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:
Mar. 20, 1990
Filed:
Aug. 22, 1988
Eugene L Ralph, San Gabriel, CA (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A photovoltaic device is formed of a module of photovoltaic material, the module including electrodes disposed on the material for extraction of electric power produced by interaction of the material with radiation, particularly solar radiation. A coverglass system is disposed on a surface of the module facing incident radiation to protect the module from high energy particles. The coverglass system is formed of a glass sheet disposed parallel to a surface of the module, and a slab or a plurality of glass slabs which are disposed in a side-by-side array along the module surface between the module and the sheet. The slabs are thicker than the sheet, typically by a factor of two, and are formed of fused silica to provide a sufficient mass for stopping high energy particles such as those which may be encountered in a spaceship traveling through a Van Allen belt. Adhesive layers may be employed for bonding the slabs together as well as to the module and to the sheet, in which case, the sheet is formed of a borosilicate glass which attenuates ultraviolet radiation so as to protect the adhesive layers from degradation by ultraviolet radiation.