1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar battery module, and more particularly, to a flexible solar battery module and a related manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional flexible solar battery module includes a base and a plurality of solar batteries, and the base is a metal foil whereon the solar battery is formed. The electrode of each solar battery stretches to the metal base of the adjacent solar battery, so as to set the plurality of solar batteries in a series connection. Drawbacks of the conventional flexible solar battery module is that an upper electrode and a photoelectric transducing layer of each solar battery may be broken easily due to pressure generated by the curved metal base, and photoelectric transducing efficiency of the conventional flexible solar battery module is decreased accordingly, which is disclosed in US patent 2010/0282288.
In addition, a method of utilizing insulating adhesive and conductive layers to set the plurality of solar batteries in a series connection is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,932,124 and US application 2007/0079866. A conventional flexible solar battery module that includes a plurality of solar batteries separately disposed on a flexible insulating base is further disclosed in US application 2008/0196756. In US application 2008/0196756, an insulating layer is disposed between the adjacent solar batteries for preventing short, and two ends of a conductive electrode are respectively formed on the upper electrode and the low electrode of the adjacent solar batteries for setting the plurality of solar batteries in the series connection. Procedures disclosed in the known US patents are complicated, a series of cutting processes is necessary for isolating the adjacent solar batteries for preventing the short. Therefore, design of a flexible solar battery module with easy manufacturing procedures is an important issue in the solar battery industry.
The present invention provides a flexible solar battery module and a related manufacturing method for solving above drawbacks.
According to the claimed invention, a method of setting a plurality of solar batteries in a series connection to be a flexible solar battery module is disclosed. The solar battery includes a substrate, a first electrode, a photoelectric transducing layer and a second electrode. The method includes executing a cutting procedure to the plurality of solar batteries, so as to remove parts of the second electrode and the photoelectric transducing layer of at least one edge of each solar battery for exposing a part of the first electrode; disposing the plurality of solar batteries separately on a flexible insulating base to expose a part of the flexible insulating base; forming an insulating layer between the adjacent solar batteries and on the part of the flexible insulating base; and forming an auxiliary electrode on the second electrode of each solar battery and the part of the exposed first electrode of the adjacent solar battery for setting the plurality of solar batteries in the series connection.
According to the claimed invention, a flexible solar battery module includes a flexible insulating base and a plurality of solar batteries separately disposed on the flexible insulating base. Each solar battery includes a substrate disposed on the flexible insulating base, a first electrode formed on the substrate, a photoelectric transducing layer formed on a surface of the first electrode for exposing a part of the first electrode, and a second electrode formed on the photoelectric transducing layer. A width of the photoelectric transducing layer is smaller than a width of the first electrode. The flexible solar battery module includes an insulating layer formed on the part of the exposed first electrode of each solar battery and the part of the exposed flexible insulating base of the adjacent solar battery, and an auxiliary electrode formed on the second electrode of each solar battery and the part of the exposed first electrode of the adjacent solar battery for setting the plurality of solar batteries in a series connection.
The present invention could dispose the plurality of solar batteries separately on the flexible insulating base, and form the insulating layer between the adjacent solar batteries for preventing the short. The present invention could further utilize the auxiliary electrode to connect the adjacent solar batteries for forming the flexible solar battery module. In addition, the present invention has advantages of easy manufacturing procedures, so that the present invention could manufacture the flexible solar battery module with preferable manufacturing quality and preferred photoelectric transducing efficiency.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Please refer to
The flexible solar battery module 10 further includes a plurality of insulating layers 24 formed on the part of the exposed first electrode 16 of each solar battery 101, and on the part of the exposed flexible insulating base 12 between the adjacent solar batteries 101. The first electrode 16 and the second electrode 20 of the corresponding solar battery 101 could be isolated from the first electrode 16 of the adjacent solar battery 101 by the insulating layer 24, so as to prevent the adjacent solar batteries 101 from short. The flexible solar battery module 10 further includes a plurality of auxiliary electrodes 26 formed on the second electrode 20 of each solar battery 101, and on the part of the exposed first electrode 16 of the adjacent solar battery 101. Each auxiliary electrode 26 is formed across the corresponding insulating layer 24, so that two ends of the auxiliary electrode 26 could respectively contact the second electrode 20 of the corresponding solar battery 101 and the first electrode 16 of the adjacent solar battery 101, and the plurality of solar batteries 101 disposed on the flexible insulating base 12 could be set in a series connection.
