Patent Application
20180309013
This invention relates to photovoltaic cell and module manufacturing techniques that increase the robustness, throughput, performance and flexibility of cells and modules to overall reduce the cost of producing electricity from solar panels.
As mankind continues to develop around the world, the demand for energy rises. Most energy used to power machines and generate electricity is derived from fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas or oil. These supplies are limited and their combustion causes atmospheric pollution and the production of Carbon Dioxide, which is suspected to accelerate the greenhouse effect and lead to global climate change. Some alternative approaches to produce energy include the harnessing of nuclear energy, wind, moving water (hydropower), geothermal energy or solar energy. Each of these alternative approaches has drawbacks. Nuclear power requires large capital investments and safety and waste disposal are concerns. Wind power is effective, but wind turbines require a windy site, often far away from grid connections and take up large footprints of land. Hydropower requires the construction of large, potentially environmentally harmful dams and the displacement of large volumes of flowing water. Geothermal power requires a source of energy that is relatively near the surface—a characteristic not common to a large portion of the Earth—and has the potential to disrupt the balance of forces that exist inside the Earth's crust. Solar is one of the cleanest and most available forms of renewable energy and it can be harnessed by direct conversion into electricity (solar photovoltaic) or by heating a working fluid (solar thermal).
Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology relies on the direct conversion of solar power into electricity through the photoelectric effect: solar radiation's quantized particles, or photons, impinging on semiconductor junctions may excite pairs of conduction electrons and valence holes. These charged particles travel through the junction and may be collected at electrically conductive electrodes to form an electric current in an external circuit.
Photovoltaic is one of the most promising technologies for producing electricity from renewable resources, for a number of reasons: 1. The photovoltaic effect in Si and other solid-state semiconductors is well understood and the technology fully validated; 2. PV power plants convert directly solar power into electrical power, have no moving parts and require low maintenance; 3. Solar radiation is quite predictable and is maximum during hours of peak electricity consumptions; and 4. The industry has been aggressively pursuing a performance improvement and cost reduction path similar to the Moore's law in semiconductor electronics, approaching the condition of market competitiveness with traditional energy resources in many parts of the world. In 2011, approximately 22 GW of solar photovoltaic will be installed globally, over a 40% growth from global installations in 2010 and 180% from 2009.
However, a number of significant issues remain to be solved for photovoltaic to become a mainstream source of electricity in unsubsidized market conditions: 1. PV is still more expensive than traditional energy resources in most parts of the world: while economy of scale and low cost manufacturing will contribute to further reduce cost, technological innovation is needed to achieve market competitiveness more rapidly and on an economically sound and sustainable basis; 2. Manufacturing throughput is still largely inadequate for the potential market need; and 3. Mainstream PV performs poorly in a number of real-world conditions, such as low-light, diffused light, partial shading, temperature excursions, etc.
Therefore, a technology would be desirable which can decrease the cost of photovoltaic energy, increase the throughput and flexibility of PV module manufacturing and resolve a number of the performance issues, while being compatible with the industry value chain. It is also desirable to provide technology, devices and techniques that provide a durable and long-lasting PV.
This invention overcomes disadvantage of prior art by providing a system and method that alleviates, for example, the breakage of PV cells in manufacturing lines; the lack of flexibility in module's format and characteristics; and the performance limitations of current PV module architectures in the form of a photovoltaic (PV) device that is constructed using Single Cell Encapsulation (SCE), according to various embodiments. Illustratively, by encapsulating individual PV cells of various dimensions in a multilayer structure comprising a bottom layer, a layer of encapsulant, the PV cell, another layer of encapsulant and the top layer, many benefits including flexible architecture, automated manufacturing, low cell breakage, cell and structure decoupling, etc can be realized.
The bottom layer can consist of various materials (e.g. metals, plastic, glass, etc.), which are chosen in order to optimize mechanical, electrical and thermal transfer properties.
The top layer can consist of various transparent materials (e.g. glass, plastic, teflon, etc.), which are chosen in order to optimize optical mechanical, electrical and thermal transfer properties.
Electric contacts on the front and back of the cell can be already present on the cell or may be applied during single cell encapsulation. In each alternative, the contacts are illustratively extended to reach outside of the sealed structure and can be connected to an external connector.
