A method for forming a back contact on an absorber layer in a photovoltaic device includes forming a two dimensional material on a first substrate. An absorber layer including CuZnSnS(Se) (CZTSSe) is grown over the first substrate on the two dimensional material. A buffer layer is grown on the absorber layer on a side opposite the two dimensional material. The absorber layer is exfoliated from the two dimensional material to remove the first substrate from a backside of the absorber layer opposite the buffer layer. A back contact is deposited on the absorber layer.

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.

A manufacturing method of a Blazed diffraction grating configured to diffract incident light and made of a CdTe or CdZnTe crystal material includes the step of forming a plurality of grating grooves in a processed surface of a work through machining using a processing machine for the Blazed diffraction grating. The forming step forms the grating grooves so that among surfaces of gratings formed by the forming step, a surface that receives the incident light most is set to a (110) plane as a crystal orientation of the crystal material.

A compositional range of high strain point and/or intermediate expansion coefficient alkali metal free aluminosilicate and boroaluminosilicate glasses are described herein. The glasses can be used as substrates or superstrates for photovoltaic devices, for example, thin film photovoltaic devices such as CdTe or CIGS photovoltaic devices or crystalline silicon wafer devices. These glasses can be characterized as having strain points 600 C., thermal expansion coefficient of from 35 to 5010.sup.7/ C.

The present invention provides stretchable, and optionally printable, semiconductors and electronic circuits capable of providing good performance when stretched, compressed, flexed or otherwise deformed. Stretchable semiconductors and electronic circuits of the present invention preferred for some applications are flexible, in addition to being stretchable, and thus are capable of significant elongation, flexing, bending or other deformation along one or more axes. Further, stretchable semiconductors and electronic circuits of the present invention may be adapted to a wide range of device configurations to provide fully flexible electronic and optoelectronic devices.

In order to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of a photoelectric conversion device, this photoelectric conversion device is provided with an electrode layer, a first semiconductor layer that is positioned on the electrode layer and contains a polycrystalline semiconductor, and a second semiconductor layer that is positioned on/above the first semiconductor layer and forms a p-n junction with the first semiconductor layer, and an average grain diameter of crystal grains in the first semiconductor layer is larger near the surface on the electrode layer side of the first semiconductor layer than the center of the first semiconductor layer in a thickness direction of the first semiconductor layer. Furthermore, the average grain diameter of the crystal grains in the first semiconductor layer is larger in a surface portion on the second semiconductor layer side of the first semiconductor layer than in the central portion.

A device having a plurality of thin film photovoltaic cells (PV) formed over a passivation layer. The device comprises a plurality of thin film photovoltaic (PV) cells formed over the passivation layer, each PV cell includes at least a lower conducting layer (LCL) and an upper conducting layer (UCL); and a conducting path connecting at least a UCL of a first PV cell to at least a LCL of a second PV cell, wherein at least a first array of PV cells comprised of at least a first portion of the plurality of PV cells is connected by the respective UCL and LCL of each PV cell to provide a first voltage output. In an embodiment the passivation layer is formed over a target integrated circuit (TIC), the TIC having a top surface and a bottom surface.

A manufacturing method of a Blazed diffraction grating configured to diffract incident light and made of a CdTe or CdZnTe crystal material includes the step of forming a plurality of grating grooves in a processed surface of a work through machining using a processing machine for the Blazed diffraction grating. The forming step forms the grating grooves so that among surfaces of gratings formed by the forming step, a surface that receives the incident light most is set to a (110) plane as a crystal orientation of the crystal material.

Improved methods and apparatus for forming thin-film buffer layers of chalcogenide on a substrate web. Solutions containing the reactants for the buffer layer or layers may be dispensed separately to the substrate web, rather than being mixed prior to their application. The web and/or the dispensed solutions may be heated by a plurality of heating elements.

The present invention relates to a substrate for a thin film photovoltaic module, characterized in that it is a cementitious product with average surface roughness Ra not higher than 500 nm. The invention also relates to the cementitious product as such, the thin film photovoltaic module comprising it, and a method of moulding both of them.