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:
Nov. 13, 2001
Filed:
Mar. 15, 2000
Richard R. King, Newbury Park, CA (US);
David E. Joslin, Valley Village, CA (US);
Nasser H. Karam, Northridge, CA (US);
The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
A multijunction photovoltaic cell comprises a first subcell that initially receives incident light upon the photovoltaic cell, with the first subcell being made of a first material system, having a first thickness, and producing a first photogenerated current output. A second subcell receives the incident light after the first subcell receives the incident light, with the second subcell being disposed immediately adjacent the first subcell. The second subcell is made of the first material system or a similar semiconductor material, has a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness, and produces a second photogenerated current output that is substantially equal in amount to the first photogenerated current output. A tunnel junction is disposed between the first and second subcells. The multijunction cell provides a greater ability to current match to low-current-producing subcells, higher multijunction cell voltage, lower series resistance, and greater radiation resistance.