Patent · US Active

Heterojunction subcells in inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cells

US9231147B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
73References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 29, 2014
Grant dateJan 5, 2016
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 29, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02E10/548

Abstract

Inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cells having a heterojunction middle subcell and a graded interlayer, and methods of making same, are disclosed herein. The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a solar cell using an MOCVD process, wherein the graded interlayer is composed of (InxGa1-x)y Al1-yAs, and is formed in the MOCVD reactor so that it is compositionally graded to lattice match the middle second subcell on one side and the lower third subcell on the other side, with the values for x and y computed and the composition of the graded interlayer determined so that as the layer is grown in the MOCVD reactor, the band gap of the graded interlayer remains constant at 1.5 eV throughout the thickness of the graded interlayer.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.