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. 10, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 13, 1995
Kou-I Chang, Yorba Linda, CA (US);
David R Lillington, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
A monolithically integrated solar cell microarray includes an isolation layer or multiple isolation layers between a substrate and a solar cell layer, and a trench in the solar cell layer that exposes the isolation layer. Together the isolation layer and trench define solar cells that are spaced apart and electrically isolated on the monolithic substrate. The solar cells are scaled to provide a desired current. Base contacts and integral emitter contact/interconnects connect a number of the scaled solar cells in series to sum their voltages to supply a desired output voltage and current. The trench and integral emitter contact/interconnects are formed using photolithographic etching and liftoff processes, respectively, which are much quicker and less expensive than the conventional dicing and soldering processes.