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:
Sep. 10, 1996
Filed:
Feb. 21, 1995
Craig N Vogeli, New Baltimore, MI (US);
United Solar Systems Corporation, Troy, MI (US);
Abstract
A light directing element for a photovoltaic device and method of manufacture. The light directing element is in the form of an encapsulating cover which fits onto the top of the underlying photovoltaic cell. A bottom surface of the encapsulating cover is provided with V-shaped grooves which are in registry with the underlying grid lines of the photovoltaic cell. Preferably, the side walls of the grooves are coated with a reflective coating. Incident light, falling on the reflective side walls will be reflected onto adjacent portions of the photovoltaic cell, thereby minimizing shading effects caused by the grid lines. In a particularly preferred embodiment, each groove in the cover is filled with a conductive carbon paste, and conductive wires are embedded therein. This conductive wires serve as the current collecting network of the solar cell and are in electrical communication with the top electrode thereof by means of the conductive carbon paste. This embodiment has the desirable combination of decreased shading, and lower electrical resistance of the current collecting network.