CA1292932C - Method of producing a flexible carrier substrate - Google Patents
Method of producing a flexible carrier substrateInfo
- Publication number
- CA1292932C CA1292932C CA000608077A CA608077A CA1292932C CA 1292932 C CA1292932 C CA 1292932C CA 000608077 A CA000608077 A CA 000608077A CA 608077 A CA608077 A CA 608077A CA 1292932 C CA1292932 C CA 1292932C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- fabric
- polyimide film
- silicone
- adhesive
- tear
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
Classifications
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
- Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
- Y02P70/50—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
Landscapes
- Photovoltaic Devices (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A method of producing a flexible carrier substrate for a photovoltaic solar generator wherein a polyimide film disposed on a heatable lamination table is coated with an adhesive and hardened whereupon, after the application of an adhesion promoting layer, a glass filament fabric is placed onto the polyimide film and is subsequently saturated with a silicone adhesive. Resistance of the generator to atomic oxygen is obtained by performing following method steps:
(a) during the production of the substrate, a tear-away fabric is introduced into the not-yet-hardened silicone adhesive; (b) the laminate composed of polyimide film, glass filament fabric and tear-away fabric is hardened under vacuum; and (c) before the solar cells are glued onto the flexible carrier substrate, the tear-away fabric is removed in such a manner that a torn-open, structured silicone surface is produced onto which the solar cells of the generator can be glued.
A method of producing a flexible carrier substrate for a photovoltaic solar generator wherein a polyimide film disposed on a heatable lamination table is coated with an adhesive and hardened whereupon, after the application of an adhesion promoting layer, a glass filament fabric is placed onto the polyimide film and is subsequently saturated with a silicone adhesive. Resistance of the generator to atomic oxygen is obtained by performing following method steps:
(a) during the production of the substrate, a tear-away fabric is introduced into the not-yet-hardened silicone adhesive; (b) the laminate composed of polyimide film, glass filament fabric and tear-away fabric is hardened under vacuum; and (c) before the solar cells are glued onto the flexible carrier substrate, the tear-away fabric is removed in such a manner that a torn-open, structured silicone surface is produced onto which the solar cells of the generator can be glued.
Description
12~tZ~332 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of producing a fle:xible carrier substrate for a photovoltaic solar generator wherein a polyimide film, for example such a film-sold under the trademark KAPTON, which is disposed on a heatable lamination table, is coated with an adhesive and hardened whereupon, after the application of an adhesion promoting layer, a glass filament fabric is placed onto the polyimide film and is subsequently saturated with a silicone adhesive.
A flexible solar generator is known in which a plurality of photoelectric solar cells are arranged on a substrate that can be wound into a roll. The solar cells are electrically conduct-ively connected with one another in parallel and series connec-tion~ by means of connectors punched out of a rolled material (see German Patent No. 2,160,345). The direction of winding of the ~ubstrate is the direction of the parallel connections, with separate connectors being provided for the parallel connections and for the series connections. The connectors are configured in such a manner that the direction in which their material was rolled is the direction in which the respective connections are made.
The present invention relates to a method of producing a fle:xible carrier substrate for a photovoltaic solar generator wherein a polyimide film, for example such a film-sold under the trademark KAPTON, which is disposed on a heatable lamination table, is coated with an adhesive and hardened whereupon, after the application of an adhesion promoting layer, a glass filament fabric is placed onto the polyimide film and is subsequently saturated with a silicone adhesive.
A flexible solar generator is known in which a plurality of photoelectric solar cells are arranged on a substrate that can be wound into a roll. The solar cells are electrically conduct-ively connected with one another in parallel and series connec-tion~ by means of connectors punched out of a rolled material (see German Patent No. 2,160,345). The direction of winding of the ~ubstrate is the direction of the parallel connections, with separate connectors being provided for the parallel connections and for the series connections. The connectors are configured in such a manner that the direction in which their material was rolled is the direction in which the respective connections are made.
