JP2001077387A - Solar battery module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form a solar battery module capable of preventing the breakage of solar battery cells by providing the module with buffer members each being interposed between adjacent solar battery cells. SOLUTION: To manufacture a solar battery module, sheet-like buffer members 10 are placed to cover a plurality of solar battery cells 1 electrically interconnected through connecting tabs 2 in advance. Under this condition, a front member 4 and a backside member 5 are put over a group of cells 1 through respective front and backside sealing material sheets for clamping and thermocompression bonding the group of cells 1 together. According to this arrangement, the cells 1 are fixed inside openings formed in each sheet-like member 10, thus preventing the cells 1 from moving and their arrangement from being disturbed during thermocompression bonding. As a result, a solar battery module having an improved appearance can be obtained. Therefore, the breakage of the cells 1 can be suppressed, and a solar battery module having a better appearance can be formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a solar cell module having a plurality of solar cells sealed between a front member and a back member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a photovoltaic cell is used as a power source for electric power of a photovoltaic power generation system or the like, since the output per cell is only about several W at most, a plurality of photovoltaic cells are electrically Used as a solar cell module connected to

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of such a conventional solar cell module.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a solar cell,
For example, it is made of a crystalline semiconductor material having a semiconductor junction such as a pn junction inside. Each solar cell 1 is electrically connected to each other by a connection tab 2 made of a conductive material such as a copper foil. The plurality of solar cells 1 electrically connected by the connection tabs 2 are integrated by being buried in the sealing material 3 between the front surface member 4 and the back surface member 5, and are integrated with each other. It is a module. Further, a metal outer frame 6 such as an aluminum frame may be attached to the outer peripheral portion for use.

As the surface member 4, glass is usually used from the viewpoint of light transmission and weather resistance. As the back surface member 5, a flexible resin film such as a fluorine resin film, a PET film, or a three-layer structure film in which a metal foil such as an aluminum foil is sandwiched between these films is used. Further, as the sealing material 3, a translucent and insulating thermoplastic resin material such as EVA or PVB is usually used.

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of an apparatus for manufacturing the conventional solar cell module.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 102 denotes a lower housing, 103 denotes a mounting table provided in the lower housing 102 and has a built-in heater, and 104 denotes an airtight and detachable mounting on the lower housing 102 via an O-ring 105. The upper housing 106 to be attached is a diaphragm provided on the upper housing 104, and the lower housing 10
The space formed between the upper housing 104 and the lower housing 104 is
7 and the upper chamber 108.

Reference numeral 109 denotes a vacuum pump for evacuation,
110 is a lower chamber pipe connected to the vacuum pump 109 and communicates with the lower chamber 107; 111 is an upper chamber pipe connected to the vacuum pump 109 via a vacuum valve 112 and communicates with the upper chamber 108; Opened, the other end is atmospheric valve 1
The atmosphere pipe communicates with the upper chamber 108 via 14.

Then, a laminated body 101 formed by sequentially laminating a surface member, a sealing material sheet made of EVA, a plurality of solar cells connected by connection tabs, a sealing material sheet made of EVA, and a back surface member, The O-ring 1 is mounted on the mounting table 103 with the surface member facing downward.
The upper casing 104 is air-tightly mounted via the valve 05, and the atmosphere valve 114 of the atmosphere pipe 113 is closed.

Next, the vacuum valve 112 of the upper chamber pipe 111
Is opened, the vacuum pump 109 is operated, and the upper chamber pipe 111 is opened.
And the upper chamber 108 and the lower chamber 10 via the lower chamber pipe 110.
7 is evacuated to a vacuum.

In this state, the heater of the mounting table 103 is energized to heat the laminate 101 to a temperature of about 150 ° C.
The vacuum valve 112 of the upper chamber pipe 111 is closed, and the atmospheric valve 114 of the atmospheric pressure pipe 113 is opened to bring the interior of the upper chamber 108 to atmospheric pressure. Then, due to the pressure difference between the upper chamber 108 and the lower chamber 107, the diaphragm 106
Then, the laminate 101 is pressed in a heated state. By this step, the two sealing material sheets in the laminate 101 are in a softened state, a plurality of solar cells are embedded in the sealing material sheet, and the laminate 101 is integrated.

