JP2006179380A - Solar cell module equipped with designability and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a solar cell module capable of increasing added values by imparting two or more colors to a light receiving surface as the colors of a solar cell element to create a good design such as a pattern of specific characters, symbols or figures, inexpensively manufacturable for industrial purposes. <P>SOLUTION: In a dye-sensitized solar cell 9, unit solar cell elements each having two or more kinds of color are arranged in a mosaic shape to form the pattern of specific characters, symbols or figures on the light receiving surface, and a transparent electrode layer 6 comprising a transparent conductive film in which the unit solar cell elements are formed on a transparent substrate 7, a photoelectric transfer layer having a porous oxide semiconductor 5 to which a coloring matter is adsorbed and an electrolyte solution 4, and a conductive rear surface substrate 1 are laminated one by one from the light receiving surface side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a solar cell module having a design on a light receiving surface and a manufacturing method thereof.

  Giving the solar cell a design such as a specific character, symbol or graphic pattern is extremely important in increasing the added value of the solar cell module. In a solar cell module for electric power provided on a roof or the like, characters or the like are put on the module to serve as an advertising tower, and in a consumer solar cell provided in a portable electronic device, a character or a pattern is solar cell. By adding it above, you can increase the added value of the product.

  Conventionally, there are those in which characters or pictures are provided on the cell surface by printing or the like, and collecting electrodes are formed in a pattern of specific characters, symbols, or figures (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  However, it is known that if the surface of the solar cell is excessively covered with a printed pattern or a collecting electrode, a dark current flows in the solar cell, thereby deteriorating the cell characteristics. In addition, when the collecting electrode is used as a pattern of each character, symbol, etc., the pattern of each character, symbol, etc. needs to be electrically connected to each other, and the degree of freedom is greatly lost in providing design. There was a problem.

  In addition, by dividing the porous semiconductor layer, which is a component of the dye-sensitized solar cell, into a predetermined pattern with a material such as glass frit, it is possible to draw arbitrary characters, symbols, figures or pictures on the light receiving surface. There is a color solar cell (for example, refer to Patent Document 2).

The above prior art documents are shown below.
JP 2002-64214 A JP 2002-75472 A

  However, in the above prior art, since it has complicated steps such as a step of removing the porous semiconductor layer in a predetermined pattern and a step of forming a partition wall in the portion from which the porous semiconductor layer has been removed, it is manufactured industrially at a low cost. I couldn't.

  The present invention solves the problems of the prior art, and the problem is that in the solar cell module, the light receiving surface is provided with two or more colors in the color of the solar cell element itself. An object of the present invention is to provide a solar cell module and a method of manufacturing the solar cell module that can be provided with a design such as a pattern of characters, symbols, or figures to increase the added value of the solar cell module and can be manufactured industrially at low cost.

  In order to achieve the above object in the present invention, first, in the invention of claim 1, the unit solar cell element having two or more colors on the light receiving surface forms a pattern of specific characters, symbols or figures. The solar cell module is provided with a design characteristic that is arranged in a mosaic pattern.

  In the invention of claim 2, the unit solar cell element is any one of a non-single crystal silicon solar cell, a non-single crystal silicon germanium solar cell, a compound semiconductor solar cell, and a dye-sensitized solar cell. A solar cell module provided with the designability according to claim 1.

  Moreover, in invention of Claim 3, the area of the said unit solar cell element is 1/8 or less of the area of the whole solar cell module, The design property of any one of Claim 1 thru | or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. The solar cell module is provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the unit solar cell element comprises a transparent conductive film formed on a transparent substrate from the light receiving surface side, a photoelectric conversion layer having a porous oxide semiconductor adsorbed with a dye and an electrolyte, and a conductive layer. A solar cell module having a design property according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the solar cell module is a dye-sensitized solar cell in which a functional substrate is sequentially laminated.

  In the invention of claim 5, the porous oxide semiconductor layer of the dye-sensitized solar cell is at least one selected from zinc, niobium, tin, titanium, vanadium, indium, tungsten, tantalum, zirconium, molybdenum, and manganese. The solar cell module having the design property according to claim 4, wherein the solar cell module includes an oxide of more than one kind of metal.

  Moreover, in invention of Claim 6, it replaces with the electrolyte of said Claim 4, and the organic type hole transport layer is used, The designability of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5 characterized by the above-mentioned is provided. This is a solar cell module.

  Further, in the invention of claim 7, in place of the electrolyte of claim 4, an inorganic p-type semiconductor is used, and the design property of any one of claims 1 to 5 is provided. This is a solar cell module.

