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:
Jul. 24, 1979
Filed:
Mar. 10, 1978
Roy Kaplow, Newton, MA (US);
Robert I Frank, Lexington, MA (US);
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A semiconductor solar-cell array including a plurality of adjacent solar cell segments, each segment comprising a number of series-connected unit solar cells, and the series connected unit solar cells from each segment being electrically connected in parallel with the series-connected unit solar cells from other segments. Concentrated solar radiation is focused on the upper surface of the solar-cell array wherein the periphery of the focused image is contained within the upper surface area. The series-parallel connection of the unit solar cells and solar cell segments provides maximum utilization of incident solar radiation to thereby increase solar cell output. In addition, the series-parallel connection scheme allows the array to operate effectively without imposing stringent requirements as to solar-tracking precision in order to maintain the focused image at a fixed location on the upper surface of the cell.