(19)
(11)EP 2 530 722 A3

(12)EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION

(88)Date of publication A3:
17.12.2014 Bulletin 2014/51

(43)Date of publication A2:
05.12.2012 Bulletin 2012/49

(21)Application number: 12169582.9

(22)Date of filing:  25.05.2012
(51)International Patent Classification (IPC): 
H01L 31/0216(2014.01)
H01L 31/048(2014.01)
(84)Designated Contracting States:
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR
Designated Extension States:
BA ME

(30)Priority: 31.05.2011 US 201113149167

(71)Applicant: First Solar Malaysia SDN.BHD
Aman (MY)

(72)Inventor:
  • Gossman, Robert Dwayne
    Arvada, CO Colorado 80004 (US)

(74)Representative: Thurston, Joanna et al
Withers & Rogers LLP 4 More London Riverside
London SE1 2AU
London SE1 2AU (GB)

  


(54)Refractive index matching of thin film layers for photovoltaic devices and methods of their manufacture


(57) Thin film photovoltaic devices (10) are generally provided. In one embodiment, the device (10) includes a high index layer (11) (e.g., having a refractive index of about 2 or more) on a glass substrate (12) and a low index layer (13) (e.g., having a refractive index of about 1.5 or less) on the high index layer (11). A transparent conductive oxide layer (14) is positioned on the low index layer (13), and a photovoltaic heterojunction (e.g., a cadmium sulfide layer (18) and a cadmium telluride layer (20)) is positioned on the transparent conductive oxide layer (14). In an alternative embodiment, the device (10) can include the low index layer (13) on the glass substrate (12) and the high index layer (11) on the low index layer (13). Methods are also generally provided for manufacturing such thin film photovoltaic devices (10).







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