US5482568A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Micro mirror photovoltaic cells
Assignee: Manhattan Scientifics Inc
•
Filing: 1994-06-28
•
Granted: 1996-01-09
•
Expires: 2014-06-28
Abstract
Abstract A photovoltaic concentrator module has miniature concentrating mirrors and photovoltaic cells attached to each mirror. A matrix of small thin mirror substrates are formed by coating a preferentially etched irradiation damaged dielectric substrate with a dielectric film, and etching away the dielectric substrate. The mirror substrates are coated with a reflective metal film to form the collecting optics and first electrode. The photovoltaic cells are formed by preferentially filling the mirror with semiconductor material and metal coating on top of the semiconductor for the second electrode. The mirror cone geometry is useful in preferentially locating material deposits. In the mirror dimensional range of 1 cm to 10 nm the optimization of the mirror photovoltaic cell is expected to occur, resulting in more efficient cooling, interconnections, material utilization, and shunt fault elimination.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert G. Hockaday
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 06:52
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10F; H10F77/00; H10F77/10; H10F77/14; H10F77/148; G; G01; G01J; G01J1/00; G01J1/02; G01J1/04; G01J1/0407; G01J1/0422; H10F19/00; H10F19/20; H10F77/40; H10F77/42; H10F77/48; H10F77/488; Y; Y02; Y02E; Y02E10/00; Y02E10/50; Y02E10/52
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 45
Claim 1
Independent Claim
76 words
An electrical power generator apparatus, comprising: a plurality of photon mirror concentrators, wherein each said photon concentrator has an entrance aperture and an exit aperture, a plurality of photon converters in proximity to the exit apertures, the mirror concentrators forming first electrodes of the photon converters, an electrically insulating material on back surfaces of the first electrodes, wherein said photon converters convert energy in photons received directly or indirectly from the mirror concentrator to electrical energy.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
76 words
An electrical power generator apparatus, comprising: a plurality of photon mirror concentrators, wherein each said photon concentrator has an entrance aperture and an exit aperture, a plurality of photon converters in proximity to the exit apertures, the mirror concentrators forming first electrodes of the photon converters, an electrically insulating material on back surfaces of the first electrodes, wherein said photon converters convert energy in photons received directly or indirectly from the mirror concentrator to electrical energy.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the photon converters is a diode selected from the group consisting of a photovoltaic diode, a thermoelectric diode, a thermionic diode, and a rectifying diode.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mirror concentrators are etched holes having a coating of a reflective material.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mirror concentrators are formed by extruding, growing, cutting, grinding, molding, or stamping.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shapes of the mirror concentrators are formed by etching damage tracks in a dielectric material.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the surfaces of the mirror concentrators are cylinders, cones, parabolas, ellipses, hyperbolas or non-imaging optical shapes that are optimum shapes for concentrating light to the exit apertures.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the surfaces of the mirror concentrators are generally grooves with light-concentrating cross-sections.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the surfaces of the mirror concentrators are replicated with dielectric coatings of etched holes in a substrate and reflective coatings on the dielectric coatings.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the geometry of abutted mirror surface replicas provides for elasticity.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the substrate is partially or fully removed.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the substrate is a dielectric thin film material.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein second electrodes are deposited on the photon converters.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein contact between the second electrodes and the first electrodes is controlled by the exit aperture size and the converter thickness.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the back surfaces of the second electrodes have a coating for providing desirable heat loss properties and surface protection.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a thin dielectric coating between the photon converters and the first and second electrodes for enhancing reflections of light.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a photon trap for trapping of photons between the first electrodes and the second electrodes.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
32 words
The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising cell series connections made by making electrical breaks in the electrodes and forming electrical connections through holes in the mirror concentrators and the photon converters.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
36 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein by separating the photon converters and the first electrodes with thin films over an insulator film, electrical potential is maintained across the insulator film for providing electrical shunt fault elimination.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
17 words
The apparatus of claim 18, wherein discreet electrical penetrations through a dielectric film enhance shunt fault elimination.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a point contact between the photon converters and exit apertures enhances performance of the photon converters.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein contact with the back surfaces is small compared to the photon conversion material to enhance the performance of the photon conversion means.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein contact with the back surface is larger than contact with the front surface for enhancing performance of the photon converters.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the back surfaces are coated with a high emissivity material.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mirror concentrators are filled with a refractive material.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising lenses coupled with the mirror concentrators.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mirror concentrators are arranged in an abutted relationship to form a continuous surface of parallel mirror concentrators.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
