JPH03250771A - Manufacture of photovoltaic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make small the width of the adjacent interval parts between photovoltaic element, to enlarge the effective light-receiving areas of the elements and to contrive to improve the output of a device by a method wherein the individual elements are divided by a first divided groove and the photovoltaic elements adjacent to the first divided groove and a second divided groove are electrically connected in series by a connection electrode film spreading in third and fourth divided grooves. CONSTITUTION:A first divided groove 5 is formed in a first electrode film 2, a semiconductor photoactive layer 3 and a second electrode film 4, which are laminated and formed on the insulating surface of a substrate 1, and photovoltaic elements are divided. An insulating film 8 having a third divided groove 7 adjacent to the other side of the groove 5 is formed on the film 4 including the groove 5 and a second divided groove 6. Then, a fourth divided groove 9 is formed between the grooves 5 and 6. A connection electrode film 10 to connect to the films 4 and 2, which are exposed through the respective grooves of the adjacent grooves 7 and 9, is formed on this film 8. Thereby, the adjacent intervals between the elements are made small, the effective light-receiving areas of the elements are enlarged and the output of a device can be increased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an integrated photovoltaic device in which a plurality of photovoltaic elements are electrically connected in series.

(b) In order to obtain a predetermined photovoltaic force, a conventional technology-integrated photovoltaic device has a plurality of photovoltaic elements electrically connected in series and formed on an insulating substrate. In this photovoltaic device, the photovoltaic elements are connected in series and A method using an energy beam such as a laser beam has been proposed for dividing and arranging on a substrate.

One method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device using an energy beam is described in the March 1985 issue of ``7 Functional Materials'' as ``Solar Cells and Laser Processing.''

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a photovoltaic device manufactured by this method. First, a series of transparent electrode films 21a are formed on almost the entire surface of a transparent substrate 20 made of glass, heat-resistant plastic, etc. , 21b are formed, and then an energy beam such as a laser beam is irradiated thereon to form a plurality of transparent electrode films 21a and 21b that are divided and arranged with the first dividing groove 21ab in between.

Next, a series of semiconductor photoactive layers 22a, 22B made of an amorphous semiconductor such as amorphous silicon is formed on almost the entire surface of the substrate 20, including the transparent electrode films 21a and 21b. , 21b along one side (the right side in the figure) of the first dividing groove 21ab, the semiconductor photoactive layer 22 is irradiated with an energy beam across the second dividing groove 22ab.
a, 22b are formed.

Finally, a series of back electrode films 23a and 23b are formed on these layers including the second dividing grooves 22ab of the semiconductor photoactive layers 22a and 221).
A plurality of back electrode films 23a and 23b separated by the third dividing groove 23ab are formed by irradiating an energy beam along one side (the right side in the figure) of b.

By the above, the back electrode film 23a and the transparent electrode film 2 ],
b are electrically connected to form photovoltaic elements 24a and 24b electrically connected in series.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, according to the above method, the ineffective region that does not contribute to power generation, that is, the adjacent spacing portion 24ab of each photovoltaic element 24a, 24b, is reduced to some extent by the use of an energy beam. However, each dividing groove 21ab, 22ab, 23
Assuming that the width of ab is d and the distance between each interval is a, the width of the adjacent interval portion 24ab is 3d+2t, which is still not sufficiently small.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to further reduce the width of the adjacent spaced portions to expand the effective light-receiving area and improve the output of the photovoltaic device.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a photovoltaic device in which a first quadrupole film, a semiconductor photoactive layer, and a second electrode film are laminated in this order on an insulating surface of a substrate. , in a method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device in which a plurality of photovoltaic devices are electrically connected in series, a series of a first electrode film, a semiconductor photoactive layer, and a second electrode film are sequentially stacked on the insulating surface of the substrate. ] Step 2, forming a first dividing groove in the series of the first electrode film, the semiconductor photoactive layer, and the second electrode film, and forming the first dividing groove in the series of the first electrode film, the semiconductor photoactive layer, and the second electrode film for each of the photovoltaic elements. dividing the electrode film into electrode films, and forming a second dividing groove in the second electrode film adjacent to one of the first dividing grooves; the second electrode including the first dividing groove and the second dividing groove; forming an insulating film having a third dividing groove adjacent to the other one of the first dividing grooves on the film;
-1- forming a fourth dividing groove extending at least to the second electrode film and the semiconductor photoactive layer between the dividing groove;
The method is characterized by comprising a step of forming a connecting electrode film that electrically connects the second electrode film and the first electrode film exposed from each of the dividing grooves.

(E) Function According to the present invention, each photovoltaic element is separated by the first dividing groove, and adjacent photovoltaic elements are electrically connected by the connecting electrode film extending into the third dividing groove and the fourth dividing groove. connected in series.

(f) Example FIGS. 1(a) to 1(e) are cross-sectional views showing the manufacturing method of the present invention in the order of steps.

