US Patent 8168089 - Nanoparticle ink for CIGS photovoltaics

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8168089.html

This patent from Nanosolar teaches using non-oxide nanoparticles in a photovoltaic ink solution to enable low temperature, higher volume manufacture on flexible substrates. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for fabricating a liquid containing intermixed elements of groups IB and IIIA, comprising the steps of:

forming non-oxide nanoparticles containing elemental elements from group IB; IIIA; and VIA;

intermixing the non-oxide nanoparticles; and

mixing the non-oxide nanoparticles to form a liquid that serves as an ink, wherein forming a mixture of non-oxide nanoparticles includes reacting a single-source precursor to form nanoparticles of IB-IIIA-VIA material.

US Patent 8038909 - Nanoparticle solution for fabrication of photovoltaic cell

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8038909.html

This is the latest patent from NanoSolar teaching forming one of their nanoparticle solutions for printing solar cells on flexible and less expensive substrates. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for fabricating a liquid containing intermixed elements of groups IB and IIIA, and VIA, comprising the steps of:

forming non-oxide nanoparticles containing elements from group IB; IIIA; and VIA;

combining the non-oxide nanoparticles to form a liquid that serves as an ink,

wherein forming the non-oxide nanoparticles includes spray co-precipitation of two or more reactants.

US Patent 7663057 - CIGS nanoparticle ink for photovoltaics

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7663057.html

This latest patent from Nanosolar teaches the production of a higher quality solar energy absorber using nanoparticle ink. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method comprising:

providing a suspension comprised of one or more liquid metals, wherein the one or more liquid metals comprises at least one group IIIA based material;

providing a plurality of nanoparticles, wherein the nanoparticles comprise at least one group IB based material; and

mixing the nanoparticles and the suspension to form an ink configured to be processed in one or more steps into a photovoltaic absorber layer.

US Patent 7605328 - CIGS nanoparticle photovoltaics

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7605328.html

Nanosolar is a company which has pioneered flexible solar cells based on nanomaterials. This is their latest patent which describes a web coating process to provide cheaper production of solar cells based on copper indium gallium selenide. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for forming an active layer coating, the method comprising the steps of:

forming a molten mixture of one or more metals of group IIIA and metallic nanoparticles containing elements of group IB;

subsequently depositing the molten mixture on a substrate to form a film; and

processing the film in one or more steps to form a photovoltaic absorber layer.

US Patent 7594982 - Porous nanostructured transparent electrode

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7594982.html

There has been increasing interest in recent years for using nanomaterials to form transparent electrodes. In applications such as LCDs and solar cells such nanomaterials can offer a more cost effective alternative to conventional transparent electrode materials such as indium tin oxide. This patent from Nanosolar teaches one variety of nanostructured electrode based on a porous film which is applied to photovoltaic applications. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nanostructured transparent conducting electrode, comprising:

a nano-architected transparent porous film having a plurality of interconnected pores, wherein the pores are interconnected by an ordered network of connecting structures in the film;

an electrically conductive material that substantially fills the pores and connecting structures in the nano-architected porous film to form a network of interconnected conductive structures in the porous film; and

a layer of transparent conducting material,

wherein the nano-architectured porous film is disposed on the layer of transparent conducting material.

US Patent 7306823 - Coated copper/gallium nanoparticles for solar cells

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7306823.html

Nanosolar is a developer of lower cost solar cell fabrication using printing technologies. This patent teaches using coated copper or gallium nanoparticle as a precursor material for copper indium/gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells as an alternative to oxide based particles which required reduction steps to be included in the fabrication. Claim 20 is representative.

20. A method for fabricating coated nanoparticles, comprising the steps of: obtaining core nanoparticles containing one or more elements from group IB and/or IIIA and/or VIA and coating the core nanoparticles with one or more layers of metal from group IB, IIIA or an element from group VIA in a controlled fashion such that the resulting coated nanoparticles have a desired stoichiometric ratio of elements, wherein the core nanoparticles include copper and gallium.