According to an illustrative embodiment, individual cells are plugged into (operatively connected to) a Flexible-format Module Architecture (FMA). FMA consists of a supporting frame that can be made from various materials formed with associated manufacturing process and dimensions. The FMA can incorporate slots for the insertion of the cells, electrical connections among the cells, power conditioning electronics and mounting solutions. Illustratively, the FMA can allow cells to be replaced when worn or non-functional, or otherwise electrically bypassed without compromising the function of the remaining cells in the FMA.
The invention description below refers to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Single cell encapsulation (SCE) technology according to the illustrative embodiments described below can be a plug-in solution for existing cell and/or module manufacturing lines, which enables the production of lower-cost and higher-performance PV modules, while incorporating a number of desirable features.
Standard cell manufacturing lines produce photovoltaic cells, which consist of a thin (typically ˜200-1 μm) silicon wafer with front and back electrodes. The cells are very fragile and need to be handled with extreme care, and therefore breakage of the cells poses limits on the minimum practical thickness of the cell. On the other hand, thinner cells require less Silicon material and therefore enable lower material cost.
During manufacturing of an integrated solar module, cells are soldered in strings and laid out in a multilayer structure comprising: a bottom layer, such as TPE (Tedlar, Polyster, Ethyl Vinyl Acetate (EVA)), TPT (Tedlar, Polyster, Tedlar), glass, etc.; a layer of encapsulant, such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyvinyl butyral (PVB), silicone, polyolefin resins, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyepoxide resins, etc.; the PV cells; a second layer of encapsulant; and a transparent top layer of glass, which also provides structural integrity. The multilayer structure is then laminated in machines, which combine the layers by pressing them together for approximately 1 to 30 minutes. The lamination time depends on the type of encapsulant and on the encapsulation process, which may or may not include application heat, force and/or vacuum. Finally, an aluminum (or other metal, polymer, composite, etc.) frame is typically adhered to the multilayer structure and the electric box with bypass diodes is connected to the electric contacts from the strings, on the back of the module. The whole process can take up to 1 hour per module with manual assembly. Module line automation is a desirable option for manufacturers in countries with high cost of labor, however automated production lines are quite complex and expensive.
In its generalized implementation, SCE technology includes laminating individual cells in standalone elements with mechanical, thermal and electronic properties. There are numerous advantages to this approach over current techniques as described in prior art, including for example:
1) The bottom layer material can be chosen to optimize thermal transfer.
2) The top layer (glass or other transparent material) can be constructed without regard to structural properties and can be substantially thinner, allowing for higher light transmittance and lower cost.
3) Breakage from handling the cells can practically be eliminated.
4) The encapsulation of each individual cell enables a continuous process, as opposed to batch encapsulation of PV cell assemblies in current PV module lamination methods, which enables a high degree of process control, leading to:
a. Fewer broken cells during encapsulation.
b. High process uniformity.
c. Lower amounts of encapsulant required per cell.
d. Outgoing quality control after single cell encapsulation that enables the accurate measurement of actual cell performance in the field. As a consequence, modules built with SCEs can achieve tight output power distribution at their nominal power rating.
5) According to one embodiment, SCE top and bottom electrodes are laminated onto the solar cell top and bottom electrodes and held in place by either mechanical compression or conductive glue. Soldering to the cells is therefore eliminated, resulting in the following substantial advantages:
a. Solar cell front and back bus bar width can be substantially reduced by 40% to 100%, while maintaining low interconnection resistance, therefore saving on silver paste cost.
b. Screen-printing of the bus bars can become unnecessary: A step is removed from the cell manufacturing line where significant breakage occurs.
c. Soldering onto the cell can cause the formation of micro-cracks, which in turn propagate during the lifetime of the cell, can create macro cracks and substantially degrade the solar cell performance over time.
d. Soldering of solar cells can take up to one man-hour per module when manually executed: a solder-less process enables labor cost savings and achieves greater accuracy and reliability.
Note, as used herein the term “standalone” or “stand-alone” in the context of the illustrative embodiments od SCEs refers to the fact SCEs are each essentially discrete, stand-alone, weatherized components and that the frame used to hold such SCEs is only (illustratively) a supporting structure with interconnections and other features. This arrangement is novel distinct from various prior art implementations, which integrate the frame as a portion of the overall system in terms of weatherization and/or other functions.
These are only some of the immediate advantages in accordance with the teachings herein; SCE is an enabling technology in a number of ways over the current architectures described in prior art:
1) The PV module becomes a flexible-format module architecture (FMA). In one illustrative embodiment, FMA comprises an uncomplicated electronic board pre-fabricated using relatively inexpensive, weather-resistant materials and embedding electric contacts and other power conditioning electronics. In another illustrative embodiment, FMA consist of a supporting frame of highly variable form-factor were SCE are mechanically secured and electrically interconnected.
