Patent Application
20120012163
The present invention relates to a solar cell module for integration into buildings, and particularly to a solar cell module for integration into buildings, which is provided with layers of design so as to provide a differentiated design service.
Generally, a solar cell is a semiconductor device which converts light energy into electric energy using the photoelectric effect. The solar cell includes two semiconductor thin films having positive and negative polarities. The multiple solar cells are connected in series or parallel in order to generate desired voltage and current required by a user, so that the user can utilize power generated from the solar cells. The solar cell is a pollution-free alternative energy resource which does not use fossil fuels but uses only solar heat.
One unit cell of the solar cell generates a very small voltage of about 0.5V and is easily affected by the external environment. Therefore, the unit cell is packaged into a module, and multiple modules connected with each other according to application purposes form a solar cell array. Typically, a bulk-type cell is formed into a module of which upper and lower portions is covered or protected in the same way. A thin film cell is formed into a module including a substrate.
The module is generally comprised of a cell, a surface member, a filler, a black sheet, a sealant and a frame member. Whiteboard tempered glass is used as the surface member in order to extend the life span thereof. Recently, EVA(Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) is mainly used as the filling material, and PVF(Poly Vinyl Fluoride) is mainly used as the black sheet material. Other materials such as polyester and acryl may be also used as the black sheet material, and the black sheet member is covered by aluminum foil or polyester in order to improve moisture resistance. The sealant is used to treat an entrance of a lid portion or an end face of the module, and butyl rubber out of a group of silicon sealant, polyurethane, polysulfide and butyl rubber is frequently used as the sealant. Typically, surface oxidized aluminum is used as a panel material, and rubber may be used.
The rubber profile 102, 108 as the sealant is made of rubber. The tempered glass panel 103 as the surface member functions to protect the cell 105 from external shock. The EVA film 104, 106 as the filler is a vinyl film made of a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetate and having excellent transparency, shock absorbing ability, elasticity and tensile strength. The cell 105 functions to convert light energy into electric energy. Multiple cells are arranged in series or parallel by conductive ribbon. The back sheet 107 has waterproofing, insulating and UV protecting functions and is made of PVF, polyester, acryl and the like. The frame 109 made of aluminum and the like functions to support each element of the module 101.
The conventional solar cell module is comprised of the tempered glass panel, the EVA film, the cell, the EVA film and the back sheet, when seeing from an upper side thereof. The design of the module is determined by colors of the cell and back sheet and arrangement of the cell. However, due to structural limitations, the solar cell module has a simple and monotonous design, and thus it is difficult to provide a differentiated design service.
A conventional glass-glass (G-G) type solar cell module is comprised of the tempered glass panel, the EVA film, the cell, the EVA film and the tempered glass panel, when seeing from an upper side thereof. The design of the module is determined by colors of the cell and back sheet and arrangement of the cell. However, due to structural limitations, the solar cell module has a simple and monotonous design, and thus it is also difficult to provide the differentiated design service.
A BIPV(Building Integrated Photo Voltaic) module is designed as a part of a building from an early state of building design so as to be integrated with the building (integration into buildings). Since the BIPV module is used as an exterior material for buildings, it is possible to reduce the corresponding cost. Further, since it can be harmonized with buildings, it is possible to increase an additional value of buildings. However, there are also some disadvantages in that it is necessary to concern some conditions such as temperature and it can be applied only to a new building or only when largely remodeling an existing building.
A PVIB(Photo Voltaic In Building) module is not designed essentially as a part of a building from then early state of building design, but attached or installed to the building after the building is completely constructed. In this module, it is relatively facile to perform its installation, and it can be applied to both of new and existing buildings. However, there are also some disadvantages in that it is necessary to provide a separate supporting structure and it may be not harmonized with the building to be installed.
A crystalline PV (including BIPV) module system is generally set so that it has optimum efficiency when being exposed to direct sunlight. Due to the nature of the solar cell, the efficiency thereof may be largely changed according to an incident angle of light and a light intensity. In order to maximize the efficiency with respect to the incident angle, there has been proposed a method which is provided with a sun tracking system so as to maintain an optimal azimuth angle. However, in order to use the sun tracking system, it is necessary to overcome disadvantages in a structure of the building and a cost thereof.
Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-81662 discloses a solar cell with a double-layer antireflection film. Herein, a cell substrate has a concavo-convex structure having regular inverted pyramid patterns. However, it pertains to the concavo-convex structure formed on a surface of the cell, not tempered glass.
Korean Patent No. 359846 discloses a solar cell module as a construction material, and Korean Patent No. 680654 discloses a solar cell module with an integrated light emitting device. However, due to structural limitations, the solar cell modules have a simple and monotonous design, and it is also difficult to provide a differentiated design service.
Meanwhile, a cold facade has been used in order to use the solar cell as a solar cell module for integration into buildings. The term “facade” refers to the front of the building. Because the façade of a building has a big effect on the first impression of the building, it is a current trend to apply a glass façade as a construction material at a front surface of the building. Recently, a warm façade using a solar cell module is required to obtain durability, thermal insulation effect and alternative energy.
Further, an air layer is formed between the insulation member 4 and the external wall 6 so as to allow ventilation with the outside, thereby minimizing power reduction due to temperature of the module.
However, in such a method, since it is hassle to perform the installing operation and it is necessary to separately install the internal wall 3 and the insulation member 4, it would cost much.
Furthermore, in order to use the existing cold façade as an exterior material for buildings, a double insulation wall has to be additionally provided for wiring and blocking of temperature of outer air. Moreover, since the cold façade blocks penetration of light, it is structurally unsuitable to use it.
Thus, a solar cell module for integration into buildings is required, which can be easily installed, can provide various design patterns and can be used as an exterior material for the buildings.
An object of the present invention is to provide a solar cell module for integration into buildings, which can apply various design patterns to a double glass module including internal and external tempered glass panels, thereby improving outer appearance of the buildings and providing a differentiated design service.
Further, another object of the present invention is to a solar cell module for integration into buildings, which can improve energy efficiency.
Yet another object of the present invention is to a solar cell module for integration into buildings, which can provide an awning effect according to an injection degree of glass ink.
Yet another object of the present invention is to a solar cell module for integration into buildings, which can provide thermal insulating and noise preventing effect by the double glass module including internal and external tempered glass panels
Yet another object of the present invention is to a solar cell module for integration into buildings, of which the double glass module can be directly used as an external wall of the buildings without installing a separate external wall of the buildings.
Yet another object of the present invention is to a solar cell module for integration into buildings, which uses a double sealing system including TPS(Thermo Plastic System), thereby providing excellent thermal insulating ability and wind pressure resistance.
To achieve the object of the present invention, the present invention provides a solar cell module for integration into buildings, including external and internal tempered glass panels which are used as external walls of the buildings having a steel frame structure; and a double glass module which is disposed between the external and internal tempered glass panels, wherein the double glass module is comprised in turn of a first ethylene vinyl acetate film, a cell, a second ethylene vinyl acetate film, an opaque design sheet, a third ethylene vinyl acetate film and a back sheet.
Further, the present invention provides a solar cell module for integration into buildings, including external and internal tempered glass panels which are used as external walls of the buildings having a steel frame structure; and a double glass module which is disposed between the external and internal tempered glass panels, wherein the double glass module is comprised in turn of a first ethylene vinyl acetate film, a cell, a second ethylene vinyl acetate film, a semitransparent design sheet and a third ethylene vinyl acetate film.
Further, the present invention provides a solar cell module for integration into buildings, including external and internal tempered glass panels which are used as external walls of the buildings having a steel frame structure; and a double glass module which is disposed between the external and internal tempered glass panels, wherein the double glass module is comprised in turn of a first ethylene vinyl acetate film, a cell, a second ethylene vinyl acetate film, a reflective design sheet, a third ethylene vinyl acetate film and a back sheet.
Further, the present invention provides a solar cell module for integration into buildings, including external and internal tempered glass panels which are used as external walls of the buildings having a steel frame structure; and a double glass module which is disposed between the external and internal tempered glass panels, wherein the double glass module is comprised in turn of a first ethylene vinyl acetate film, a cell, a second ethylene vinyl acetate film and a glass ink coated layer.
Preferably, the glass ink coated layer is formed by screen-printing a desired design pattern on a surface of the internal tempered glass panel through a spraying operation using glass ink and then heat-curing the design pattern at a temperature of 500 to 800° C. so that the glass ink is fused into and attached to the surface of the internal tempered glass panel.
