# US 2014/0196771 A1 · Thin-film photovoltaic module with hydrophobic rear-side coating

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- Number: US 2014/0196771 A1
- Document ID: US20140196771A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/232,878
- Filed: 2012-07-05
- Published: 2014-07-17
- Earliest claimed: 2011-08-29
- Inventors: Stephane Auvray; Dana Pakosch; Dang Cuong Phan
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140196771A1

## CPC

- H10F 19/80: Encapsulations or containers for integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, having photovoltaic cells
- H10F 19/807: {Double-glass encapsulation, e.g. photovoltaic cells arranged between front and rear glass sheets}
- H10F 19/85: Protective back sheets
- H10F 77/311: {for photovoltaic cells}
- Y02E 10/50: Photovoltaic [PV] energy
- H10F: INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

A thin-film photovoltaic module with hydrophobic rear-side coating is described. The module has a substrate, wherein at least one hydrophobic coating is arranged on a rear side of the substrate, a photovoltaic layer structure on a front side of the substrate, and a covering sheet, which is areally connected to the front side of the substrate via a rear side of the substrate with at least one intermediate layer.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A thin-film photovoltaic module with hydrophobic rear-side coating, comprising at least:
a substrate, wherein at least one hydrophobic coating is arranged on a rear side of the substrate;
a photovoltaic layer structure on a front side of the substrate; and
a cover sheet areally bonded via a rear side of said cover sheet with at least one intermediate layer to the front side of the substrate.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one hydrophobic coating contains at least one alkylsilane, preferably a fluorinated alkylsilane.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one hydrophobic coating has a layer thickness from 0.5 nm to 50 nm.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 1, wherein a diffusion barrier layer against alkali ions is arranged between the at least one hydrophobic coating and the substrate.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 4, wherein the diffusion barrier layer contains at least silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon oxide, aluminum nitride, and/or aluminum oxynitride and has a layer thickness from preferably 3 nm to 300 nm.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 1, wherein the substrate contains at least soda-lime glass, preferably with a thickness from 1.5 mm to 10 mm, and the fraction of alkali elements is preferably from 0.1 wt.-% to 20 wt.-%.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 1, wherein the photovoltaic layer structure has at least one photovoltaically active absorber layer between a front electrode layer and a rear electrode layer, and the rear electrode layer contains at least one metal, preferably molybdenum, titanium nitride compounds, or tantalum nitride compounds, and the front electrode layer contains at least one n-conductive semiconductor, preferably aluminum-doped zinc oxide or indium tin oxide, and the photovoltaically active absorber layer contains at least amorphous, micromorphous, or polycrystalline silicon, cadmium telluride (CdTe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), or copper indium (gallium) sulfur/selenium (CI(G)S).

### Claim 8

A method for producing a thin-film photovoltaic module with hydrophobic rear-side coating, comprising:
(a) applying a photovoltaic layer structure on a front side of a substrate;
(b) bonding the front side of the substrate to a rear side of a cover sheet via an intermediate layer under action of heat, vacuum, and/or pressure, and
(c) applying a hydrophobic coating on a rear side of the substrate.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method according to claim 8, wherein the hydrophobic coating is applied in step (c) from a solution that contains at least 0.05 wt.-% to 5 wt.-% of an alkylsilane, preferably a fluorinated alkylsilane, with one, two, or three hydrolyzable substituents on the silicon atom, preferably alkoxy groups or halogen atoms and a solvent.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9, wherein the solvent contains at least a mixture of an alcohol and water, and the fraction of water in the solvent mixture is from 3 vol.-% to 20 vol.-%.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9, wherein the solution contains 0.005 wt.-% to 20 wt.-% of a Bronsted acid or of a Bronsted base as a catalyst.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The method according to claim 8, wherein, before step (c) an adhesion promoter is applied on the rear side of the substrate and the adhesion promoter preferably contains at least tetrahydroxy silane, a tetra-alkoxy silane, and/or a tetrahalogen silane.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The method according to claim 8, wherein, before step (a) or before step (b) or before step (c), a diffusion barrier layer is applied on the rear side of the substrate.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

A method comprising:
using the thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 1 with a negative electrical potential to earth ground of at least −100 V and preferably at least −600 V.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

A method comprising:
using the at least one hydrophobic coating on a surface of the thin-film photovoltaic module turned away from an entry of light according to claim 1.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one hydrophobic coating has a layer thickness from 1 nm to 5 nm.

### Claim 17 (depends on 5)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 5, wherein the diffusion barrier layer has a thickness from 10 nm to 200 nm.

### Claim 18 (depends on 5)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 5, wherein the diffusion barrier layer has a thickness from 20 nm to 100 nm.

### Claim 19 (depends on 6)

The thin-film photovoltaic module according to claim 6, wherein the fraction of alkali elements is preferably from 10 wt.-% to 16 wt.-%.