JP2003264308A - Thin film solar cell module and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A thin-film solar cell module that prevents cracking of a sub-module using a glass substrate and a cover glass when the sub-module is fixed with an adhesive resin such as EVA. A method for manufacturing the same is provided. SOLUTION: The transparent electrode layer surface of the thin-film solar cell submodule 3 is formed by electrically connecting unit cells in which thin films of a metal electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a transparent electrode layer are sequentially laminated on the surface of a glass substrate 11. Cover glass 1 on the side
Arranged via the A layer 2 and the internal wiring 20 of the submodule
Is electrically connected to an external power lead-out terminal via the power lead wire 4. The glass substrate is provided with a groove 22 for embedding internal wiring and one end of the groove. It is provided with a hole 21, wherein the internal wiring is electrically connected to the transparent electrode layer in the groove, and the internal wiring 20 and the power lead wire 4 are electrically connected in the hole. .

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses a glass substrate type thin-film solar cell sub-module, and a cover glass for surface protection is disposed on the module through a translucent resin adhesive layer to form a module. The present invention relates to a thin film solar cell module and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A photoelectric conversion device using a non-single-crystal film, particularly a thin film such as amorphous silicon (a-Si) which is a silicon-based non-single-crystal thin film, polycrystalline silicon or microcrystalline silicon Since a thin film photoelectric conversion device formed by plasma discharge can be manufactured in a large area, at a low temperature, and at low cost as compared with a single crystal silicon device, it is particularly expected to be applied to a large area thin film solar cell for electric power. There is.

In recent years, research and development of a flexible type thin film solar cell using an electrically insulating film substrate, which is excellent in weight reduction, workability and mass productivity, has been advanced and put into practical use. Furthermore, the above-mentioned thin-film solar cell is usually used after being insulated and protected by an adhesive resin to form a module.

In the above thin film solar cell, for example, a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements (or cells) are formed by laminating a first electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer composed of a thin film semiconductor layer, and a transparent electrode layer on an electrically insulating film substrate. By repeatedly electrically connecting the first electrode layer of a certain photoelectric conversion element and the transparent electrode layer of the adjacent photoelectric conversion element, the first electrode layer of the first photoelectric conversion element and the last photoelectric conversion element It is possible to output a necessary voltage to the transparent electrode layer. For example, AC is converted by an inverter and AC 100V is used as a commercial power source.
In order to obtain the above, the output voltage of the thin film solar cell is preferably 100 V or more, and several tens or more elements are actually connected in series.

The above thin-film solar cell module has the following structure:
There are various types, but especially when importance is attached to weather resistance and strength, as described above, a glass substrate type thin film solar cell sub-module is used, and a cover glass for surface protection is provided with a translucent resin. A thin film solar cell module formed by arranging via an adhesive material layer to form a module is suitable. That is, on the surface of the glass substrate, a metal electrode layer,
Photoelectric conversion layers and thin films of transparent electrode layers are sequentially laminated, and patterned into unit parts to form a plurality of rectangular unit thin film solar cells (unit cells) by scoring lines, and these unit cells are electrically connected in series. On the transparent electrode layer surface side of the connected thin film solar cell submodule, a cover glass for surface protection is provided via a translucent resin adhesive layer, and the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the thin film solar cell submodule are provided. It is a thin-film solar cell module in which internal wiring is electrically connected to an external power lead terminal via a power lead wire.

Further, in the case of the thin film solar cell using the glass substrate, the thin film solar cell can be formed at a higher temperature than the plastic substrate, so that the characteristics of the solar cell can be improved. There is also.

The structure of a thin film solar cell module of the above type will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of a thin film solar cell submodule using a glass substrate, and FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of a thin film solar cell module including the submodule of FIG. 4, a cover glass, and internal wiring. Show. First, FIG.
This section describes the submodules of.

FIG. 4 (a) is a plan view of the thin-film solar cell surface on the light-receiving surface side, and FIG. 4 (b) is a sectional view. The glass substrate 11 has metal electrode layers e1, e2, e3 ..., Photoelectric conversion layers s1, s.
2, s3 ... and transparent electrode layers u1, u2, u3 ...
・ Is sequentially laminated to form a thin film solar cell element (unit cell). The outline of the manufacturing method is described below.

First, a metal electrode layer e is formed on the glass substrate 11 by a sputtering method and patterned by a laser processing method in a predetermined number of divisions. At the same time, the thin-film solar cell and its periphery are also electrically separated.

Next, a photovoltaic layer s made of a-Si is formed by a plasma CVD method, and a laser is formed in a direction orthogonal to the series direction of the thin film solar cell and in parallel with the patterning line of the metal electrode layer e. Perform processing.

Next, the transparent electrode layer u is formed by a thermal CVD method, laser-processed in parallel with the patterning line of the photoelectric conversion layer s, and the thin-film solar cell and its periphery are electrically separated.

As a result of the above steps, the metal electrode layer e1, the photoelectric conversion layer s1, the transparent electrode layer u1-metal electrode layer e2, the photoelectric conversion layer s2, the transparent electrode layer u2-metal electrode layer e3, the photoelectric conversion layer s3, and the transparent layer. The series connection of the thin film solar cell elements (unit cells) in the order of the electrode layer u3 is completed.

Next, the thin film solar cell module of FIG. 3 will be described. In the module shown in FIG. 3, a cover glass 1 for surface protection is provided with a translucent resin adhesive material layer 2 on the transparent electrode layer surface side of the thin film solar cell sub-module (part number 3 in FIG. 4) shown in FIG. And the internal wirings 20 of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the thin-film solar cell submodule 3 are electrically connected to an external power lead terminal (not shown) via a power lead wire (not shown). .

FIG. 3A is a plan view showing a state in which the cover glass 1 and the transparent resin adhesive layer 2 are removed.
3B is a plan view of the cover glass 1, and FIG. 3C is a side view of FIG. 3A. Note that, in FIG. 3, details of the sub-module are shown in a simplified manner.

In FIG. 3, as the translucent resin adhesive layer 2, for example, EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin) which is excellent in adhesive sealing property and inexpensive is used, and the sub-module 3 and the internal part are used. The wiring 20 is heat-sealed and sealed by the adhesive resin sealing material 2. This EVA is in the form of a sheet, and after the above-mentioned members are laminated, for example, by using a vacuum laminator, heating and pressurizing at a temperature of about 120 ° C. to 160 ° C. to perform adhesive fixation, and then 130 ° C. to 160 ° C. Heat cured in a dryer. A conductive tape, for example, is used as the internal wiring 20, and the conductive tape is electrically connected to a transparent electrode layer (not shown) or a power lead wire by using ultrasonic solder.

[0016]

The conventional thin film solar cell module shown in FIG. 3 has the following problems.

In the conventional thin-film solar cell module, the constituent materials are made thin in order to reduce the manufacturing cost, and the same applies to the glass substrate, which has a plate thickness of 2 mm or less. . However, if the glass substrate is made thin, it is easily damaged, and in particular, the submodule using the glass substrate and the cover glass are EVA.
When fixing with an adhesive resin such as, if there is a protrusion such as internal wiring or solder for connection thereof, the protrusion is used as a base point when laminating the sub-module and the cover glass via the adhesive resin such as EVA. As a result, concentrated stress acts, and there is a problem that cracks occur in the submodule.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to fix a sub-module using a glass substrate and a cover glass with an adhesive resin such as EVA. In this case, it is to provide a thin-film solar cell module and a method for manufacturing the same in which cracking of the sub-module is prevented.

[0019]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, thin films of a metal electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer and a transparent electrode layer are sequentially laminated on the surface of a glass substrate and patterned into unit parts. Then, a plurality of rectangular unit thin film solar cells (unit cells) are formed by scoring lines, and on the transparent electrode layer surface side of the thin film solar cell submodule formed by electrically connecting the unit cells to each other in series, A cover glass for surface protection is provided via a translucent resin adhesive layer, and the internal wiring of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the thin film solar cell submodule is electrically connected to an external power lead terminal via a power lead wire. In the thin film solar cell module, the glass substrate is provided with a groove for burying the internal wiring, and a hole for leading out a power lead wire provided at one end of the groove. In the groove, the internal wiring and the transparent electrode layer (or the metal electrode layer) are electrically connected, and in the hole, the internal wiring and the power lead wire are electrically connected. (Invention of Claim 1).