  Furthermore, in the invention of claim 8, solar cell elements having two or more colors are arranged in a mosaic pattern so as to form a pattern of specific characters, symbols or figures, and a display function is provided on the light receiving surface of the solar cell module. This is a method for manufacturing a solar cell module having a design characteristic characterized by being provided.

  Since this invention is the above structure, there exist the following effects.

  That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the unit solar cell elements having two or more colors on the light receiving surface are arranged in a mosaic pattern so as to form a specific character, symbol or figure pattern. The solar cell module can have a design with a display function on the light receiving surface.

  According to the invention of claim 2, any one of a non-single crystal silicon solar cell, a non-single crystal silicon germanium solar cell, a compound semiconductor solar cell, and a dye-sensitized solar cell is used as the unit solar cell element. Thus, a solar cell module having a design property that can be manufactured at low cost can be obtained.

  Moreover, according to the invention which concerns on the said Claim 3, it is set as the solar cell module to which the various design property was provided by making the area of a unit solar cell element into 1/8 or less of the area of the whole solar cell module. Can do.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the unit solar cell element includes a transparent conductive film formed on a transparent substrate from the light receiving surface side, a porous oxide semiconductor adsorbed with a dye, and an electrolyte. By being a dye-sensitized solar cell in which the conversion layer and the conductive substrate are sequentially laminated, various colors can be easily imparted to the solar cell element.

  According to the invention of claim 5, the porous oxide semiconductor layer of the dye-sensitized solar cell is made of zinc, niobium, tin, titanium, vanadium, indium, tungsten, tantalum, zirconium, molybdenum, and manganese. By including an oxide of at least one selected metal, a solar cell module having a design property showing excellent photoelectric conversion characteristics can be obtained.

  In addition, according to the inventions according to the sixth and seventh aspects, the solar can be more easily obtained by using an organic hole transport layer or an inorganic p-type semiconductor instead of the electrolyte constituting the dye-sensitized solar cell. Various colors can be imparted to the battery element.

  Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim 8, the solar cell having a design property in which solar cell elements having two or more colors are arranged in a mosaic pattern so as to form a pattern of specific characters, symbols or figures. By using the module manufacturing method, it is possible to provide a method for manufacturing a solar cell module having a design that can easily and inexpensively provide a display function on the light receiving surface of the solar cell module.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an embodiment of the dye-sensitized solar cell of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the dye-sensitized solar cell module of the present invention. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention includes a transparent substrate (7) having a transparent electrode layer on the back surface, and a back substrate (1) having a back electrode layer (2) and a platinum film (3) on the back surface. ) Between the porous oxide semiconductor (5) carrying the dye sensitizer surrounded by the surrounding partition wall (8) and the electrolyte solution (4) ( 9).

  First, as the base material (plate) of the solar cell of the present invention, the sunlight receiving side is transparent and does not hinder the reception of sunlight, and a transparent conductive film and a photoelectric conversion element can be formed on the surface thereof. Examples of the transparent substrate (7) that can be used include polymethyl methacrylate, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyethylene sulfide, polyethersulfone, polyolefin, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, triacetyl cellulose, polyvinyl fluoride film, and ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene co-polymer. Polymer resin, weather-resistant polyethylene terephthalate, weather-resistant polypropylene, glass fiber reinforced acrylic resin film, glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate, polyimide, transparent polyimide, fluorine resin, cyclic polyolefin resin, polyacrylic However, it is not limited to these.

  The back substrate (1) that does not receive sunlight does not need to be transparent and is not particularly limited. For example, in addition to the transparent substrate (7), a SUS thin plate, an Al foil, or the like can also be used. . These substrates may be used as a single substrate, but can also be used as a composite substrate in which two or more types of substrates are laminated.

In order to use sunlight more effectively in the present invention, an antireflection layer (not shown) using light interference may be provided on either the layer of the substrate or between the layers. This antireflection layer utilizes the coherence of light, and generally, it is sufficient if it is composed of a layer having a predetermined optical film thickness nd (refractive index n × shape film thickness d) in order to obtain the desired antireflection characteristic. In the present invention, the number of stacked layers is not particularly limited. Although it is possible to provide a single layer of a low refractive index layer such as silicon oxide or an organic fluorine compound as the antireflection film, it is usually preferable to use 1 to 6 layers in terms of cost and antireflection effect. .

  In addition, the antireflection film includes a vacuum deposition method such as a vacuum deposition method, a reactive deposition method, an ion beam assisted deposition method, a sputtering method, an ion plating method, and a plasma CVD method, and a wet coating such as a gravure coat and a screen coat. In addition, a film forming process combining a heat drying method, a heat curing method, an ultraviolet ray irradiation curing method, an electron beam irradiation curing method, and the like can be performed, and a method optimal for the characteristics of each thin film is appropriately selected. Any other film forming method may be used.

