Sodium-containing aluminosilicate and boroaluminosilicate glasses are described herein. The glasses can be used as substrates for photovoltaic devices, for example, thin film photovoltaic devices such as CIGS photovoltaic devices. These glasses can be characterized as having strain points 540 C., thermal expansion coefficient of from 6.5 to 9.5 ppm/ C., as well as liquidus viscosities in excess of 50,000 poise. As such, they are ideally suited for being formed into sheet by the fusion process.

After forming an absorber layer containing cracks over a back contact layer, a passivation layer is formed over a top surface of the absorber layer and interior surfaces of the cracks. The passivation layer is deposited in a manner such that that the cracks in the absorber layer are fully passivated by the passivation layer. An emitter layer is then formed over the passivation layer to pinch off upper portions of the cracks, leaving voids in lower portions of the cracks.

A multilayer thin-film structure has a layered structure with an alternative stacking series of a first layer of a first oxide semiconductor and a second layer of a second oxide semiconductor different from the first oxide semiconductor, wherein the layered structure has one or more band gaps including a range of 1.3 eV to 1.5 eV.

In one example, a sensor comprises a photovoltaic device. The photovoltaic device comprises a core having a shape that is at least partially spherical, an absorber disposed over the core, and a transparent conductor disposed over the absorber. Other examples and related methods are also disclosed herein.

System and method of providing a photovoltaic (PV) cell with a complex via structure in the substrate that has a primary via for containing a conductive material and an overflow capture region for capturing an overflow of the conductive material from the primary via. The conductive filling in the primary via may serve as an electrical contact between the PV cell and another PV cell. The overflow capture region includes one or more recesses formed on the substrate back surface. When the conductive material overflows from the primary via, the one or more recesses can capture and confine the overflow within the boundary of the complex via structure. A recess may be a rectangular or circular trench proximate to or overlaying the primary via. The recesses may also be depressions formed by roughening the substrate back surface.

After forming an absorber layer containing cracks over a back contact layer, a passivation layer is formed over a top surface of the absorber layer and interior surfaces of the cracks. The passivation layer is deposited in a manner such that that the cracks in the absorber layer are fully passivated by the passivation layer. An emitter layer is then formed over the passivation layer to pinch off upper portions of the cracks, leaving voids in lower portions of the cracks.

A PV module includes a transparent substrate, a first solar cell unit, a crystalline silicon solar cell, and a spacer. The first solar cell unit is between the transparent substrate and the crystalline silicon solar cell, and the first solar cell unit includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a I-III-VI semiconductor layer between the first electrode and the second electrode. The I-III-VI semiconductor layer includes at least gallium (Ga) and sulfur (S), and the energy gap thereof is more than that of crystalline silicon. Moreover, the crystalline silicon solar cell and the first solar cell unit are separated by the spacer.

The present application discloses a large-area dual-frequency heterojunction solar cell thin film deposition method and apparatus, where the large-area dual-frequency heterojunction solar cell thin film deposition method at least includes: placing a silicon wafer to be deposited in a process chamber of a flat-plate coupled chemical vapor deposition; introducing a process gas into the process chamber, the process gas including at least one of SiH.sub.4, H.sub.2, CO.sub.2, NO.sub.2, N.sub.2, O.sub.2, O.sub.3, Ar, and NH.sub.3; generating a plasma by exciting and dissociating of the process gas through a radio frequency power supply system fed into the process chamber; and transferring the plasma to the surface of the silicon wafer to be deposited under the electric field to form a silicon-based thin film or perform plasma interface treatment on the deposited silicon-based thin film.

Disclosed are methods and systems for forming a layer on a web with reduced levels of particulates. The layer is formed from a fluid mixture(s) or solution of chemical reagents that react to form the layer. The system includes a conveyor device provided configured to carry the web within the chamber while the first surface of the web undergoes one or more processing steps; a first fluid delivery apparatus and a second fluid delivery apparatus, and a first fluid removal apparatus. The first fluid removal apparatus is positioned within a space arranged between the first and the second delivery apparatuses.

A method (200) for fabricating thin-film optoelectronic devices (100), the method comprising: providing a substrate (110), forming a back-contact layer (120); forming at least one absorber layer (130) made of an ABC chalcogenide material, adding at least one alkali metal (235), and forming at least one cavity (236, 610, 612, 613) at the surface of the absorber layer wherein forming of said at least one cavity is by dissolving away from said surface of the absorber layer at least one crystal aggregate comprising at least one alkali crystal comprising at least one alkali metal. The method (200) is advantageous for more environmentally-friendly production of photovoltaic devices (100) on flexible substrates with high photovoltaic conversion efficiency and faster production rate.