Photovoltaic Power Converter

a power converter and photovoltaic technology, applied in the field of devices, can solve the problems of limited light conversion efficiency, more than half of the optical power of incident light lost, and low light conversion efficiency

Inactive Publication Date: 2011-05-12
JDS UNIPHASE CORP
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

One drawback of the prior art optical power converters relates to their limited light conversion efficiency, which has been typically less than 50%, so that more than half of optical power of the incident light was lost.
One reason for the relatively low light conversion efficiency of the prior art optical power converters is the appearance of leakage currents in such devices that tend to degrade the device performance under light intensities above a few milliwatts (mW).
Another reason relates to a relatively high rate of non-radiative recombination of the photo-generated carriers within the p-n junction region of the prior art optical power converters, which reduces the internal quantum efficiency of the device and thus the available photocurrent.
Another drawback of the prior art power converters that they are limited to operation in the wavelengths range of 0.8 to 0.9 microns (μm).
Therefore, operating distances at which optical power can be efficiently transmitted has been limited to a few hundred meters at best, or less.

Method used

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Examples

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Embodiment Construction

[0030]Exemplary embodiments of the photovoltaic power converter (PPC) of the present invention will now be first described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

[0031]Referring first to FIG. 3, the PPC 50 includes a plurality of device segments 51-55 arranged in a circular pattern, with a central portion, or segment 55 and a plurality of segments 51-54 that are disposed around the central segment 55 surrounding said central segment and forming a ring-like structure. The segments 51-54, which will also be referred to herein as the ring segments, and the central segment 55 are separated from each other by narrow trenches 100, 200. A circular, or more generally, endless trench 200 separates the central segment 55 from the ring segments 51-54, while the trenches 100 extend radially therefrom to separate the ring sections 51-54 from each other. The trenches 100, 200 are etched in an epitaxially grown semiconductor wafer using one of known in the art etching techniques for etching high aspec...

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Abstract

The invention provides a photovoltaic power converter that includes a multilayer structure supported by a substrate having a base layer of a semiconductor material of a first conductivity type and a first emitter layer of a semiconductor material of a second conductivity type opposite said first conductivity type forming a p-n junction region therebetween, and a first current blocking layer of a semiconductor material of the second conductivity type interposed between the substrate and the first multilayer structure. The emitter layer is carbon doped.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present invention claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 871,108 filed Dec. 20, 2006, entitled “InP-based Photovoltaic Power Converter for Long-Distance Power Delivery (>>1 km)”, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 871,125 filed Dec. 20, 2006, entitled “Novel Ultra-High Efficiency Photovoltaic Power Converter for High Power Delivery”, both of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention generally relates to devices that convert optical power into electrical power, and in particular relates to segmented semiconductor optical power converting devices having a current blocking layer.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Devices for converting optical power into electrical power are used in many applications, perhaps most known of which is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, for which silicon-based photovoltaic cells, also referred to a...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): H01L31/05H01L31/0248
CPCH01L31/0693H01L31/0475Y02E10/544Y02E10/547
Inventor WERTHEN, JAN-GUSTAVLIU, QIANG
Owner JDS UNIPHASE CORP
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