  Further, in order to increase the weather resistance of the solar cell element, it is possible to provide a gas barrier layer either on the substrate layer or between the layers. For example, one of silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride (SiNx), aluminum oxide (Alx Oy) alone, or a mixture of two or more kinds of vapor-deposited layers, or an inorganic-organic hybrid coat layer Any one type or a composite layer combining two or more types can also be suitably used.

  Vapor deposition layers such as silicon oxide (SiNx), silicon nitride (SiNx), and aluminum oxide (AlxOy) can be easily formed on a substrate film by vapor deposition, sputtering, CVD, dipping, sol-gel, etc. Can be formed. The thickness of such a barrier layer is preferably in the range of 5 to 500 nm, particularly preferably in the range of 30 to 150 nm.

  The solar cell element of the present invention means any device that generates power using the photovoltaic effect of a semiconductor, and includes a non-single crystal silicon solar cell, a non-single crystal silicon germanium solar cell, a compound semiconductor (3-5 Group, 2-6 group, etc.) Solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, organic semiconductor solar cells and the like are particularly preferably used.

  Moreover, as a transparent conductive film which forms a transparent electrode layer (6) and a back surface electrode layer (2), tin oxide, zinc oxide, indium oxide, etc. are used suitably, However, it is not limited to these. Further, these materials can be doped as necessary. Examples of methods for producing the transparent conductive film include, but are not limited to, vapor deposition, sputtering, reduced pressure CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), atmospheric pressure CVD, sol-gel, pyrolysis spray, and electrodeposition. It is not something.

  Further, by etching these transparent conductive films, it is possible to form irregularities that make it easy to confine light. In this case, since the surface shape of the transparent conductive material can be easily controlled by appropriately changing the type, concentration, etching time, or the like of the etchant, a desired unevenness can be easily obtained.

  In addition, when a dye-sensitized solar cell is used as the photoelectric conversion element, the surface of the conductive transparent electrode layer (6) and the back electrode layer (2) is promoted to promote electron supply to the electrolyte described later. In addition, a platinum film (3), a carbon film, or the like can be formed.

The electrolyte solution (4) of the dye-sensitized solar cell (9) is not particularly limited as long as it can be generally used in a dye-sensitized solar cell, but is preferably redox, for example, LiI, There are combinations of metal iodides such as NaI, KI, and CaI2 and iodine, and combinations of metal bromides such as LiBr, NaBr, KBr, and CaBr2 and bromine. Of these, a combination of LiI and iodine is most preferable. This electrolyte is used in a form dissolved in a solvent (for example, a redox electrolyte).

Further, as the dye sensitizer, a metal complex dye or an organic dye can be used, and as the metal complex dye, a ruthenium-based dye is most preferable, and in particular, a ruthenium bipyridine dye and a ruthenium terpyridine dye organic dye, which are ruthenium complexes, are used. Examples of organic dyes include, but are not limited to, acridine, azo, indigo, quinone, coumarin, merocyanine, and phenylxanthene dyes. The dye preferably has an appropriate bonding group for the semiconductor surface, and particularly preferable bonding groups include a COOH group, a cyano group, a PO 3 H 2 group, and a chelating group. Of these, a COOH group and a PO3H2 group are preferable.

  Further, as the porous oxide semiconductor layer (5) for adsorbing the dye, titanium oxide, niobium oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, tungsten oxide, barium titanate, cadmium sulfide, etc. are used, and these are combined. It can also be used.

  Methods for forming the porous oxide semiconductor layer (5) on the transparent substrate (7) are 1) PVD method by vapor deposition, sputtering, etc. 2) CVD method using source gas, 3) semiconductor fine particles However, it is not limited to these methods. The film thickness of the porous oxide semiconductor (5) is preferably in the range of 1 to 30 μm, and more preferably in the range of 3 to 20 μm.

  The porous oxide semiconductor layer (5) is preferably fired after the film is formed so that the particles in the film are in electrical contact with each other and have a preferable crystal structure. A preferable firing temperature is 50 ° C. or higher and lower than 600 ° C.

  Using the above technique, the unit solar cell elements of two or more kinds of colors that are produced are arranged to form a predetermined pattern to form a module, thereby producing a solar cell module having a design on the light receiving surface. it can. That is, a solar cell module having a design property can be provided at low cost by arranging and wiring unit solar cell elements having a size of 1/8 or less of the total area of the solar cell module so as to form a predetermined pattern. it can. At this time, it is necessary to keep the current of the unit solar cell elements wired in series not significantly different in order to keep the power generation performance high.

