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:
Dec. 31, 1991
Filed:
Aug. 27, 1990
Michael J Nowlan, Arlington, MA (US);
Spire Corporation, Bedford, MA (US);
Abstract
An improved photovoltaic cell and a process of making it are disclosed. Essentially, the process merges the technology of ESB with the phenomenon of total internal reflection to provide a photovoltaic cell of improved conversion efficiency and comprising a solar cell formed of a semiconductor material and provided with a front contact, a cover plate formed of a glass having a thermal expansion coefficient matching that of the semiconductor material, with the back surface of the cover plate provided with a plurality of V-grooves overlying the front contact and being electrostatically bonded to the solar cell. The V-grooves serve both as clearance slots for the front contact and its converging facets as reflecting surfaces to direct incident light onto the cell's surfaces in between the front contact grid lines.