US Patent 7858876 - Graphene photovoltaics

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7858876.html

Graphene has been popularized in the last few years as a way to achieve higher speed electronics in the 21st century. This patent also teaches usefulness of graphene toward the production of solar cells. Claim 1 reads:

1. A photovoltaic cell comprising:

(a) a first contact comprising a first electrically conductive contact material;

(b) a second contact comprising a second electrically conductive material; and

(c) a plurality of spatially separated graphite stacks bridging the first and second contacts, each graphite stack comprising a plurality of vertically stacked, semiconducting graphene sheets;

wherein junctions between the first electrically conductive material and the graphene sheets form Schottky barriers for electrons or holes.