US Patent 7985919 Thermal management for photovoltaic devices

Methods and devices are provided for improved thermal management for photovoltaic devices and assemblies. In one embodiment, the photovoltaic device comprises of at least one photovoltaic cell based on a thin-film photovoltaic stack deposited directly onto a thermally conductive substrate. The thermally conductive substrate is connected to a heat sink in a configuration to allow sufficient heat transfer that lowers a normal operating cell temperature (NOCT) of the photovoltaic cell, thus increasing the efficiency of the cell and the module.