Solar cell substrate, thin-film solar cell, and multi-junction thin-film solar cell
First Claim
1. A solar cell substrate having irregularities on a surface which is in contact with a photo-electric conversion layer, light being incident on the solar cell substrate on the side of the irregularities,wherein:
- a height of the irregularities is set so that a root mean square height is in a range of 15 nm to 600 nm, and tan θ
is in a range of 0.10 to 0.20, where θ
is an angle of incline of a surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A solar cell substrate has irregularities on a surface which is in contact with a photo-electric conversion layer, and light is incident on the side of the irregularities. The height of the irregularities is set so that the root mean square height is in a range of 15 nm to 600 nm, and tan θ is in a range of 0.10 to 0.30, where θ is the angle of incline of the surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities. Light incident on the irregularities is scattered at the interface. This increases the optical path length and thus the quantity of light absorbed in the photo-electric conversion layer, resulting in improved efficiency. Additionally, the photo-electric conversion layer can be made thinner reducing deposit time and manufacturing cost. Further, collision of crystals is not incurred, thus preventing deterioration of photo-electric conversion efficiency which is caused by defects.
75 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A solar cell substrate having irregularities on a surface which is in contact with a photo-electric conversion layer, light being incident on the solar cell substrate on the side of the irregularities,
wherein: a height of the irregularities is set so that a root mean square height is in a range of 15 nm to 600 nm, and tan θ
is in a range of 0.10 to 0.20, where θ
is an angle of incline of a surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A thin-film solar cell, comprising:
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a solar cell substrate having irregularities on a surface being in contact with a photo-electric conversion layer, light being incident on the solar cell substrate on the side of the irregularities, a height of the irregularities being set so that a root mean square height is in a range of 15 nm to 600 nm, and tan θ
in a range of 0.10 to 0.20, where θ
is an angle of incline of a surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities,said solar cell substrate having the photo-electric conversion layer being made up of at least one photo-electric conversion element. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A solar cell substrate having irregularities on a surface which is in contact with a photo-electric conversion layer, light being incident on the solar cell substrate on the other side of the irregularities,
wherein: a height of the irregularities is set so that a root mean square height is in a range of 25 nm to 600 nm, and tan θ
is in a range of 0.07 to 0.20, where θ
is an angle of incline of a surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities.- View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A thin-film solar cell, comprising:
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a solar cell substrate having irregularities on a surface being in contact with a photo-electric conversion layer, light being incident on the solar cell substrate on the side of a surface opposite the surface with the irregularities, a height of the irregularities being set so that a root mean square height is in a range of 25 nm to 600 nm, and tan θ
in a range of 0.07 to 0.20, where θ
is an angle of incline of a surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities,said solar cell substrate having the photo-electric conversion layer being made up of at least one photo-electric conversion element. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A multi-junction thin-film solar cell, comprising:
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a plurality of photo-electric conversion elements on the opposite side of a side of a substrate on which light is incident; and
an intermediate layer, having irregular surfaces, provided between at least one of any adjacent pairs of the photo-electric conversion elements, a height of the irregularities of the intermediate layer being set so that a root mean square height is in a range of 25 nm to 600 nm, and tan θ
in a range of 0.07 to 0.20, where θ
is an angle of incline of a surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities.- View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A multi-junction thin-film solar cell, comprising:
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a plurality of photo-electric conversion elements on the opposite side of a side of a substrate on which light is incident; and
an intermediate layer, having irregular surfaces, provided between at least one of any adjacent pairs of the photo-electric conversion elements, the irregularities of the intermediate layer partially having indentations in the form of a hemisphere or circular cone with a diameter in a range of 200 nm to 2000 nm. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A solar cell substrate having irregularities on a surface which is in contact with a photo-electric conversion layer, light being incident on the solar cell substrate on the side of the irregularities,
wherein: a height of the irregularities is set so that a root mean square height is in a range of 20 nm to 400 nm, and tan θ
is in a range of 0.15 to 0.25, where θ
is an angle of incline of a surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities.- View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. A solar cell substrate having irregularities on a surface which is in contact with a photo-electric conversion layer, light being incident on the solar cell substrate on the other side of the irregularities,
wherein: a height of the irregularities is set so that a root mean square height is in a range of 25 nm to 400 nm, and tan θ
is in a range of 0.07 to 0.15, where θ
is an angle of incline of a surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities.- View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. A multi-function thin-film solar cell, comprising:
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a plurality of photo-electric conversion elements on the opposite side of a side of a substrate on which light is incident; and
an intermediate layer, having irregular surfaces, provided between at least one of any adjacent pairs of the photo-electric conversion elements, a height of the irregularities of the intermediate layer being set so that a root mean square height is in a range of 25 nm to 400 nm, and tan θ
in a range of 0.07 to 0.15, where θ
is an angle of incline of a surface of the irregularities with respect to an average line of the irregularities.- View Dependent Claims (35)
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Specification