JPH08125209A - Photovoltaic device and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the deterioration of a phtotvoltaic device by preventing corrosion of an outer element region located outside a photoelectric transducer region. CONSTITUTION: In a photovoltaic device where a plurality of photoelectric conversion element 10a-10c consisting of the lamination body of first electrode films 2a-2c, semiconductor films 8a-8c, and second electrode films 9a-9c are laid out on the insulation surface of a substrate 1 and these elements are electrically and serially connected, the photoelectric transducer 10a-10c are electrically insulated from an element region 14 outside a groove and at the same time a first electrode film 2f and a second electrode film 9f of an element region 14f are electrically short-circuited.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention arranges a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each composed of a laminate of a first electrode film, a semiconductor film and a second electrode film on an insulating surface of a substrate, and electrically connects these elements in series. The present invention relates to a connected photovoltaic device and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A photovoltaic device in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements composed of a laminated body of a first electrode film, a semiconductor film and a second electrode film are arranged on an insulating surface of a substrate and these elements are electrically connected in series. In the above, it is already known to use a laser beam for separating and forming the first electrode film, the semiconductor film and the second electrode film. Further, a groove is formed by irradiating the inside of the end portion of the substrate along the arrangement direction of the photoelectric conversion element with an energy beam to electrically insulate the photoelectric conversion element from the element region outside the groove. However, it is also known to prevent an electrical short circuit between adjacent photoelectric conversion elements as seen in US Pat. No. 4,721,629.

[0003]

By the way, as described above, the energy beam is irradiated to the inside of the end portion of the substrate along the arrangement direction of the photoelectric conversion element to form the groove, and the photoelectric conversion element is placed outside the groove. When electrically insulated from the other element region, the structure of the outer element region is similar to that of the photoelectric conversion element, that is, the first electrode film,
It is composed of a laminated body of a semiconductor film and a second electrode film. Therefore, when light is applied to this area, a photoelectromotive force is generated.

In such a photovoltaic device, when a photovoltaic device exposed to an electrolyte solution, for example, an aqueous sodium chloride solution (for example, installed near a coast) is irradiated with light, the external element region It was found that the electrode and the semiconductor film made of metal are corroded, and as a result, the photoelectric conversion element on the inner side is adversely affected and the function of the photovoltaic device is significantly deteriorated.

Although the cause of this is not clear, the photoelectromotive force generated by the light irradiation to the outer element region causes an electrolysis reaction of sodium chloride to generate hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, which are metal and semiconductor. It is presumed that the film is corroded.

In order to prevent this, it is conceivable that the photovoltaic device has a completely waterproof structure using tempered glass or a protective resin film so that the photovoltaic device is not exposed to the electrolyte solution. The device becomes expensive, and the shape and weight increase.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements composed of a laminate of a first electrode film, a semiconductor film and a second electrode film are arranged on an insulating surface of a substrate, and these elements are electrically connected. In a photovoltaic device connected in series, the photoelectric conversion element is electrically connected to an element region outside the groove by a groove provided inside the end portion of the substrate along the arrangement direction of the photoelectric conversion element. To the first element of the outer element region.
It is characterized in that the electrode film and the second electrode film are electrically short-circuited.

Further, the method for manufacturing a photovoltaic device according to the present invention is characterized in that the formation of the groove and the electrical short circuit are performed by irradiation with an energy beam.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each composed of a laminate of the first electrode film, the semiconductor film and the second electrode film are arranged on the insulating surface of the substrate, and these elements are electrically connected in series. In the photovoltaic device, the first electrode film and the second electrode in the outer element region separated from the photoelectric conversion element by a groove provided inside the end of the substrate along the arrangement direction of the photoelectric conversion element. The membrane is electrically shorted. Therefore, even if this element region is irradiated with light, no photovoltaic power is output and the outer element region is not corroded.

[0010]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. On a rectangular transparent substrate 1 having an insulating surface such as glass or heat resistant plastic, indium tin oxide (IT
O), tin oxide (SnO ₂ ), zinc oxide (ZnO), and other first conductive films 2a to 2c are formed. These first electrode films 2a to 2c have a thickness of 0.3 to
After being formed on the entire surface of the substrate 1 with a film thickness of 1.0 μm, a laser beam is radiated to the adjacent gaps to divide the electrodes into individual electrodes.

