Manufacturing processes for light concentrating solar module
First Claim
1. A method of fabricating a light concentrating solar module having a plurality of photovoltaic cells, each photovoltaic cell having a plurality of conductive contacts located on a back surface of each photovoltaic cell, the method comprising:
- feeding a flexible electrical backplane onto a planar surface, said flexible electrical backplane comprising a flexible substrate and a light concentrating layer disposed adjacent to a front surface of said flexible substrate, said flexible electrical backplane having preformed conductive interconnects in contact with interconnect pads exposed on a front surface of said flexible electrical backplane at predetermined locations;
forming a plurality of interconnect attachments in electrical contact with said exposed interconnect pads based on applying an interconnect material onto said exposed interconnect pads;
placing said conductive contacts of said photovoltaic cells in an alignment with said predetermined locations of said interconnect pads and in contact with said interconnect attachments, said predetermined locations determined to provide said alignment for said interconnect pads, said interconnect attachments, and said conductive contacts;
providing an underlay encapsulant to fill a plurality of spaces formed between said back surfaces of said photovoltaic cells and said front surface of said flexible substrate; and
applying a curing process to said underlay encapsulant solidifying said underlay encapsulant and to said interconnect attachments forming a conductive path from each conductive contact through a respective one of said interconnect attachments to a respective one of said interconnect pads.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Solar module manufacturing methods for manufacturing a light concentrating solar module including photovoltaic (PV) cells. The method includes applying an interconnect material to a flexible electrical backplane having preformed conductive interconnect circuitry to form interconnect attachments. The method aligns an array of back contact PV cells with the interconnect attachments. Conductive pathways are formed between the PV cells and the conductive interconnects of the flexible electrical backplane. The method includes providing a light concentrating layer between PV cells that are spaced apart. The method applies an encapsulant material to fill spaces formed between the PV cells and the flexible electrical backplane to form a solar cell subassembly, which is incorporated into the light concentrating solar module.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method of fabricating a light concentrating solar module having a plurality of photovoltaic cells, each photovoltaic cell having a plurality of conductive contacts located on a back surface of each photovoltaic cell, the method comprising:
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feeding a flexible electrical backplane onto a planar surface, said flexible electrical backplane comprising a flexible substrate and a light concentrating layer disposed adjacent to a front surface of said flexible substrate, said flexible electrical backplane having preformed conductive interconnects in contact with interconnect pads exposed on a front surface of said flexible electrical backplane at predetermined locations; forming a plurality of interconnect attachments in electrical contact with said exposed interconnect pads based on applying an interconnect material onto said exposed interconnect pads; placing said conductive contacts of said photovoltaic cells in an alignment with said predetermined locations of said interconnect pads and in contact with said interconnect attachments, said predetermined locations determined to provide said alignment for said interconnect pads, said interconnect attachments, and said conductive contacts; providing an underlay encapsulant to fill a plurality of spaces formed between said back surfaces of said photovoltaic cells and said front surface of said flexible substrate; and applying a curing process to said underlay encapsulant solidifying said underlay encapsulant and to said interconnect attachments forming a conductive path from each conductive contact through a respective one of said interconnect attachments to a respective one of said interconnect pads. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of fabricating a light concentrating solar module having a plurality of photovoltaic cells, each photovoltaic cell having a plurality of conductive contacts located on a back surface of each photovoltaic cell, the method comprising:
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feeding a flexible electrical backplane comprising a flexible substrate onto a planar surface, said flexible electrical backplane having preformed conductive interconnects in contact with interconnect pads exposed on a front surface of said flexible substrate at predetermined locations; providing a light concentrating layer disposed adjacent to said front surface of said flexible substrate, said light concentrating layer configured to maintain an exposure of said interconnect pads; forming a plurality of interconnect attachments in electrical contact with said exposed interconnect pads based on applying an interconnect material onto said exposed interconnect pads; placing said conductive contacts of said photovoltaic cells in an alignment with said predetermined locations of said interconnect pads and in contact with said interconnect attachments, said predetermined locations determined to provide said alignment for said interconnect pads, said interconnect attachments, and said conductive contacts; providing an underlay encapsulant to fill a plurality of spaces formed between said back surfaces of said photovoltaic cells and said front surface of said flexible substrate; and applying a curing process to said underlay encapsulant solidifying said underlay encapsulant and to said interconnect attachments forming a conductive path from each conductive contact through a respective one of said interconnect attachments to a respective one of said interconnect pads. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of fabricating a light concentrating solar module having a plurality of photovoltaic cells, each photovoltaic cell having a plurality of conductive contacts located on a back surface of each photovoltaic cell, the method comprising:
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feeding a flexible electrical backplane onto a planar surface, said flexible electrical backplane comprising a flexible substrate and a light concentrating layer disposed adjacent to a front surface of said flexible substrate, said flexible electrical backplane having preformed conductive interconnects in contact with interconnect pads exposed on a front surface of said flexible electrical backplane at predetermined locations; forming a plurality of interconnect attachments in electrical contact with said exposed interconnect pads based on applying an interconnect material onto said exposed interconnect pads; placing said conductive contacts of said photovoltaic cells in an alignment with said predetermined locations of said interconnect pads and in contact with said interconnect attachments, said predetermined locations determined to provide said alignment for said interconnect pads, said interconnect attachments, and said conductive contacts; applying a thermal process to said interconnect attachments forming a conductive path from each conductive contact through a respective one of said interconnect attachments to a respective one of said interconnect pads; depositing a liquid underlay encapsulant flowing to fill a plurality of spaces formed between said back surfaces of said photovoltaic cells and said front surface of said flexible substrate; and applying a curing process to said liquid underlay encapsulant solidifying said liquid encapsulant. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of fabricating a light concentrating solar module having a plurality of photovoltaic cells, each photovoltaic cell having a plurality of conductive contacts located on a back surface of each photovoltaic cell, the method comprising:
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feeding a flexible electrical backplane comprising a flexible substrate onto a planar surface, said flexible electrical backplane having preformed conductive interconnects in contact with interconnect pads exposed on a front surface of said flexible substrate at predetermined locations; providing a light concentrating layer disposed adjacent to said front surface of said flexible substrate, said light concentrating layer configured to maintain an exposure of said interconnect pads; forming a plurality of interconnect attachments in electrical contact with said exposed interconnect pads based on applying an interconnect material onto said exposed interconnect pads; placing said conductive contacts of said photovoltaic cells in an alignment with said predetermined locations of said interconnect pads and in contact with said interconnect attachments, said predetermined locations determined to provide said alignment for said interconnect pads, said interconnect attachments, and said conductive contacts; applying a thermal process to said interconnect attachments forming a conductive path from each conductive contact through a respective one of said interconnect attachments to a respective one of said interconnect pads; depositing a liquid underlay encapsulant flowing to fill a plurality of spaces formed between said back surfaces of said photovoltaic cells and said front surface of said flexible substrate; and applying a curing process to said liquid underlay encapsulant solidifying said liquid encapsulant. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A light concentrating solar module comprising:
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a transparent front cover having a front surface and a back surface; a plurality of photovoltaic cells;
each photovoltaic cell having one front surface facing said transparent front cover and one back surface facing away from said transparent cove; and
each photovoltaic cell having a plurality of back contacts on each back surface thereof;a back cover spaced apart from and substantially parallel to said transparent front cover, said plurality of photovoltaic cells disposed between said transparent front cover and said back cover; a light transmitting encapsulant disposed between said transparent front cover and said back cover; a light concentrating layer disposed between said photovoltaic cells and said back cover, said transparent front cover transmitting light through said transparent front cover and incident on said light concentrating layer in regions between said photovoltaic cells, said light concentrating layer directing said light towards said transparent front cover, and said front surface of said transparent front cover internally reflecting said light back towards said photovoltaic cells; a flexible electrical backplane comprising a flexible substrate and a plurality of conductive interconnects preformed thereon in a predetermined pattern; and a plurality of interconnect attachments each disposed between one of said conductive interconnects and one of said back contacts of one of said photovoltaic cells. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification