TWM670077U - Improved photovoltaic cell structure - Google Patents

Abstract

An improved photovoltaic cell structure includes: a transparent substrate and a plurality of photovoltaic cells. The plurality of photovoltaic cells are arranged on a side surface of the transparent substrate, and a gap is formed between each of the photovoltaic cells. The photovoltaic cell includes: a lower conductive layer, a photovoltaic layer and an upper conductive layer. The lower conductive layer is arranged on a side surface of the transparent substrate. The photovoltaic layer is arranged on a side surface of the lower conductive layer. The upper conductive layer is arranged on a side surface of the photovoltaic layer. The upper conductive layer of each photovoltaic cell is electrically connected in series with the lower conductive layer of another photovoltaic cell. At least one light-transmitting hole is provided on each photovoltaic cell, and the light-transmitting hole makes the lower conductive layer exposed. The light-transmitting hole is used to improve the light transmittance of the photovoltaic cell structure.

Description

Improved photovoltaic cell structure

This invention relates to a photovoltaic cell, and more particularly to an improved photovoltaic cell structure having a structure for improving the light transmittance of the photovoltaic cell structure.

Photovoltaic cell research is a highly anticipated direction in renewable energy. Although most commercial products today use silicon as their main material, organic photovoltaic cells developed using polymer materials have attracted attention from the industry and academia due to their simple manufacturing process, low cost, light material, and flexibility.

At present, when preparing organic photovoltaic cells, most of them are prepared by coating as a technical means to prepare photovoltaic cell thin film. Its advantage is that it can make the film have better flatness and uniformity. The technology of preparing organic photovoltaic cells on a large scale has been put into operation in the industry, and it is possible to produce these photovoltaic cells with advantages such as plasticity, light weight and impact resistance at a relatively low cost.

There are many types of photovoltaic cell photoelectric conversion devices in terms of structure, such as organic photovoltaic cells or calcium-titanium photovoltaic cells, in which the photovoltaic cell is composed of a plurality of photovoltaic units connected in series and in parallel, and each photovoltaic unit includes an electron transfer layer, an active layer (the light-absorbing layer in organic solar energy (OPV) is called a bulk heterojunction layer (BHJ layer)) and a hole transfer layer, and the upper and lower electrode layers and wires are linearly connected to achieve the effects of photoelectric conversion and electron transfer.

In order to further increase the applicability of photovoltaic cells, such as when they are installed on agricultural roofs or building windowsills, in addition to increasing the lighting demand, it is also hoped that the dual effect of light transmittance can be achieved. Therefore, it is also hoped that the photovoltaic cells can have partial light transmittance to achieve the dual effects of light generation and light transmission. Therefore, the known technologies mostly use the light transmittance characteristics of the gaps between multiple photovoltaic units, and then increase the width of the gaps to improve the overall light transmittance of the photovoltaic cells.

Therefore, the main purpose of this invention is to solve the aforementioned problem of improving the light transmittance of the photovoltaic cell structure. This invention provides an improved photovoltaic cell structure, which is to set a light-transmitting hole on the photovoltaic unit to improve the light transmittance of the photovoltaic cell structure. Such a design will not change the gap configuration between the photovoltaic units, will not affect the circuit configuration, and can directly perform light-transmitting processing on the original photovoltaic cell structure design to achieve the effect of improving the light transmittance of the photovoltaic cell structure.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides an improved photovoltaic cell structure, comprising: a transparent substrate and a plurality of photovoltaic units. The plurality of photovoltaic units are arranged on a side surface of the transparent substrate, and a gap is formed between each of the photovoltaic units. The photovoltaic unit comprises: a lower conductive layer, a photovoltaic layer and an upper conductive layer. The lower conductive layer is arranged on a side surface of the transparent substrate. The photovoltaic layer is arranged on a side surface of the lower conductive layer. The upper conductive layer is arranged on a side surface of the photovoltaic layer. The upper conductive layer of each photovoltaic unit is electrically connected in series with the lower conductive layer of another photovoltaic unit. At least one light-transmitting hole is provided on each of the photovoltaic units, and the light-transmitting hole allows the lower conductive layer to be exposed.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the transparent substrate is a transparent substrate or a transparent substrate roll.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the transparent substrate is a light-transmitting plastic or light-transmitting glass substrate.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the light-transmitting plastic is phenolic resin, polyamide, polyimide, polyurethane, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate or acrylic plastic.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the transparent substrate is 10um~500um.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the upper conductive layer and the lower conductive layer are metal or metal oxide.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the upper conductive layer and the lower conductive layer are a multi-layer combination of conductive polymer, metal oxide, metal and metal oxide.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the upper conductive layer and the lower conductive layer are provided with an electrode wire electrically connected to the outside, and the electrode wire is used to form a wiring area.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the electrode conductor is indium tin oxide, aluminum, copper foil, copper wire, conductive tape or silver glue.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the lower conductive layer is 100nm~10um.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the photovoltaic layer sequentially includes an electron transport layer, an active layer and a hole transport layer, or the photovoltaic layer sequentially includes a hole transport layer, an active layer and an electron transport layer.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the photovoltaic cell structure is encapsulated in a packaging layer, and the packaging layer includes an upper packaging layer and a lower packaging layer.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the packaging layer is a transparent plastic or glass substrate.

The technical content and detailed description of this creation are as follows with diagrams:

Please refer to Figures 1 and 2, which are schematic diagrams of the semi-finished photovoltaic cell structure of the present invention and a schematic diagram of the top view of Figure 1. As shown in the figure: the improved photovoltaic cell structure of the present invention, when the photovoltaic cell structure 10 is manufactured, a transparent substrate 1 is first provided, and the transparent substrate 1 is a transparent substrate or a transparent substrate roll, and the transparent substrate 1 is a light-transmitting plastic or a light-transmitting glass substrate. The light-transmitting plastic is phenol novolac (PN), polyamide (PA), polyimide (PI), polyurethanes (PU), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or acrylic plastic. In the embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the transparent substrate 1 is 10um~500um.

A lower conductive layer 2 is formed on one side of the transparent substrate 1 by coating, sputtering or evaporation. In the embodiment of the present invention, the lower conductive layer 2 is a metal or metal oxide, or a multi-layer combination of a conductive polymer, a metal oxide, a metal and a metal oxide. The lower conductive layer 2 is electrically connected to the outside by an electrode wire (not shown in the figure). The electrode wire (lead) can be printed to form a row of wiring areas (not shown in the figure). The electrode wire is indium tin oxide (Indium Tin Oxide, ITO), aluminum, copper foil, copper wire, conductive tape or silver glue, etc., which are printed and configured. In the embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the lower conductive layer 2 is 100nm~10um.

A photovoltaic layer 3 is coated on one side surface of the lower conductive layer 2. In the embodiment of the present invention, the photovoltaic layer 3 sequentially includes an electron transfer layer 31, an active layer 32 and a hole transfer layer 33, or the photovoltaic layer 3 sequentially includes a hole transfer layer 33, an active layer 32 and an electron transfer layer 31 disposed on one side surface of the lower conductive layer 2. In the embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the photovoltaic layer 3 is 0.1um~500um.

It is worth mentioning that the photovoltaic layer 3 of this invention can be an organic photovoltaic cell (OPV), a copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin film photovoltaic cell, a cadmium telluride solar cell (CdTe) thin film photovoltaic cell, a silicon (α-Si) thin film photovoltaic cell, a calcium titanate (perovskite) thin film photovoltaic cell or a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) photovoltaic cell.

Please refer to Figures 3 and 4, which are schematic diagrams of manufacturing an upper conductive layer on the photovoltaic layer of the photovoltaic cell structure of Figures 1 and 2 and a schematic diagram of a top view in Figure 3; at the same time, please refer to Figures 1 and 2. As shown in the figure: after the photovoltaic layer 3 in the embodiment of the present invention is manufactured, an upper conductive layer 4 is then manufactured on one side surface of the photovoltaic layer 3.

The upper conductive layer 4 can be formed by coating, sputtering or evaporation combined with laser etching and is disposed on one side surface of the photovoltaic layer 3. In the embodiment of the present invention, the upper conductive layer 4 is a metal or a metal oxide, or a multi-layer combination of a conductive polymer, a metal oxide, a metal and a metal oxide.

The upper conductive layer 4 is also electrically connected to the outside by an electrode wire (not shown in the figure). The electrode wire (lead) can be printed to form a wiring area (not shown in the figure). The electrode wire is indium tin oxide (ITO), aluminum, copper foil, copper wire, conductive tape or silver glue, etc., which is printed and configured. In the embodiment of the present invention, the upper conductive layer 4 can be glossy to provide light reflection or refraction effect.

Please refer to Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of etching the upper conductive layer and photovoltaic layer of Figures 3 and 4 to form a series connection of multiple photovoltaic units; at the same time, please refer to Figures 1 to 4. As shown in the figure, after the upper conductive layer 4 of this creation is completed, etching processing is performed.

Laser etching is performed with a specific laser energy without destroying the transparent substrate 1 to etch the photovoltaic layer 3 and the lower conductive layer 2 to form a plurality of photovoltaic units 3a. A gap 31a is formed between each of the photovoltaic units 3a to electrically connect the upper conductive layer 4 of the first photovoltaic unit 3a with the lower conductive layer 2 of the second photovoltaic unit 3a. The plurality of photovoltaic units 3a are connected in series to form a semi-finished photovoltaic cell structure that is a non-(semi-)transparent photovoltaic cell structure as shown in this figure.

It is worth mentioning that the photovoltaic layer 3 of this invention is not limited to the diagram, and the structure of the photovoltaic layer 3 can be further optimized by laser etching and the setting of an insulating layer.

Please refer to Figures 6 and 7, which are schematic diagrams of making a light-transmitting hole in each photovoltaic unit in Figure 5 and a schematic diagram of a top view in Figure 6. After the plurality of photovoltaic units 3a of the present invention are produced, laser etching is then used to perform hollowing etching on each photovoltaic unit 3a and the corresponding upper conductive layer 4 and lower conductive layer 2, so that at least one light-transmitting hole 5 is produced on each photovoltaic unit 3a. The light-transmitting hole 5 can further include the corresponding lower conductive layer 2, so that the lower conductive layer 2 is exposed.

By directly setting the light-transmitting hole 5 on each photovoltaic unit 3a, the light transmittance of the photovoltaic cell structure 10 can be directly increased. Although it will reduce the area of light-to-electricity conversion, the invention can be set up to meet the needs of users, such as buildings or power generation products that take into account both electricity and lighting needs. For example, the needs of agricultural greenhouse roofs, outdoor windows of buildings or lighting covers, etc.

Please refer to FIG8, which is another embodiment of the invention. As shown in the figure: the photovoltaic cell structure 10 completed by the invention can be packaged using a packaging layer 20. The packaging layer 20 has an upper packaging layer 201 and a lower packaging layer 202, so as to package the photovoltaic cell structure 10 therebetween to achieve water and gas barrier effects. In the embodiment of the invention, the packaging layer 20 is a transparent plastic or glass substrate.

However, the above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of patent protection of the present invention. Therefore, any equivalent changes made by using the instructions or diagrams of the present invention are also included in the scope of patent protection of the present invention and are hereby stated.

10: Photovoltaic cell structure 1: Transparent substrate 2: Lower conductive layer 3: Photovoltaic layer 31: Electron transfer layer 32: Active layer 33: Hole transfer layer 3a: Photovoltaic unit 31a: Gap 4: Upper conductive layer 5: Light-transmitting hole 20: Encapsulation layer 201: Upper encapsulation layer 202: Lower encapsulation layer

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the semi-finished photovoltaic cell structure of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of FIG. 1 ;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of manufacturing an upper conductive layer on the photovoltaic layer of the photovoltaic cell structure of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG4 is a schematic top view of FIG3 ;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram showing etching of the upper conductive layer and photovoltaic layer of FIG3 and FIG4 to form a plurality of photovoltaic units in series;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the fabrication of light-transmitting holes in each photovoltaic unit of FIG. 5 ;

FIG. 7 is a schematic top view of FIG. 6 ;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

10: Photovoltaic cell structure

1: Transparent substrate

2: Lower conductive layer

3: Photovoltaic layer

3a: Photovoltaic unit

31a: Gap

4: Upper conductive layer

5: Light-transmitting hole

Claims (13)

An improved photovoltaic cell structure comprises: A transparent substrate; and A plurality of photovoltaic cells are arranged on one side surface of the transparent substrate, and a gap is formed between each of the photovoltaic cells. The photovoltaic cell comprises: A lower conductive layer is arranged on one side surface of the transparent substrate; A photovoltaic layer is arranged on one side surface of the lower conductive layer; An upper conductive layer is arranged on one side surface of the photovoltaic layer; The upper conductive layer of each photovoltaic cell is electrically connected in series with the lower conductive layer of another photovoltaic cell; At least one light-transmitting hole is provided on each photovoltaic cell, and the light-transmitting hole makes the lower conductive layer exposed. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 1, wherein the transparent substrate is a transparent substrate or a transparent substrate roll. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 2, wherein the transparent substrate is a light-transmitting plastic or light-transmitting glass substrate. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 3, wherein the light-transmitting plastic is phenolic resin, polyamide, polyimide, polyurethane, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate or acrylic plastic. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 1, wherein the thickness of the transparent substrate is 10um~500um. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 1, wherein the upper conductive layer and the lower conductive layer are metal or metal oxide. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 1, wherein the upper conductive layer and the lower conductive layer are a multi-layer combination of conductive polymer, metal oxide, metal and metal oxide. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 1, wherein the upper conductive layer and the lower conductive layer are provided with an electrode wire electrically connected to the outside, and the electrode wire is used to form a wiring connection area. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 8, wherein the electrode conductor is indium tin oxide, aluminum, copper foil, copper wire, conductive tape or silver glue. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 1, wherein the thickness of the lower conductive layer is 100nm~10um. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 1, wherein the photovoltaic layer sequentially comprises an electron transport layer, an active layer and a hole transport layer, or the photovoltaic layer sequentially comprises a hole transport layer, an active layer and an electron transport layer. The improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 1, wherein the photovoltaic cell structure is encapsulated in a packaging layer, and the packaging layer includes an upper packaging layer and a lower packaging layer. An improved photovoltaic cell structure as described in claim 12, wherein the encapsulation layer is a transparent plastic or glass substrate.

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