"
~2~3~2 : The required strength of this flexible solar generator system is realized with respect to the carrier material in that the windable substrate serving as the carrier is composed of a polyimide film to which glass filaments are glued. Several adhesives suitable for space travel condi-tions, for example thin-flowing adhesives which are stable up to 10 to 12 Torr and in a temperature range from -180 to +100C are selected, for example polyester adhesives contain-ing a large amount of solvents so as to produce good wetting of the glass filament fabric and good adhesion of the fabric to the polyimide film. A layer of glass filament fabric is glued to the polyimide film in such a manner that initially the layer of glass filaments is placed onto the polyimide film and then the adhesive is applied in a very thin layer.
~fter hardening of the adhesive, there results a substrate which is still sufficiently flexible but whose strength characteristics have been improved considerably. Instead of the above-mentioned adhesives, solvent-containing silicones can be employed for temperature ranges from -60 to +260'C
with which good bonds are realized between the glass filament fabric and the polyimide film. The solar cell modules and strings are glued to the resulting substrate by means of appropriate adhesives.
l~?Z~3Z
SUMM~RY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of producing a flexible carrier substrate for a phot:ovoltaic solar generator which is resistant to atomic oxygen, in such a way that, it may preferably travel in an orbit about the Earth containing atomic oxygen percentages, without degradation.
This is accomplished according to the invention in a method in which a polyimide film (for example such a film sold by Dupont under the trademark KAPTON) disposed on a heatable lamination table, is coated with an adhesive and hardened, whereupon, after application of an adhesion promoting layer, i.e. primer, a woven glass filament fabric `
i5 placed onto the polyimide film to subsequently be sat-urated with a silicone adhesive, whereupon the followingadditional method steps are performed:
(a) after the glass filament fabric is saturated with silicone adhesive, but prior to the silicone adhesive being hardened, a woven tear-away fabric is introduced into the not yet hardened silicone adhesive;
(b) the laminate of polyimide film, silicone adhesive : saturated-glass filament fabric and tear-away fabric is hardened under vacuum; and (c) before solar cells are glued onto the flexible carrier substrate, the tear-away fabric is removed in such a 12~Zg32 manner that a torn-open, structured silicone surface remains for attachment of the solar cells.
BRILEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other aspects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing figures wherein:
Fig. l is a cross-sectional view of a flexible carrier substrate produced according to the present invention prior to removal of a tear-away fabric; and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the flexible carrier substrate produced according to the method of the invention a~ter the tear-away ~abric has been removed and solar cells have been applied with an adhesive.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to Fig. 1, in accordance with the method of producing a flexible, windable, carrier substrate for photoelectric solar cells, according to the invention, a polyimide film 11, such as KAPTON (made by Dupont), is disposed on a heatable lamination table. An adhesive 12 such as the Dupont adhesive Type 46971 is applied to the polyimide film, and hardened. Then a layer of woven glass filament fabric 14 is placed on the adhesive-coated polyimide film and is saturated with a silicone adhesive 15, such as RTVS 691 or lZ~2~32 DC 93500. Prior to placement of the glass filament fabric 14, a primer of Type G790 or DC 1200 may be applied on the hardened adhesive 12.
Before the silicone adhesive 15 on the glass filament fabric 14 is hardened, a woven tear-away fabric 16 such as nylon 6.6 is applied into the silicone adhesive 15. The tear-away fabric 16 may be of quality 7849 manufactured by the firm of Interglas Textil GmbH and delivered by Steiger and Deschler both of D-7900 Ulm in Germany. Then, the laminate of polyimide film 11, hardened adhesive 12, adhesion promoting layer 13, glass fila-ment fabric 14, silicone adhesive 15 and tear-away fabric 16 is subjected to a process under vacuum which hardens the silicone adhesive 15. For example, the silicone adhesive 15 in the lamin-ate may be hardened or four hours under a pressure of 1 bar and at a temperature of 140C.
