JPH0479151B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a solar cell, and particularly to a fabric solar cell in which solar cell fibers having a multilayer structure are knitted to have a two-dimensional spread.

Solar cells are expected to be a source of clean energy and have been considered as an alternative energy source amid concerns about the depletion of oil resources. However, the power generation cost of solar cells is extremely high (approximately 4,000 yen/W in 1980), mainly due to the cost of materials, and it seems likely that it will be a long time before they become widespread as a power source for general electricity. However, as the power generation efficiency has reached 5-10% even for commercially available products, demand is rapidly increasing for portable power sources and local power sources such as on remote islands. At this stage, what is desired for solar cells is lower costs and higher added value. In other words, in order to rapidly expand the market, it is necessary for the battery to occupy the position of an essential item as a "household power source" in a sense different from a power source for electric power. With high value-added solar cells in mind, the inventor of the present invention disclosed a multilayer coaxial fiber solar cell in Japanese Patent Publication No. 33718/1983. Unlike conventional solar cells, which have a flat panel shape, this solar cell has a cloth-like shape made by weaving flexible multilayer coaxial solar cell wires to give it a two-dimensional spread. It has the unique property of not only being easily made into a large area, but also extremely flexible and having sufficient mechanical strength, making it extremely easy to process into secondary products.

The problem with the above-mentioned multilayer coaxial fibrous solar cell is mainly the power generation cost. In other words, when weaving multilayer coaxial solar cell wires using core wires and conductive layers that do not transmit visible light to create a two-dimensional spread, if the wires intersect alternately in the vertical and horizontal directions, light will be blocked at the location below the point of intersection. Therefore, it does not generate electricity. If a cloth were made that was knitted evenly in the vertical and horizontal directions without any gaps, the back side would not contribute to power generation, so only about 1/4 of the total surface area of the solar cell wire would have power generation capacity. Furthermore, in a structure in which several solar cell wires are twisted together and then organized vertically and horizontally, the exposed area ratio is further reduced, resulting in an approximately one-digit increase in material costs compared to when the entire surface area of the solar cell wires contributes to power generation. become. Of course, since this solar cell wire has a thin film structure, the material cost is lower than that of a crystalline wafer solar cell cut from an ingot.
However, when comparing thin-film solar cells, the substantial increase in material costs is undesirable because it reduces the high added value of this new type of solar cell.

In order to improve this problem, the inventors of the present invention have conducted further studies and as a result have come to disclose a cloth-like solar cell having the following structure. In other words, (1) in a fabric solar cell that is alternately knitted vertically and horizontally, the multilayer solar cell fiber is used in only one of the warp or weft, and the other is made of non-power-generating transparent fiber, thereby reducing the amount of material and reducing the intersection of the warp and weft. Solar cells intended to eliminate non-generating sites in the world. (2) When knitting alternately vertically and horizontally, by creating gaps between adjacent warp or weft yarns or by using fibers mixed with non-power-generating transparent fibers, external light can be introduced to the back side and scattering properties can be applied to the back side. This is a cloth-like solar cell that has power generation capability not only on the front side but also on the back side by arranging a light reflecting plate. It is obvious that (1) and (2) can be used alone or in combination depending on the purpose of use.

Furthermore, as a result of studying the power generation efficiency of the multilayer structure solar cell fiber, the present inventor found that in order to reduce the resistive potential drop in the long fiber, it is necessary to add metal to the outermost semiconductor layer inscribed in the outermost transparent insulating layer. It was concluded that providing an electrode layer is effective. In order not to obstruct light entering the photoelectric conversion semiconductor layer, the metal electrode layer is wound spirally at an appropriate pitch or arranged in thin filaments along the long axis of the solar cell fiber.