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the protrusions such as the internal wiring and the solder for connecting the internal wiring are buried in the groove of the glass substrate, it is possible to prevent the submodule from cracking.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 2 can be made. That is, thin films of a metal electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a transparent electrode layer are sequentially laminated on the surface of a glass substrate, patterned into unit parts, and a plurality of rectangular unit thin film solar cells (unit cells) are formed by scoring lines. Then, a cover glass for surface protection is disposed on the transparent electrode layer surface side of the thin film solar cell sub-module in which the unit cells are electrically connected in series, with a translucent resin adhesive layer interposed therebetween. A thin film solar cell module in which internal wirings of a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the thin film solar cell submodule are electrically connected to an external power lead terminal through a power lead wire, wherein the glass substrate is a power lead. A wire drawing hole is provided, and in this hole portion, the internal wiring and the power lead wire are electrically connected, and further,
The cover glass is provided with a relief groove on the surface of the translucent resin adhesive material layer side, facing the arrangement portion of the internal wiring, for relief of stress during modularization.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, although there are protrusions such as internal wiring and solder for connecting the internal wiring, the relief groove provided in the cover glass relieves the stress during modularization. The occurrence of cracks in the submodule can be prevented.

Further, the following inventions are preferable as the embodiments of the above inventions. That is, the groove of the glass substrate or the escape groove of the cover glass has a rectangular cross-sectional shape, and the opening-side end of the rectangular cross-section is chamfered into an inclined surface or an arc shape (the invention of claim 3). ).

As a method of manufacturing the thin film solar cell module according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the invention of claim 4 below is preferable. That is, the groove of the glass substrate or the escape groove of the cover glass is processed by the sandblast method.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of a thin film solar cell module according to the invention of claim 1.
3A is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 3A, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. In this embodiment,
A groove 22 having a width of 10 mm and a depth of 0.5 mm was processed by a sandblast method in a non-power generation region on the side of the serial connection of the glass substrate 11 having a thickness of 1.1 mm. Further, a hole 21 having a diameter of 10 mm for taking out the power lead wire 4 was formed on the back side at the longitudinal end of the groove 22.

As described above, on the glass substrate 11 on which the grooves and holes have been processed, a metal electrode layer made of zinc oxide, silver, and zinc oxide, which is not shown in FIG. 1, amorphous silicon and a pin junction of amorphous silicon germanium. A thin film solar cell constituted by stacking three photoelectric conversion layers s and a transparent electrode layer u made of tin oxide was connected in series.

After that, a conductive tape 20 having an adhesive surface on one side is laminated as an internal wiring on the transparent electrode layer u partially formed along the groove 22, and the conductive tape 20 is separated from each electrode extraction portion. Electrical connection was made using sonic solder. This conductive tape 20 has holes 21 in the glass substrate along the grooves 22.
Reaches the portion, is electrically connected to the power lead wire 4, and is drawn out to the back side of the thin-film solar cell submodule 3. The conductive tape 20 may be connected to a metal electrode layer (not shown) instead of the transparent electrode layer u.

The thin-film solar cell submodule 3 and the cover glass 1 having a thickness of 3 mm were laminated with EVA 2, and the power lead wire 4 was connected to a terminal box (not shown) provided in the vicinity of the hole 21 to form a module. .

According to the present embodiment, the protrusions on the thin film solar cell submodule 3 due to the conductive tape and the solder as the internal wiring are eliminated, and as a result, the cracking of the thin film solar cell submodule that occurs in the laminate occurs. Is gone. In order to reliably prevent the occurrence of cracks, it is desirable that the groove cross-section opening side R be chamfered in an inclined or arc shape when the groove 22 is processed by sandblasting.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 shows a schematic construction of a thin film solar cell module according to the invention of claim 2.
3A is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 3A, FIG. 2B is a backside plan view of the cover glass, and FIG. 2C is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2A. In this embodiment, the thickness is 1.1 m.
A hole 21 having a diameter of 10 mm for taking out the power lead wire 4 was formed on the back side by a sandblast method in the non-power generation region of the glass substrate 11 on the side of the serial connection direction.

As in the first embodiment, on the glass substrate 11 having the holes 21 processed as described above, a metal electrode layer (not shown) made of zinc oxide, silver and zinc oxide, amorphous silicon and amorphous silicon germanium are formed. pi
A photoelectric conversion layer s formed by stacking three n-junction layers and a transparent electrode layer u formed of tin oxide were laminated to form three thin film solar cells connected in series.

After that, the conductive tape 20 was stuck on the transparent electrode layer u so as to be electrically connected to each electrode extraction portion by using ultrasonic solder. The conductive tape 20 reaches the hole 21 of the glass substrate, is electrically connected to the power lead wire 4, and is drawn out to the back side of the thin film solar cell submodule 3.

