EP1153441A1 - Solar cell arrangements - Google Patents

Solar cell arrangements

Info

Publication number
EP1153441A1
EP1153441A1 EP00901194A EP00901194A EP1153441A1 EP 1153441 A1 EP1153441 A1 EP 1153441A1 EP 00901194 A EP00901194 A EP 00901194A EP 00901194 A EP00901194 A EP 00901194A EP 1153441 A1 EP1153441 A1 EP 1153441A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
solar cell
protection diode
arrangement
cell structure
region
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP00901194A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Inventor
Stephen John Taylor
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Teledyne UK Ltd
Original Assignee
Marconi Applied Technologies Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Marconi Applied Technologies Ltd filed Critical Marconi Applied Technologies Ltd
Publication of EP1153441A1 publication Critical patent/EP1153441A1/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/04—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices
    • H01L31/06—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices characterised by at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier
    • H01L31/068—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices characterised by at least one potential-jump barrier or surface barrier the potential barriers being only of the PN homojunction type, e.g. bulk silicon PN homojunction solar cells or thin film polycrystalline silicon PN homojunction solar cells
    • H01L31/0687—Multiple junction or tandem solar cells
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/04—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices
    • H01L31/042—PV modules or arrays of single PV cells
    • H01L31/044—PV modules or arrays of single PV cells including bypass diodes
    • H01L31/0443—PV modules or arrays of single PV cells including bypass diodes comprising bypass diodes integrated or directly associated with the devices, e.g. bypass diodes integrated or formed in or on the same substrate as the photovoltaic cells
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/04—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices
    • H01L31/042—PV modules or arrays of single PV cells
    • H01L31/0445—PV modules or arrays of single PV cells including thin film solar cells, e.g. single thin film a-Si, CIS or CdTe solar cells
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
    • Y02E10/544—Solar cells from Group III-V materials
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
    • Y02E10/547—Monocrystalline silicon PV cells

Definitions

  • a solar cell arrangement comprises a top solar

Abstract

A solar cell arrangement includes a top cell (2), a tunnel diode (8) and a bottom cell (5) and a monolithically integrated protection diode (11). The protection diode (11) is formed by removing parts of the top cell (5) and tunnel diode (8) in a region.

