{
  "patent_number": "US 9219171",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "Solar Cells with Built-in Bypass Switches",
  "original_title": "Systems and methods for monolithically integrated bypass switches in photovoltaic solar cells and modules",
  "summary": "This patent describes how to build a solar cell with a bypass switch directly into the same piece of silicon, making solar panels more efficient and reliable.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent details a way to create a solar cell and a bypass switch together on a single piece of semiconductor material, like silicon. The solar cell part captures sunlight to make electricity. A special trench, or divider, separates the solar cell from a bypass switch region. This bypass switch, which can be a type of diode or transistor, is designed to activate if the solar cell gets shaded or damaged. When activated, it lets electricity flow around the faulty cell, preventing it from overheating or causing problems for the whole panel. The patent describes how metal layers on the front and back, along with conductive plugs through an insulating backplane, connect these components. For example, if one cell in a panel is shaded, its bypass switch turns on, allowing current from other cells to pass through it without being blocked.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Solar cells where the bypass switch is a separate component added later.",
    "Solar panels that do not use a trench to isolate the solar cell and bypass switch regions.",
    "Bypass switches that are not monolithically integrated (built into the same structure) with the solar cell.",
    "Solar cells made from materials other than silicon, such as thin-film compounds, unless they are also monolithic structures with bypass switches.",
    "Bypass switches that are not designed as diodes or transistors."
  ],
  "filed": "2013-10-16",
  "granted": "2015-12-22",
  "expires": "2033-10-16",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Solexel",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/solexel",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Mehrdad M. Moslehi",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/mehrdad-m-moslehi"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 3,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "energy",
    "semiconductors",
    "materials"
  ],
  "abstract": "Structures and methods for a solar cell having an integrated bypass switch are provided. According to one embodiment, an integrated solar cell and bypass switch comprising a semiconductor layer having background doping, a frontside, and a backside is provided. A patterned first level metal is positioned on the layer backside and an electrically insulating backplane is positioned on the first level metal. A trench isolation pattern partitions the semiconductor layer into a solar cell region and at least one monolithically integrated bypass switch region. A patterned second level metal is positioned on the electrically insulating backplane and which connects to the first level metal through the backplane to complete the electrical metallization of the monolithically integrated solar cell and bypass switch structure.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/9219171/systems-and-methods-for-monolithically-integrated-bypass-switches-in-photovoltai",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/9219171/systems-and-methods-for-monolithically-integrated-bypass-switches-in-photovoltai/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US9219171",
  "relatedPatents": []
}