Further, an escape groove 23 having a width of 10 mm and a depth of 1 mm was formed on the cover glass 1 having a thickness of 5 mm at a position facing the conductive tape 20 of the thin film solar cell submodule 3 by a sandblast method.

The thin film solar cell submodule 3 and the cover glass 1 were laminated with EVA 2, and then the power lead wire 4 was connected to a terminal box (not shown) provided in the vicinity of the hole 21 to form a module.

According to the second embodiment, although the thin film solar cell submodule 3 has a protrusion such as a conductive tape as an internal wiring and a solder for connecting the same, the escape groove 23 provided in the cover glass causes the protrusion. , The stress at the time of modularization was relieved, and the occurrence of cracks in the sub-module could be prevented.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, thin films of a metal electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a transparent electrode layer are sequentially laminated on the surface of a glass substrate, patterned into unit parts, and formed into rectangles by scoring lines. A plurality of unit thin film solar cells (unit cells) are formed, and a cover glass for surface protection is provided on the transparent electrode layer surface side of the thin film solar cell submodule in which the unit cells are electrically connected in series. A thin-film solar cell that is arranged via a translucent resin adhesive layer and electrically connects the internal wiring of the positive electrode and negative electrode of the thin-film solar cell submodule to an external power lead terminal via a power lead wire. In the battery module, the glass substrate includes a groove for burying the internal wiring and a hole for leading out a power lead wire provided at one end of the groove, and the internal wiring is provided in the groove. A transparent electrode layer (or the metal electrode layer)
And the internal wiring and the power lead wire are electrically connected at the hole portion, or the glass substrate has a hole for drawing out the power lead wire. In this hole, the internal wiring and the power lead wire are electrically connected, and further, the cover glass is provided on the surface of the translucent resin adhesive material layer side in the disposition portion of the internal wiring. Since the opposing grooves are provided with relief grooves for stress relaxation during modularization, when the sub-module using the glass substrate and the cover glass are fixed with an adhesive resin such as EVA, the sub-module is used. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of cracks.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a thin film solar cell module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a thin film solar cell module according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional thin film solar cell module.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional thin film solar cell submodule.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Cover glass, 2: EVA, 3: Thin film solar cell sub-module, 4: Power lead wire, 11: Glass substrate, 2
0: conductive tape, 21: hole, 22: groove, 23: escape groove, e: metal electrode layer, s: photoelectric conversion layer, u: transparent electrode layer.

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A rectangular unit thin film solar cell (unit cell) is formed by sequentially laminating thin films of a metal electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a transparent electrode layer on a surface of a glass substrate and patterning the thin film on a unit portion. On the transparent electrode layer surface side of the thin film solar cell submodule formed by plurally connecting the unit cells electrically in series, a cover glass for surface protection is provided through a transparent resin adhesive material layer. A thin film solar cell module, wherein the inner wirings of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the thin film solar cell submodule are electrically connected to an external power lead terminal via a power lead wire, wherein the glass substrate is A groove for burying the internal wiring and a hole for leading out a power lead wire provided at one end of the groove, wherein the internal wiring and the transparent electrode layer (or metal electrode) are provided in the groove. ) And electrically connected to, and in the hole, the thin-film solar cell module characterized by comprising electrically connecting the internal wiring and the power leads. 2. A thin film of a metal electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a transparent electrode layer is sequentially laminated on the surface of a glass substrate, patterned into unit parts, and rectangular unit thin film solar cells (unit cells) are formed by scoring lines. On the transparent electrode layer surface side of the thin film solar cell submodule formed by plurally connecting the unit cells electrically in series, a cover glass for surface protection is provided through a transparent resin adhesive material layer. A thin film solar cell module, wherein the inner wirings of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the thin film solar cell submodule are electrically connected to an external power lead terminal via a power lead wire, wherein the glass substrate is And a hole for drawing out a power lead wire, wherein the internal wiring and the power lead wire are electrically connected to each other in the hole portion, and the cover glass is bonded to the translucent resin. The surface of the layer side, opposite the arrangement portion of the internal wiring, thin-film solar cell module characterized by comprising a relief groove for the stress relaxation during modularization. 3. The groove of the glass substrate or the relief groove of the cover glass has a rectangular cross-sectional shape, and the opening-side end of the rectangular cross-section is chamfered into an inclined surface or an arc shape. Item 3. The thin-film solar cell module according to Item 1 or 2. 4. The method for manufacturing a thin film solar cell module according to claim 1, wherein the groove of the glass substrate or the clearance groove of the cover glass is processed by a sandblast method.