Foldable photovoltaic assembly with non-perpendicular interconnection
First Claim
1. An assembly of electrically interconnected photovoltaic submodules, comprising:
- a first photovoltaic submodule including a first plurality of electrically interconnected photovoltaic cells;
a second photovoltaic submodule including a second plurality of electrically interconnected photovoltaic cells, wherein the second submodule is separated from the first submodule by a fold zone characterized by a fold line; and
a plurality of spaced apart conductive interconnection structures electrically interconnecting the first and second submodules, each including a discrete bundle of parallel conductors and each extending through the fold zone at a non-perpendicular angle relative to the fold line;
wherein each and every one of the conductive interconnection structures is independently sufficient to electrically interconnect the photovoltaic submodules.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Foldable photovoltaic assemblies and methods of manufacturing such assemblies, including a transparent top sheet having a fold line and a conductive interconnection pattern spanning the fold line. The conductive interconnection pattern includes inter-cell connections configured to interconnect individual photovoltaic cells to form photovoltaic submodules, and also inter-submodule connections configured to interconnect photovoltaic submodules to form an assembly of submodules, which in some cases may be a fully assembled photovoltaic module. The inter-submodule connections span the fold line and are oriented at non-perpendicular angles relative to the fold line.
19 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An assembly of electrically interconnected photovoltaic submodules, comprising:
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a first photovoltaic submodule including a first plurality of electrically interconnected photovoltaic cells; a second photovoltaic submodule including a second plurality of electrically interconnected photovoltaic cells, wherein the second submodule is separated from the first submodule by a fold zone characterized by a fold line; and a plurality of spaced apart conductive interconnection structures electrically interconnecting the first and second submodules, each including a discrete bundle of parallel conductors and each extending through the fold zone at a non-perpendicular angle relative to the fold line; wherein each and every one of the conductive interconnection structures is independently sufficient to electrically interconnect the photovoltaic submodules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A foldable photovoltaic charger, comprising:
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a flexible substrate; first, second, third, and fourth photovoltaic submodules disposed on the substrate each submodule including a plurality of electrically interconnected photovoltaic cells; a first fold zone separating the first and third submodules from the second and fourth submodules; a second fold zone oriented transverse to the first fold zone and separating the first and second submodules from the third and fourth submodules; and a plurality of conductive interconnection structures, each including a bundle of linear conductors, each interconnection structure extending linearly through at least one of the first and second fold zones to directly electrically interconnect parallel edge portions of adjacent ones of the submodules, such that each submodule is directly electrically interconnected with at least two adjacent submodules. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A foldable photovoltaic assembly, comprising:
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a flexible substrate defining a rectangular grid including a plurality of submodule areas separated by fold zones, wherein a first one of the fold zones is oriented transverse to a second one of the fold zones; a plurality of photovoltaic submodules each disposed on the substrate in one of the submodule areas, such that adjacent pairs of the submodules are separated by respective fold zones; and a plurality of conductive interconnection structures, each including a bundle of linear conductors, each extending through one of the fold zones to electrically interconnect parallel edge portions of one of the pairs of adjacent submodules; wherein the photovoltaic assembly is configured to be transformed between an unfolded state in which all of the photovoltaic submodules are exposed, and a folded state in which one or fewer of the photovoltaic submodules are exposed, by folding the assembly along lines defined by the fold zones; wherein each photovoltaic submodule is directly electrically interconnected with at least two other submodules; and wherein each conductor is oriented at an angle between 15 and 45 degrees relative to the edge portions of the pair of submodules interconnected by the conductor, such that a majority of bending in each fold zone occurs in sections of the substrate in which the conductors are absent, when the assembly is in the folded state. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification