# US 9,520,522 B2 · Method of manufacturing solar cell module

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- Number: US 9,520,522 B2
- Document ID: US9520522B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/045,352
- Filed: 2013-10-03
- Published: 2014-04-10
- Granted: 2016-12-13
- Earliest claimed: 2012-10-04
- Assignees: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Tomoyoshi Furihata; Atsuo Ito; Hiroto Ohwada; Hyung Bae Kim; Sumio Sekiyama; Junichi Tsukada; Atsushi Yaginuma; Naoki Yamakawa
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9520522B2

## CPC

- H10F 19/804: {Materials of encapsulations}
- 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 77/50: Encapsulations or containers (for photovoltaic modules H10F19/80)
- 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 method of manufacturing a solar cell module comprising pressing a first silicone gel sheet provided on a sunlight receiving surface of a solar cell string and a second silicone gel sheet provided on an opposite side sunlight non-receiving surface of the solar cell string in vacuum to encapsulate the solar cell string with the first and second silicone gel sheets; disposing the sunlight receiving surface side of the first silicone gel sheet on one surface of a transparent light receiving panel and disposing butyl rubber in a picture frame-like shape along an outer peripheral portion of a panel where the first silicone gel sheet is not formed and laying the light receiving panel and the light non-receiving panel or back sheet over each other with the silicone gel sheet-encapsulated solar cell string on the inside, and pressing them at 100 to 150° C. in vacuum to press bond the light receiving surface panel and the light non-receiving surface panel or back sheet to each other through the butyl rubber.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of manufacturing a solar cell module comprising:
pressing a first silicone gel sheet provided on a sunlight receiving surface of a solar cell string and a second silicone gel sheet provided on an opposite side sunlight non-receiving surface of the solar cell string in a first vacuum to encapsulate the solar cell string with the first and second silicone gel sheets; and then
disposing a sunlight receiving surface side of the first silicone gel sheet on one surface of a transparent light receiving panel which is to be a sunlight incidence surface except an outer peripheral region thereof and disposing butyl rubber in a picture frame-like shape along the outer peripheral region of the one surface of the transparent light receiving panel which is to be a sunlight incidence surface where the first silicone gel coating is not formed, or disposing a sunlight non-receiving surface side of the second silicone gel sheet on one surface of a light non-receiving panel or back sheet which is to be a sunlight non-incidence side except an outer peripheral region thereof and disposing butyl rubber in a picture frame-like shape along the outer peripheral region of the one surface of the sunlight non-receiving panel or back sheet which is to be a sunlight non-incidence side where the second silicone gel coating is not formed and laying the light receiving panel and the light non-receiving panel or back sheet over each other with the silicone gel sheet-encapsulated solar cell string on the inside, and pressing them at 100 to 150° C. in a second vacuum for at least one minute but no longer than five minutes to press bond the light receiving panel and the light non-receiving panel or back sheet to each other through the butyl rubber, and
wherein the first silicone gel sheet and the second silicone gel sheet are a sheet of a silicone gel obtained by curing a silicone gel composition comprising:
(A) an organopolysiloxane having at least one silicon-bonded alkenyl group in one molecule and represented by the following average compositional formula (1):
RaR1bSiO(4-a-b)/2 (1)
wherein R is an alkenyl group, R1 is independently an unsubstituted or substituted monovalent hydrocarbon group not having any aliphatic unsaturated bond, a is a positive number of 0.0001 to 0.2, b is a positive number of 1.7 to 2.2, and a+b is 1.9 to 2.4;
(B) an organohydrogenpolysiloxane having at least two silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms in one molecule; and
(C) a platinum catalyst,
the silicone gel having a penetration of 30 to 200.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of manufacturing a solar cell module according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the first silicone gel sheet and the second silicone gel sheet is 200 to 1,000 μm.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of manufacturing a solar cell module according to claim 1, wherein before the first vacuum the sunlight receiving surface side of the first silicone gel sheet or the sunlight non-receiving surface side of the second silicone gel sheet are subjected to a plasma irradiation treatment or an excimer beam irradiation treatment.