The transparent insulating layer constituting the outermost layer of the multilayered solar cell fiber is preferably made of a low-melting point synthetic resin. This is because there is a difference in height on the surface due to the arrangement of the metal electrode layer of the outermost semiconductor layer, and since the materials of the semiconductor and metal are different, it is difficult to cover the entire surface of the solar cell fiber with a transparent oxide film in continuous manufacturing. This is because the process is difficult and ultimately leads to an increase in manufacturing costs. A transparent insulating coating can be easily applied by immersing the material in a synthetic resin melt having a low melting point of 300°C or less.

The present invention will be described in detail below based on examples.

(Part 1) A Ni wire with a diameter of 1 mm is used as the core wire 1, and this is
As shown in the figure, it is immersed in a Si-saturated Sn solution 4 filled in a quartz container 3 heated in a nitrogen gas atmosphere. The bottom of the quartz container 3 is filled with a polycrystalline silicon mass 2 doped with phosphorus at a high concentration, and is held in contact with the solution 4 by a partition plate 5 having a large number of small holes. As shown in the figure, the solution 4 is provided with a temperature gradient such that the temperature is higher at the bottom of the container and becomes lower toward the top of the container. Silicon lump 2 has only the saturated amount at temperature T ₁
It is dissolved in the Sn solution and is carried to the upper part of the container where it is colder by convection and diffusion of the solution.
The phosphorus-doped Si in the solution is supersaturated near the top of the solution. The Ni core wire 1 is immersed in the solution 4 through a quartz rotating shaft 11 provided in a supersaturated region within the solution 4 as shown. Ni at this position
The core wire 1 is heated to a temperature close to the temperature T ₂ (T ₂ < T ₁ ) of the rotating shaft 11, and n is heated by an amount corresponding to the temperature difference between T ₁ and T ₂ .
-Si can be precipitated on the Ni core wire 1. The amount actually deposited can be adjusted by adjusting the immersion time of the Ni core wire 1 in the solution 4, that is, the pulling speed of the core wire 1. Normally, this tensile speed is set to n-
Adjust the thickness of the Si layer to approximately 5 μm. At this time, the phosphorus concentration in the lalicon mass is adjusted so that the carrier concentration of the n-Si layer is approximately 5×10 ¹⁷ cm ⁻³ . n
- The Ni core wire 1 on which the Si layer has been deposited is passed through the quartz rotating shaft 6 and immersed in the second Si-saturated Sn solution filling container 7 with the quartz rotating shaft 12 wrapped around it. At the bottom of the quartz container 7 is a polycrystalline silicon block 8 doped with boron at a high concentration.
are filled and partitioned by porous quartz partition plates 10. The temperature T ₃ of the polycrystalline silicon lump 8 at the bottom of the container 7 is lower than T ₁ , and the rotation axis 12
Since the Sn solution temperature T ₄ (<T ₃ ) at the position is kept lower than T ₂ , the p-Si
is in a supersaturated state, and the n-Si layer deposited on the Ni core wire 1 does not dissolve even when immersed in the solution 9, and a crystalline p-Si layer is deposited on the n-Si layer.
In this case, the temperature T ₃ is such that the thickness of the p-Si layer is about 4 μm and its carrier concentration is about 1×10 ¹⁷ cm ^-3.
And the boron concentration contained in the silicon lump 8 is adjusted. The Ni core wire 1 coated with the Si layer including the p-n junction in this way is once taken out into the air via the quartz rotating shaft 18, and immersed in the glue solution 17 held in the container 16 to apply a thin layer of glue. After that, a Sn ribbon 14 having a width of 300 μm is tightly wound in a spiral shape on the surface. The pitch should be approximately 10cm. Next, when this ribbon-wound Si layer-covered Ni core wire 1 is heated to 450°C in an electric furnace in an air or oxygen atmosphere, the glue is oxidized and removed, but a thin Sn- A Si alloy is formed and the Sn ribbon 14 is welded to the p-Si layer. This Sn ribbon layer acts as a good metal electrode for the p-Si layer. The Ni core wire 1 can be used as is as a resistive electrode for the n-Si layer.