Preferably, at least one of the external and internal tempered glass panels is a refractive tempered glass panel having a concavo-convex structure.
Preferably, the concavo-convex structure has a triangular shape in section, and a front corner angle of the triangular shape is 50 to 60 degrees.
Preferably, the concavo-convex structure is also formed on a surface of the cell, and the concavo-convex structures of the cell and the refractive tempered glass panel are coincided with each other.
Preferably, an edge portion between the external and internal tempered glass panels is sealed with a sealant.
Preferably, the sealant comprises a first sealant formed of BU-TPS containing an isobutylene polymer and a thermoplastic polymer, and a second sealant which is applied to an outside portion of the first sealant and formed of Thiokol.
Preferably, a junction box and a cable are installed at the double glass module. Preferably, the double glass module is vertically disposed on a base member and supported by a supporting frame.
According to the present invention as described above, since the solar cell module for integration into buildings of the present invention, which can be used as an exterior material for the buildings, has the design elements, it is possible to maximize an exterior effect and also to produce high value modules. And in case of the reflective design sheet, it is possible to prevent temperature rise and to increase the efficiency by reflecting sunlight.
Further, by using the refractive tempered glass panel, it is possible to always allow the light to be vertically incident to the cell, thereby increasing the energy efficiency, and thus it is possible to produce more electricity.
Further, since various design patterns can be applied to the double glass module including the external and internal tempered glass panels, it is possible to improve the appearance of the buildings and to provide the awning effect according to an injection degree of glass ink. And it is also possible to provide thermal insulating and noise preventing effects by using the double glass module including the external and internal tempered glass panels. Since the double glass module is directly applied to the external wall of the buildings, it can be facilely disposed at the buildings without installing separate internal walls.
In addition, since the double sealing system including TPS(Thermo Plastic System) is used, it is possible to provide excellent thermal insulating ability, dew condensation preventing ability, moisture absorbing ability and wind pressure resistance, and it is possible to improve the production speed and product quality and also to provide clear and various appearances.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.
In the double glass module 10, a separate internal tempered glass 18 is disposed inside an external tempered glass in order to improve durability and insulation performance thereof. The double glass module 10 is disposed to be vertical to the ground 1 and a base member 2 such as concrete placed on the ground 1. Upper and lower sides of a supporting means such as a supporting frame 20 are attached to other side surface of the internal tempered glass panel 18, and a lower end of the supporting means is attached to the base member 2 so as to support the double glass module 10.
The internal and external tempered glass panels 11 and 18 directly serve as external walls of the buildings and also function to protect the cell 13 from external shock and the like.
The internal and external tempered glass panels 11 and 18 may be a flat tempered glass panel or a refractive tempered glass panel shown in
A concavo-convex structure is formed on a surface of the refractive tempered glass panel. Preferably, the concavo-convex structure has a triangular shape in section in order to obtain the optimal efficiency of incident angle. An angle of the concavo-convex structure is more important than a width or depth thereof, and the angle is preferably 50 to 60 degrees based on a front corner angle of the triangular shape.
The refractive tempered glass panel used in the invention is manufactured by etching a tempered glass panel so that the concavo-convex structure is formed thereon. Glass etching is more facile, efficient and cheaper than cell etching.
The concavo-convex structure is formed by etching a tempered glass panel using laser, chemicals and the like. Like a prism film for notebook computers, the etching process has to be minutely performed within an extent that the human body is not harmed by an etched surface. And it should be also prevented that a top portion of an etched layer is excessively protruded and thus worn.
The first, second and third EVA films 12, 14 and 16 function as the filler and attaching means, and they are a vinyl film made of a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetate and having excellent transparency, shock absorbing ability, elasticity and tensile strength. Further, since the vinyl film has high gas barrier ability, excellent organic solvent ability and workability, it is facile to perform a thermoforming operation.
The cell 13 functions to convert light energy into electric energy, and multiple cells are arranged in series or parallel by conductive ribbon.
Preferably, the cell 13 also has the concavo-convex structure corresponding to that of the refractive tempered glass panel. Therefore, it is possible to maximize the energy efficiency due to the synergy between the concavo-convex structures.
