Claims
- 1. A photovoltaic cell, comprising:
a first electrode; a mesh electrode; and an active layer between the first and mesh electrodes, the active layer comprising: an electron acceptor material; and an electron donor material.
- 2. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the mesh electrode is a cathode.
- 3. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the mesh electrode is an anode.
- 4. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the mesh comprises an electrically conductive material.
- 5. The photovoltaic cell of claim 4, wherein the electrically conductive material is selected from the group consisting of metals, alloys, polymers and combinations thereof.
- 6. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the mesh electrode comprises wires.
- 7. The photovoltaic cell of claim 6, wherein the wires comprise an electrically conductive material.
- 8. The photovoltaic cell of claim 7, wherein the electrically conductive material is selected from the group consisting of metals, alloys, polymers and combinations thereof.
- 9. The photovoltaic cell of claim 6, wherein the wires comprise a coating including an electrically conductive material.
- 10. The photovoltaic cell of claim 9, wherein the electrically conductive material is selected from the group consisting of metals, alloys, polymers and combinations thereof.
- 11. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the mesh electrode comprises an expanded mesh.
- 12. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the mesh electrode comprises a woven mesh.
- 13. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the electron acceptor material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of fullerenes, inorganic nanoparticles, oxadiazoles, discotic liquid crystals, carbon nanorods, inorganic nanorods, polymers containing CN groups, polymers containing CF3 groups and combinations thereof.
- 14. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the electron acceptor material comprises a substituted fullerene.
- 15. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the electron donor material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of discotic liquid crystals, polythiophenes, polyphenylenes, polyphenylvinylenes, polysilanes, polythienylvinylenes and polyisothianaphthalenes.
- 16. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the electron donor material comprises poly(3-hexylthiophene).
- 17. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, further comprising a hole blocking layer between the active layer and the first electrode.
- 18. The photovoltaic cell of claim 17, wherein the hole blocking layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of LiF, metal oxides and combinations thereof.
- 19. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, further comprising a hole blocking layer between the active layer and the mesh electrode.
- 20. The photovoltaic cell of claim 19, wherein the hole blocking layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of LiF, metal oxides and combinations thereof.
- 21. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, further comprising a hole carrier layer between the active layer and the mesh electrode.
- 22. The photovoltaic cell of claim 21, wherein the hole carrier layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of polythiophenes, polyanilines, polyvinylcarbazoles, polyphenylenes, polyphenylvinylenes, polysilanes, polythienylenevinylenes, polyisothianaphthanenes and combinations thereof.
- 23. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, further comprising a hole carrier layer between the active layer and the first electrode.
- 24. The photovoltaic cell of claim 23, wherein the hole carrier layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of polythiophenes, polyanilines, polyvinylcarbazoles, polyphenylenes, polyphenylvinylenes, polysilanes, polythienylenevinylenes, polyisothianaphthanenes and combinations thereof.
- 25. The photovoltaic cell of claim 1, wherein the first electrode comprises a mesh electrode.
- 26. A photovoltaic cell, comprising:
a first electrode; a mesh electrode; an active layer between the first and mesh electrodes, the active layer comprising: an electron acceptor material; and an electron donor material; a hole blocking layer between the first electrode and the active layer; and a hole carrier layer between the mesh electrode and the active layer.
- 27. The photovoltaic cell of claim 26, wherein the mesh comprises an electrically conductive material.
- 28. The photovoltaic cell of claim 27, wherein the electrically conductive material is selected from the group consisting of metals, alloys, polymers and combinations thereof.
- 29. The photovoltaic cell of claim 26, wherein the hole carrier layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of polythiophenes, polyanilines, polyvinylcarbazoles, polyphenylenes, polyphenylvinylenes, polysilanes, polythienylenevinylenes, polyisothianaphthanenes and combinations thereof.
- 30. The photovoltaic cell of claim 29, wherein the hole blocking layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of LiF, metal oxides and combinations thereof.
- 31. The photovoltaic cell of claim 26, wherein the hole blocking layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of LiF, metal oxides and combinations thereof.
- 32. The photovoltaic cell of claim 26, wherein the mesh electrode comprises wires.
- 33. The photovoltaic cell of claim 32, wherein the wires comprise an electrically conductive material.
- 34. The photovoltaic cell of claim 33, wherein the electrically conductive material is selected from the group consisting of metals, alloys, polymers and combinations thereof.
- 35. The photovoltaic cell of claim 32, wherein the wires comprise a coating including an electrically conductive material.
- 36. The photovoltaic cell of claim 35, wherein the electrically conductive material is selected from the group consisting of metals, alloys, polymers and combinations thereof.
- 37. The photovoltaic cell of claim 26, wherein the mesh electrode comprises an expanded mesh.
- 38. The photovoltaic cell of claim 26, wherein the mesh electrode comprises a woven mesh.
- 39. The photovoltaic cell of claim 26, wherein the first electrode comprises a mesh electrode.
- 40. The photovoltaic cell of claim 26, further comprising a substrate supporting the mesh electrode.
- 41. The photovoltaic cell of claim 40, further comprising an adhesive material between the substrate and the hole carrier layer.
- 42. The photovoltaic cell of claim 40, wherein the hole carrier layer is in contact with the substrate.
- 43. A photovoltaic system comprising a plurality of photovoltaic cells of claim 1, at least some of the plurality of photovoltaic cells being electrically connected.
- 44. The photovoltaic system of claim 43, wherein all of the plurality of photovoltaic cells are electrically connected.
- 45. The photovoltaic system of claim 43, wherein at least some of the electrically connected photovoltaic cells are electrically connected in parallel.
- 46. The photovoltaic system of claim 43, wherein at least some of the electrically connected photovoltaic cells are electrically connected in series.
- 47. The photovoltaic system of claim 43, wherein the photovoltaic system is wherein at least some of the electrically connected photovoltaic cells are electrically connected in to a load.
- 48. A photovoltaic system comprising a plurality of photovoltaic cells of claim 24, at least some of the plurality of photovoltaic cells being wherein at least some of the electrically connected photovoltaic cells are electrically connected.
- 49. The photovoltaic system of claim 48, wherein all of the plurality of photovoltaic cells are electrically connected.
- 50. The photovoltaic system of claim 48, wherein at least some of the electrically connected photovoltaic cells are electrically connected in parallel.
- 51. The photovoltaic system of claim 48, wherein at least some of the electrically connected photovoltaic cells are electrically connected in series.
- 52. The photovoltaic system of claim 48, wherein the photovoltaic system is wherein at least some of the electrically connected photovoltaic cells are electrically connected in parallel to a load.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/395,823, filed Mar. 24, 2003, and entitled “Photovoltaic Cells Utilizing Mesh Electrodes,” the entire contents of which are herby incorporated by reference.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10395823 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
Child |
10723554 |
Nov 2003 |
US |