Basic properties of the spheral solar cell

Abstract

Spheral solar technology consists of silicon spheres embedded in aluminum foil. Sphere processing consists of obtaining metallurgical-grade silicon feedstock in the form of irregular shaped particles, melting them into spheres, upgrading them in purity, and diffusion. Cell processing consists of bonding the spheres to a perforated foil, exposing the core, and applying an insulator and a backfoil to complete the cell. Flexible 10 cm/sup 2/ solar cells of 10 cm/sup 2/ are repeatably produced with average and peak efficiencies of 10% and 11%, respectively.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>