2) Cells are connected in dedicated slots, which is straightforward to automate.
3) The module's form-factor can be highly variable:
a. In one illustrative embodiment, a large scale FMA, in excess of 1.6 square meters, can hold a large number of SCEs to form a very large scale PV module, or mega-module. Such device can significantly reduce installation cost in large-scale photovoltaic fields or rooftops. The mega-module would be assembled at the factory and include fast mounting fixtures; it would then be transported on-site by special truck carriages, lifted by cranes and rapidly mounted on poles, trackers or other suitable structures.
b. In another illustrative embodiment, the FMA frame would be constructed of materials to replace or augment building envelope materials and its form-factor would be dictated by architectural considerations for building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) or building-applied photovoltaic (BAPV). Examples of such applications are:
a. Pure semiconductors, such as Silicon, Germanium, etc.
b. Compound semiconductors, such as Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs),
Indium Gallium Phosphide (InGaP), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), etc.
c. Thin film semiconductors, such as amorphous Silicon (a-Si), Cadmium
Telluride (CdTe), Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CuInGaSe), etc.
10) SCE enables hybrid modules incorporating different cell technologies performing better in different environmental conditions.
An illustrative embodiment of an integrated encapsulated solar cell (SCE) is shown in
As will be known to those skilled in the art, solar cell 3 is equipped with front and back electrodes, which are employed to extract the photocurrent generated by the incoming solar radiation. The cell front electrode usually comprises a large number of fingers, approximately 10 to 20 micrometers high and 50 to 200 micrometers wide, and several bus bars, approximately 10 to 20 micrometers high and 1.5 to 3 millimeter wide. The main function of the bus bars is to collect the electric current from all the fingers and to offer a soldering pad for the strips of metal, known as tabs, which interconnect solar cells in a module. Cell top layer 8, on which the cell front electrode is formed, is usually a Silicon Nitride layer added for optical efficiency and electrical passivation. Cell top layer 8 is non-conductive and a manufacturing process is employed to make electric contact to solar cell 3 through cell top layer 8. An example of such a process is where the cell front electrode is screen-printed using a conductive paste, usually containing Silver particles. The cell is then baked at high temperature, which allows some of the paste to diffuse though the Silicon Nitride in order to make electric contact with solar cell 3. The cell back electrode usually comprises an Aluminum-based layer covering the full extent of the back of solar cell 3 and several bus bars, approximately 10 to 20 micrometers high and 3 to 5 millimeter wide. Akin to cell front electrode, the cell back electrode is usually screen-printed and baked at high temperature into solar cell 3. Alternatively, both the cell front electrode and the cell back electrode can reside on the bottom face of solar cell 3. Several methods are available for creating such a configuration, including Metal-Wrap-Through (MWT), Emitter-Wrap-Through (EWT) and Interdigitated-Back-Contact (IBC), as it is known to those skilled in the art. In an embodiment, the cell front and back electrodes are assumed to be an integral part of solar cell 3. However, it is contemplated that such electrodes can also be created during the SCE process described herein.
SCE top electrode 6 is connected with the cell front electrode and SCE bottom electrode 7 is connected with the cell back electrode, therefore guaranteeing electrical access to the cell from outside the SCE package. In one illustrative embodiment, the cell front electrode is located on the top face of solar cell 3; however, it should be clear and apparent to those skilled in the art that the scope of the various embodiments extends to other cell electrode configurations, including, but not limited to, MWT, EWT and IBC configurations, in which cases SCE top electrode 6 is relocated to the back of solar cell 3.