Description

Solar Cell Arrangements This invention relates to solar cell arrangements and a method of manufacturing such
arrangements, and is more particularly concerned with the protection of solar cells against
reverse current through them.
In one type of solar cell (or photovoltaic cell), a voltage is developed across a p-n
junction in a semiconductor when it is irradiated by photons. A plurality of solar cells may be
connected together in an array to provide a power supply, such arrangements commonly being
used in spacecraft and satellites for example. During operation, there may be circumstances where a single solar cell is shadowed or is faulty, and therefore not producing power, whilst the remainder of a string of cells with which it is connected in series is illuminated and
producing power. This may lead to current being driven in reverse through the shadowed
solar cell. Power is dissipated within the cell which is proportional to the reverse voltage
across it. If the power density is sufficiently high, the cell may irreversibly break down.
One way in which this problem may be alleviated is to use a protection diode wired
across one or several solar cells in reverse parallel with them. If one of the cells across which
it is connected is driven into reverse bias, the protection diode diverts current from the cell.
This limits the power dissipation in the shadowed cell by both limiting the voltage across the shadowed cell and by passing the reverse current.
The present invention is particularly concerned with multijunction solar cells in which
a plurality of pn junctions are arranged vertically, such as tandem solar cells and triple junction cells. A tandem solar cell is one which includes two p-n junctions connected in series internally by a tunnel junction or some other means. The front p-n junction produces
voltage in response to incident radiation of a relatively short wavelength and the rear p-n
junction is tailored for longer wavelengths, giving improved efficiency compared to an
equivalent single solar cell device. A triple junction solar cell includes three single-junction
cells with different energy band gaps which are stacked on one another.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a method of manufacturing a solar cell
arrangement includes the steps of: producing a top solar cell structure in series with a bottom solar cell structure on a substrate; then removing part of one of the solar cell structures from a
region; and defining a protection diode in the region.
Use of the method in accordance with the invention enables a protection diode to be monolithically incorporated into a multijunction solar cell device, such as a tandem solar cell
or a triple junction solar cell. The protection diode may advantageously be defined following
removal of part of the top solar cell structure but in other methods in accordance with the
invention, this may be done prior to such removal.
In a tandem cell, the top and bottom cells are sensitive to different parts of the
incident light spectrum, and the voltages that they generate are added to give the output
voltage of the device as a whole. This is desirable for the solar cell. However, the invention
leads to additional improved performance. By removing part of the top solar cell structure in
the region where the protection diode is defined, it means that less power is dissipated in the
protection diode than if the top solar cell structure were incorporated into the protection
diode. In the latter case, at a given current, the voltage is higher and thus more power is dissipated in the protection diode, increasing the risk of damage to the device as a whole. Thus the removal of one or more of the constituent diodes of a multijunction structure in
accordance with the invention gives a significant advantage.
The top cell absorbs the shorter wavelength light from the available spectrum and thus the semiconductor material which forms the top cell must have a wider band gap than the
semiconductor material which forms the bottom cell. Thus a protection diode made from
material forming the "top cell" structure would operate at a higher voltage at a given current
than one made from "bottom cell" material. As discussed above, operation at a lower voltage
is desirable and may be achieved using the invention.
Preferably, the top solar cell structure is removed from the region, to realise these
advantages, although in alternative methods the bottom cell structure may be etched away
from the back to form the protection diode from the structure with the wider band-gap.
Advantageously, a tunnel diode provides a connection between the top solar cell
structure and the bottom solar cell structure, although other interfaces may be used instead.
Where a tunnel diode is included, epitaxial layers making up the tunnel diode may also be left
in the region where the protection diode is defined. Where tunnel diode layers are included in the region, external electrical connections may be made to the protection diode via them.
In one method in accordance with the invention, the protection diode includes a layer or layers which also in other parts of arrangement form the bottom solar cell structure. In an
alternative arrangement, the emitter of the bottom solar cell structure may be removed and dopant introduced into the base of the bottom solar cell structure to define the protection
diode. In another method, part of the base of the bottom solar cell structure may be removed
and dopant introduced into the substrate to define the protection diode.
According to a feature of the invention, a solar cell arrangement comprises a top solar
cell structure in series with a bottom solar cell structure on a substrate and a protection diode
formed monolithically therewith in a region of the arrangement which does not include part
of one of the solar cell structures. Preferably, it is part of the top solar cell structure which is not included.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a solar cell array comprises a plurality
of solar cell arrangements in accordance with the invention
Some ways in which the invention may be performed are now described by way of
example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figures la to Id are explanatory diagrams relating to one method in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2a and 2b schematically illustrate another method in accordance with the invention:
Figure 3 illustrates in plan view a solar cell devices in accordance with the invention; and Figures 4a and 4b illustrate an array of solar cell devices.
To manufacture a photovoltaic cell in accordance with the invention, first of all a substrate 1, which in this case is of GaAs, is taken and a plurality of epitaxial layers are
grown on it to define a tandem cell structure. This includes a top solar cell 2 having a top cell
emitter 3 and a top cell base 4 connected in series with a base solar cell 5 having a bottom cell
emitter 6 and a bottom cell base 7, the two solar cells 2 and 5 in this method being separated
by a tunnel diode 8 comprising a tunnel diode emitter 9 and a tunnel diode base 10 to provide
an ohmic connection between the two solar cells 2 and 5 to connect them in series.
With reference to Figure lb, following deposition of the epitaxial layers, a region of the epitaxial top cell emitter 3 and top cell base 4 are removed by etching. As shown in
Figure lc, a trench is then etched to the bottom cell base 7 to define and isolate a protection
diode 11. In one method in accordance with the invention, electrical contacts are then added
so that external connection may be made to the top cell emitter 3, to bottom cell base 7 or
substrate 1 (which are electrically equivalent) and to the protection diode 11 via the tunnel
diode emitter 9a. The tandem cell so defined and its associated protection diode may then be incorporated in an array.
In a variant of the method, following removal from the region of the top solar cell 2,
one or both of the tunnel diode emitter layer and base layer 9a and 10a may be removed from
the same region. Figure Id shows a device in which both layers 9a and 10a have been
removed. Following this step, electrical connection is made to the tunnel diode base 10a or to the bottom cell emitter 6 respectively to make external connection to the protection diode 11. The trench shown in Figure lc may alternatively be etched to the conducting substrate
1 as indicated by the broken line 13.
In these methods, the epitaxial layers of the cell structure and protection diode are
deposited simultaneously.
In another method in accordance with the invention, following the deposition of a plurality of epitaxial layers on a substrate to define a tandem solar cell structure, as shown in
Figure la with an intermediate tunnel diode, in a region of the structure, the top solar cell 2
and tunnel diode 8 are etched away, as is part of the bottom cell emitter layer 6 as shown in
Figure 2a. Following this step, local diffusion of a p-type (or n-type) dopant into n-type
(p-type) material is carried out to define the emitter 14 of the protection diode as shown in Figure 2b. In an alternative method, part of the bottom solar cell base is also etched away and
dopant introduced into the substrate to form the protection diode.
In one tandem solar cell in accordance with the invention, electrical contacts 15 are
bonded to the structure shown in Figure Id to form a solar cell device which is shown in plan
view in Figure 3. A plurality of tandem solar cells are connected in series as shown in
Figures 4a and 4b showing side and plan views respectively. Connections are made from the
bottom cell base or substrate of one solar cell device to the top cell emitter of the adjacent
solar cell device. The protection diode PI of one solar cell device is electrically connected to the base of the bottom solar cell of an adjacent device.
The invention may be applied to a triple junction solar cell, in which the top and middle solar cell structures, for example, may be etched away, together with any intervening tunnel diode layers, and the protection diode formed in the region.