The tear-away fabric 16 is then removed from the laminate in such a manner that a torn-open structured silicone surface 15' remains for attachment of the solar cells 18, as shown in Fig. 2. The solar cells 18 are then glued to torn-open structured silicone surface 15' with an adhesive 17 such as the above-mentioned RTVS 691. According to a further feature of the invention, application of the solar cells may be delayed for 24 hours after the tear-away fabric i~ re~oved from the laminate, but not later than 24 hours to avoid an uncleaned and unadhesive surface.
lZ~33Z
An advantage of the flexible carrier substrate manufac-tured in accordance with the method of the invention, in addition to providing a simple and cost-effective manufactur-ing process, resides in that solar cells can be attached to the hardened silicone surface by means of a silicone ad-hesive which is resistant to atomic hydrogen. Use of the invention for a photovoltaic solar generator to be used in an orbit about the Earth containing atomic oxygen percentages is thereby facilitated.
It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.
The woven tear-away fabric 16 can be nylon 6.6 of the firm Intergla~
Textil GmbH with a thicknes6 of 60~5 um, with a typical strength of 75+5 Newton, with a breaking strength of 13,5 Newton per cm, and a threadcount of 68 per cm in warp-direction and a threadcount of 44 pcr cm in weft-direction.
In the following list the manufacturer of the aëë~ed applied materials are named.
Adhesive 12 Type 46971 Du Pont USA
Silicone Adhesive 15 RTVS 691 Dow Cornung Midlandf~ichigan USA
Silicone Adhesive 15 DC 93500 Wacker Chemie Munchen/Germany Primer Type G 790 Wacker Chemie Munchen/Germany Primer DC ~200 Dow Cornung Midland/Michigan -; USA
~2~3~2 : The required strength of this flexible solar generator system is realized with respect to the carrier material in that the windable substrate serving as the carrier is composed of a polyimide film to which glass filaments are glued. Several adhesives suitable for space travel condi-tions, for example thin-flowing adhesives which are stable up to 10 to 12 Torr and in a temperature range from -180 to +100C are selected, for example polyester adhesives contain-ing a large amount of solvents so as to produce good wetting of the glass filament fabric and good adhesion of the fabric to the polyimide film. A layer of glass filament fabric is glued to the polyimide film in such a manner that initially the layer of glass filaments is placed onto the polyimide film and then the adhesive is applied in a very thin layer.
~fter hardening of the adhesive, there results a substrate which is still sufficiently flexible but whose strength characteristics have been improved considerably. Instead of the above-mentioned adhesives, solvent-containing silicones can be employed for temperature ranges from -60 to +260'C
with which good bonds are realized between the glass filament fabric and the polyimide film. The solar cell modules and strings are glued to the resulting substrate by means of appropriate adhesives.
l~?Z~3Z
SUMM~RY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of producing a flexible carrier substrate for a phot:ovoltaic solar generator which is resistant to atomic oxygen, in such a way that, it may preferably travel in an orbit about the Earth containing atomic oxygen percentages, without degradation.
This is accomplished according to the invention in a method in which a polyimide film (for example such a film sold by Dupont under the trademark KAPTON) disposed on a heatable lamination table, is coated with an adhesive and hardened, whereupon, after application of an adhesion promoting layer, i.e. primer, a woven glass filament fabric `
i5 placed onto the polyimide film to subsequently be sat-urated with a silicone adhesive, whereupon the followingadditional method steps are performed:
(a) after the glass filament fabric is saturated with silicone adhesive, but prior to the silicone adhesive being hardened, a woven tear-away fabric is introduced into the not yet hardened silicone adhesive;
(b) the laminate of polyimide film, silicone adhesive : saturated-glass filament fabric and tear-away fabric is hardened under vacuum; and (c) before solar cells are glued onto the flexible carrier substrate, the tear-away fabric is removed in such a 12~Zg32 manner that a torn-open, structured silicone surface remains for attachment of the solar cells.
BRILEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other aspects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing figures wherein:
Fig. l is a cross-sectional view of a flexible carrier substrate produced according to the present invention prior to removal of a tear-away fabric; and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the flexible carrier substrate produced according to the method of the invention a~ter the tear-away ~abric has been removed and solar cells have been applied with an adhesive.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to Fig. 1, in accordance with the method of producing a flexible, windable, carrier substrate for photoelectric solar cells, according to the invention, a polyimide film 11, such as KAPTON (made by Dupont), is disposed on a heatable lamination table. An adhesive 12 such as the Dupont adhesive Type 46971 is applied to the polyimide film, and hardened. Then a layer of woven glass filament fabric 14 is placed on the adhesive-coated polyimide film and is saturated with a silicone adhesive 15, such as RTVS 691 or lZ~2~32 DC 93500. Prior to placement of the glass filament fabric 14, a primer of Type G790 or DC 1200 may be applied on the hardened adhesive 12.
Before the silicone adhesive 15 on the glass filament fabric 14 is hardened, a woven tear-away fabric 16 such as nylon 6.6 is applied into the silicone adhesive 15. The tear-away fabric 16 may be of quality 7849 manufactured by the firm of Interglas Textil GmbH and delivered by Steiger and Deschler both of D-7900 Ulm in Germany. Then, the laminate of polyimide film 11, hardened adhesive 12, adhesion promoting layer 13, glass fila-ment fabric 14, silicone adhesive 15 and tear-away fabric 16 is subjected to a process under vacuum which hardens the silicone adhesive 15. For example, the silicone adhesive 15 in the lamin-ate may be hardened or four hours under a pressure of 1 bar and at a temperature of 140C.
The tear-away fabric 16 is then removed from the laminate in such a manner that a torn-open structured silicone surface 15' remains for attachment of the solar cells 18, as shown in Fig. 2. The solar cells 18 are then glued to torn-open structured silicone surface 15' with an adhesive 17 such as the above-mentioned RTVS 691. According to a further feature of the invention, application of the solar cells may be delayed for 24 hours after the tear-away fabric i~ re~oved from the laminate, but not later than 24 hours to avoid an uncleaned and unadhesive surface.
lZ~33Z
An advantage of the flexible carrier substrate manufac-tured in accordance with the method of the invention, in addition to providing a simple and cost-effective manufactur-ing process, resides in that solar cells can be attached to the hardened silicone surface by means of a silicone ad-hesive which is resistant to atomic hydrogen. Use of the invention for a photovoltaic solar generator to be used in an orbit about the Earth containing atomic oxygen percentages is thereby facilitated.
It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.
The woven tear-away fabric 16 can be nylon 6.6 of the firm Intergla~
Textil GmbH with a thicknes6 of 60~5 um, with a typical strength of 75+5 Newton, with a breaking strength of 13,5 Newton per cm, and a threadcount of 68 per cm in warp-direction and a threadcount of 44 pcr cm in weft-direction.
In the following list the manufacturer of the aëë~ed applied materials are named.
Adhesive 12 Type 46971 Du Pont USA
Silicone Adhesive 15 RTVS 691 Dow Cornung Midlandf~ichigan USA
Silicone Adhesive 15 DC 93500 Wacker Chemie Munchen/Germany Primer Type G 790 Wacker Chemie Munchen/Germany Primer DC ~200 Dow Cornung Midland/Michigan -; USA
Claims (8)
1. A method of producing a flexible carrier substrate for a photovoltaic solar generator, comprising the steps of:
providing a synthetic film having a hardened coating of an adhesive on a surface thereof, an adhesion promoting layer on the coating, and a glass filament fabric on the adhesion promoting layer, the glass filament fabric being saturated with a silicone adhesive, the silicone adhesive being unhardened;
introducing a tear-away fabric into the unhardened silicone adhesive;
after said step of introducing, hardening the silicone adhesive under vacuum to produce a hardened laminate; and after the step of hardening, removing the tear-away fabric so that a torn-open, structured silicone surface remains on the laminate for adhesive attachment thereto of the solar cells.
