Disclosed herein is an inclined thin film solar cell. The inclined thin film solar cell includes a substrate including at least one first surface having a surface inclined at a first angle with respect to the bottom surface of the substrate and at least one second surface located adjacent to the first surface and having a surface which is connected to a next inclined surface and inclined at a second angle, a first electrode famed on a surface of the substrate, a light absorbing layer famed on the first electrode, and a second electrode formed on the light absorbing layer.

The present disclosure provides a photodiode which maintains a photodiode characteristic even after the metal-assisted chemical etching and uses a metal-semiconductor structure having low reflectance and high conductance, a manufacturing method thereof, and a solar cell using the same. The photodiode of the present disclosure includes a semiconductor substrate with a low reflective and high conductive surface which has a selectively etched electrode formation area and a high conductive electrode formed by placing a metal catalyst used for a metal-assisted chemical etching process for forming an antireflection semiconductor substrate in an etching area of the antireflection semiconductor substrate.

Novel heterojunctions, diodes, electrodes, and solar cells are comprised of semiconductive dichalcogenide flakes and metals or semi-metals like graphene. The dichalcogenide flakes and graphene flakes are deposed approximately normal to the device, enabling ohmic contact and mass production at low cost using printing equipment.

A voltage-matched solar module for converting incident solar radiation into electricity consisting of a plurality of wafer-sized multi-junction solar devices and wiring circuitry adjacent to a module-sized bottom substrate. Each solar device has at least two photovoltaic (PV) cells separated by electrically insulating transparent layers. The PV cells are aligned so as to overlap and are electrically connected to the wiring circuitry by conducting vias. The wiring circuitry includes a multiplicity of serial strings electrically connected in parallel and having substantially the same voltage. A method of producing the solar module is disclosed which utilizes an ALD/LPCVD tool for van der Waals epitaxy of 2D materials.

The present disclosure is directed to photovoltaic junctions and methods for producing the same. Embodiments of the disclosure may be incorporated in various devices for applications such as solar cells and light detectors and may demonstrate advantages compared to standard materials used for photovoltaic junctions such as silica. An example embodiment of the disclosure includes a photovoltaic junction, the junction including a light absorbing material, an electron acceptor for shuttling electrons, and a metallic contact. In general, embodiments of the disclosure as disclosed herein include photovoltaic junctions which provide absorption across one or more wavelengths in the range from about 200 nm to about 1000 nm, or from near IR (NIR) to ultra-violet (UV). Generally, these embodiments include a multi-layered light absorbing material that can be formed from quantum dots that are successively deposited on the surface of an electron acceptor (e.g., a semiconductor).

Optically transmissive UV solar cells may be coupled to glass substrates, for example windows, in order to generate electricity while still providing suitable optical behavior for the window. The UV solar cells may be utilized to power electrochromic components coupled to the window to adjust or vary the transmissivity of the window. The UV solar cells may utilize a Schottky ZnO/ZnS heterojunction.

Optically transmissive UV solar cells may be coupled to glass substrates, for example windows, in order to generate electricity while still providing suitable optical behavior for the window. The UV solar cells may be utilized to power electrochromic components coupled to the window to adjust or vary the transmissivity of the window. The UV solar cells may utilize a Schottky ZnO/ZnS heterojunction.

A photodetection element is a photodetection element having an incidence surface for light on a back surface of a semiconductor layer, and includes a periodic nano-concave/convex structure provided on a front surface of the semiconductor layer and having convex portions and concave portions constituting a longitudinal resonator and a transverse resonator for the light incident from the incidence surface, the periodic nano-concave/convex structure converting the light into surface plasmons, and a metal film provided to cover the periodic nano-concave/convex structure, a height and an arrangement pitch of the convex portions in the periodic nano-concave/convex structure are set such that a resonance wavelength of the longitudinal resonator and a resonance wavelength of the transverse resonator match, and a thickness of the metal film is equal to or greater than 20 nm.

A photodetection element is a photodetection element having an incidence surface for light on a back surface of a semiconductor layer, and includes a periodic nano-concave/convex structure provided on a front surface of the semiconductor layer and having convex portions and concave portions constituting a longitudinal resonator and a transverse resonator for the light incident from the incidence surface, the periodic nano-concave/convex structure converting the light into surface plasmons, and a metal film provided to cover the periodic nano-concave/convex structure, a height and an arrangement pitch of the convex portions in the periodic nano-concave/convex structure are set such that a resonance wavelength of the longitudinal resonator and a resonance wavelength of the transverse resonator match, and a thickness of the metal film is equal to or greater than 20 nm.

A semiconductor device of an embodiment includes first and second semiconductor layers having different conductivity types; a third semiconductor layer interposed between the first and second semiconductor layers; and a fourth semiconductor layer interposed between the second and third semiconductor layers, having a lower doping concentration than that of the first semiconductor layer and the same conductivity type as the first semiconductor layer, wherein the difference in doping concentration between the first semiconductor layer and the fourth semiconductor layer may be greater than 4E18 atoms/cm.sup.3.