In the figure (a), a transparent electrode film 2 made of a transparent conductive oxide such as ITO or SnO+ is formed on a transparent substrate 1 made of glass or heat-resistant plastic, and an amorphous semiconductor such as amorphous silicon. A semiconductor photoactive layer 3 and a back electrode film 4 made of a metal such as Ag or AI are laminated in this order.

In the same figure (b), the width d(
A first dividing groove 5 (approximately 200 pm) is formed, and the transparent electrode films 2a, 2b and semiconductor photoactive layers 3a, 3 are divided into a plurality of parts.
b and back electrode films 4a and 4b are formed.

Further, the back electrode film 4b has a width d (approximately 2 mm) adjacent to the first dividing groove 5 and spaced apart from the groove 5 by a width α (approximately 50 pm).
00 μm) second dividing groove 6 is formed.

In the same figure (c), on the back electrode films 4a and 4b including the first dividing groove 5 and the second dividing groove 6, there is an insulating film having a third dividing groove 7 adjacent to the left side of the first dividing groove 5. 8 is formed.

This insulating film 8 is S+Ot, Al*0* or Tie
It consists of an inorganic thin film such as S or a resin thin film such as polyimide.

In FIG. 4(d), by irradiating an energy beam such as a laser beam from above the insulating film 8 between the first dividing groove 5 and the second dividing groove 6, the second electrode films 2a, 2b and the semiconductor light Active layers 3a, 3b and back electrode film 4a1. A fourth dividing groove 9 having a radius d (approximately 200 u++) is formed to divide lb.

Finally, as shown in FIG.
a and the transparent electrode film 2b (Ag,
A contact Ml electrode film 10 made of AI, T1, conductive paste, or the like is formed by a vapor deposition method, a screen printing method, or the like.

Thereby, the back electrode film 4a and the transparent electrode film 2b are connected to the connection electrode film 10 extending from the third dividing groove 7 to the fourth dividing groove 9.
A plurality of photovoltaic elements 11a and 11b connected in series are formed.

According to the above method, the widths of the adjacent spacing parts 11ab of the photovoltaic elements 11a and llb are the same as that of the first dividing groove 5 and the second dividing groove 6.
The total distance between these dividing grooves is 2d, which is d+ smaller than the conventional 3d+2g.

As a result, in a device with 15 photovoltaic elements arranged on a 5-inch square substrate, the effective area of the conventional structure is 8.
The present invention improved the output from 8% to 93%, and as a result, the output was improved by about 5% compared to the conventional method.

By the way, in the above embodiment, the connection electrode film]0 and the transparent electrode film 2b are electrically connected only at the side surface of the transparent electrode film 2b, which has a thickness of about 0.2 am at most. Therefore, there is a possibility that the connection resistance in this portion becomes high.

Therefore, in the step shown in FIG. 1(d), after forming the fourth separation groove 9, it is desirable to perform a dry etching process on the inside of the groove 9 to clean the side surface of the transparent electrode film 2b.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2, in the step of FIG. 1(d), the fourth separation groove 9 is extended to the insulating film 8, the back electrode film 4b, and the semiconductor photoactive layer 3b, and the upper surface of the transparent electrode film 4h is It is preferable to form it so that it is exposed over a width of about 100 μm. With this configuration, the connection electrode film 11 may be brought into sufficient contact with the transparent electrode film 4b.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the method of the present invention, the effective light receiving area can be expanded by reducing the size of the adjacent spacing between photovoltaic elements, which is the ineffective power generation area of the photovoltaic device. The output of the power device can be increased.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1(a) to (e) are cross-sectional views showing the manufacturing method of the present invention in the order of steps, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of a different manufacturing method of the present invention, and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional method. ) is a cross-sectional view showing the manufactured photovoltaic device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A photovoltaic device in which a plurality of photovoltaic elements each having a first electrode film, a semiconductor photoactive layer, and a second electrode film laminated in this order are electrically connected in series on an insulating surface of a substrate. A method for manufacturing an electromotive force device, comprising: sequentially forming a series of first electrode films, a semiconductor photoactive layer, and a second electrode film on the insulating surface of the substrate; A first dividing groove is formed in the photoactive layer and the second electrode film to divide it into a first electrode film, a semiconductor photoactive layer, and a second electrode film for each of the photovoltaic elements, and one of the first dividing grooves is formed. forming a second dividing groove in the second electrode film adjacent to the second dividing groove; a step of forming an insulating film having a third dividing groove;
forming a fourth dividing groove extending to at least the second electrode film and the semiconductor photoactive layer between the dividing groove; and forming a fourth dividing groove extending from each of the adjacent third dividing groove and fourth dividing groove on the insulating film. A method for manufacturing a photovoltaic device, comprising: forming a connecting electrode film that electrically connects the exposed second electrode film and first electrode film.