Lightweight photovoltaic module including a glass and polymer front layer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024379886-A1
Application number	US-202218691790-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 12, 2022
Priority date	Sep 14, 2021
Publication date	Nov 14, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A photovoltaic module obtained from a stack includes: a first transparent layer forming the front face; a plurality of photovoltaic cells; an assembly encapsulating the plurality of cells; and a second layer forming the rear face. The first layer includes: a front layer made of at least one polymer material; at least one front assembly comprising an interface front layer and a glass front layer, with a thickness smaller than or equal to 2 mm, the at least one front assembly being located between the polymer front layer and the encapsulating assembly, and the interface front layer of the at least one front assembly being located between the polymer front layer and the glass front layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A photovoltaic module obtained from a stack including:
a transparent first layer forming the front face of the photovoltaic module, intended to receive a luminous flux, a plurality of photovoltaic cells arranged side-by-side and electrically connected to each other, an assembly encapsulating the plurality of photovoltaic cells, a second layer forming the rear face of the photovoltaic module, the encapsulating assembly and the plurality of photovoltaic cells-being located between the first and second layers, wherein the first layer includes:
a front layer made of at least one polymer material, so-called “polymer front layer”, and
at least one front assembly comprising an interface front layer and a glass front layer, the glass front layer having a thickness (e 2c ; e 2e ) smaller than or equal to 2 mm, and having dimensions strictly smaller than those of the front layer made of at least one polymer material and those of the second layer, the distance (b, b′) separating an edge of the glass front layer and an edge of the front layer made of at least one polymer material or an edge of the second layer being strictly larger than 1 mm, said at least one front assembly being located between the polymer front layer and the encapsulating assembly, and the interface front layer of said at least one front assembly being located between the polymer front layer and the glass front layer.

2 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the glass front layer is made of untempered glass.

3 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the distance (a) between an edge of the glass front layer and an edge of a photovoltaic cell and/or an edge of a connecting conductor connecting cells photovoltaic, adjacent to the edge of the glass front layer, is comprised between 0 and 15 mm, preferably in the range of 5 mm.

4 . The module according to claim 1 , further including a polymer frame (CP) arranged all around the perimeter of the glass front layer, the polymer frame (CP) having in particular a width (d, d′) comprised between 5 mm and 50 mm, preferably between 20 mm and 40 mm.

5 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the glass front layer has rounded edges at its corners, in particular with a radius of curvature (Rc) strictly larger than 1 mm, preferably strictly smaller than 25 mm.

6 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the glass front layer has a thickness (e 2c ; e 2e ) smaller than or equal to 1.5 mm, in particular comprised between 500 μm and 1.1 mm, more particularly comprised between 500 μm and 1 mm, more particularly comprised between 300 μm and 700 μm, more particularly between 300 μm and 500 μm.

7 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the second layer is formed by a polymeric structure based on an electrically-insulating polymer.

8 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the second layer includes:
a rear layer forming a rear panel made of a composite material, comprising a main sub-layer, forming the core of the rear panel, and two covering sub-layers, each forming a plate of the rear panel, arranged on either side of the core so that the core is sandwiched between the two plates, the core of the rear panel including a cellular structure.

9 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the second layer includes:
a rear layer made of at least one polymer material, so-called “polymer rear layer”, and at least one rear assembly comprising an interface rear layer and a glass rear layer, the glass rear layer having in particular a thickness (esc) smaller than or equal to 2 mm, in particular smaller than or equal to 1.5 mm, in particular comprised between 500 μm and 1.1 mm, more particularly between 500 μm and 1 mm, more particularly between 300 μm and 700 μm, more particularly between 300 μm and 500 μm, being in particular made of untempered glass, and having in particular dimensions strictly smaller than those of the polymer rear layer and in particular the same dimensions and characteristics as those of the glass front layer, said at least one rear assembly being located between the polymer rear layer and the encapsulating assembly, and the interface rear layer of said at least one rear assembly being located between the polymer rear layer and the glass rear layer.

10 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the second layer includes a layer of reinforcing fibres based on fibres, in particular glass, carbon, aramid and/or natural, in particular hemp, flax and/or silk, fibres.

11 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer front layer and/or the polymer rear layer have a thickness (e 2 a , e 5 a ) comprised between 15 μm and 300 μm, in particular between 20 μm and 50 μm.

12 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the interface front layer and/or the interface rear layer have a thickness (e 2 b , e 2 d ; e 5 b ) comprised between 50 μm and 600 μm, in particular between 400 μm and 600 μm, in particular between 400 μm and 500 μm.

13 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer material of the polymer front layer and/or of the polymer rear layer is selected from among: polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA), a fluoropolymer, in particularpolyvinyl fluoride (PVF) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), and/or a multilayer film comprising one or more of the aforementioned polymers.

14 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the encapsulating assembly, the interface front layer and/or the optional interface rear layer are formed by at least one layer including at least one polymer type encapsulation material selected from among: acid copolymers, ionomers, poly (ethylene vinyl acetate) (EVA), vinyl acetals, such as polyvinylbutyrals (PVB), polyurethanes, polyvinyl chlorides, polyethylenes, such as linear low-density polyethylenes, elastomeric polyolefins of copolymers, copolymers of α-olefins and α-, β-esters of ethylene carboxylic acid, such as ethylene-methyl acrylate copolymers and ethylene-butyl acrylate copolymers, silicone elastomers and/or crosslinked thermoplastic polyolefin-based elastomers.

15 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the first layer includes:
a first front assembly comprising an interface front layer and a glass front layer, the glass front layer having a thickness (e 2c ) smaller than or equal to 2 mm, a second front assembly comprising an interface front layer and a glass front layer, the glass front layer having a thickness (e 2e ) smaller than or equal to 2 mm, the first front assembly being located between the polymer front layer and the second front assembly, itself located between the first front assembly and the encapsulating assembly.

16 . The module according to claim 15 , wherein the thickness (e 2c ) of the glass front layer of the first front assembly and the thickness (e 2e ) of the glass front layer of the second front assembly are different.

17 . The module according to claim 16 , characterised in that wherein the thickness (e 2c ) of the glass front layer of the first front assembly is larger than the thickness (e 2e ) of the glass front layer of the second front assembly.

18 . The module according to claim 1 , wherein the second layer includes:
-a rear layer made of at least one polymer material ( 5 a ), so-called “polymer rear layer”, and a first rear assembly compri

Assignees

• Commissariat Energie Atomique

Inventors

• Gaume Julien
• Francois Jérôme
• Commault Benjamin
• Chambion Bertrand
• Veschetti Yannick

Classifications

• H10F19/804

  Materials of encapsulations · CPC title

• H10F19/85

  Protective back sheets · CPC title

• H10F19/807

  Double-glass encapsulation, e.g. photovoltaic cells arranged between front and rear glass sheets · CPC title

• H10F19/80 Primary

  Encapsulations or containers for integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, having photovoltaic cells · CPC title

• Y02E10/50

  Photovoltaic [PV] energy · CPC title