A comparative sample was made to test the effectiveness of the Sn ribbon layer. In sample A, after forming a Si layer including a p-n junction on a Ni core wire with a diameter of 1 mm as in the above example, a reaction between SnCl ₂ and water vapor was applied to the surface of the p-Si layer as in the example of Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-33718. The SnO ₂ film (thickness approx.
2000A) was deposited, and this transparent conductive layer was used as a resistive electrode for the p-Si layer. In addition, sample B was not provided with a resistive electrode for the p-Si layer, and was otherwise completely the same as the above example. The Sn ribbon layered solar cell fiber of this example was designated as sample C, and each sample was prepared in a length of 50 cm. At one end of each sample, the deposited layer on the Ni core wire was removed by 5 mm using an acidic etching solution to expose the Ni core wire 1. In sample A, a thin layer (3000A thick) of Au was deposited on the top _two SnO layers.
In sample B, a thin layer of Au was deposited on the uppermost p-Si layer to form a lead wire attachment terminal. The Au evaporation part is
Care was taken to limit the thickness to approximately 3 mm directly above the exposed portion of the Ni core wire, and to prevent short-circuiting of the p-n junction due to Au evaporation.
At the end of each sample A, B, C, exposed
Lead wires were soldered to the Ni core wire and the Au vapor-deposited film or the Sn ribbon, and a voltmeter was connected between the positive and negative lead wires of each sample. Each sample was placed in a condensed solar generator under the same conditions, and irradiated with condensed sunlight at an intensity equivalent to direct sunlight in midsummer. At this time, the open circuit voltage of Sample C was about 0.78V, while that of Sample A was about 0.68V and that of Sample B was about 0.46, proving the superiority of the metal electrode over the p-Si layer. This generated voltage difference becomes larger as the intensity of the irradiated light becomes weaker, and the potential difference between Sample A and Sample C reached 0.22 V at about 1/3 of the intensity of the above experimental conditions (direct sunlight in midsummer).

Now, in this example, n-Si, p-Si,
After each layer of ribbon-shaped Sn was successively formed, a transparent plastic liquid was applied thereon and dried. This transparent plastic layer acts as a transparent insulating layer. By winding this wire at a constant speed, as long as the silicon lumps 2 and 8 remain at the bottoms of the quartz containers 3 and 7, thread-like fibers having a Si photoelectric conversion layer of a constant thickness are continuously formed. The wound multilayer solar cell fiber is thin (about 1 mm in diameter), highly flexible, and has sufficient mechanical strength.

When this multilayer structure solar cell fiber is used for the weft 201 and a transparent synthetic fiber thread having a diameter of about 1 mm, such as nylon thread, for the warp thread 200 and knitted alternately in the vertical and horizontal directions, a cloth (knitted fabric) with two-dimensional expanse can be obtained.
This cloth is cut to an appropriate size, and only one end of the weft is immersed in an organic solvent to remove the insulating plastic film on the surface. FIG. 2 shows an example of series connection of weft threads at one end with the plastic film removed. That is, as shown in FIG. 2a, when one end (right end in the figure) of the weft made of multilayer solar cell fiber is immersed in an organic solvent to remove the outermost transparent plastic film 201, the Sn ribbon layer 202 is removed.
The p-Sj layer 203, which is spirally welded, is exposed. As mentioned above, the warp is a transparent synthetic fiber yarn 200, and even if the weft intersects so that it is located below the warp, visible light passes through the warp and enters the weft at the crossing point, so the surface The non-power generation area in
It is only directly under the Sn ribbon layer 202. When a part of the exposed p-Si layer 203 is immersed in a fluoronitric acid-based etching solution, the Sn ribbon 202, the p-Si layer 203, and the n-Si layer 204 are removed, so that the Ni core wire is removed as shown in FIG. 1 is exposed. Next, p-
Sn ribbon layer 20 which is a resistive electrode of Si layer 203
2 and the resistive electrode of the n-Si layer 204.
If lead wires are soldered to each of the core wires 1 by a known method and the wefts (solar cell fibers) are connected in series, the result will be as shown in FIG. 2c. For simplicity, only three weft threads are shown in the figure, but the same effect applies no matter how many weft threads are connected. The lead wire pulled out from the Sn ribbon layer 202 forms the (+) side terminal of the battery, and the Ni core wire 1
The lead wire from forms the (-) side terminal. Although not shown in this example, it is obvious that in order to connect these solar cell fibers in parallel, the Sn ribbon layers 202 and the Ni core wires 1 may be connected together as is usually done. Further, since the end opposite to the illustrated weft end is left exposed due to cutting, this part is again insulated by coating and drying a transparent plastic liquid. This treatment is performed at the end to prevent short-circuiting of the p-n junction, unintentional contact with the adjacent solar cell fiber conductive part, electric shock to the user, and leakage, and to mechanically protect the end. It goes without saying that this can be achieved not only by the plastic treatment of this embodiment but also by various other known techniques, such as insulating rubber seals and glass coating.

