A multijunction solar cell including a substrate and a top (or light-facing) solar subcell having an emitter layer, a base layer, and a window layer adjacent to the emitter layer, the window layer composed of a material that is optically transparent, has a band gap of greater than 2.6 eV, and includes an appropriately arranged multilayer antireflection coating on the top surface thereof.

A method of making a light converting optical system comprising providing a first optical layer, a thin sheet of reflective light scattering material, a light source, a second optical layer approximately coextensive with the first optical layer, a continuous broad-area photoabsorptive film layer approximately coextensive with the first optical layer, positioning the thin sheet of reflective light scattering material parallel to the first optical layer, positioning the continuous broad-area photoabsorptive film layer between and parallel to the first optical layer and the thin sheet of reflective material, and positioning the second optical layer on a light path between the light source and the continuous broad-area photoabsorptive film layer. The first optical layer has a microstructured broad-area front surface comprising an array of linear grooves disposed side by side and extending along a straight line between two edges of the layer.

A transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC) is provided. The TLSC includes a luminophore and a waveguide that guides light emitted from the luminophore. The TLSC has a light utilization efficiency (LUE) of greater than or equal to about 1.

To provide a cover glass for a solar cell module which can sufficiently maintain the power generation efficiency of a solar cell module, even when a design is imparted to the entire surface of the cover glass so as to make solar cells be invisible from the outside, and a solar cell module. To provide a cover glass 14 to be bonded on light-receiving surfaces 16A and 16B of solar cells 16 via an encapsulant material 18, which has a visible transmittance of from 0% to 60% and an average infrared transmittance of from 20% to 100%, which is a value calculated by simply averaging transmittances at 5 nm intervals in an infrared region at a wavelength of from 780 nm to 1,500 nm.

An energy harvesting electro-optic display is disclosed comprising a photovoltaic cell that converts part of the incident light to electric current or voltage, wherein the electric current or voltage is used for the operation of the electro-optic display upon the conversion or stored in a storage component to be used for the operation of the display.

An optical semiconductor element includes an optical receiver including a first semiconductor layer, a heater for heating the first semiconductor layer; and a monitor. A first semiconductor layer that absorbs light and generates electric carriers; a heater for heating the first semiconductor layer; and a monitor including a second semiconductor layer in which dark current is changed by heat generated by the heater.

An optical semiconductor element includes an optical receiver including a first semiconductor layer, a heater for heating the first semiconductor layer; and a monitor. A first semiconductor layer that absorbs light and generates electric carriers; a heater for heating the first semiconductor layer; and a monitor including a second semiconductor layer in which dark current is changed by heat generated by the heater.

The present invention relates to a device (100) for light exposure regulation of agricultural goods and energy production, in particular electrical energy production, by converting or transmitting a highly-directional component (81) of incident light (80) and by transmitting a diffuse component (82) of incident light (80), comprising: #an optical arrangement (40) comprising a first optical layer (41), wherein the first optical layer (41) comprises a plurality of primary optical elements (47); #a light energy conversion layer (50) at least partially transparent to light and comprising a plurality of distant light energy conversion elements (51) capable of converting light energy in an output energy; #a shifting mechanism (60) for moving the optical arrangement (40) relative to the light energy conversion layer (50) or vice versa; and #a frame element (10) to which either the optical arrangement (40) or the light energy conversion layer (50) is attached, wherein the shifting mechanism (60) is arranged to displace the optical arrangement (40) or the light energy conversion layer (50) translationally relative to the frame element (10), through one or more translation element (65), wherein the primary optical elements (47) of the first optical layer (41) and the shifting mechanism (60) are designed such that the highly-directional component (81) of incident light (80) is directable onto the light energy conversion elements (51) of the light energy conversion layer (50) and such that the diffuse component (82) of incident light (80) is transmittable through the regions of the light energy conversion layer (50) not covered by the light energy conversion elements (51), and wherein the amount of light transmitted through the device (100) is controllable. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a corresponding method and use for converting light energy with the aforementioned device.

This application provides a solar cell, including a front electrode, a functional layer, and a back electrode. The front electrode is an electrode on a side of an illuminated surface. The front electrode includes a high-conductivity region and a low-conductivity region that are adjacent to each other, or the back electrode includes a high-conductivity region and a low-conductivity region that are adjacent to each other. The front electrode and/or the back electrode may be designed to be separated by region, and conductivity of one conductive region is designed to be higher than conductivity of the other conductive region. This can effectively avoid a film rectangular resistance loss caused by large-scale non-uniform lateral transfer of a photocurrent, and improve photoelectric conversion efficiency of the cell. In addition, cell comprehensive performance can be improved by flexibly selecting materials based on different requirements of different regions in different application scenarios.

A poly-layered, poly-dimensional solar photovoltaic stack structure may be provided in a tower form. A plurality of solar panels may be stacked on top of one another to create a solar stack tower. Using the solar stack tower, reflection, refraction, diffusion, and transportation of light may transmit photons from a higher area of photon saturation to a lower area of photon saturation. The solar stack tower may provide an enclosed structure, protecting and insulating the solar panels from heat, moisture, dust, and other elements that usually damage solar panels over time.