In the opaque design sheet 15a, a design pattern is formed on various sheets such as paper, fiber sheet, synthetic resin sheet, metal sheet, inorganic sheet, woody sheet, glass sheet and leather sheet using various methods such as printing, coating, lapping, deposition, sputtering, painting, plating, impregnation and etching.
The back sheet 17 has waterproofing, insulating and UV protecting functions and is made of PVF, polyester, acryl and the like. The back sheet 17 may be a sheet in which fluoro resin having higher weather resistance than the existing PVF film is coated with a polyethylene terephthalate (PET), thereby providing excellent long durability, vapor blocking ability, electric insulating ability and adhesive property with a sealant.
In the semitransparent design sheet 15b, a design pattern is formed on various sheets such as paper, fiber sheet, synthetic resin sheet, metal sheet, inorganic sheet, woody sheet, glass sheet and leather sheet using various methods such as printing, coating, lapping, deposition, sputtering, painting, plating, impregnation and etching.
In the reflective design sheet 15c, a design pattern is formed on various sheets such as paper, fiber sheet, synthetic resin sheet, metal sheet, inorganic sheet, woody sheet, glass sheet and leather sheet using various methods such as printing, coating, lapping, deposition, sputtering, painting, plating, impregnation and etching. For example, the sheet may be a metallic reflective sheet like aluminum foil, polymer reflective sheet and retroreflective sheet.
In the glass ink coated layer 15d, a desired design pattern is screen-printed on a surface of the internal tempered glass panel 18 through a spraying operation using glass ink, and then preferably heat-cured at a temperature of 500 to 800° C. so that the glass ink is fused into and attached to the surface of the internal tempered glass panel 18.
Since the glass ink coated layer 15d is not deteriorated and discolored, it can be used permanently. Further, by using the glass ink as well as the solar cell pattern, various design patterns can be provided over the entire surface of the internal tempered glass panel 128 of the double glass module 10, thereby providing various appearances of the buildings.
The sealant 19a, 19b may typically be a silicon-based sealant, and preferably a double sealing system including a first sealant 19a formed of TPS and a second sealant 19b formed of Thiokol.
The first sealant 19a is comprised of a sealing composition containing a base polymer and a selected additional component.
The base polymer may be comprised of an isobutylene homopolymer, copolymer, trimer, or a compound thereof; or an acrylate and/or methacrylate monopolyer and/or copolymer or a compound thereof.
The additional component may be a thermoplastic polymer, natural and synthetic rubber, an adhesion-imparting additive, a plasticizer, a binder, a reinforcing and non-reinforcing filler, a stabilizer and other additive.
For example, the thermoplastic polymer may be polyolefin polymer and copolymer. The thermoplastic polymer may be synthesized from ethylene, propylene and n-butene monomer, a higher homologue thereof, and an isomer thereof, and also synthesized from functional vinyl compound such as vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride, styrene and a-methylstyrene. In addition, the thermoplastic polymer may be polyamide, polyimide, polyacetal, polycarbonate, polyester, polyurethane and the like.
Preferably, the first sealant 19a is formed of BU-TPS (e.g., Naftotherm BU-TPS prepared by chemetal company, German) as an edge sealing compound based on an isobutylene polymer, which contains a thermoplastic polymer so as to provide permanent flexibility.
The first sealant 19a may contain moisture absorbent such as zeolite.
Preferably, the second sealant 19b is formed of Thiokol. The Thiokol is a proprietary name for polysulfide rubber prepared by Thiokol Chemical Co., USA. The Thiokol is prepared by a condensation reaction of alkali polysulfide and an organic compound having a halogen group at both ends thereof.
In case of a general double (multi-layered) glass panel, the edge sealing system is comprised of an aluminum space, a moisture absorbent filled in the spacer, an internal sealant made of butyl (a non-curing sealant based on polyisobutylene), which is attached to both outer surfaces of the spacer, and an external sealant formed of Thiokol and the like.