After connecting all the weft threads, that is, multilayer solar cell fibers in series and parallel as shown in Figure 2, the lead wires are combined into one positive terminal (p-Si side) and one negative terminal (n-Si side). Ta. When external light is absorbed, an electromotive force is generated between the positive and negative terminals, and if a load resistor is connected between these terminals, it can be taken out as electric power.

When the adjacent weft and warp yarns were closely knitted with almost no gaps, this fabric solar cell exhibited an output of approximately 120 W/m ² under direct sunlight in midsummer. This fabric solar cell is woven in such a dense manner, but compared to the multilayer coaxial fibrous solar cell disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-33718, the material cost is approximately 1/100% due to the use of cheaper fibers for the warp. 2, and by adopting a metal electrode on the p-Si layer side and eliminating the non-power generation area on the surface side (the shaded fiber part located below the warp and weft intersection), the power extraction efficiency is approximately 40%. It showed a significant improvement. Of course, the advantages of the solar cell of the prior application, that is, high flexibility, mass productivity, easy expansion into a large area, and easy processing into multiple shapes, are retained.

(Part 2) Approximately 500 μm in diameter covered with transparent conductive film SnO ₂ 31
An amorphous Si layer was formed on the glass fiber 30 using a well-known glow discharge method. The pressure inside the high frequency discharge vessel is 0.1~10Torr during discharge, the concentration diluted with _H2
Based on 20 mol% SiH ₄ gas, first SnO ₂
31, a PH ₂ doped n-Si layer 32 of about 0.2 μm, an undoped i-Si layer 33 of about 0.6 μm on the n-Si 32, and a B ₂ H ₆ doped p-Si layer 3 on top of that.
4 was deposited to a thickness of about 0.3 μm. High frequency input power is 10 ^-2
~10 ^-1 W/cm ² . The formation of these multilayer Si layers is
Two rotating shafts were introduced into the discharge vessel, and the fiber was wound little by little from one shaft to the other. This amorphous multilayer Si solar cell has a forbidden band width of 1.7 to 1.8 V and is reddish brown and translucent to external light. 300 μm wide on the p-Si layer 34
After applying In ribbon 35 as in Example (Part 1),
They were wrapped closely together with a pitch of cm to create a spiral conductive band. When this is heated to about 200°C for a short time, an In-Si alloy is formed, and the In ribbon 35 is made of p-Si
Weld to layer 34. The part where the In ribbon 35 is welded becomes opaque to external light. Also In Ribbon 35
The p-Si region immediately below is crystallized from an amorphous state to form a microcrystalline region. This microcrystalline region has a conductivity that is about two orders of magnitude higher than other amorphous regions, and is effective in reducing the conduction loss of generated carriers.

Thereafter, a transparent synthetic resin liquid was applied to this multilayered fiber and dried to form a transparent insulating layer 36 with a thickness of several μm on the surface. The structure of the obtained multilayer solar cell fiber is shown in FIG.