providing a synthetic film having a hardened coating of an adhesive on a surface thereof, an adhesion promoting layer on the coating, and a glass filament fabric on the adhesion promoting layer, the glass filament fabric being saturated with a silicone adhesive, the silicone adhesive being unhardened;
introducing a tear-away fabric into the unhardened silicone adhesive;
after said step of introducing, hardening the silicone adhesive under vacuum to produce a hardened laminate; and after the step of hardening, removing the tear-away fabric so that a torn-open, structured silicone surface remains on the laminate for adhesive attachment thereto of the solar cells.
2. A method as in claim 1, further comprising the step of adhesively attaching the solar cells to the torn-open, structured silicone surface, with a silicone adhesive.
3. A method as in claim 2, wherein said step of providing a synthetic film comprises the steps of:
providing a polyimide film on a heatable lamination table, coating the polyimide film on the table with an ad-hesive, hardening the coating, applying an adhesion promoting layer on the hardened coating, applying a glass filament fabric onto the adhesion promoting layer, and saturating the glass filament fabric with a silicone ad-hesive.
providing a polyimide film on a heatable lamination table, coating the polyimide film on the table with an ad-hesive, hardening the coating, applying an adhesion promoting layer on the hardened coating, applying a glass filament fabric onto the adhesion promoting layer, and saturating the glass filament fabric with a silicone ad-hesive.
4. A method as in claim 2, wherein said step of removing the tear-away fabric is performed approximately 24 hours before said step of attaching.
5. A method as in claim 1, wherein said step of providing a synthetic film comprises the steps of providing a polyimide film on a heatable lamination table, coating the polyimide film on the table with an ad-hesive, hardening the coating, applying an adhesion promoting layer on the hardened coating, applying a glass filament fabric onto the adhesion promoting layer, and saturating the glass filament fabric with a silicone ad-hesive.
6. A method as in claim 1, wherein said step of hardening the silicone adhesive comprises the step of hardening the silicone adhesive for approximately four hours under a pressure of approxi-mately one bar and at a temperature of approximately 140°C.
7. A method as in claim 1, wherein the synthetic film is a polyimide film having a thickness in the range of one to five mils.
8. A method as in claim 1, wherein the tear-away fabric is a nylon 6.6.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000608077A CA1292932C (en) | 1989-08-11 | 1989-08-11 | Method of producing a flexible carrier substrate |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000608077A CA1292932C (en) | 1989-08-11 | 1989-08-11 | Method of producing a flexible carrier substrate |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1292932C true CA1292932C (en) | 1991-12-10 |
Family
ID=4140446
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000608077A Expired - Fee Related CA1292932C (en) | 1989-08-11 | 1989-08-11 | Method of producing a flexible carrier substrate |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1292932C (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2009007786A2 (en) * | 2006-06-05 | 2009-01-15 | Dow Corning Corporation | A solar cell including a silicone resin layer |
| CN113192758A (en) * | 2021-04-21 | 2021-07-30 | 上海工程技术大学 | Photoelectric conversion fabric and preparation method and application thereof |
-
1989
- 1989-08-11 CA CA000608077A patent/CA1292932C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2009007786A2 (en) * | 2006-06-05 | 2009-01-15 | Dow Corning Corporation | A solar cell including a silicone resin layer |
| WO2009007786A3 (en) * | 2006-06-05 | 2009-11-12 | Dow Corning Corporation | A solar cell including a silicone resin layer |
| CN101681939B (en) * | 2006-06-05 | 2014-02-26 | 陶氏康宁公司 | A solar cell including a silicone resin layer |
| CN113192758A (en) * | 2021-04-21 | 2021-07-30 | 上海工程技术大学 | Photoelectric conversion fabric and preparation method and application thereof |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKLA | Lapsed |