WIRE ARRAY SOLAR CELLS EMPLOYING MULTIPLE JUNCTIONS

• Main Author: IANNELLI JOHN
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 17.01.2013
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION ORPROCESSING OF GOODS; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGYGENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE

Wire array solar cells including tandem cells are disclosed. Each solar cell structure in the wire array can comprise a plurality of tandem cells, each tandem cell having multiple junctions separated by tunnel diodes. The junctions in the tandem cell have different bandgaps and are constructed to absorb different light spectra. Typically, each solar cell comprises an inner cell and an outer cell. The bandgap of the inner cell junction is constructed to be lower than the bandgap of the outer cell junction. The absorption and respective thicknesses of the inner and outer cell junctions is chosen so that the series current through the structure is matched in each cell and maximized.