Transparent contacts for stacked compound photovoltaic cells

摘要

A microsystems-enabled multi-junction photovoltaic (MEM-PV) cell includes a first photovoltaic cell having a first junction, the first photovoltaic cell including a first semiconductor material employed to form the first junction, the first semiconductor material having a first bandgap. The MEM-PV cell also includes a second photovoltaic cell comprising a second junction. The second photovoltaic cell comprises a second semiconductor material employed to form the second junction, the second semiconductor material having a second bandgap that is less than the first bandgap, the second photovoltaic cell further comprising a first contact layer disposed between the first junction of the first photovoltaic cell and the second junction of the second photovoltaic cell, the first contact layer composed of a third semiconductor material having a third bandgap, the third bandgap being greater than or equal to the first bandgap.

主权项

1. A microsystems-enabled multi-junction photovoltaic (MEM-PV) cell comprising:
a first photovoltaic cell over a second photovoltaic cell, wherein the first photovoltaic cell comprises:
a first semiconductor junction over a first contact layer, wherein the first semiconductor junction comprises InGaP, and wherein the first contact layer comprises InGaP; anda back surface field (BSF) layer over the first contact layer, wherein the BSF layer comprises AlGaInP, wherein the BSF layer is in physical contact with the first contact layer; wherein the second photovoltaic cell comprises:
a second semiconductor junction, wherein the second semiconductor junction has a bandgap that is less than a bandgap of the first semiconductor junction; and an electrical isolation layer between the first photovoltaic cell and the second photovoltaic cell.