Please refer to
Generally, the substrate 14 could be the metal foil, such as a stainless steel foil or an aluminum foil. The first electrode 16 could be a metal electrode made of molybdenum (Mo), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V) or zirconium material. The photoelectric transducing layer 18 could be a chalcopyrite structure, such as copper indium diselenide, copper indium sulfur, copper indium gallium selenide, or copper indium gallium selenide sulfur. The second electrode 20 could be made of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) material or indium tin oxide (ITO) material. The auxiliary electrode 26 could be conductive silver paste or conductive aluminum paste. The buffer layer 22 could be made of zinc sulphide (ZnS) material, cadmium sulfide (CdS), indium (II) sulfide (InS) and intrinsic zinc oxide (ZnO) material. Because dimensions of the insulating layer 24 and the auxiliary electrode 26 are designed accurately, the insulating layer 24 and the auxiliary electrode 26 could be formed on a specific area by a jet printing method for manufacturing specific shapes and dimensions, so as to set the plurality of solar batteries 101 in the series connection efficiently. Material of the substrate 14, the first electrode 16, the photoelectric transducing layer 18, the second electrode 20 and the buffer layer 22 are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and depend on design demand.
Please refer to
Step 100: Manufacture the plurality of solar batteries 101.
Step 102: Execute the cutting procedure to remove the parts of the second electrode 20 and the photoelectric transducing layer 18 of the two edges of each solar battery 101 for exposing the part of the first electrode 16 with the width W.
Step 104: Dispose the plurality of solar batteries 101, which is manufactured by the cutting procedure, separately on the flexible insulating base 12, and the distance between the adjacent solar batteries 101 is X.
Step 106: Form the insulating layer 24 between the adjacent solar batteries 101 by the jet printing method, and cover the part of the first electrode 16 with the width W and the part of the flexible insulating base 12 with the distance X completely.
Step 108: Form the plurality of first parts 261 of each auxiliary electrode 26 respectively on the insulating layer 24 and the second electrode 20 of the corresponding solar battery 101, and form the second part 262 of each auxiliary electrode 26 on the first electrode 16 of the adjacent solar battery 101 by the jet printing method, so as to set the adjacent solar batteries 101 in the series connection.
Step 110: End.
Detailed description of the method is introduced as follows. Step 100 to step 108 respectively correspond to
Final, as shown in
Please refer to
Step 800: Manufacture the plurality of solar batteries 101′.
Step 802: Execute the cutting procedure to remove the parts of the second electrode 20 and the photoelectric transducing layer 18 on one of the edges of each solar battery 101′ for exposing the part of the first electrode 16 with the width W.
Step 804: Dispose the plurality of solar batteries 101′, which is manufactured by the cutting procedure, separately on the flexible insulating base 12, and the distance between the adjacent solar batteries 101′ is X.
Step 806: Form the insulating layer 24 between the adjacent solar batteries 101′ by the jet printing method, and cover the part of the first electrode 16 with the width W and the part of the flexible insulating base 12 with the distance X (or further cover the adjacent exposed first electrode 16 partly).
Step 808: Form the plurality of first parts 261 of each auxiliary electrode 26 respectively on the insulating layer 24 and the second electrode 20 of the corresponding solar battery 101′, and form the second part 262 of each auxiliary electrode 26 on the first electrode 16 of the adjacent solar battery 101′ by the jet printing method, so as to set the adjacent solar batteries 101′ in the series connection.
Step 810: End.
Detailed description of the method is introduced as follows. As shown in
Difference between the embodiment (the plurality of solar batteries 101′) and the above-mentioned embodiment (the plurality of solar batteries 101) is that the solar battery 101′ is manufactured by the single-side cutting procedure, such as step 802. The insulating layer 24 could selectively be formed on the part of the flexible insulating base 12 with the distance X, or be formed on the part of the flexible insulating base 12 with the distance X and the adjacent exposed first electrode 16 when forming the insulating layer 24 between the adjacent solar batteries 101′ in step 806, so as to effectively prevent the adjacent solar batteries 101′ from the short. In this embodiment, elements having the same numerals as ones of the above-mentioned embodiment have the same structures and functions, and detail description is omitted herein for simplicity.
In conclusion, the flexible solar battery module of the present invention could dispose the plurality of independent solar batteries on the flexible insulating base, and the first electrode of each solar battery could be exposed by the cutting procedure for the latter series connection. The plurality of solar batteries could be separately disposed on the flexible insulating base, and the insulating layer could be formed between the adjacent solar batteries by the jet printing method for preventing the short. Final, the ends of the auxiliary electrode could be respectively connected to the first electrode and the second electrode of the adjacent solar batteries (which means a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the adjacent solar batteries) by the jet printing method, so as to set the plurality of solar batteries in the series connection.
Comparing to the prior art, the present invention could dispose the plurality of solar batteries separately on the flexible insulating base, and form the insulating layer between the adjacent solar batteries for preventing the short. The present invention could further utilize the auxiliary electrode to connect the adjacent solar batteries for forming the flexible solar battery module. In addition, the present invention has advantages of easy manufacturing procedures, so that the present invention could manufacture the flexible solar battery module with preferable manufacturing quality and preferred photoelectric transducing efficiency.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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100138618 | Oct 2011 | TW | national |