Patent ID: 8823127

Claim:
A multijunction photovoltaic (PV) cell, comprising: a bottom flexible substrate; a bottom metal layer located on the bottom flexible substrate, wherein the bottom metal layer comprises an electrical contact for the multijunction PV cell; a stack comprising a plurality of junctions, each of the plurality of junctions having a respective bandgap, wherein the plurality of junctions are ordered from the junction having the smallest bandgap being located on a bottom of the stack to the junction having the largest bandgap being located on top of the stack, and a semiconductor layer having a first surface disposed on the bottom metal layer and a second surface opposite the first surface that is disposed on the junction having the smallest bandgap on the bottom of the stack, wherein the semiconductor layer is formed by spalling the semiconductor layer from a substrate at a fracture in the substrate, wherein the fracture is formed in response to the tensile stress of a top metal layer disposed on the junction having the largest bandgap on the top of the stack.