Bypass diode for photovoltaic cells
AssigneeSolar Systems Pty Ltd.
InventorJohn Beavis Lasich
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photovoltaic power module (10), comprising a substrate (12) provided with a circuit, one or more photovoltaic cells (16) mounted to the substrate and electrically connected to the circuit, and one or more bypass diodes (20), each corresponding to a respective one or more of the cells, wherein each of the diodes is located between the substrate and the cells and between conducting portions (14) of the circuit. Solder (18) connects the bypass diode, the conducting portions, and the photovoltaic cell.
Claims26
A photovoltaic power module, comprising:
- a substrate thermally couplable to a heat sink;
- one or more photovoltaic cells mounted to said substrate;
- metallised zones formed on said substrate and constituting a circuit, said metallised zones being generally planar and underlying, in combination, substantially entirely said photovoltaic cells, and the metallised zone being electrically and thermally coupled to said respective photovoltaic cells by solder over substantially all portions of the metallised zones underlying said photovoltaic cells to facilitate heat flow from said photovoltaic cells to said substrate;
- and
- one or more bypass diodes each corresponding to a respective one or more of said photovoltaic cells and having first and second terminals;
- wherein each of said bypass diodes is located between said substrate and the corresponding one or more of said photovoltaic cells and at least in part between respective first and second mutually opposed faces of conducting portions of two adjacent of said metallised zones underlying the photovoltaic cells corresponding to the bypass diode with said first and second terminals facing and electrically coupled to said opposed faces to provide, via the bypass diode, at least a portion of an electrical path from said first opposed face of said conducting portions to said second opposed face of said conducting portions that is substantially parallel to said substrate.
A method of bypassing one or more photovoltaic cells in a photovoltaic power module, comprising:
- locating one or more bypass diodes, each corresponding to a respective one or more of said photovoltaic cells and having first and second terminals, between said photovoltaic cells and a substrate of said module, at least in part between conducting portions of generally planar metallised zones formed on said substrate that constitute a circuit provided between said substrate and said photovoltaic cells, said metallised zones being generally planar and underlying, in combination, substantially entirely said photovoltaic cells;
- electrically coupling said first and second terminals of said respective bypass diodes to respective first and second mutually opposed faces of said conducting portions of said metallised zones with said first and second terminals facing said opposing faces, such that said respective bypass diode provides at least a portion of a respective electrical path from said first opposed face of said conducting portions to said second opposed face of said conducting portions that is substantially parallel to said substrate, with said bypass diodes arranged to bypass a corresponding one or more photovoltaic cells of a voltage across said corresponding one or more photovoltaic cells drops below a predetermined level or is reversed, and electrically and thermally coupling said photovoltaic cells to substantially all portions of the metallised zones underlying said photovoltaic cells using solder to facilitate heat flow from said photovoltaic cells to said substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.