This translucent multilayered solar cell fiber was used as the warp yarn, and glass fibers with a diameter of about 500 μm were used as the weft yarn, and were knitted alternately in the vertical and horizontal directions to create a cloth-like solar cell. In this case, the yarns were knitted tightly with almost no gaps between adjacent yarns. After cutting this cloth to an appropriate size, cut only one end of the warp as in the previous example.
exposing the SnO ₂ electrode layer 31 and the In ribbon layer 35;
Connected in series and parallel to form one positive and negative terminal. Next, the entire fabric battery was immersed in a transparent plastic solution, pulled up and dried, and the surface was covered with a transparent insulating film. Such surface protection is
For example, forming a transparent oxide insulating film such as SiO ₂ , TiO ₂ , or Al ₂ O ₃ by sputtering or chemical vapor deposition can also achieve the purpose, but from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost and mass productivity, it is not possible to form a transparent oxide insulating film such as SiO 2 , TiO 2 , or Al 2 O 3 . Inferior to organic coating.

Fully plastic-coated multilayer fabric solar cells have sufficient flexibility because the plastic layer on the surface is thin. This back surface was lined with an external light reflective cloth made of white opaque synthetic fiber.

When exposed to direct sunlight in midsummer, this fabric solar cell generated approximately 125 W/m ² of power. This is thought to be the result of external light penetrating the back surface of the translucent multilayered solar cell fiber and being reflected by the reflective cloth on the back surface, making the entire surface of the solar cell fiber contribute to power generation.
Since the solar energy conversion efficiency of the amorphous Si solar cell used in this example is about 6%, it can be seen that the increase in effective surface area resulted in a significant increase in power generation capacity.

In addition, in the above example, C ₂ H ₆ was added to the base gas SiH ₄ when forming the p-type amorphous layer by glow discharge.
When mixed, a p-Si _-x C _x layer is deposited on the i-Si layer. The forbidden band width of Si _1-x C _x is wider than that of Si, so the transparency of the p-layer is further increased, so the absorption efficiency of sunlight is also increased, and the energy conversion efficiency of this heterojunction type multilayer solar cell fiber is very low. It was confirmed that the improvement was achieved from 6% of crystalline Si solar cells to 8-9%.

(Part 3) A multilayer structure solar cell fiber was made as shown in Figure 1. However, in this case, the core wire 1 was not a Ni wire but a carbon fiber with a diameter of about 1.2 mm. Further, the metal electrode disposed on the p-Si layer 203 was a linear Ag layer, unlike the Sn ribbon layer 202 of the previous example. To form an Ag electrode layer on the p-Si layer 203, a thin groove-shaped tank is filled with an electroless Ag plating solution and heated. - It is sufficient if the surface of the Si layer 203 is partially immersed in the plating liquid, and the plating liquid is caused to run in the longitudinal direction of the groove-shaped tank. In this example, an Ag stripe electrode with a width of about 100 μm and a thickness of about 2000 Å was formed on the surface of the p-Si layer 203 in the longitudinal direction of the core wire. The electrode width can be adjusted by the immersion depth, and the electrode thickness can be adjusted by the plating solution concentration, temperature, and immersion time. Also, the electrode metal is Ag.
In addition, many types such as Au, Ni, Sn, and Cu can be used. After forming the Ag electrode layer, a transparent insulating plastic coating was applied to the surface as in the previous example.

