Patent Application
20090038241
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a building with an energy collecting device and, particularly, to buildings with solar cells formed thereon.
2. Description of Related Art
A solar cell is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy. The solar cell is a clean energy power supply source. Nowadays, solar cells are widely used in buildings. Such buildings are called solar buildings.
Generally, solar cells are positioned on a roof of the solar building. Such solar cells can only absorb sun rays coming in from one direction. However, the position of the sun changes throughout the day. Thus, the solar cells can only receive a limited amount of solar energy throughout the day. Therefore, an efficiency of the solar building is low.
Therefore, a new solar building is desired to overcome the above described shortcomings.
An exemplary solar roof includes a roof body and a flexible solar cell layer covering the roof body. A surface of the solar cell layer for receiving sun rays forms at least one part of an exterior surface of a dome. The solar cell layer includes a flexible substrate formed on the roof body, a back metal contact layer formed on the substrate, a P-type semiconductor layer formed on the back metal contact layer, a P-N junction layer formed on the P-type semiconductor layer, an N-type semiconductor layer formed on the P-N junction layer, and a front metal contact layer formed on the N-type semiconductor layer.
An exemplary solar building includes a solar roof and a main body supporting the solar roof. The solar roof includes a roof body and a flexible solar cell layer covering the roof body. A surface of the solar cell layer for receiving sun rays forms at least one part of an exterior surface of a dome. The solar cell layer includes a flexible substrate formed on the roof body, a back metal contact layer formed on the substrate, a P-type semiconductor layer formed on the back metal contact layer, a P-N junction layer formed on the P-type semiconductor layer, an N-type semiconductor layer formed on the P-N junction layer, and a front metal contact layer formed on the N-type semiconductor layer.
Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with references to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Embodiments will now be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
Referring to
The roof body 140 has a dome shape. The solar cells 142 are fixedly mounted/positioned on the roof body 140 via, e.g., an adhesive, or a mechanical fastener. The solar cells 142 are in contact with the roof body 140 and, accordingly, positioned along an exterior surface of the dome. Thus, a surface (not labeled) of the solar cells 142 for receiving sun rays forms one part of an exterior surface of a dome. The dome can be a spherical dome or a spheroidal dome. That is, when the dome is a spherical dome, its shape is consistent with being a portion of a sphere. Similarly, the spheroidal dome is consistent in shape with a part of an ellipsoid. In the present embodiment, the dome is spherical and in fact forms a hemisphere.
The roof body 140 can be made of fiber glass (i.e., glass reinforced plastic), glass, or reinforced concrete. The main body 12 can be a cylinder, or a cuboid. In the present embodiment, the main body 12 is a cylinder. The main body 12 can be made of reinforced concrete.
The solar cells 142 are configured for receiving sun rays and converting energy of the sun rays into electrical energy. Referring to
Referring to
The substrate 1421 can be made of stainless steel, aluminum magnesium alloy, or polymer. The stainless steel can be, but is not limited to, austenitic stainless steel, ferritic stainless steel, or martensitic stainless steel. The polymer can be transparent or opaque. The transparent polymer can be, but is not limited to, polycarbonate (PC), or polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The opaque polymer can be, but is not limited to, polyether ether ketone (PEEK), or liquid crystal polymer (LCP). A thickness of the substrate 1421 can be in an approximate range from 10 microns to 100 microns.
The back metal contact layer 1422 can be made of silver, copper, molybdenum, aluminum, copper aluminum alloy, silver copper alloy, or copper molybdenum alloy. The back metal contact layer 102 can be formed on the substrate 101 by sputtering or deposition.
The P-type semiconductor layer 1423 can be made of P-type amorphous silicon (P-a-Si), particularly, P-type amorphous silicon with hydrogen (P-a-Si:H). Also, the P-type semiconductor layer 103 can be made of III-V group compound semiconductors or II-VI group compound semiconductors, particularly above semiconductors doped with aluminum, gallium, or indium, e.g., aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs).
The P-N junction layer 1424 can be made of III-V or I-III-VI group compound semiconductors, e.g., cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium diselenide (CuInSe2, CIS). Also, The P-N junction layer 104 can be made of copper indium gallium diselenide (CuIn1-xGaSe2, CIGS). The P-N junction layer 104 can be formed on the P-type semiconductor layer using chemical vapor deposition or sputtering.
The N-type semiconductor layer 1425 can be made of N-type amorphous silicon (N-a-Si), particularly, N-type amorphous silicon with hydrogen (N-a-Si:H). Also, the N-type semiconductor layer 105 can be made of III-V group compound semiconductors or II-VI group compound semiconductors, particularly above semiconductors doped with nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, e.g., gallium nitride (GaN), indium gallium phosphide (InGaP).
The front metal contact layer 1426 can be made of transparent conductive oxide, e.g., indium tin oxide (ITO) or zinc oxide.
In order to improve waterproofing of the solar cell 142, a protective layer (not shown) can be formed on the front metal contact layer 1426. The protective layer can be made of resin.
In the solar building 10 of the present embodiment, the solar cells 142 are positioned along the outer surface of a dome. The dome is symmetrical since the dome has an axis of rotation. Accordingly, the solar cells 142 are capable of absorbing sun rays regardless of a position of the sun 30 in the sky. Therefore, an efficiency of the solar building 10 is increased. In more detail, all throughout any given day in any season, the solar cells 142 are capable of absorbing sun rays. For example, at a particular time of a day in winter, the sun 30 is in a first position of the sky, and mainly illuminates area “A” of the solar cells 142, as seen in
Referring to
It should be noted that the solar cells (not shown) can be further fixedly mounted on a peripheral surface of the main body 22. In this way, more solar energy is collected by the solar cells, and converted into electrical energy.
While certain embodiments have been described and exemplified above, various other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing disclosure. The present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described and exemplified but is capable of considerable variation and modification without departure from the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200710201332.6 | Aug 2007 | CN | national |
This application is related to these commonly-assigned copending applications as below: Ser. No. 11/967,008, entitled “SOLAR CELL WITH FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATE” (attorney docket number US 14906); Ser. No. 11/967,009, entitled “SOLAR CELL WITH FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATE” (attorney docket number US 14910); and Ser. No. 11/933,941, entitled “FLEXIBLE SOLAR CELL” (attorney docket number US 15052). Disclosures of the above-identified applications are incorporated herein by reference.
