Solar cell laser scribing methods
AssigneeTSMC Solar Ltd.
InventorsHsuan-Sheng YANG, Kwang-Ming LIN, Yi-Feng HUANG, Li-Wei CHANG, Chia-Hung TSAI
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Abstract
A multi-step scribing operation is provided for forming scribe lines in solar panels to form multiple interconnected cells on a solar panel substrate. The multi-step scribing operation includes at least one step utilizing a nanosecond laser cutting operation. The nanosecond laser cutting operation is followed by a mechanical cutting operation or a subsequent nanosecond laser cutting operation. In some embodiments, the multi-step scribing operation produces a two-tiered scribe line profile and the method prevents local shunting and minimizes active area loss on the solar panel.
Claims20
A method for patterning a solar cell, said method comprising:
- providing a solar panel with at least an absorber layer and a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer over said absorber layer;
- and
- creating scribe lines in said solar panel using a multiple step process in which at least a first step of said multiple step process is a nanosecond laser cutting operation.
A method for patterning a solar panel, said method comprising:
- providing a solar panel with a stack of layers including at least an absorber layer and a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer over said absorber layer;
- and
- creating scribe lines in said solar panel by using a first nanosecond laser cutting operation that cuts through only a portion of a thickness of said stack and a second cutting step that cuts through a remaining thickness of said stack.
A method for scribing a solar panel, said method comprising:
- providing a thin film solar panel with a stack of layers having a thickness and including at least an absorber layer and a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer over said absorber layer;
- identifying scribe line regions of said solar panel;
- cutting through an upper portion of said stack of layers using a nanosecond laser cutting operation in said scribe line regions thereby leaving a lower portion of said stack of layers intact in said scribe line regions;
- and
- cutting through said lower portion of said stack of layers in said scribe line regions using one of a further nanosecond laser cutting operation and a mechanical cutting operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.