This multilayer structure solar cell fiber 201 is made into a weft,
Transparent amylan fiber 200 with a diameter of about 1.2 mm was used as warp threads and knitted alternately in the vertical and horizontal directions to form a cloth-like solar cell. However, in this case, approximately
I knitted it with a gap of 1.2mm. After cutting to an appropriate size, one end of the weft was exposed as shown in FIG. 2, and lead wires were attached to the Ag stripe electrode for the p-Si layer 203 and the carbon fiber electrode for the n-Si layer 204. In the case of carbon fiber, Ag was vapor-deposited on the end before soldering, and soldering was performed via Ag. After connecting all the weft threads in series and parallel, the lead wires were combined into one positive and negative terminal. Next, the entire solar cell cloth was immersed in a transparent plastic solution and dried to coat the entire surface with a transparent insulating film. As shown in a partial view in FIG. 4, a white synthetic fiber cloth 206 having a diffused reflection surface is placed on the back surface of the cloth-like solar cell with a slight gap,
The fabric solar cell was irradiated with direct midsummer sunlight. Direct sunlight is not only absorbed on the surface of the fabric solar cell and converted into electricity, but also enters the diffuse reflection surface of the white synthetic fiber cloth 206 in stripes through the weft gap of approximately 1.2 mm in width and is scattered. It is also absorbed on the back side. As a result, almost the entire surface area of the multilayer solar cell fiber contributes to photoelectric conversion. This fabric solar cell exhibited an output of approximately 100W/m ² . That is, even though the amount of multilayer solar cell fiber used was reduced by half compared to Example (Part 1), the reduction in power generation remained at about 15%. This is an effect of full-surface power generation in fabric solar cells, and can be said to be a very effective method for reducing material costs.

In addition, in the above example, instead of leaving gaps between the weft yarns of 1.2 mm each, transparent amylan fibers (diameter of about 1.2 mm), which are the same as the warp yarns, are inserted here to increase the mechanical strength of the woven cloth without any gaps. The output under direct sunlight was approximately 93 W/m ² . This is considered to be the effect of light reflection loss due to the transparent amylan fiber.

(Part 4) A flat Fe wire with a width of 3 mm and a thickness of 200 μm was used as the core wire 1, and an InP polycrystalline thin film layer containing a p-n junction was crystallized thereon by the solution method shown in Figure 1. Ta. In this case, the In solvents 4 and 9 are in the quartz containers 3 and 7.
The n-InP source is filled with Sn-doped polycrystal.
InP lump 2 was used, and Zn-doped polycrystalline InP lump 8 was used as the p-InP source. As shown in Figure 1, Fe core wire 1
By continuously immersing and running InP in a quartz container-filled InP saturated In solution 4, 9, an n-InP layer with a thickness of approximately 4 μm and a p-InP layer with a thickness of approximately 6 μm are formed on the surface of the Fe core wire.
The layers are stacked in this order. This process is carried out in an _N2 atmosphere, but then in an oxidizing atmosphere at 1050℃.
When this line is run while flowing vapor containing SnCl ₂ , a SnO ₂ transparent electrode layer 31 with a thickness of 2000 to 5000 Å is formed on the surface of the p-InP layer. Then, if this wire is immersed in a transparent plastic solution and then pulled out and dried,
A transparent insulating film 36 is formed on the surface of the SnO ₂ film 31.

The thus obtained multilayer structure solar cell fiber was made into warp yarns, and transparent nylon threads with a diameter of 3 mm were used as weft yarns, which were knitted alternately in the vertical and horizontal directions. In this case, in particular, the warp yarns were tightly knitted so that there were no gaps between adjacent yarns to create a cloth-like solar cell.

This cloth is cut to an appropriate size, and as shown in Figure 2, only one end of the warp is used to form an electrode layer, i.e.
The SnO ₂ film and Fe core wire were exposed, connected in series and parallel, and finally combined into one positive terminal and one negative terminal. After the surface is treated with an insulating plastic film, the output is measured under direct sunlight in midsummer.
105W/ ^m2 was obtained. The energy conversion efficiency of polycrystalline InP solar cells was about 12%, but p-InP
The resistance of the SnO ₂ electrode layer is relatively large, and a slight extraction loss is observed. However, it was confirmed that the compound semiconductor fabric solar cell using this flat multilayer structure solar cell fiber also had sufficient flexibility and mechanical strength.

(Part 5) A fabric-like solar cell was fabricated by knitting multilayered Si solar cell fibers having a diameter of approximately 1 mm, which were produced in exactly the same process as in Example (Part 1), in a dense state and alternating vertically and horizontally. In this case, both the vertical and horizontal lines are solar cell fibers, so
After cutting to an appropriate size, connect each wire in series and parallel at one end of the vertical line side and one end of the horizontal line as shown in Figure 2, and finally connect one positive terminal and one negative terminal. I put it together on the side terminal. The entire fabric solar cell was immersed in a transparent plastic solution and pulled up to dry. This fabric solar cell exhibited an output of approximately 100 W/m ² under direct sunlight in midsummer. Example (Part 1)
The reason why the power generation capacity is lower than that in the case of 2 is thought to be that the light-shielding portion below the vertical and horizontal intersections causes power extraction loss. However, as a result of connecting the Sn ribbon layer 202 to the p-Si layer 203 to reduce conduction loss, the power generation capacity is improved by about 15% compared to the case of Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-33718.

On the other hand, when weaving the above multilayer structure Si solar cell fiber vertically and horizontally, transparent nylon threads with a diameter of 1 mm, which is the same as the fiber diameter, are mixed and knitted every other thread, cut in series and parallel at one end, and after transparent insulation treatment, the solar cell fiber is In the case of a double cloth structure such as Example (Part 3) in which the light-reflective white synthetic fiber cloth 206 was arranged on the back side of the battery cloth, the output under direct sunlight was about 88 W/m ² .

In the fabric solar cell examples described above, Si is used as the material for the photoelectric conversion layer of the multilayer solar cell fiber.
As for Si _1-x C _x , InP, and as a manufacturing method, only the ``external attachment method'' in which the solar cell layer is formed outside the core wire was used. However, in addition to this, CdS is used as a photoelectric conversion layer material.
It is obvious that the present invention can also be applied to compound semiconductor materials such as CaAs and CaAs. Also, "external attachment method"
In addition, the fact that the fabric solar cell of the present invention can also be obtained by the "internal attachment method" of forming a solar cell layer inside a hollow core wire, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-33718, is an aspect of the present invention. It is clear from the structure of

The present invention improves the power extraction efficiency of fabric solar cells, which are extremely flexible and have sufficient mechanical strength, and which are easy to increase in area, mass production, and multi-shape, and significantly reduce manufacturing costs, especially material costs. It has become possible to reduce

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the multilayer structure solar cell fiber manufacturing process of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of each line connection in the fabric solar cell of the present invention. , c indicate the process for connection. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of a multilayer solar cell fiber in another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the fabric structure in yet another embodiment of the fabric solar cell according to the present invention. It is a diagram. In the figure, 1 is a conductive core wire, 204 is a crystalline n
-Si layer, 203 is crystalline p-Si layer, 202 is Sn
Ribbon layer, 201, multilayer structure solar cell fiber, 20
0 is transparent synthetic fiber yarn, 206 is white synthetic fiber cloth,
36 is a transparent insulating layer, 35 is an In ribbon layer, 30 is a glass fiber core wire, 31 is a SnO ₂ conductive film, 32
is an amorphous n-Si layer, 33 is an amorphous i-Si layer, 34
is an amorphous p-Si layer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Of the warp and weft of a solar cell that is made by knitting flexible solar cell fibers with a multilayer structure to have a two-dimensional spread, one of the warp and weft yarns is connected to the above multilayer structure solar cell fiber or to a non-power generating device with the solar cell fiber. The multilayer structure solar cell fiber is composed of a mixed fiber of electrically conductive fibers, and the other is composed only of non-electrically generating transparent fibers. A p-n or pin junction type photoelectric conversion layer provided, a conductive part located on both sides of the photoelectric conversion layer and provided in part or all of the photoelectric conversion layer,
A fabric solar cell comprising means for extracting the electromotive force generated at the p-n or p-i-n junction to the outside via the conductive portion.