Electrically contacting and interconnecting photovoltaic cells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018090635-A1
Application number	US-201715719411-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 28, 2017
Priority date	Mar 30, 2015
Publication date	Mar 29, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method and module for electrically contacting a photovoltaic cell and for electrically interconnecting such cell is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes providing a woven fabric comprising a plurality of electrically conductive wires being provided in a single one of a warp direction and a weft direction. The woven fabric further includes a plurality of polymer yarns being provided in at least the other one of the warp direction and the weft direction. In some embodiments, the woven fabric is brought into physical contact with a surface of a photovoltaic cell including a plurality of metal contacts, and afterwards a heating step is performed, thereby establishing an electrical connection between the respective metal contacts and at least one electrically conductive wire and thereby liquefying the plurality of polymer yarns and transforming them into an encapsulation layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of electrically contacting a photovoltaic cell, the method comprising:
providing a woven fabric comprising a plurality of electrically conductive wires, the electrically conductive wires being provided in a single one of a warp direction and a weft direction, the woven fabric further comprising a plurality of polymer yarns, the polymer yarns being provided in at least the other one of the warp direction and the weft direction; bringing the woven fabric into physical contact with a surface of the photovoltaic cell comprising a plurality of metal contacts; and performing a heating process, thereby establishing an electrical connection between the respective metal contacts and at least one electrically conductive wire and thereby liquefying the plurality of polymer yarns and transforming them into an encapsulation layer.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the photovoltaic cell is a busbar-free cell.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of metal contacts comprise a plurality of parallel metal lines having a longitudinal direction and wherein bringing the woven fabric in physical contact with the surface of the photovoltaic cell comprises orienting the woven fabric whereby the electrically conductive wires are in a direction different from the longitudinal direction of the parallel metal lines.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of metal contacts are composed of metal features extending in different non-parallel directions.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein providing the woven fabric comprises providing a twill weave fabric.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer yarns comprise polymer ribbons.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the polymer ribbons are provided in the warp direction, and wherein the electrically conductive wires are provided in the weft direction.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein performing the heating process comprises performing a first heating step at a first temperature and thereafter performing a second heating step at a second temperature, the second temperature being higher than the first temperature.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first temperature is in the range between 120° C. and 240° C. and wherein the second temperature is 10° C. to 50° C. higher than the first temperature.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer yarns are formed of a material that has a transparency of more than 98% for light within the wavelength range between 240 nm and 1200 nm.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer yarns are formed of a polyolefin material.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive wires are metal wires coated with a solder alloy.

13 . A method of electrically connecting a first photovoltaic cell with a second photovoltaic cell, the method comprising:
electrically contacting a first photovoltaic cell comprising a plurality of first metal contacts on a surface, using a method according to claim 1 ; and electrically contacting a second photovoltaic cell comprising a plurality of second metal contacts on a surface, using a method according to claim 1 , wherein a single woven fabric is used, a first part of the woven fabric contacting the first photovoltaic cell and a second part of the woven fabric contacting the second photovoltaic cell, and wherein at least one electrically conductive wire of the woven fabric is electrically connected to both a first metal contact and a second metal contact.

14 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the surface of the first photovoltaic cell comprising first metal contacts is a front surface of the first photovoltaic cell and wherein the surface of the second photovoltaic cell comprising second metal contacts is a rear surface of the second photovoltaic cell.

15 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the first part is brought into contact with the first photovoltaic cell on a first side of the woven fabric, and the second part is brought into contact with the second photovoltaic cell on a second side of the woven fabric, the first and second side being opposite sides of the woven fabric.

16 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the single woven fabric is a twill weave fabric, the first part having an uneven warp-face twill weave, and the second part having an uneven weft-face twill weave.

17 . A method of fabricating a photovoltaic module comprising a plurality of photovoltaic cells, the method comprising electrically connecting the plurality of photovoltaic cells using a method according to claim 13 .

18 . The method according to claim 13 , further comprising:
providing at least one diode in a border region of the woven fabric, one terminal of the at least one diode being connected to the electrically conductive wires, another terminal of the at least one diode being adapted for connecting to at least one further photovoltaic cell.

19 . A photovoltaic module comprising at least two photovoltaic cells, the at least two photovoltaic cells being electrically contacted and electrically connected by a plurality of electrically conductive wires, wherein the photovoltaic module is free of terminal bars and free of end ribbons.

20 . The photovoltaic module according to claim 19 , wherein the at least two photovoltaic cells are busbar-free photovoltaic cells and wherein the at least two photovoltaic cells are electrically connected in series.

Assignees

• Imec Vzw

Inventors

• Borgers Tom
• Szlufcik Jozef

Classifications

• Y02E10/50

  Photovoltaic [PV] energy · CPC title

• H01L31/0508 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/044

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/048

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/0512

  Electricity · mapped topic