20 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the photon converters are preferentially deposited onto the exit apertures of the mirror concentrators.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
47 words
The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the photon converters are preferentially deposited onto the exit apertures of the mirror concentrators by using properties associated with the mirror geometry of holes, cones or ridges, shadowing, electric field concentration, cooler or hotter under irradiation, fluid filtration, and aperture geometry.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the photon converters are annealed, doped or chemically changed while located on the exit apertures of the mirror concentrators.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the exit aperture has a dimension less than 2 mm.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a dimension of the mirror optics and converter is less than 1 cm.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
127 words
A method of increasing the performance of optically thin photovoltaic cells by placing an array of reflective concentrating mirrors with exit apertures having dimensions smaller than dimensions of front apertures, within close proximity of a front surface of the optically thin photovoltaic cells and placing a reflective layer on a back surface of the cells, wherein the array of mirrors is a plurality of mirrors arranged in an abutted relationship to form a continuous surface of parallel mirrors, wherein a transparent dielectric material is provided in a space between backs of the array of mirrors and the optically thin photovoltaic cells, thereby enabling light to couple to the optically thin photovoltaic cells placed within the space between the backs of the concentrating mirrors and a back reflector.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
127 words
A method of increasing the performance of optically thin photovoltaic cells by placing an array of reflective concentrating mirrors with exit apertures having dimensions smaller than dimensions of front apertures, within close proximity of a front surface of the optically thin photovoltaic cells and placing a reflective layer on a back surface of the cells, wherein the array of mirrors is a plurality of mirrors arranged in an abutted relationship to form a continuous surface of parallel mirrors, wherein a transparent dielectric material is provided in a space between backs of the array of mirrors and the optically thin photovoltaic cells, thereby enabling light to couple to the optically thin photovoltaic cells placed within the space between the backs of the concentrating mirrors and a back reflector.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 32, further comprising filling with a refractive material a space between the array of mirrors and the photovoltaic cells.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 32, further comprising an assembly having the mirrors and cells attached to a rigid substrate and the attached mirrors and cells being encapsulated in a clear material.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 32, wherein the exit dimensions are smaller than 2 mm.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
98 words
A method of forming a photovoltaic concentrator, comprising forming miniature concave mirrors having large inlets and small outlets, positioning semiconductors at the small outlets, and connecting first and second electrodes to the semiconductors, wherein the forming of small mirrors comprises forming parallel damage tracks perpendicularly through a dielectric substrate, etching the substrate and the damage tracks from the top surface, depositing an insulator film on the etched substrate, removing the substrate from the insulator film, depositing a metal reflector film on the insulator film and thereby forming the concave mirrors having large upper ends and small bottom ends.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
98 words
A method of forming a photovoltaic concentrator, comprising forming miniature concave mirrors having large inlets and small outlets, positioning semiconductors at the small outlets, and connecting first and second electrodes to the semiconductors, wherein the forming of small mirrors comprises forming parallel damage tracks perpendicularly through a dielectric substrate, etching the substrate and the damage tracks from the top surface, depositing an insulator film on the etched substrate, removing the substrate from the insulator film, depositing a metal reflector film on the insulator film and thereby forming the concave mirrors having large upper ends and small bottom ends.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 36, further including the steps of placing an etch barrier on the bottom surface of the substrate, removing the barrier, and depositing a semiconductor film on the insulator film near the outlets and in the outlets of the mirrors in contact with the metal reflector film.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 37, further comprising depositing a dopant material on the semiconductor film, and depositing a back electrode on the dopant material and on the insulator film.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
35 words
Photovoltaic cell apparatus, comprising an array of concave mirrors with large receiving ends and small open outlet ends having a reflecting layer connecting mirrors in the array and an insulator layer beneath the reflective layer.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
35 words
Photovoltaic cell apparatus, comprising an array of concave mirrors with large receiving ends and small open outlet ends having a reflecting layer connecting mirrors in the array and an insulator layer beneath the reflective layer.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 39, further comprising semiconductors filling the small open ends and partially surrounding the insulator layer near the small ends, a back electrode covering the semiconductors and the insulator layer.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising a dopant material deposited on the semiconductor before the back electrode, and further comprising a blackening back film deposited on the back electrode.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1999-01-08 | 1999-07-10 | 2000-01-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2003-01-08 | 2003-07-10 | 2004-01-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2007-01-08 | 2007-07-10 | 2008-01-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |