A manufacturing method of an embodiment according to the present invention may comprise the steps of: locating a solar cell, including a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor layer which has an absorption coefficient higher than that of the semiconductor substrate and is formed on at least one side of the semiconductor substrate, such that the semiconductor layer is oriented toward a laser; emitting a laser beam toward the semiconductor layer to form a groove on the solar cell; and dividing the solar cell along the groove into a plurality of pieces.

A photovoltaic device includes a first contact and a hybrid absorber layer. The hybrid absorber layer includes a chalcogenide layer and a semiconductor layer in contact with the chalcogenide layer. A buffer layer is formed on the absorber layer, and a transparent conductive contact layer is formed on the buffer layer.

Tri-layer semiconductor stacks for patterning features on solar cells, and the resulting solar cells, are described herein. In an example, a solar cell includes a substrate. A semiconductor structure is disposed above the substrate. The semiconductor structure includes a P-type semiconductor layer disposed directly on a first semiconductor layer. A third semiconductor layer is disposed directly on the P-type semiconductor layer. An outermost edge of the third semiconductor layer is laterally recessed from an outermost edge of the first semiconductor layer by a width. An outermost edge of the P-type semiconductor layer is sloped from the outermost edge of the third semiconductor layer to the outermost edge of the third semiconductor layer. A conductive contact structure is electrically connected to the semiconductor structure.

A multijunction solar cell includes a base substrate comprising a Group IV semiconductor and a dopant of a first carrier type. A patterned emitter is formed at a first surface of the base substrate. The patterned emitter comprises a plurality of well regions doped with a dopant of a second carrier type in the Group IV semiconductor. The base substrate including the patterned emitter form a first solar subcell. The multijunction solar cell further comprises an upper structure comprising one or more additional solar subcells over the first solar subcell. Methods of making a multijunction solar cell are also described.

A transmitter of a wireless power transfer and data communication system comprising a transmitter system including a transmitter housing, one or more high-power laser sources, a laser controller, one or more low-power laser sources, one or more photodiodes, a beam steering system and lens assembly, and a safety system. High-power and low-power beams are directed to corresponding receivers and transceivers of a transceiver system inside a remote receiver system by the controller and the beam steering system and lens assembly. Low-power beams include optical communication to the transceiver system. The photodiodes of the transmitter system receive optical communication from the transceiver system. Low-power beams are co-propagated with and in close proximity to high-power beams substantially along an entire distance between the transmitter housing and the receiver system. The safety system instructs the controller to reduce the high-power sources in response to detected events.

A back-contact solar cell having a first conductivity-type semiconductor layer in a first region on a back side of a semiconductor substrate, and a second conductivity-type semiconductor layer in a second region and the first region on the back side. In the first region, an intrinsic semiconductor layer and the first and second conductivity-type semiconductor layers are stacked successively on the back side. In the second region, the intrinsic semiconductor layer and the second conductivity-type semiconductor layer are stacked on the back side. In a boundary region between the first and second regions, an insulating layer, and the first and second conductivity-type semiconductor layers, are stacked successively on the back side, with the intrinsic semiconductor layer disposed between the layers and the back side. The insulating layer is interposed between the first conductivity-type semiconductor layer in the first region and the second conductivity-type semiconductor layer in the second region.

n-type amorphous semiconductor layers (4) and p-type amorphous semiconductor layers (5) are alternately disposed on the back surface of a semiconductor substrate (1) so as to be separated from each other at a desired interval paralleled with the direction of the surface of the semiconductor substrate (1). An electrode (6) is disposed on the n-type amorphous semiconductor layer (4), and an electrode (7) is disposed on the p-type amorphous semiconductor layer (5). A protective film (8) includes an insulating film, and is disposed on a passivation film (3), the n-type amorphous semiconductor layer (4), the p-type amorphous semiconductor layer (5), and the electrodes (6, 7), so as to be in contact with the passivation film (3), the n-type amorphous semiconductor layer (4), the p-type amorphous semiconductor layer (5), and the electrodes (6, 7).

Provided is a photoelectric conversion device capable of suppressing diffusion of a dopant in a p layer or n layer into an adjacent layer. A photoelectric conversion device is provided with a silicon substrate, a substantially intrinsic amorphous layer formed on one surface of the silicon substrate, and a first conductive amorphous layer that is formed on the intrinsic amorphous layer. The first conductive amorphous layer includes a first concentration layer and a second concentration layer that is stacked on the first concentration layer. The dopant concentration of the second concentration layer is 8×10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 or more, and is lower than the dopant concentration of the first concentration layer.

A photovoltaic device configured to substantially avoid radiative recombination of photo-generated carriers, reduce loss of energy of the photo-generated carriers through the phonon emission, extract photo-generated carriers substantially exclusively from the multi-frequency satellite valley(s) of the bandstructure of the used semiconductor material as opposed to the single predetermined extremum of the bandstructure. Methodologies of fabrication and operation of such a device.

Tandem solar cell configurations are provided where at least one of the cells is a metal chalcogenide cell. A four-terminal tandem solar cell configuration has two electrically independent solar cells stacked on each other. A two-terminal solar cell configuration has two electrically coupled solar cells (same current through both cells) stacked on each other. Carrier selective contacts can be used to make contact to the metal chalcogenide cell (s) to alleviate the troublesome Fermi level pinning issue. Carrier-selective contacts can also remove the need to provide doping of the metal chalcogenide. Doping of the metal chalcogenide can be provided by charge transfer. These two ideas can be practiced independently or together in any combination.