In the general double glass panel, there are some problems in that a lot of gas is leaked when manufacturing argon gas glass, production speed is reduced and many (at least four or more) laborers are required due to its manual operation, heat loss is increased and dew condensation occurs frequently due to its aluminum material, and its structural strength is deteriorated due to the metal spacer. Further, product quality may be deteriorated due to a number of manual processes, and an amount of the applied moisture absorbent is changed according to laborers and thus quality defect may occur and the moisture absorbing ability is also deteriorated. Moreover, a sealing line may be uneven or cut off, and also the product quality is considerably deteriorated at a curved portion of the sealing line.
In the TPS edge sealing system used in the present invention, three functions of the conventional aluminum spacer, the moisture absorbent and the internal sealant made of butyl are combined into one, high quality of glass product can be achieved due to a low gas leakage rate, it is possible to achieve high production speed and the small number of laborers (about one laborer) and to maintain the high quality of the product, due to its automatic operation, the heat loss is minimized due to its non-metallic material, the dew condensation is reduced due to reduction in heat conduction, and its structural strength is increased due to absorbing of shock. Further, due to the automatic operation, the close contacting ability is improved, the amount of the moisture absorbent is constant since the moisture absorbent can be constantly distributed in TPS, thereby providing the uniform moisture absorbing ability, the sealing line is clear and uniform even at the curved portion thereof, and thus it is possible to produce various glass panels having various shapes. Furthermore, it is possible to facilely control a gap between the glass panels, to easily fabricate the double glass panel having various shapes with the same quality, and also to fabricate open type double glass and latticed window. In addition, due to excellent elasticity and elastic recovery, it has high durability against pressure, it is free from shearing stress generated by its relaxation and contraction motion, and it has also high durability against temperature and wind pressure due to flexibility of RPS.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The external and internal tempered glass panels 11 and 18 are formed of tempered glass.
The first and second EVA films 12 and 14 are an EVA film.
The cell 13 is a typical silicon semiconductor cell.
In the glass ink coated layer 15d, a desired design pattern is screen-printed on a surface of the internal tempered glass panel 18 using glass ink and then heat-cured at a temperature of 650° C.
Further, edge portions between the internal and external tempered glass panels 11 and 18 are treated by a sealant 19a, 19b. The first sealant 19a is TPS and the second sealant 19b is Thiokol.
The second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that a refractive tempered glass panel having a triangular concavo-convex structure is used as the external and internal tempered glass panels 11 and 18 and a front corner angle of the triangle is 55 degrees, as shown in
A sealant comprised of an aluminum spacer, moisture absorbent and butyl is used instead of the first sealant 19a of the first embodiment.
Physical properties are measured in each solar cell module of the embodiments and the comparative example, and results thereof are indicated in tables 1 and 2.
As described in table 1, thermal insulation performance in the embodiment is increased by 85% compared with the comparative example, and temperature of the internal glass panel in the embodiment is improved by 3.2° C. compared with the comparative example, and the dew condensation is remarkably improved, and also the embodiment has more excellent pressure resistance (high load and temperature).
As described in table 2, energy efficiency in the second embodiment using the refractive tempered glass panel is increased by 3% based on that in the first embodiment.
According to the present invention as described above, since the solar cell module for integration into buildings of the present invention, which can be used as an exterior material for the buildings, has the design elements, it is possible to maximize an exterior effect and also to produce high value modules. And in case of the reflective design sheet, it is possible to prevent temperature rise and to increase the efficiency by reflecting sunlight.
Further, by using the refractive tempered glass panel, it is possible to always allow the light to be vertically incident to the cell, thereby increasing the energy efficiency, and thus it is possible to produce more electricity.
Further, since various design patterns can be applied to the double glass module including the external and internal tempered glass panels, it is possible to improve the appearance of the buildings and to provide the awning effect according to an injection degree of glass ink. And it is also possible to provide thermal insulating and noise preventing effects by using the double glass module including the external and internal tempered glass panels. Since the double glass module is directly applied to the external wall of the buildings, it can be facilely disposed at the buildings without installing separate internal walls.
In addition, since the double sealing system including TPS(Thermo Plastic System) is used, it is possible to provide excellent thermal insulating ability, dew condensation preventing ability, moisture absorbing ability and wind pressure resistance, and it is possible to improve the production speed and product quality and also to provide clear and various appearances.
While the present invention has been described with respect to the specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2009-0028771 | Apr 2009 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2009/003749 | 7/9/2009 | WO | 00 | 9/29/2011 |