In one illustrative embodiment of a lamination process, SCE 9 consists of a sandwich of multiple layers that, in order, include a transparent SCE top layer 1 such as glass, acrylic, teflon or other transparent materials as known to those skilled in the art. SCE top electrode 6, made from appropriate conducting materials such as copper, aluminum, other conductive metals and conductive non-metals whether they are transparent or non-transparent, is placed between SCE top layer 1 and cell top layer 8 of solar cell 3. SCE top electrode 6 can be integrated into SCE top layer 1 in multiple ways as known to those skilled in the art or can be a standalone layer. Top encapsulant layer 2, consisting of a thermo-set or non-thermo-set materials characterized by low Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) of less than 0.2% at 85C and 85% relative humidity and by low surface tension of less than 30 mN/m, such as polydimethylsiloxanes, is placed between SCE top layer 1 and solar cell 3. It is recognized that certain types of encapsulants can be desirabbel for use in the illustrative SCE architecture—for example those that are characterized by (a) very low EMC and (b) very high wetting properties. Illustratively, acceptable thresholds for these two physical parameters (a and b) can be provided. For example, the EMC was found to be 0.28% for EVA and only 0.035% for PDMS at 85C/85% RH in a recent study by Dow Corning (See: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pip.1025/abstract). Additionally, silicones have a surface tension of 20.4 mN/m, while that of EVA is in the range 30-36). See: http://www4.dowcorning.com/content/publishedlit/silicones_in_industrial_applications_internet_version_080325.pdf and www.vtcoatings.com/plastics.htm. The bottom encapsulant layer 4, consisting of thermo- or non-thermo-set materials of similar properties as top encapsulant layer 2, is placed between the back of solar cell 3 and SCE bottom layer 5. SCE Bottom layer 5 can be a multitude of materials chosen for a specific additional feature of SCE 9. By way of example, SCE bottom layer 5 provides weather, impact and electrical insulation to solar cell 3. In another embodiment, SCE bottom layer 5 can incorporate additional functions and processes, such as electronics, micro fluidics for cooling and purification, advanced cooling and other chemical, mechanical and electrical functions that are powered by the solar electricity generated by solar cell 3. SCE bottom electrode 7 is placed between SCE bottom layer 5 and the back of solar cell 3. SCE bottom electrode 7 can be integrated into SCE bottom layer 5 in multiple ways as known to those skilled in the art or can be a standalone layer. The lateral dimensions of the SCE can be 100-200 mm. Illustratively, the thickness of the layers can be as follows: SCE top layer 1 1-4 mm for glass, 0.13-1.3 mm for Teflon; top encapsulant layer 2 0.001-1.5 mm; solar cell 3 0.001-0.2 mm; bottom encapsulant layer 4 0.001-1.5 mm and SCE bottom layer 5 0.2-0.5 mm. The aforementioned materials and thickness values are illustrative of a wide range of possible materials and dimensions.
In the example of using thermoset materials as encapsulant, the aforementioned sandwich of multiple layers is then placed under pressure while exposing it to heat in a ubiquitous lamination process. The heat of the process initially softens and allows encapsulant layers 2 and 4 to melt and flow. Pressure applied to the sandwich while encapsulant layers 2 and 4 are melted, squeezes encapsulant material out between SCE top electrode 6 and cell top layer 8, allowing SCE top electrode 6 to make electric contact with the cell front electrode. Similarly flow of bottom encapsulant layer 4 under pressure allows for SCE bottom electrode 7 to make electric contact with the cell back electrode. The temperatures employed in the process are illustratively in the range of 25° C. to 1,000° C.
After sustained exposure to heat, the polymer material of encapsulant layers 2 and 4 will cross link, bonding to all material that is in contact with it. Hence, SCE top layer 1 and cell top layer 8 will be bonded in a similar manner as the back of solar cell 3 and SCE bottom layer 5. However, since all encapsulant has flowed under pressure from between SCE electrodes 6 and 7, a suitable electric connection between the cell electrodes and the SCE electrodes is ensured. Because such interconnection process is solder-less, the bus bars on the front and the back of solar cell 3 can be made free of bus bars. Therefore, the width of such bus bars can be substantially reduced or the bus bars can be entirely omitted from the structure, with significant savings in conductive paste usage. The lamination bond secures solar cell 3 between SCE top layer 1 and SCE bottom layer 5, giving it the mechanical properties of the respective layers and forming SCE 9. This lamination is durable and reduces the risk that the inner layer will crack.
In one possible variation of the lamination process, SCE top electrode 6 can be placed between top encapsulant layer (also termed “encapsulat top layer”) 2 and cell top layer 8. Likewise, SCE bottom electrode 7 can be placed between bottom encapsulant layer (also termed “encapsulant bottom layer”) 4 and the back of solar cell 3.
