JPH0671092B2 - Thin film solar cell - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the structure of thin film solar cells.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a thin film solar cell having a plurality of photoelectric conversion units on the same substrate and connected in series, a type using a transparent insulating substrate as shown in FIG. There is a type in which an insulating layer is provided on a conductive substrate as shown in FIG. The structure shown in FIG. 2 has a structure in which a transparent conductive film (50), a semiconductor layer (40), and a metal electrode (30) are sequentially stacked on a transparent insulating substrate (7). For power extraction, extend the electrodes at both ends of the series connection (50) (3
0) and take it out. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, a conductive substrate (1), an insulating layer (2), a first electrode (3), a semiconductor layer (4), and a second electrode (5) are formed in this order, and similarly. Each electrode part is extended to extract power (3),
(5).

[0003]

These thin-film solar cells must be provided with an extension for extracting electric power in order to be incorporated in electrical equipment and the like.
Alternatively, it is necessary to perform patterning with a mask. In addition, since the ratio of the area of the extension part to the total substrate area is large, the effective power generation area ratio was 75% at most, and there were many wasteful parts. The present invention aims to solve these problems and increase the effective power generation area ratio.

[0004]

In order to solve these problems, the present invention comprises a conductive substrate on which an insulating layer, a first electrode, a non-single-crystal semiconductor layer, and a second electrode are sequentially laminated. In the case where a plurality of units are formed and the side surface or the upper surface of the first electrode of the preceding unit is in contact with the second electrode of the succeeding unit and are connected in series, an insulating layer on a conductive substrate At least a part of the above is not formed from the beginning, or is formed on the entire surface and then removed, so that the first electrode and the conductive substrate are in contact with each other in that part . Further, the conductive substrate also serves as a part of the electrode due to the contact. Further, the conductive substrate is covered with an insulating layer, and the insulating layer is covered with a first layer.
The first electrode, the non-single crystal semiconductor layer, and the second electrode are sequentially stacked.
A plurality of units are formed,
One unit not located at the end
Toward the both sides of the unit of the
The pole and the second electrode of the next unit are contacted,
The second electrode of one unit is used as a common power extraction unit.
So that two sets of solar cells connected in series are formed,
The end of each solar cell opposite the one unit
At the insulating layer, an opening is provided in the insulating layer
The first electrode of each solar cell is electrically connected to the substrate.
Tied together to connect the substrate to the other common power outlet
did.

[0005]

The present invention, by adopting the above-mentioned structure,
As shown in FIG. 1, the second electrode (5) at the end of the photovoltaic unit, the first electrode (3) of the next stage unit, and the second electrode are sequentially connected in series. The connection part (6) of the first electrode part of the last unit is connected to the conductive substrate. Therefore, power can be taken out from the second electrode (5) and the conductive substrate (1).

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic view and a sectional view. After the insulator (2) was formed on the entire surface of the stainless steel substrate (1), an open groove having a width of 50 μm was provided at a distance of 2 mm from the substrate end by laser scribing to expose the conductive substrate.
After that, a first electrode (3), a semiconductor layer (4), and a second electrode were formed, and laser scribing was performed at each stage to perform patterning to obtain a thin film solar cell as shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, a conductive substrate (1) is covered with an insulating layer (2),
A first electrode (3), a semiconductor layer (4), a second electrode (3) on the insulating layer.
A plurality of units formed by sequentially stacking electrodes (5) are formed.
One unit not located at the end of the unit
To the both sides of the single unit
The first electrode of the next unit and the second electrode of the next unit
The second electrode of the one unit is brought into contact with the pole
Two sets connected in series to form a common power extraction unit
Solar cells are formed, and the one unit of each solar cell is formed.
Opening in the insulating layer at the end opposite to the knit
(6) is provided, and the first of the solar cells is provided in the opening.
The electrode (3) of No. 1 and the substrate (1) are electrically connected.
Then, the substrate was used as the other common power takeout part.
1 shows a thin film solar cell. FIG. 4 shows another embodiment according to the present invention. Further, in this embodiment, the insulating layer was removed over a width of 50 μm, but it is not particularly limited to this, and may be an opening as long as there is no part of the insulating layer and the conductive substrate is exposed.

[0007]

[Effect] By adopting the structure of the present invention, the effective power generation area ratio of the thin film solar cell can be increased.

[0008]

[Table 1]

Further, by adopting the structure of the present invention as shown in FIG. 6, connection with electric equipment can be easily made by a plug-in method or a crimping method in addition to a method such as soldering. Although the solar cells were patterned by laser scribing in the examples, the structure of the present invention can be produced by a mask method, an etching method, etc., and the same effect is exhibited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view and a sectional view of a thin film solar cell according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a conventional thin film solar cell.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of a conventional thin film solar cell.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conductive substrate 2 ... Insulating layer 3, 5, 30, 50, ... Electrode 4 ... Non-single-crystal semiconductor layer 6 ... Connection part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A conductive substrate is covered with an insulating layer, and a plurality of units each having a first electrode, a non-single-crystal semiconductor layer, and a second electrode sequentially stacked are formed on the insulating layer, The first electrode of the unit of the previous stage and the second electrode of the unit of the next stage are contacted and connected in series to form a solar cell, and an opening is provided in the insulating film at one end of the solar cell,
A thin-film solar cell, wherein the first electrode and the substrate are electrically connected in the opening, and the second electrode at the other end of the solar cell and the substrate serve as a power take-out portion. 2. A conductive substrate is covered with an insulating layer, and a plurality of units each having a first electrode, a non-single-crystal semiconductor layer, and a second electrode sequentially stacked are formed on the insulating layer. The first electrode of the preceding unit and the second electrode of the succeeding unit are contacted toward both sides of one unit not located at the end of the unit toward both sides of the one unit, Two sets of solar cells connected in series are formed so that the second electrode of one unit serves as a common power take-out portion, and the insulation is provided at the end of each solar cell opposite to the one unit. An opening is provided in the layer, the first electrode of each solar cell is electrically connected to the substrate in the opening, and the substrate serves as the other common power take-out portion. battery.