Photovoltaic devices such as solar cells, hybrid solar cell-batteries, and other such devices may include an active layer disposed between two electrodes, the active layer having perovskite material and other material such as mesoporous material, interfacial layers, thin-coat interfacial layers, and combinations thereof. The perovskite material may be photoactive. The perovskite material may be disposed between two or more other materials in the photovoltaic device. Inclusion of these materials in various arrangements within an active layer of a photovoltaic device may improve device performance. Other materials may be included to further improve device performance, such as, for example: additional perovskites, and additional interfacial layers.

A solar flow battery comprising: a positive compartment containing at least one positive electrode in contact with a positive electrolyte containing a first redox active molecule; a negative compartment containing at least one negative electrode in contact with a negative electrolyte containing a second redox active molecule, wherein said first and second redox active molecules remain dissolved in solution when changed in oxidation state; at least one of said negative or positive electrodes comprises a semiconductor light absorber; electrical communication means between said electrodes and an external load for directing electrical energy into or out of said solar flow battery; a separator component that separates the positive and negative electrolytes while permitting the passage of non-redox-active species; and means for establishing flow of the positive and negative electrolyte solutions past respective electrodes. Methods of using the solar flow battery for storing and releasing electrical energy are also described.

Aspects relate to a system and a method of manufacturing an integrated device. The method includes providing a circuit board, configuring an upper surface of the circuit board as a substrate, integrally depositing photovoltaic device layers that include at least a semi-conductor absorber layer, a buffer layer, and a top electrode layer on the upper surface of the circuit board to form a photovoltaic device using the upper surface of the circuit board as a photovoltaic device substrate, wherein the buffer layer is integrally deposited between the semi-conductor absorber layer and the top electrode, and electrically connecting the photovoltaic device to one or more on-board electronic components.

Aspects relate to a system and a method of operating an integrated device is provided. The method includes providing a circuit board that includes one or more on-board electronic components and an upper surface configured as a substrate, providing photovoltaic device layers that include at least a semi-conductor absorber layer, a buffer layer, and a top electrode layer on the upper surface of the circuit board that form a photovoltaic device using the upper surface of the circuit board as a photovoltaic device substrate, wherein the buffer layer is integrally deposited between the semi-conductor absorber layer and the top electrode, generating electricity using the photovoltaic device, and powering one or more of the on-board electronic components using the electricity from the photovoltaic device.

An electrochemical and photovoltaic secondary cell formed by an electrolyte provided between a first electrode and a second electrode, the second electrode including a layer based on a semi-conductor material configured to convert photons into electrons.

An energy conversion device comprises at least two thin film photovoltaic cells fabricated separately and joined by wafer bonding. The cells are arranged in a hierarchical stack of decreasing order of their energy bandgap from top to bottom. Each of the thin film cells has a thickness in the range from about 0.5 m to about 10 m. The photovoltaic cell stack is mounted upon a thick substrate composed of a material selected from silicon, glass, quartz, silica, alumina, ceramic, metal, graphite, and plastic. Each of the interfaces between the cells comprises a structure selected from a tunnel junction, a heterojunction, a transparent conducting oxide, and an alloying metal grid; and the top surface and/or the lower surface of the energy conversion device may contain light-trapping means.

An energy conversion device comprises at least two thin film photovoltaic cells fabricated separately and joined by wafer bonding. The cells are arranged in a hierarchical stack of decreasing order of their energy bandgap from top to bottom. Each of the thin film cells has a thickness in the range from about 0.5 m to about 10 m. The photovoltaic cell stack is mounted upon a thick substrate composed of a material selected from silicon, glass, quartz, silica, alumina, ceramic, metal, graphite, and plastic. Each of the interfaces between the cells comprises a structure selected from a tunnel junction, a heterojunction, a transparent conducting oxide, and an alloying metal grid; and the top surface and/or the lower surface of the energy conversion device may contain light-trapping means.

A solar cell structure for wireless charging includes a substrate and at least one thin film solar cell disposed on a surface of the substrate, wherein the thin film solar cell has a winding coil structure. Accordingly, in the thin film solar cell, the electrode which is the winding coil structure may be used as electromagnetic induction coil or millimeter-wave radio wave receiving radiator.

A transparent display device comprises: a first base comprising a light-transmissive material; a plurality of light sources disposed on the first base; a display PCB positioned at the end of the first base; a transparent electrode connecting the light sources and the display PCB to each other; a second base covering the light sources; a photoactive layer formed in either the first base or the second base to convert sunlight into electrical energy; and a third base covering the photoactive layer. The transparent display device can self-produce and self-supply power and thus is easy to install.

An integrated thin-film lateral multi-junction solar device and fabrication method are provided. The device includes, for instance, a substrate, and a plurality of stacks extending vertically from the substrate. Each stack may include layers, and be electrically isolated against another stack. Each stack may also include an energy storage device above the substrate, a solar cell above the energy storage device, a transparent medium above the solar cell, and a micro-optic layer of spectrally dispersive and concentrating optical devices above the transparent medium. Furthermore, the device may include a first power converter connected between the energy storage device and a power bus, and a second power converter connected between the solar cell and the power bus. Further, different solar cells of different stacks may have different absorption characteristics.