US Patent 9153724 Reverse heterojunctions for solar cells

Patent 9153724 was granted and assigned to Solar Junction on October, 2015 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

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Is a

Patent

Patent attributes

Current Assignee

Solar Junction

Patent Jurisdiction

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Patent Number

91537240

Date of Patent

October 6, 2015

Patent Application Number

134421460

Date Filed

April 9, 2012

Patent Primary Examiner

‌

Bach Dinh

Patent 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.