Patent ID: 8853527

Claim:
A solar cell comprising a transparent front sheet, a semiconductor layer comprising elemental silicon, elemental germanium, or alloys thereof, and having a front surface and an opposite rear surface, a plurality of doped regions each having a p-doped island or an n-doped island in physical contact with the rear surface and extending into as well as from the rear surface of the semiconductor layer at a common location on the rear surface, and at least two electrical interconnects, wherein the semiconductor layer is secured in position with its front surface oriented toward the transparent front sheet and wherein one electrical interconnect provides electrical connections between a plurality of p-doped islands and another electrical interconnect provides an electrical connection between a plurality of n-doped islands, wherein doped island sections extending from the semiconductor layer rear surface consist essentially of doped elemental silicon, doped elemental germanium, doped silicon-germanium alloys, or blends thereof.