As yet another alternative, SCE top electrode 6 can be directly attached to the cell front electrode by soldering, ultrasonic welding, conductive glue or other suitable technique, as it will appear to those skilled in the art. Likewise, SCE bottom electrode 7 can be directly attached to the cell back electrode by similar process or technique.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, thermosetting it one of many processes available to bond the sandwiched layers of the SCE 9 according to an embodiment. For example in another variation of the lamination process, a PDMS (silicone) encapsulant can be used. Silicone can be tailored to cure with the addition of heat, ultra-violet light (UV) or a catalyst or a combination of the aforementioned in just a few minutes. Furthermore, silicone can be tailored to have a specific hardness and Young modulus of choice. Commercial silicone encapsulants feature a number of properties that make them ideal for SCE, for example: High transparency; Stability to ultra-violet light; High breakdown voltage; Superior volume resistivity; Excellent adhesion to glass and other SCE relevant materials. By virtue of the low equilibrium moisture content and excellent weather resistance of silicone encapsulants, SCEs can be made with very small clearance between the edge of solar cell 3 and the edge of integrated SCE 9, thereby enabling a high packaging density of PV cells in PV modules. The weatherization of PV cells can be further improved by an additional layer of suitable sealant applied around the edges of SCE 9, which should be clear to those skilled in the art.
During lamination, it can be desirable to employ a physical structure to prevent layers from slipping and misaligning with respect to each other as bonding layers cure.
As an alternative, SCE bottom electrode 7 can consist of several conductive strips of metal independent of SCE bottom layer 5, also known as tabs, of the type conventionally used to interconnect solar cells in PV modules. The tabs can be located either between SCE bottom layer 5 and bottom encapsulant layer 4 or between bottom encapsulant layer 4 and the back of solar cell 3.
SCE top electrode 6 serve to conduct electricity generated from the solar cell 3. However, when made from non-transparent material, they also reduce the amount of light that penetrates cell top layer 8, thereby effectively reducing the efficiency of solar cell 3. In
In one embodiment as illustrated in the cross section of
As an alternative, SCE top electrode 6 can consist of a plurality of conductive strips of metal independent of SCE top layer 1, also known as tabs, of the type conventionally used to interconnect c-Si cells in PV modules. The tabs can be located either between SCE top layer 1 and top encapsulant layer 2 or between top encapsulant layer 2 and cell top layer 8.
Traditional PV modules incorporate a multiplicity of cells in one final assembly step. A large transparent layer, typically glass (but alternatively a durable, weather-resistant polymer), resides on top of the cells. Traditionally, this transparent layer has been of rectangular cross section. This cross section is an optimization of structural and cost features. Since the transparent layer of SCE is a single piece of material, and is generally free of system-wide structural requirements, it can define a wide variety of shapes to optimize the optical efficiency of the device. In one embodiment as shown in the cross section of
To increase flexibility of the SCE, it can be desirable to incorporate mechanical arrangements for structurally and electrically coupling the SCE to other SCEs in a module. In
In one possible embodiment, FMA 91 incorporates slots 92 for mechanical connection 72 and electrical connection 73 of SCE 9. In another illustrative embodiment, adjacent SCEs are directly connected to one another, as shown and described above in
SCEs 9 can be inserted in the FMA 91 by a ubiquitous pick-and-place robot, widely used in the automation industry, and implemented in accordance with ordinary skill. These robots are able to move and insert SCEs 9 rapidly and precisely, without causing breakage due to the mechanical resistance of individually encapsulated cells. Alternatively, SCEs 9 can be directly connected to one another to form strings and strings can be subsequently mounted and interconnected on FMA 91.
FMA 91 can also incorporate electrical interconnections between cells, electrical interconnections between strings of cells and power conditioning electronics, both at the cell level and at the module level. As an illustrative example, electrical by-pass diodes can be co-molded at each SCE in order to isolate individual SCEs in case of partial shading or failure. More generally, the FMA can include electrical connections that interconnect predetermined of the cells together, the electrical connections including bypass diodes constructed and arranged to enable inoperative cells and cells that are functioning poorly (e.g. shaded cells or degraded cells) to be bypassed in an overall electrical connection of the cells. As another illustrative example, the junction box containing string-level electrical by-pass diodes can be incorporated in FMA 91 by co-molding it into the structure. Alternatively, each cell's positive and negative electrode can be wired to the junction box where sophisticated cell level power optimization electronics can regulate the power generated by each cell. These are just some of a wide variety of implementations of FMA-integrated power conditioning electronics according to various non-limiting examples and embodiments.
