The invention relates to a solar panel and to a production method therefor.
Generally, a solar panel is made by building up a plurality of films such as a clear electrode film, a semiconductor film, and a metal electrode film on a base material
A covering sheet (back up sheet for rear face) 21 is adhered to the rear face, to which the solar cell layer 25 is arranged, of the solar panel 10 so as to cover the solar panel module 27 by an adhering sheet (adhering sheet having an adhering face in a rear face) 20. The periphery of the covering sheet is covered by a sealing material 22 so as to seal the solar cell layer 25.
However, a periphery of the covering glass 15 and an edge of the solar panel 25 are aligned approximately on the same line, and according to this alignment, productivity and quality of the solar panel will be degraded. That is, as shown in
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems and seeks to provide a method for producing a solar panel, which is made by building up a solar cell layer on a glass substrate as a covering glass, having a good performance in sealing the solar cell layer, and also to provide a solar panel made by the method.
One aspect of the present invention is a production method for the solar panel comprising a step of building up a solar cell layer which consists of a plurality of films, a step of removing a part of the solar cell layer and a step of sealing the solar cell layer using a surface of the solar cell layer, which is exposed by the removing step, as a face for adhering.
According to the above production process, the solar cell layer can be sealed by adhering the sealing material to the glass substrate using the surface of the solar cell layer which is exposed by the removing step. That is, it is possible to ensure a sufficient area for adhering the sealing material, and therefore, it is possible to seal the solar cell layer by using the area for adhering. The sealing material is arranged only in a bottom side of the glass substrate so as to seal the solar cell panel but is not necessary to arrange the sealing material in the upper side of the glass substrate. Therefore degrading of the quality of the solar panel, for instance an appearance, a reduction in quantity of light accepted by the solar panel, due to the sealing material which is adhered to the upper face of the glass substrate, and attaching and depositing of particles, are prevented.
In the step of removing a part of the solar cell layer, it is also possible to remove the entirety of the solar cell layer so as to expose a part of the surface of the glass substrate.
According to the face of the glass substrate thus exposed, it is possible to adhere the sealing material by using the face of the glass substrate, which has a good adhesion, so as to ensure sealing performance.
It is possible for the solar cell layer to comprise, in order from the glass substrate, an alkali barrier film, clear electrode film, semiconductor film and metal film, and the alkali barrier film is exposed by removing any of the films.
In this adhering, because the alkali barrier film which has a good adhesion is used as the adhering face, it is possible to ensure the sealing performance of the sealing material.
A further aspect of the present invention is that a solar panel comprises a solar cell layer which consists of a plurality of films which are built on a glass substrate for covering, and any of the plurality of films are removed so as to adhere a sealing material for sealing the solar cell layer by using a face which is exposed by the removal.
According to the face of the glass substrate thus exposed, it is possible to adhere the sealing material by using the face of the grass substrate, which has a good adhesion, so as to ensure a sealing performance.
It is possible for the above solar panel to expose a surface of the glass substrate by removing entire of said solar cell layer.
It is also available for the solar cell layer to comprise, in order from the glass substrate, an alkali barrier film, clear electrode film, semiconductor film and metal film, and the alkali barrier film is exposed by removing any of the films and is used as an adhering face to adhere the sealing material so as to seal the solar cell layer.
According to the solar panel and the production method of the present invention, it is possible to ensure sealing performance of the solar cell layer by using a surface, which is exposed by removing a part of the solar cell layer, as an adhering face for the sealing material.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the production method and the solar panel made by the production method of the present invention will be explained in reference with the figures.
First process: As shown in
Second process: As shown in
Third process: As shown in
Fourth process. As shown in
The solar cell layer 25 comprises, for instance, in order from the glass substrate 15, an alkali barrier film, a clear electrode film, a semiconductor film, and a metal film, and has a layered construction.
A method of a mechanical process and a method of a chemical process are available for removing any of the films of the solar cell layer 25. This method of removing the films using a mechanical process are, for instance, a method of grinding the films by a grinding wheel, a method of blasting, for instance a sand blasting, and a method of irradiating a laser beam, for instance, an excimer laser etc.
In this embodiment, a film in a periphery of the solar cell layer 25 is removed by using any of the above mechanical and chemical methods. If it is necessary to divide the entire solar cell layer 25 into several pieces, the periphery of the films to be removed are removed after cutting the glass substrate 15 for dividing the solar cell layer 25 into pieces of preferred dimensions. A preferable amount of an area to be removed in the solar cell layer 25 is sufficient for closely contacting a sealing material 22 to the solar cell layer 25.
The solar cell layer 25 is sealed by using the face, which is exposed by the above removing process, as an adhering face, and covering the peripheries of the solar cell layer 25, adhering sheet 20, and covering sheet 21. In this embodiment, an area for adhering the sealing material 22 to the glass substrate 15 is arranged by removing the solar cell layer 25; therefore, the sealing process is simplified. That is, by the process of this embodiment, because the solar panel can be sealed by supplying the sealing material 22 to one side (bottom side) of the glass substrate 15, a process of sealing can be completed more easily than the conventional process for sealing. The sealing material 22 is arranged in the bottom side of the glass substrate 15 so as to seal the solar cell panel and is not arranged in the upper side of the glass substrate 15. Therefore degrading of the quality of the solar panel, in appearance, and reducing the quantity of light accepted by the solar panel, due to the adhered sealing materials, and adhering and depositing of particles are prevented.
In the solar panel in
In this embodiment, the glass surface which has a good adhesiveness is used as the adhering face to the sealing material 22 for sealing the solar cell layer 25. Therefore, the solar cell layer 25 can be certainly sealed by using the glass face of the glass substrate 15 which has a good adhesion. In the process of exposing, it is possible to ensure exposing the glass face by grinding not only the entirety of solar cell layer 25, but also a part of the glass substrate 15, to a predetermined depth.
In the solar panel of
In this embodiment, the solar cell layer 25 is also certainly sealed by the sealing material 22 by using the alkali barrier film 17, having a sufficient adhering performance, as an adhering face. The alkali barrier film 17, such as one of SiO2, is arranged to prevent diffusion of an alkali, which is contained in the glass substrate 15, to the solar cell layer 25, and also to prevent degradation of the performance of the solar cell layer 25. Therefore the alkali barrier film 17 can be omitted, if the glass substrate 15 does not contain very much alkaline component.
In the solar panel of
The solar cell layer 25 of the embodiments in
The solar panel made by the process of the above embodiments ensures sealing performance by using the face which is exposed by removing the solar cell layer for the adhering face to adhere to the sealing material. The exposed face is used for the adhering face for adhering to the sealing material; therefore, it is preferable to make the exposed face to be smooth so as to increase an adhering performance by the process for removing the solar cell layer. According to the exposed face thus smoothed, it is possible to increase an adhesiveness of the covering sheet 21 and the sealing material 22. In the above processes for removing the solar cell layer and increasing the smoothness of the exposed face, a process for increasing the smoothness of the exposed face can be performed by a means other than a means for removing the solar cell layer. For further increasing the adhering performance, it is preferable to coat the exposed face with primer materials in order to add further smoothness and adhesiveness to the exposed face.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP02/13008 | 12/12/2002 | WO |