A method for forming contacts on a photovoltaic device includes forming a heterojunction cell including a substrate, a passivation layer and a doped layer and forming a transparent conductor on the cell. A patterned barrier layer is formed on the transparent conductor and has openings therein wherein the transparent conductor is exposed through the openings in the barrier layer. A conductive contact is grown through the openings in the patterned barrier layer by a selective plating process.

Methods of fabricating solar cell emitter regions using ion implantation, and resulting solar cells, are described. In an example, a back contact solar cell includes a crystalline silicon substrate having a light-receiving surface and a back surface. A first polycrystalline silicon emitter region is disposed above the crystalline silicon substrate. The first polycrystalline silicon emitter region is doped with dopant impurity species of a first conductivity type and further includes ancillary impurity species different from the dopant impurity species of the first conductivity type. A second polycrystalline silicon emitter region is disposed above the crystalline silicon substrate and is adjacent to but separated from the first polycrystalline silicon emitter region. The second polycrystalline silicon emitter region is doped with dopant impurity species of a second, opposite, conductivity type. First and second conductive contact structures are electrically connected to the first and second polycrystalline silicon emitter regions, respectively.

Disclosed are optically transparent super-hydrophobic materials, and methods for making and using the same, that can include an optically transparent polymeric layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface. At least a portion of the first surface has been plasma-treated with oxygen and a fluorine containing compound. The treated surface includes nano- or micro-structures that are etched into the first surface and that are chemically modified with the fluorine containing compound. The nano- or micro-structures have a height to width aspect ratio of greater than 1, and a water contact angle of at least 150. The optically transparent polymeric layer retains its optical transparency after said plasma-treatment. Due to their optical transparency, chemical and thermal robustness, weatherability, and self-cleaning performance, the super-hydrophobic materials disclosed are useful in high performing solar cell units in harsh semi-arid environments.

A method for providing a textured layer in an optoelectronic device is disclosed. The method includes depositing a template layer on a first layer. The template layer has significant inhomogeneity either in thickness or in composition, or both, including the possibility of forming one or more islands to provide at least one textured surface of the island layer. The method also includes exposing the template layer and the first layer to an etching process to create or alter at least one textured surface. The altered at least one textured surface is operative to cause scattering of light.

Disclosed is a solar cell panel including a plurality of solar cells each including a semiconductor substrate and an electrode formed on the semiconductor substrate, and a wire for interconnecting the solar cells. The electrode includes a bus-bar line having a pad portion for attachment of the wire. The wire includes a first wire portion connected to the pad portion, and a second wire portion located on a portion excluding the pad portion. The first wire portion has a thickness greater than a thickness of the second wire portion.

A solar photovoltaic module (1) intended to receive incident light, said incident light comprising incident visible light and incident near infrared light, visible light being defined as light having a wavelength between 380 nm and 700 nm, excluding 700 nm and near infrared light is defined as light having a wavelength between 700 nm and 2000 nm, characterized in that said solar photovoltaic module (1) comprises: a photovoltaic element (2), sensitive to near-infra red light, at least a first infrared transmitting cover sheet (4), arranged to one side of said photovoltaic element (2), comprising: infrared transmission means arranged to transmit at least 65% of said incident infrared light through said infrared transmitting cover sheet, visible light transmission means arranged to transmit as less as possible incident light having wavelengths lower than 600 nm, preferably lower than 650 nm, more preferably lower than 700 nm, excluding the wavelength of 700 nm, through said infrared transmitting cover sheet (4), reflection means arranged to reflect a portion of said incident visible light of said infrared transmitting cover sheet (4), to the side of said incident light.

An optical detection device includes an optical semiconductor element having a plurality of light receiving portions and a light transmitting substrate bonded to the optical semiconductor element directly or via only a light transmitting adhesive layer. A surface of the light transmitting substrate on a side opposite to the optical semiconductor element is provided with a first refractive index changing layer having a projecting and recessed structure in which a refractive index continuously changes from a refractive index of air to a refractive index of the light transmitting substrate toward the light transmitting substrate. When a distance between the optical semiconductor element and the first refractive index changing layer is A, a distance between adjacent light receiving portions of the plurality of light receiving portions is B, and a refractive index of the light transmitting substrate to a refractive index of the air is n, A>B/[2 tan{sin.sup.1(sin 1/n)}] is established.

A light trapping photovoltaic device includes a substrate having a top surface defining a plurality of openings, and a plurality of light trapping photovoltaic cells recessed into the substrate through the openings of the substrate. Each light trapping cell includes a first photovoltaic face and a second photovoltaic face, both of which are configured to produce electricity in response to an external light. Top edges of the first and second photovoltaic faces are disposed at a perimeter of an opening through which the light trapping cell is recessed and bottom edges of the first and second photovoltaic faces are disposed inside the opening. The first and second photovoltaic faces are inclined to each other at a predetermined angle so that the first and second photovoltaic faces are exposed to the external light through the opening.

The present invention provides a coated steel plate suitable for an inline thin-film photovoltaic module, comprising a steel substrate and a composite insulating layer on the surface of the steel substrate. The composite insulating layer comprises an insulating base layer and a laser scribing buffer layer; one side of the insulating base layer is the steel substrate, and the other side is the laser scribing buffer layer. The laser scribing buffer layer contains at least one of the following components: Si.sub.xN.sub.y, where 0.75x:y1; and Si.sub.1-x(R).sub.xO.sub.y, where R is an element selected from Sb, Au, Cu, Sn, and Ag, and 0<x0.05, 1.9y2. Since the silicon nitride and the doped silicon dioxide used in the laser scribing buffer layer can exhibit specific colors, part of the energy of the laser can be absorbed during the laser etching process, and the damage and the loss of insulation of the insulating base layer during etching can be avoided, thereby ensuring that the coated steel plate for inline thin-film photovoltaic modules provided by the present invention has stable working performance. Additionally, the present invention further discloses a method for manufacturing the aforementioned coated steel plate.

A glass unit includes an energy collecting layer attached to a light directing device for collecting a light energy from the light directing device, and an energy converting layer electrically coupled to the energy collecting layer for converting the light energy into an electric energy, and the light directing device includes a number of nanometer particles to direct the light energy toward the energy collecting layer. The light directing device includes one or more glass layers, and a light collecting panel attached to the glass layer with a bonding layer and made of polymer materials which are mixed with the nanometer particles to form the light collecting panel.