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:
Oct. 06, 2015
Filed:
Apr. 09, 2012
Rebecca E. Jones-albertus, Mountain View, CA (US);
Michael J. Sheldon, San Jose, CA (US);
Rebecca E. Jones-Albertus, Mountain View, CA (US);
Michael J. Sheldon, San Jose, CA (US);
Solar Junction Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
In a solar cell having one or more subcells, at least one subcell is provided with a reverse heterojunction, the reverse heterojunction being formed with an emitter and an adjacent base, wherein the emitter has a band gap that is at least 10 meV lower than that of the adjacent base in order to reduce sheet resistance of the emitter and/or increase the subcell current with minimal effect on the open-circuit voltage. Because of the increase in current, the decrease in emitter sheet resistance, and relatively unchanged open-circuit voltage of the subcell, the efficiency of a solar cell employing one or more subcells with reverse heterojunctions is enhanced.