The present invention relates to a laminate including an alkali metal-doped layer. The laminate is processable at high temperatures of at least 550 C. and has excellent durability and barrier properties. Due to these advantages, the laminate can be used to fabricate a thin film solar cell with high flexibility and improved energy conversion efficiency. The present invention also relates to a thin film solar cell including the laminate.

The present disclosure relates to photovoltaic devices that include a chalcogenide-containing photovoltaic light-absorber having a composition profile defined by at least a first region, a second region, and a third region. The second region is located between the first region and the third region. Each region of the chalcogenide-containing photovoltaic light-absorber includes Cu, In, Ga, Al, and at least one chalcogen. The concentration of Al present in the second region is less than the concentration of Al present in each of the first region and third region. Methods of making such chalcogenide-containing photovoltaic light-absorbers are also disclosed.

A solar cell containing a plurality of CIGS absorber sublayers has a conversion efficiency of at least 13.4 percent and a minority carrier lifetime below 2 nanoseconds. The sublayers may have a different composition from each other.

A copolymer that includes first divalent units having a pendent ultraviolet absorbing group, second divalent units represented by formula (I):, and third divalent units represented by formula (II):. Each R.sup.1 is independently hydrogen or methyl; R.sup.2 is a straight-chain or branched alkyl having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms; V is O or NH; W is alkylene having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms; and each R is independently alkyl having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms. Compositions including the copolymer, for example, pressure sensitive adhesive compositions are disclosed. Articles including the compositions are disclosed. For example, an assembly including a barrier film and the pressure sensitive adhesive composition is also disclosed.

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A monolithically integrated flexible thin film photovoltaic device consisting of a plurality of sides having at least one side that is not orthogonal to the remaining sides, a series of isolation scribes along the periphery of the PV device that are parallel to the aperture sides, a plurality of cells patterned to have the same power generation area regardless of angle of the isolation scribes or the monolithic integration pattern.

A photoelectric conversion device of an embodiment has a substrate, a bottom electrode comprising an electrode layer on the substrate and an intermediate interface layer, a light absorbing layer on the intermediate interface layer. The electrode layer comprises Mo or W. The intermediate interface layer is a compound thin film of a compound comprising Mo or W and at least one element X selected from the group consisting of S, Se, and Te. The intermediate interface layer has a crystal phase and an amorphous phase with which the crystal phase is covered.

A back contact configuration for a CIGS-type photovoltaic device is provided. According to certain examples, the back contact configuration includes an optical matching layer and/or portion of or including MoSe.sub.2 having a thickness substantially corresponding to maxima of absorption of reflected light in CIGS-type absorbers used in certain photovoltaic devices. Certain example methods for making the back contact configuration wherein a thickness of the MoSe.sub.2 layer and/or portion can be controlled to be within thickness ranges that correspond to maxima of CIGS light absorption for reflected solar light are also provided.

A roll-to-roll reactor, which is assembled with an RTP (Rapid Thermal Process) compartment, a cooling compartment, and a series of modular heating sections, is provided. Its length is adjustable by adding or reducing numbers of the modular heating sections according to required reaction time and delivery speed of a continuous flexible workpiece. The reactor contains a reaction oven, assembled with a series of modular thermal control components, included inside a vacuum-tight reaction chamber. The oven temperature can be precisely controlled through combinations of heating elements, thermocouples and cooling tubing. The present reactor can be used for annealing and reaction of various precursor films on flexible substrates under vacuum and in inert or reactive gas ambient at temperatures ranging from room temperature to a thousand of Celsius degrees through a continuous roll-to-roll process.

A metal foil including: a steel layer whose thickness is 10 to 200 m; an Al-containing metal layer arranged on the steel layer; and plural granular alloys which exist in an interface between the steel layer and the Al-containing metal layer, wherein, when a cutting-plane line of a surface of the Al-containing metal layer is defined as a contour curve and an approximation straight line of the contour curve is defined as a contour average straight line, a maximum point, whose distance from the contour average straight line is more than 10 m, is absent on the contour curve, and wherein, when an equivalent sphere diameter of the granular alloys is x in units of m and a thickness of the Al-containing metal layer is T in units of m, the granular alloys satisfy x0.5T.

A solar cell includes a metal layer and a chalcopyrite compound semiconductor layer in this order on a polyimide film. A manufacturing method according to the present invention includes the following steps in the order: cast applying a polyimide precursor solution onto a support base containing an alkali metal; imidizing the polyimide precursor by heating to form a stacked body including a polyimide film on the support base; forming a metal layer on the polyimide film of the stacked body; and forming a chalcopyrite compound semiconductor layer on the metal layer.