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Solar Thin Film Photovoltaics
Search All Applications in Solar Thin Film Photovoltaics
Application US20170110603
Published 2017-04-20
Forming Front Metal Contact On Solar Cell With Enhanced Resistance To Stress
System and method of providing a photovoltaic (PV) cell having a cushion layer to alleviate stress impact between a front metal contact and a thin film PV layer. A cushion layer is disposed between an extraction electrode and a photovoltaic (PV) surface. The cushion layer is made of a nonconductive material and has a plurality of vias filled with a conductive material to provide electrical continuity between the bus bar and the PV layer. The cushion layer may be made of a flexible material preferably with rigidity that matches the substrate. Thus, the cushion layer can effectively protect the PV layer from physical damage due to tactile contact with the front metal contact.
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- 1. A photovoltaic assembly comprising:
a photovoltaic cell configured to convert light energy to electrical energy, wherein said photovoltaic cell comprises:
a front metal layer disposed closest to a side of said photovoltaic cell intended to face light,
a photovoltaic layer disposed under said front metal layer, and
a substrate layer disposed under said photovoltaic layer;
a front contact disposed above of said front metal layer and configured to conduct electrical current originated from the photovoltaic cell to external circuitry; and a cushion layer disposed between said front contact and said front metal layer, wherein said cushion layer provides electrical contact between said front contact and said front metal layer and is less rigid than said front contact.
- 10. A photovoltaic module comprising:
a substrate; an array of photovoltaic cells configured to convert light energy to electrical energy, wherein a respective photovoltaic cell of said array of photovoltaic cells comprises: a photovoltaic layer; an interconnect grid disposed on top of said photovoltaic layer and configured to conduct electrical current originated from said photovoltaic layer to external circuitry, wherein said interconnect grid comprises discrete finger electrodes and an extraction electrode coupled to said discrete finger electrodes; a front metal contact disposed on top of said interconnect grid; and a cushion layer disposed between said front contact and said respective photovoltaic cell to protect said respective photovoltaic cell from physical damage due to tactile contact with said front metal contact.
- 15. A method of manufacturing photovoltaic modules, said method comprising:
attaching a front conductive layer with a cushion layer to generate a composite front layer, wherein said cushion layer is less rigid than said front conductive layer; and attaching said composite front layer with a photovoltaic cell that is configured to convert light energy to electrical energy, wherein said cushion layer is disposed between said front conductive layer and said photovoltaic cell and configured to protect said photovoltaic cell from physical damage due to tactile contact with said front conductive layer.
