Claims
- 1. A high efficiency, multijunction photovoltaic solar cell for use with a light concentrating element comprising:
- (a) a single crystal, single element substrate without an internal light sensitive junction, said substrate capable of lattice matching to within .+-.1% to a Ga.sub.0.88 In.sub.0.12 As semiconductor material responsive in the sun light range,
- (b) a first homogeneous layer of semiconductor material deposited on said substrate, lattice matched thereto and having about Ga.sub.0.88 In.sub.0.12 As composition with a semiconductor bandgap of 1.25 ev., and absorbing sun light energy at a first wavelength,
- (c) a second homogeneous layer of semiconductor material deposited on said first layer lattice matched to said first homogeneous layer and having about Ga.sub.0.69 In.sub.0.31 As.sub.0.5 P.sub.0.5 composition with a semiconductor bandgap of 1.5 ev., and absorbing sun light energy at a second wavelength,
- (d) a third homogeneous layer of semiconductor material deposited on said second layer lattice matched to said second homogeneous layer and having about In.sub.0.5 Ga.sub.0.5 P composition with a semiconductor bandgap of 1.85 ev., and absorbing visible light energy at a third wavelength,
- (e) said first, second and third layer each having essentially the same lattice constant as said single crystal substrate to within .+-.1%,
- (f) said first, second and third layer each containing a light sensitive p/n homojunction and each layer having a tunneling, shorting heterojunction with the layer immediately above and below it,
- (g) said first, second and third layers each developing essentially the same zero voltage light generated current as the other layers.
- 2. The photovoltaic solar cell of claim 1 wherein said substrate layer is germanium.
- 3. The photovoltaic solar cell of claim 1 with the addition of an outer surface layer of indium tin oxide deposited on the last deposited semiconductor layer.
- 4. The photovoltaic solar cell of claim 3 wherein said outer surface layer is between 0.2 and 2.0 micrometers thick.
- 5. The photovoltaic solar cell of claim 4 wherein said outer surface layer is about 1 micrometer thick.
- 6. The photovoltaic solar cell of claim 1 wherein the substrate layer is between 200 and 300 micrometers thick.
- 7. The photovoltaic solar cell of claim 6 wherein the substrate layer is about 250 micrometers thick.
- 8. The photovoltaic solar cell of claim 1 wherein each of said deposited semiconductor layers is between 2 and 6 micrometers thick.
- 9. The photovoltaic solar cell of claim 8 wherein each of said deposited semiconductor layers is about 4 micrometers thick.
- 10. The photovoltaic solar cell of claim 1 wherein the lattice constant maximum variation from 5.66 Angstroms between layers is .+-.1.0%.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 52,707, filed June 28, 1979, for Multilayer Photovoltaic Cell, abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
L. M. Fraas et al., "Design of High Efficiency Monolithic Stacked Multi-Junction Solar Cells", Conf. Record, 13th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conf., (1978), pp. 886-891. |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
52707 |
Jun 1979 |
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