WO2012123109A2 - Method for producing flexible thin film solar cells - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing flexible thin film solar cells, comprising the following steps: e. applying a photoactive layer construction to a rigid substrate preferably made of glass and having the front contact layer thereof facing outward, f. applying a flexible film to the back contact layer of the layer construction facing away from the substrate, g. releasing the photoactive layer construction from the substrate by means of a laser beam, h. applying a flexible film to the front contact layer.

Description

 Method for producing flexible thin-film solar cells

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing flexible thin-film solar cells and to a flexible thin-film solar module produced by the method.

Flexible thin-film solar cells are known, for example, from DE 100 05 680 B4 and DE 100 06 823 C2. As a flexible substrate or flexible carrier material, for example, a strip-shaped copper foil is used for the production. In this case, the prior art on manufacturing problems in the Use of flexible films made of plastics or metals.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing flexible thin-film solar cells, in which a different way from the prior art to their realization is to be gone.

To solve this problem are in a method for

Manufacture of flexible thin-film solar cells in the

Claim 1 features and at a thereafter

produced thin-film solar module provided in claim 6 features.

The inventive measures is a

Manufacturing process for flexible thin-film solar cells achieved in which problems in the construction of the individual layers are avoided directly on a flexible film and in that the individual layers first in a conventional manner on a rigid substrate, such as a glass substrate constructed or superimposed and then the entire layer structure is removed as a unit from the glass substrate and placed on a flexible film.

Advantageous embodiments with regard to the layer structure and the detachment of the layer structure from the substrate and the use of corresponding films as a carrier material and / or as a cover resulting from the features of one or more of claims 2 to 5.

Further details of the invention are the following

Described description in which the invention with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawing is described and explained in more detail. Show it:

characters

1 to 6 each show a schematic sectional representation of the individual method steps for _. Producing a flexible thin-film solar cell and

Figure 7 in the previous figures corresponding

 Representation of a ready-made thin-film solar cell for the construction of a solar module.

The individual and successive method steps illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 lead to a finished flexible thin-film solar cell 10 shown in FIG. 7, which leads to a thin-film solar module individually or in a multiplicity of correspondingly interconnected thin-film solar cells. It is understood that the shape and size of the thin-film solar cell 10 may be arbitrary.

According to FIG. 1, a preliminary carrier material 11 is a rigid carrier material, for example in the form of a

Glass substrate used. In a first manufacturing step On the glass substrate 11, a front contact layer 12 in the form of a TCO layer is brought. On the front contact layer 12, a photoactive layer 13 is made of, for example, silicon in a thin film. On the photoactive layer 13, a back contact layer 14 is brought. This from the

superimposed layers 12 to 14 produced

Layer structure 15 may be of conventional design. The back contact layer 14 may be made of, for example, thin-film aluminum. The arranged on the glass substrate 11 photoactive

Layer structure 15 is shown in FIG.

In a further production step, according to FIG. 3, a flexible film 16 is applied to the back contact layer 14, preferably laminated. The flexible film 16 is the

Back contact layer 14 facing with conductor tracks,

in particular contact wires provided, as described in DE 102 39 845 C1. The film 16 may be transparent or opaque. This consisting of the glass substrate 11, the layer structure 15 and the laminated film 16 Rohzellenaufbau 17 is optionally after turning of the free

Glass substrate surface 18 ago with a laser beam 20 applied (Figure 4). In front of the laser beam 20 emanating from a laser, not shown, the entire free surface 18 of the glass substrate 11 facing away from the layer structure 15 is scanned. The energy of the laser or the

Laser beam is adjusted so that the boundary layer 19 between the inner surface of the glass substrate 11 and the

opposite surface of the front contact layer 12 such that a peeling process of the glass substrate 11 from the front contact layer 12 is treated. For example, the laser light may have a wavelength in the range of 532 nm

have, wherein the glass substrate 11, for example, has a thickness of 4 mm.

According to FIG. 5, the glass substrate 11 is lifted off after its detachment due to the laser beam 20 and set aside. The glass substrate 11 can be reused after cleaning.

Instead of the glass substrate 11, according to FIG. 6, a transparent film 22 has been retained on the front contact layer 12 on the front contact layer 12

Layer structure 15 applied, preferably laminated. This transparent film 22 also has a partially electrically conductive surface in the form of conductor tracks, in particular contact wires, wherein this transparent film 22 as well as the film 16 is constructed according to DE 102 39 845 C1. In both cases, it is a

Plastic film.

According to Figure 7, this results in the finished flexible

Solar cell 10 in the form of a thin-film solar cell, whose light incident side for the photoactive layer 13, the exposed surface 21 of the transparent film 22 is. The finished very thin flexible thin-film solar cell 10 can be produced in various geometries or in particular be tailored later. Several such

Thin-film solar cells 10 may become larger

Thin-film solar cell module summarized or electrically interconnected.

Alternatively, it is possible to carry out the detachment of the glass substrate 11 from the front contact layer 12 by means of a laser beam instead of according to FIG. 5 from the side of the layer structure 15 facing away from the glass substrate 11.

Claims

claims A method of making flexible thin film solar cells (10) characterized by the steps of: a. Applying a photoactive layer structure (15) to a rigid substrate (11) preferably made of glass with its front contact layer (12), b. Applying a flexible film (16) to the substrate (11) facing away from the back contact layer (14) of the layer structure (15), c. Stripper, the photoactive layer structure (15) of  Substrate (11) by means of laser beam (20), d. Applying a flexible film (22) on the  Front contact layer (12). 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the layer structure (15) is formed by the front contact layer (12), preferably in the form of a TCO layer on the substrate (11), then on the  Front contact layer (12) of the layer (13)  photoactive metal, for example silicon, and then the photoactive layer (13), the back contact layer (14) is made of electrically conductive material. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the flexible films (16, 22) to the relevant Layer {14, 1.2) are applied, preferably laminated. 4. The method according to at least one of the preceding  Claims, characterized in that for detaching the substrate (11), the laser light (20) on the the  Layer structure (15) facing away from the surface (18) of the substrate (11) is directed. 5. The method according to at least one of the preceding  Claims, characterized in that for the substrate (11) replacing film (22), a transparent film is preferably used with conductor tracks. 6. By the method according to claim 1 and optionally at least one of the claims ünteransprüche produced flexible  Thin-film solar module, characterized by a light incident side transparent film (22), an underlying photoactive layer structure (15) of front contact layer (12), photoactive layer (13) and back contact layer (14) and one under the  Layer structure (15) arranged rear foil (16).