, formed by simultaneously spraying two suitably selected compounds on a uniformly heated plate of Nesa glass, thereafter forming a coating of Cu.sub.2 S over the cadmium sulfide layer while the latter is heated, to form a photovoltaic heterojunction, applying thereover a layer of CuSO.sub.4, and applying electrodes of Cu and Zn, respectively, to separated areas of the layer of CuSO.sub.4, and heating the cell to form a cuprous oxide rectifying junction under the copper electrode by reaction of the Cu electrode with the CuSO.sub.4, while diffusing the zinc through the body of the cell. The diffusion of the zinc provides a negative electrode coplanar with the positive copper electrode, eliminating any need for introducing mechanically complex provision for making a connection to the Nesa glass, while the use of a CuSO.sub.4 --Cu combination enables use of a layer of CdS only 1 to 2 microns thick, rather than the usual 20 microns, despite the fact that such thin layers tend to have pinholes, which in the prior art render the cells inoperative, but in the present teaching do not.