A method of fabricating a four junction solar cell having an upper first solar subcell composed of a semiconductor material including aluminum and having a first band gap; a second solar subcell adjacent to said first solar subcell and composed of a semiconductor material having a second band gap smaller than the first band gap and being lattice matched with the upper first solar subcell; a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and composed of a semiconductor material having a third band gap smaller than the second band gap and being lattice matched with the second solar subcell; and a fourth solar subcell adjacent to and lattice matched with said third solar subcell and composed of a semiconductor material having a fourth band gap smaller than the third band gap; wherein the fourth subcell has a direct bandgap of greater than 0.75 eV.

A translucent solar module assembly for integration with a greenhouse having a frame with a plurality of roof supports includes a pair of brackets attachable to each of the plurality of roof supports, a bi-facial solar panel attachable to the pair of brackets, and a pair of reflector rails attachable to each of the plurality of roof supports. A dichroic reflector is attachable to the pair of reflector rails.

A reflector including a substrate and a plurality of alternating layers of two materials having different indices of refraction disposed on the substrate, wherein the reflector exhibits a central peak in reflectance vs wavelength and the reflectance of the high-energy side-lobes is increased in intensity and the reflectance of the low-energy side-lobes is reduced in intensity and method for making the reflector is disclosed.

A multijunction solar cell including interconnected first and second discrete semiconductor regions disposed adjacent and parallel to each other including first top solar subcell, second (and possibly third) lattice matched middle solar subcells; a graded interlayer adjacent to the last middle solar subcell; and a bottom solar subcell adjacent to said graded interlayer being lattice mismatched with respect to the last middle solar subcell; wherein an opening is provided from the bottom side of the semiconductor body to one or more of the solar subcells so as to allow a discrete electrical connector to be made extending in free space and to electrically connect contact pads on one or more of the solar subcells.

A Concentrating PhotoVoltaic (CPV) system employs an inflatable non-imaging CPC concentrator to concentrate sunlight to realize extremely low cost and a synergistically combined photonic crystal waveguide solar spectrum splitter and perovskite integrated circuitry solar cell package to realize ultra-high conversion efficiency of solar radiation. The corporation of band gap variable perovskite materials into the integrated circuit solar cell not only reduces the cost and raises the efficiency of the photovoltaic package as the receiver, but also addresses the unstable issue of the perovskite materials through sealing the perovskite materials into package to prevent moisture, reducing the heat generation to low the temperature, and filtering the UV light and channel to other elemental solar made of broader band gap photovoltaic materials.

The present disclosure describes a hybrid photovoltaic (PV) panel that includes: a first photovoltaic (PV) layer comprising photovoltaic cells capable of converting energy from incident solar power into electricity; a second transparent layer arranged underneath the first PV layer such that a portion of the incident solar power passes through; and a third thermal collection layer arranged underneath the second transparent layer and comprising absorbing material capable of absorbing energy from the portion of the incident solar power that has passed through the second transparent layer, wherein the second transparent layer includes a thermally insulating material to provide a thermal barrier between the first PV layer and the third thermal collection layer such that when the PV panel is operated, the first PV layer operates at a temperature lower than a temperature of the thermal collection layer.

The present disclosure provides a building unit comprising first and second light transmissive panels. The first panel defines a light receiving surface. The building unit also comprises a structure supporting the panels in a spaced apart relationship to form 5 a cavity therebetween. In addition, the building unit comprises one or more photovoltaic cells disposed within the cavity adjacent the structure. The building unit also comprises an arrangement supported by the structure for re-directing non-visible wavelengths of sunlight incident on or passing through the light receiving surface in a direction generally transverse to a plane of the unit toward structure for collection by 10 the one or more photovoltaic elements. Further, the building unit comprises one or more electrically powered devices within the cavity and arranged to receive electrical power generated by the one or photovoltaic cells.

According to one embodiment, a photovoltaic cell module includes a light guide including a first main surface, a second main surface, a first side surface, a second side surface, a third side surface and a fourth side surface, an optical element opposing the second main surface, containing a cholesteric liquid crystal forming a reflective surface inclined with respect to the second main surface, and configured to reflect at least a part of light entering from the first main surface toward the light guide, a photovoltaic cell opposing the first side surface and a reflective member opposing the second side surface, the third side surface and the fourth side surface.

A multijunction solar cell including a substrate and a top (or light-facing) solar subcell having an emitter layer, a base layer, and a window layer adjacent to the emitter layer, the window layer composed of a material that is optically transparent, has a band gap of greater than 2.6 eV, and includes an appropriately arranged multilayer antireflection coating on the top surface thereof.

A facade element includes a coloring transparent or semi-transparent first pane and a mechanically supporting transparent second pane firmly connected to one another by an intermediate layer. The first pane has a front surface arranged on the light incidence side and an opposite back surface, at least one surface of the front and back surfaces has at least one structured region, and at least one optical interference layer is arranged on the at least one surface for reflecting light within a predetermined wavelength range. The structured region has the following features: perpendicular to the plane of the first pane, a height profile comprising peaks and valleys, wherein an average height difference between the peaks and valleys is at least 2 μm, at least 50% of the structured region is composed of segments which are inclined with respect to the plane of the first pane (2).