Patent ID: 8088990

Claim:
A building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panel, comprising: a substrate; a reflective layer formed on the substrate, the reflective layer having a plurality of first windows exposing a plurality of first portions of the substrate; a first conductive layer formed on the reflective layer and on the plurality of first portions of the substrate exposed by the plurality of first windows, the first conductive layer having a plurality of second windows exposing a plurality of second portions of the substrate, each second window being within a respective first window; an active layer formed on the first conductive layer, the active layer having a plurality of third windows exposing a plurality of first portions of the first conductive layer, each third window being within a respective first window; and a second conductive layer formed on the active layer, the second conductive layer having a plurality of fourth windows exposing a plurality of second portions of the first conductive layer, each fourth window being within a respective first window, wherein the reflective layer has an index of refraction and a thickness such that the reflectance spectrum of the BIPV panel for light incident thereon has a maximum in a selected wavelength range in the visible spectrum, and wherein the reflective layer comprises silicon carbide (SiC) or micro-crystalline silicon (uc-Si).