Partially transparent photovoltaic modules
AssigneeBP Corporation North America Inc.
InventorsRobert S. Oswald, Shengzhong Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photovoltaic cell comprising a supporting substrate, a front contact layer on the substrate, a layer or layers of semiconductor material and a back contact layer comprising a metal, the back contact having areas without metal thereby permitting the passage of light through the cell.
Claims48
A method for making a thin film partially transparent photovoltaic module comprising series connected cells, at least one amorphous semiconductor layer, a metal contact layer, and interconnects connecting the series connected cells, the method comprising laser scribing a plurality of laser scribes at least through the metal contact and positioning the scribes in a direction that crosses the direction of the interconnects.
The method of Clam 1 wherein each scribe has a width of about 0.01 to about 0.5 mm and the scribes are spaced from each other about 0.5 to about 5 mm.
9 The method of claim 6 wherein no more than about 20 percent of the area of the metal contact layer comprises the laser scribes.
A method of making a partially transparent photovoltaic module comprising series connected cells, at least one amorphous semiconductor layer, a metal contact layer, and interconnects connecting the series-connected cells, the method comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of (a) laser scribing a plurality of scribes at least through the metal contact in a direction that crosses the direction of the interconnects and (b) selectively removing at least portions of the metal contact in a preselected pattern to impart a design, lettering, logo or other descriptive pattern on the photovoltaic module.
A method of making a photovoltaic module comprising series connected cells, at least one amorphous semiconductor layer, a metal contact layer and interconnects connecting the series connected cells comprising selectively removing portions of the metal contact using a laser for the purpose of permitting light to pass through the module where the metal is selectively removed.
The method of claim 26 wherein the holes are round in shape.
26 The method of claim 22 wherein the metal is removed by using the laser to ablate semiconductor material which bursts through the metal contact layer to remove the metal.
A thin film partially transparent photovoltaic module comprising series connected cells, at least one amorphous semiconductor layer, a metal contact layer. and interconnects connecting the series-connected cells, the module comprising a plurality of scribes at least through the metal contact layer positioned in a direction that crosses the direction of the interconnects.
A photovoltaic module comprising series connected cells, at least one amorphous semiconductor layer, a metal contact layer, and interconnects connecting the series-connected cells, the module comprising lettering, a logo or other descriptive pattern formed in and extending through the metal contact layer.
A method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- (a) depositing a transparent conductive oxide film on a substrate to form a front contact layer;
- (b) laser scribing substantially parallel first grooves in the front contact layer with a laser beam to form front electrode segments on the substrate,
- (c) depositing and forming a layer or layers of a semiconductor material on said front electrode segments, and filling the first grooves with the semiconductor material;
- (d) laser scribing second grooves in the layer or layers of semiconductor material at positions substantially parallel to the first grooves;
- (e) depositing and forming a back contact layer comprising a metal on the layer or layers of semiconductor material, and filling the second grooves with the metal to form a series connection to connect the front electrode segments and the back contact layer;
- laser scribing third grooves in the back contact layer at positions substantially parallel to the second grooves with a laser beam;
- and
- (g) laser scribing grooves in the back contact layer at a direction which crosses the direction of the second groove.
A method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device on a substrate. comprising the steps of:
- (a) depositing a transparent conductive oxide film on a substrate to form a front contact layer;
- (b) laser scribing substantially parallel first grooves in the front contact layer with a laser beam to form front electrode segments on the substrate,
- (c) depositing and forming a layer or layers of a semiconductor material on the front electrode segments, and filling the first grooves with the semiconductor material;
- (d) laser scribing second grooves in the layer or layers of semiconductor material at positions substantially parallel to the first grooves,
- (e) depositing and forming a back contact layer comprising a metal on the layer of semiconductor material, and filling the second grooves with the metal to form a series connection to connect the front electrode segments and the back contact layer;
- (f) laser scribing third grooves in the back contact layer at positions substantially parallel to the second grooves with a laser beam;
- and
- (g) selectively removing sections of the back contact using a laser to impart a desired design, lettering, logo or other feature to the photovoltaic device.
48 The method of claim 1 further comprising ultrasonically cleaning the module after laser scribing the plurality of laser scribes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.