Furthermore, FMA 91 can include a plurality of mounting solutions (not shown), which allow seamless and low-cost integration of the module in a photovoltaic power plant. Such mounting solutions can be posts, pedestals, holes, screws, interlocking mechanisms, ballasts, and many others, as it will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
One of the advantages of SCE 9 and FMA 91 is the flexibility of electrical configurations attainable for PV cells. Electrical interconnections built into FMA 91 can have a larger cross section and lower resistance than those of conventional PV modules, because they do not fall in the light path and can avoid being routed in the tight spaces between neighboring cells. In one embodiment, electric connections departing from SCE electrodes 6 and 7 of all SCEs 9 in FMA 91 converge into a central electronic board where they are interconnected in series, parallel or hybrid configuration, with or without power conditioning electronics, as it will be clear to those skilled in the art. In an alternate embodiment, each SCE 9 is connected directly to its immediate neighboring cells and the power conditioning electronics is located on or near SCE 9.
In one embodiment of the circuitry of FMA 91, SCEs 9 are connected in series (
In another embodiment, FMA 91 circuitry connects SCEs 9 in parallel as shown in
It should be clear that SCE, FMA and methods for constructing the same, according to the illustrative embodiments described herein, provide a flexible-format module architecture to be implemented at the cell level. This enables cost reduction and improved performance of photovoltaic power generation.
External electric connector 73 can be optionally applied (step 240) and the cell is finished into SCE 9 (step 230). A final outgoing quality control inspection (step 250 can be applied to sort SCE's by measured properties such as: total conversion efficiency, spectrally resolved conversion efficiency, light reflectance, micro-crack analysis (e.g. electroluminescence), mechanical properties, thermal characteristics, lumped electric parameter characteristics (resistance, capacitance and inductance), DC and AC electric characteristics of the junction, current-voltage response (IV curves) at different irradiances and temperatures, and other measurements known to those skilled in the art. By performing outgoing quality control after encapsulation, an accurate estimate is obtained of the real performance of the cell in the field. As a consequence, modules built with SCEs can achieve tight output power distribution at their nominal power rating.
It should be noted that
In support of the industry effort to reduce the cost of photovoltaic energy and become competitive with fossil fuel generation, the flexible-format module architecture based on individually encapsulated cells enables significant savings by moving to thinner and cheaper SCE front layer materials; reducing the amount of encapsulant needed; eliminating the external frame of the PV module; and substantially reducing the amount of conductive paste required for the cell front and back bus bars. Furthermore, fast-curing silicone encapsulants are especially suited for single cell encapsulation and enable high-throughput, compact machines with a level of complexity and cost substantially reduced with respect to standard manufacturing equipment. Finally, single cell encapsulation can be implemented in continuous processes, with obvious benefits in terms of process control, reproducibility and yield.
The foregoing has been a detailed description of illustrative embodiments of the invention. Various modifications and additions can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Each of the various embodiments described above can be combined with other described embodiments in order to provide multiple features. Furthermore, while the foregoing describes a number of separate embodiments of the apparatus and method of the present invention, what has been described herein is merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. For example, the sizes, shapes and form factors of components described herein can be varied to suit a particular application. Likewise, additional layers, enclosures, housings and mounting assemblies can be employed in conjunction with SCEs and FMAs as appropriate. Also while orientational terms such “top” and “bottom” are employed, these should be taken as relative only and not in reference to a global coordinate system such as the acting direction of gravity. Moreover, materials used for encapsulant and other components are described by way of non-limiting example, and it is expressly contemplated that other materials that may be developed and/or are known to those of skill in the art having similar performance and properties can be substituted for the above-described materials. Accordingly, this description is meant to be taken only by way of example, and not to otherwise limit the scope of this invention.
This application is a divisional of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 13/922,688, filed Jun. 20, 2013, entitled SINGLE CELL ENCAPSULATION AND FLEXIBLE-FORMAT MODULE ARCHITECTURE FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION AND METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTING THE SAME, which application is a bypass continuation-in-part of co-pending PCT Application Serial No. PCT/US11/66135, filed Dec. 20, 2011, entitled SINGLE CELL ENCAPSULATION AND FLEXIBLE-FORMAT MODULE ARCHITECTURE FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION AND METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTING THE SAME, which claims the benefit of copending U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/424,776, filed Dec. 20, 2010, entitled SINGLE CELL ENCAPSULATION AND FLEXIBLE-FORMAT MODULE ARCHITECTURE FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION AND METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTING THE SAME, the entire disclosure of each which applications is herein incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61424776 | Dec 2010 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13922688 | Jun 2013 | US |
| Child | 15963077 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/US11/66135 | Dec 2011 | US |
| Child | 13922688 | US |
