A bipolar solar cell includes a backside junction formed by an N-type silicon substrate and a P-type polysilicon emitter formed on the backside of the solar cell. An antireflection layer may be formed on a textured front surface of the silicon substrate. A negative polarity metal contact on the front side of the solar cell makes an electrical connection to the substrate, while a positive polarity metal contact on the backside of the solar cell makes an electrical connection to the polysilicon emitter. An external electrical circuit may be connected to the negative and positive metal contacts to be powered by the solar cell. The positive polarity metal contact may form an infrared reflecting layer with an underlying dielectric layer for increased solar radiation collection.

A solar cell is provided with: a semiconductor substrate having a light-receiving surface and a non-light-receiving surface; a PN junction section formed on the semiconductor substrate; a passivation layer formed on the light-receiving surface and/or the non-light-receiving surface; and power extraction electrodes formed on the light-receiving surface and the non-light-receiving surface. The solar cell is characterized in that the passivation layer includes an aluminum oxide film having a thickness of 40 nm or less. As a result of forming a aluminum oxide film having a predetermined thickness on the surface of the substrate, it is possible to achieve excellent passivation performance and excellent electrical contact between silicon and the electrode by merely firing the conductive paste, which is conventional technology. Furthermore, an annealing step, which has been necessary to achieve the passivation effects of the aluminum oxide film in the past, can be eliminated, thus dramatically reducing costs.

A multi-laver device and its method of manufacture are disclosed. The multi-layer device comprises a first electrode layer, a first repair layer, a functional layer, and a second electrode layer. The first repair layer comprises a conductive hydrogel film or conductive hydrogel beads, the conductive hydrogel film or the conductive hydrogel beads comprising conductive filler particles dispersed in a cross-linked polymer. The repair layer protects the multi-layer device from electrical short circuits. A multilayer device is also disclosed including a light-transmissive electrode layer comprising a porous mesh or porous spheres.

Thermocompression bonding approaches for foil-based metallization of non-metal surfaces of solar cells, and the resulting solar cells, are described. For example, a solar cell includes a substrate and a plurality of alternating N-type and P-type semiconductor regions disposed in or above the substrate. A plurality of conductive contact structures is electrically connected to the plurality of alternating N-type and P-type semiconductor regions. Each conductive contact structure includes a metal foil portion disposed in direct contact with a corresponding one of the alternating N-type and P-type semiconductor regions.

A stacked III-V multi-junction solar cell with a top and a bottom. A metallic top contact area is formed at the top and has a first layer of metal, a flat metallic bottom contact area formed on the bottom. An opening extends continuously from the top to the bottom and has an upper edge area formed at the top and a lower edge area formed at the bottom. The upper edge area is adjacent to the top contact area and the side wall and the two edge areas are covered with a dielectric layer. The dielectric layer has a top and a bottom. A first metallic top layer is formed on a surface of the first metal layer and on the top of the dielectric layer and a second metallic top layer is formed on a part of the first metal layer adjacent to the upper edge area.

The present invention relates to a thin film solar cell module (20) comprising a first solar cell (21a) and a second solar cell (21b) disposed on a substrate (1) and connected in series, wherein the first solar cell (21a) comprises a first bottom electrode layer (22a) disposed on the substrate, a first stack (27) disposed on the first bottom electrode layer (22a), and a first top electrode layer disposed on the first stack (27), wherein the first stack (27) is configured to generate electric current when the first stack (27) is illuminated, the second solar cell (21b) comprises a second bottom electrode layer (22b) disposed on the substrate, a second stack (28) disposed on the second bottom electrode layer (22b), and a second top electrode layer disposed on the second stack (28), wherein the second stack (28) is configured to generate electric current when the second stack (28) is illuminated, wherein the first solar cell (31a; 41a; 51a) further comprises a first by-pass diode (32a; 42a; 52a) electrically connected in parallel with the first stack (27); the first by-pass diode (32a; 42a, 52a) is disposed between the first bottom electrode layer (22a) and the first top electrode layer.

A solar cell is provided, including: a semiconductor substrate including a front surface and a rear surface arranged opposite to each other; an emitter located on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate; a front passivation layer located over the front surface of the semiconductor substrate; a tunneling layer located over the rear surface of the semiconductor substrate; a doped conductive layer located over a surface of the tunneling layer; a rear passivation layer located over a surface of the doped conductive layer; a front electrode in contact with the emitter; and a rear electrode in contact with the first doped conductive layer. The doped conductive layer includes a first doped conductive layer corresponding to a rear metallized region, and a second doped conductive layer corresponding to a rear non-metallized region. The first doped conductive layer has an oxygen content less than the second doped conductive layer.

A solar cell is provided, including a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, an emitter formed on the first surface of the substrate and including a textured structure on a side away from the first surface, a passivation structure formed on the textured structure, first electrodes penetrating the passivation structure and in electrical contact with the textured structure of the emitter, and conductive eutectic layers each formed between a respective first electrode and the emitter and including first conductive particles and second conductive particles. Each of the first conductive particles has a shape different from a shape of any of the second conductive particles. The first conductive particles and the second conductive particles have a first number, the first conductive particles have a second number, and a ratio of the second number to the first number in a range of 20% to 80%.

A solid-state device includes a substrate with a stack of constituent thin-film layers that define an arrangement of electrodes and intervening layers. The constituent layers can conform to or follow a non-planar surface of the substrate, thereby providing a 3-D non-planar geometry to the stack. Fabrication employs a common shadow mask moved between lateral positions offset from each other to sequentially form at least some of the layers in the stack, whereby layers with a similar function (e.g., anode, cathode, etc.) can be electrically connected together at respective edge regions. Wiring layers can be coupled to the edge regions for making electrical connection to the respective subset of layers, thereby simplifying the fabrication process. By appropriate selection and deposition of the constituent layers, the multi-layer device can be configured as an energy storage device, an electro-optic device, a sensing device, or any other solid-state device.

Provided is a composition containing nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanowires that do not essentially require a carrier such as a substrate. The composition contains nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanowires, and the nanoparticles, the nanorods, and the nanowires are each formed of at least one of Si or SiO.