  Specific examples of the present invention will be described below.

In this example, a yellow-black striped pattern was specifically displayed. As shown in FIG. 1, as a transparent substrate (7) on which a transparent conductive film for forming a transparent electrode layer (6) is formed, Type-U manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (based on a glass plate coated with fluorine-doped tin oxide) Material). The transparent substrate (7) on which the transparent conductive film is formed is cut to a size of 1 × 1 cm, a titanium oxide suspension is applied to the transparent conductive film side in a predetermined size, and after preliminary drying, at 450 ° C. The porous oxide semiconductor layer (5) was formed by baking for 30 minutes. Thereafter, partition walls (8) were provided with an epoxy resin, and subsequently, a dye was supported on the porous oxide semiconductor layer (5) and dried. [Tri (cyanato) -2,2 ', 2''-terpyridyl-4,4', 4 ''-tricarboxylate] Ru (II)] as a black pigment, and [perylene-bis (4- Dicarboxylphenyl) -3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylicimide] were used to prepare black and yellow cells, respectively. Platinum is vapor-deposited on Type-U (1 × 1 cm) manufactured separately by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. to form a platinum film (3). The part is sealed with an epoxy adhesive leaving only the inlet of the electrolyte solution (4). After the adhesive is cured, the iodine electrolyte solution is injected from the inlet, and after the injection, the inlet is sealed with a sealing material. Sealing was performed to prepare the dye-sensitized solar cell (9) of FIG.

  36 black unit solar cells (1 cm x 1 cm) and 36 yellow unit solar cells (1 cm x 1 cm) were produced by the above method, and 9 yellow and black unit solar cells were connected in series. did. As shown in FIG. 2, the group of solar cells connected in series is arranged in yellow unit black cells (12) and black unit solar cells (14) alternately and connected in parallel, so that yellow and black A solar cell module (9) having a tiger pattern was produced.

  As described above, solar cell modules having two or more colors are arranged in a mosaic pattern so as to form a pattern of specific characters, symbols, or figures, so that a solar cell module can be used without performing special processing. The light receiving surface can be provided with a display function and can be manufactured industrially at a low cost.

It is explanatory drawing which represented one Embodiment of the solar cell which concerns on this invention with the side cross section. It is a schematic diagram explaining one Embodiment of the dye-sensitized solar cell module provided with the designability of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Back substrate 2 ... Back electrode layer 3 ... Platinum film 4 ... Electrolytic solution 5 ... Porous oxide semiconductor 6 ... Transparent electrode layer 7 ... Transparent substrate 8 ... Partition 9 ... Dye increase Sensitive solar cell 10 ... Dye-sensitized solar cell module with design properties 12 ... Yellow unit solar cell 14 ... Black unit solar cell

Claims (8)

  A solar cell module having a design, wherein unit solar cell elements having two or more colors on a light receiving surface are arranged in a mosaic pattern so as to form a pattern of specific characters, symbols or figures.   2. The design property according to claim 1, wherein the unit solar cell element is any one of a non-single crystal silicon solar cell, a non-single crystal silicon germanium solar cell, a compound semiconductor solar cell, and a dye-sensitized solar cell. Solar cell module.   The area of the unit solar cell element is 1/8 or less of the total area of the solar cell module, and the solar cell module having design characteristics according to any one of claims 1 to 2.   The unit solar cell element includes a transparent conductive film formed on a transparent substrate from the light-receiving surface side, a porous oxide semiconductor adsorbed with a dye, a photoelectric conversion layer having an electrolyte, and a dye formed by sequentially laminating a conductive substrate It is a sensitized solar cell, The solar cell module provided with the designability of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The porous oxide semiconductor layer of the dye-sensitized solar cell contains an oxide of at least one metal selected from zinc, niobium, tin, titanium, vanadium, indium, tungsten, tantalum, zirconium, molybdenum, and manganese. The solar cell module provided with the designability of Claim 4 characterized by the above-mentioned.   6. The solar cell module with the design property according to claim 1, wherein an organic hole transport layer is used instead of the electrolyte according to claim 4.   6. The solar cell module having the design property according to claim 1, wherein an inorganic p-type semiconductor is used instead of the electrolyte according to claim 4.   The solar cell elements having two or more colors are arranged in a mosaic pattern so as to form a pattern of specific characters, symbols or figures, and the light receiving surface of the solar cell module has a display function. A method for manufacturing a solar cell module.

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