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Solar Thin Film Photovoltaics
Search All Applications in Solar Thin Film Photovoltaics
Application US20130056044
Published 2013-03-07
Photovoltaic Module Fabrication With Thin Single Crystal Epitaxial Silicon Devices
Photovoltaic modules including a plurality of solar cells bonded to a module back sheet are described herein, wherein each solar cell includes a superstrate bonded to a front side of a photovoltaic device to facilitate handling of very thin photovoltaic devices during fabrication of the module. Modules may also include module front sheets and the solar cells may include bottom sheets. The modules may be made of flexible materials, and may be foldable. Fabrication processes include tabbing photovoltaic devices prior to attaching the individual superstrates.
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- 1. A photovoltaic module, comprising:
a plurality of solar cells, each solar cell comprising:
a photovoltaic device with a bus bar on a front side of said photovoltaic device;
a front tab attached to said front-side bus bar;
a superstrate bonded to said front side of said photovoltaic device, wherein said front tab is between said photovoltaic device and said superstrate; and
a rear tab attached to a rear side of said photovoltaic device; and
a module back sheet; wherein said plurality of solar cells are arranged in a planar array and electrically interconnected, and wherein said module back sheet is bonded to the bottom side of said planar array of solar cells.
- 12. A method of fabricating a photovoltaic module comprising:
providing a plurality of photovoltaic devices, each of said photovoltaic devices being attached at a rear side to a substrate, each of said photovoltaic devices having a bus bar on a front side; for each of said photovoltaic devices, attaching a front tab to said bus bar and bonding a superstrate to said front side of said photovoltaic device, wherein said front tab is between said photovoltaic device and said superstrate; for each of said photovoltaic devices with front tab and superstrate, separating said photovoltaic device from said substrate, to provide a plurality of solar cells, each solar cell including said photovoltaic cell, said front tab and said superstrate; assembling said plurality of solar cells to form an array and electrically interconnecting said array; and laminating said array to a module back sheet.
- 17. A method of fabricating a photovoltaic module comprising:
providing a photovoltaic device attached at a rear side to a substrate, forming a plurality of bus bars on a front side of said photovoltaic device, corresponding to a plurality of sub-devices; attaching a plurality of front tabs to said plurality of bus bars and bonding a plurality of superstrates to said front side of said photovoltaic device, each superstrate corresponding to one of said sub-devices, wherein said plurality of front tabs are between said photovoltaic device and corresponding ones of said plurality of superstrates; separating said plurality of sub-devices with tabs and superstrates from said substrate; separating said plurality of sub-devices to provide a plurality of solar sub-cells; assembling said plurality of solar sub-cells to form an array and electrically interconnecting said array; and laminating said array to a module back sheet.