That is, in the conventional manufacturing method, a laminated body 101 in which a surface member, a sealing material sheet, a plurality of solar cells, a sealing material sheet, and a back surface member are sequentially laminated is mounted on a mounting table 103. Then, the laminated body 101 is pressurized while being heated, and integrated by a thermocompression bonding step to form a solar cell module.

[0013]

As described above, since the solar cell module is manufactured by thermocompression bonding, a thin solar cell having a thickness of about 300 μm to 500 μm may be damaged during the manufacturing process.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a solar cell module that can prevent such damage of the solar cell.

[0015]

A solar cell module according to the present invention is a solar cell module in which a plurality of solar cells are sealed between a front surface member and a back surface member. Characterized in that it has a cushioning member provided in the above.

Further, the buffer member is formed of a sheet-like member having an opening at a portion corresponding to the solar cell.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the cushioning member is colored.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a plan view for explaining the solar cell module of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. In these figures, parts having the same functions as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Referring to FIG. 1, the feature of the solar cell module of the present invention is that it has a buffer member 10 provided between adjacent solar cells 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cushioning member 10 preferably has a thickness substantially equal to or larger than the thickness of the solar cell 1. Since the buffer member 10 has a thickness substantially equal to or larger than the solar cell 1, the pressure applied to the solar cell 1 during the thermocompression bonding step can be dispersed in the buffer member 10, and the solar cell 1 can be suppressed.

The properties required of the cushioning member 10 are as follows:
(1) having heat resistance to the temperature during the manufacturing process;
(2) It has a cushioning property, and (3) it has excellent long-term reliability. As a material having such properties, for example, a fluorine-based resin such as Tedra or Teflon, a silicone resin, or polypropylene is used. it can.

As described above, since the solar cell module of the present invention has the cushioning member 10 provided between the adjacent solar cells 1 and 1, the cushioning member 10 functions as a cushion material during the thermocompression bonding step. Becomes For this reason, according to the present invention, the load applied to the solar cell 1 can be reduced, and accordingly, the damage of the solar cell 1 can be suppressed.

The buffer member 10 does not need to be provided at all of the adjacent spaces existing between the solar cells 1 and 1, but may be provided at some of the adjacent spaces. For example, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a band-shaped buffer member 10 is provided in parallel with the direction in which the solar cells 1 are connected in series by the connection tabs 2. When the buffer member 10 and the connection tab 2 are arranged in different areas from each other in this manner, the buffer member
The connection tab 2 and the connection tab 2 do not cause stress to each other, and, for example, the deformation of the connection tab 2 and the separation of the connection tab 2 from the solar cell 1 are not prevented.

As the cushioning member 10, a sheet-like member as shown in the plan view of FIG. 3 may be used. The sheet-shaped buffer member 10 has an opening 11 formed by previously opening a portion corresponding to the solar cell 1. When manufacturing the solar cell module, the connection tab 2
The plurality of solar cells 1 electrically connected to each other are covered with the above-mentioned sheet-shaped cushioning member 10, and in this state, the front-side and back-side sealing material sheets are interposed between the front surface member 4 and the back surface member 5, respectively. And heat-press bonding. According to such a configuration, the solar cell 1 is a sheet-like buffer member 10.
Since the solar cells are fixed in the openings 11 formed in the holes, the solar cells can be prevented from moving during the heat-press bonding and disturbing the arrangement of the solar cells, and a solar cell module with improved appearance can be obtained. Can be.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, if the buffer member 10 is colored in the same color as the solar cell 1, it is possible to provide a solar cell module with further improved appearance.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a solar cell module that can suppress the damage of the solar cell and improve the appearance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a solar cell module of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a buffer member.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional solar cell module.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining an apparatus for manufacturing a solar cell module.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Solar cell, 2 ... Connection tab, 3 ... Sealing material, 4 ... Front surface member, 5 ... Back surface member, 10 ... Buffer member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A solar cell module in which a plurality of solar cells are sealed between a front member and a back member, comprising a buffer member provided between the adjacent solar cells. And solar cell module. 2. The solar cell module according to claim 1, wherein the buffer member is a sheet-shaped member having an opening at a portion corresponding to the solar cell. 3. The solar cell module according to claim 1, wherein the buffer member is colored.