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:
Feb. 14, 1995
Filed:
Jul. 26, 1993
Applicant:
Inventors:
Lewis M Fraas, Issaquah, WA (US);
James E Avery, Fall City, WA (US);
Assignee:
The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
136244 ; 136249 ; 136255 ; 136262 ; 136293 ;
Abstract
A photovoltaic (PV) cell with a single pn-junction is disclosed that is capable of functioning as both a current source and a bypass diode. The photovoltaic cell is made of material that has a low bandgap energy, 1.0 eV, or less. One version of the PV cell is formed of a GaSb wafer doped with Te to form an n-region; the Te concentration is between 6 and 10.times.10.sup.17 atoms/cm.sup.3. Multiple PV cells of this invention can be connected in series or in parallel or in tandem in a primary-booster tandem pair to form a circuit without the requirement of protecting the individual cells of the circuit with a separate bypass diode.