Claims

Claims
1. A method of manufacturing a solar cell arrangement including the steps of: producing a top solar cell structure in series with a bottom solar cell structure on a substrate; then removing part of one of the solar cell structures from a region; and defining a protection diode in the region.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein part of the top solar cell structure is removed from the region.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the protection diode is defined following removal of part of the top solar cell structure.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 and including the step of producing a tunnel diode between the top solar cell structure and the bottom solar cell structure.
5. A method as claimed in claim 4 and including adding external electrical connection means to the tunnel diode emitter in the region for connection of the protection diode.
6. A method as claimed in claim 4 and including the step of removing part of the tunnel diode emitter from the region.
7. A method as claimed in claim 6 and including adding external electrical connection means to the tunnel diode base in the region to provide electrical connection to the protection diode.
8. A method as claimed in any preceding claim and including the step of defining a trench to
separate the emitter of the bottom solar cell structure from the emitter of the protection diode.
9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the trench extends through the base of the bottom solar cell structure to the substrate.
10. A method as claimed in claim 1,2, 3 or 4 and including the step of removing part of the
emitter of the bottom solar cell structure from the region; and then introducing dopant into the
base of the bottom solar cell structure to define the protection diode.
11. A method as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 and including the step of removing part of the
base of the bottom cell structure from the region; and then introducing dopant into the substrate to define the protection diode.
12. A method as claimed in claim 10 or 11 and including adding external electrical
connection means to the doped area for connection of the protection diode.
13. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein layers of material forming the protection diode are deposited epitaxially and simultaneously with layers included in a solar cell structure.
14. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the solar cell arrangement is a tandem solar cell device.
15. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 13 wherein the solar cell arrangement is a
triple junction solar cell device.
16. A method as claimed in any preceding claim and including the step of connecting the
arrangement to another arrangement with the protection diode being electrically in parallel
with said another arrangement.
17. A solar cell arrangement manufactured in accordance with a method as claimed in any preceding claim.
18. A solar cell arrangement comprising a top solar cell structure in series with a bottom solar cell structure on a substrate and a protection diode formed monolithically therewith in a
region of the arrangement which does not include one of the solar cell structures.
19. An arrangement as claimed in claim 18 wherein the region does not include the top solar cell structure.
20. A solar cell arrangement as claimed in claim 18 or 19 and including a tunnel diode
between the top and bottom solar cell structures.
21. A solar cell arrangement as claimed in claim 18, 19 or 20 wherein the protection diode comprises an emitter layer on part of the base of the bottom solar cell structure.
22. An arrangement as claimed in claim 21 and including at least one of a tunnel diode emitter and tunnel diode base layer on the emitter layer of the protection diode.
23. An arrangement as claimed in claim 18, 19 or 20 wherein the protection diode includes a
doped region of at least one of the bottom solar cell base and the substrate.
24. A solar cell array comprising: a plurality of solar cell arrangements as claimed in any one
of claims 18 to 23.
19. A method substantially as illustrated in and described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
20. A solar cell arrangement substantially as illustrated in and described with reference to
Figures lb, lc, Id, 2b or 3 of the accompanying drawings.
21. A solar cell array substantially as illustrated in and described with reference to Figures 4a
and 4b of the accompanying drawings.
EP00901194A 1999-01-25 2000-01-25 Solar cell arrangements Withdrawn EP1153441A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9901513 1999-01-25
GBGB9901513.3A GB9901513D0 (en) 1999-01-25 1999-01-25 Solar cell arrangements
PCT/GB2000/000178 WO2000044052A1 (en) 1999-01-25 2000-01-25 Solar cell arrangements

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1153441A1 true EP1153441A1 (en) 2001-11-14

Family

ID=10846402

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP00901194A Withdrawn EP1153441A1 (en) 1999-01-25 2000-01-25 Solar cell arrangements

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1153441A1 (en)
JP (1) JP2002535851A (en)
AU (1) AU2115800A (en)
GB (2) GB9901513D0 (en)
WO (1) WO2000044052A1 (en)

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US7732705B2 (en) * 2005-10-11 2010-06-08 Emcore Solar Power, Inc. Reliable interconnection of solar cells including integral bypass diode
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US8686282B2 (en) 2006-08-07 2014-04-01 Emcore Solar Power, Inc. Solar power system for space vehicles or satellites using inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cells
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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU2115800A (en) 2000-08-07
GB0001601D0 (en) 2000-03-15
GB2346010A (en) 2000-07-26
WO2000044052A1 (en) 2000-07-27
JP2002535851A (en) 2002-10-22
GB9901513D0 (en) 1999-03-17

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