Patent ID: 8088992

Claim:
An apparatus for converting solar energy to electricity comprising: a substrate; a semiconductor solar cell device mounted on the substrate and having a top surface and a bottom surface, said semiconductor solar cell device comprising one or more III-V compound semiconductor layers, a first contact coupled to a p-polarity side of the semiconductor solar cell device and a second contact coupled to an n-polarity side of the semiconductor solar cell device; a diode mounted on the substrate and being laterally offset from the top surface and bottom surface of the semiconductor solar cell device, said diode comprising a body, an anode contact and a cathode contact, the diode coupled in parallel with the first and second contacts of the semiconductor solar cell device such that a first conductive trace on the substrate couples the anode contact of the diode to the second contact of the semiconductor solar cell device, and a second conductive trace on the substrate couples the cathode contact of the diode to the first contact of the semiconductor solar cell device, wherein the diode body comprises a top portion and a bottom portion, the bottom portion being disposed closer to the substrate than the top portion; a coating disposed over the top portion of the diode body and extending to and contacting the substrate and substantially encapsulating the diode body, anode contact and cathode contact; an undercoating occupying substantially all of the space between the bottom portion of the diode body and the substrate; and output terminals coupled to the semiconductor solar cell device and the diode.