Further, the laser beam is applied to the first electrode film 2
Irradiation is performed so as to surround the entire circumference of a to 2c. Therefore,
The first electrode films 2a to 2c are formed by the first groove 3 having a width of about 50 μm provided inside the both end portions of the substrate 1 (that is, both end portions in the longitudinal direction of the substrate 1) along the arrangement direction. 1 groove 3
Is electrically separated from the outer first electrode region 2e.
In addition, the first electrode films 2a and 2c are formed by the second grooves 4 having a width of about 50 μm provided inwardly on both ends in the lateral direction of the substrate 1 so that the first electrode regions outside the second grooves 4 are formed. Both 2f are electrically separated.

The first groove 3 and the second groove 4 are filled with a first insulating member 5. The first insulating member 5 is made of a binder made of polyimide or phenol resin and has a particle size of 1.5 to 7 μm made of an inorganic material such as silicon dioxide.
m-filler mixed insulating paste, 250-300 after patterning by screen printing
It is fired at a temperature of ℃, height 10 ~ 50μm, width 0.4
It is formed to be about 0.6 mm.

Further, on the upper surface of one end (the left end in the drawing) of the first electrode films 2a to 2c, the conductive members 6a to 6c are arranged in order from the left end.
And insulating members 7a to 7c are formed in parallel in a strip shape. The conductive members 6a to 6c are made of a conductive paste in which a binder made of a conductive material such as silver, nickel, or aluminum is mixed in a binder made of a polyimide or phenol resin, and the conductive paste is patterned by screen printing. , And is fired at a temperature of 250 to 300 ° C. to form a height of 10 to 50 μm and a width of 0.4 to 0.6 mm. The insulating members 7a to 7c are made of the same insulating paste as the first insulating member 5, and the forming method is also the same.

Semiconductor films 8a to 8c are laminated on the first electrode films 2a to 2c, respectively. Semiconductor films 8a-8
c is a film thickness of 0.3 to 10 in which amorphous silicon, amorphous silicon carbide or the like is laminated in pn or pin.
It consists of a semiconductor photoactive layer of 1.0 μm. Further, second electrode films 9a to 9c are laminated and formed on the semiconductor films 8a to 8c, respectively. The second electrode films 9a to 9c are formed by forming a metal such as aluminum, silver, titanium, nickel or the like in a single layer structure or a laminated structure of these metals in a film thickness of 0.1 to 1.0 μm.

In this way, the photoelectric conversion elements 10a to 10c made of a laminate of the first electrode films 2a to 2c, the semiconductor films 8a to 8c, and the second electrode films 9a to 9c are arranged in parallel on the substrate 1 in the longitudinal direction.

The semiconductor films 8a to 8c and the second electrode films 9a to 9c are once formed on the entire surface of the substrate 1 and then individually divided by laser beam irradiation. That is, the substrate 1
From the second electrode film formed on the entire surface of the insulating member 7a ...
7c is irradiated with a laser beam to form a separation groove, and the semiconductor films 8a to 8c and the second electrode films 9a to 9c are formed.
Is formed.

Further, by irradiating the laser beam from above the second electrode films 9a and 9b to the positions facing the conductive members 6b and 6c, the second electrode film 9 is interposed through the conductive members 6b and 6c.
The photoelectric conversion elements 10a to 10c are electrically connected in series by electrically connecting a and 9b to the first electrode films 2b and 2c, respectively.

The first electrode film 2a at the left end is electrically connected to the extraction electrode 11 made of the same material as the second electrode film 9a and located on the left side of the second electrode film 9a via the conductive member 6a.

Further, the laser beam is applied to the second electrode film 9a ...
Irradiation is performed so as to surround the entire circumference of 9c. Therefore, the semiconductor films 8a to 8c and the second electrode films 9a to 9c have a width of about 50 μm provided inside both ends of the substrate 1 (that is, both ends in the longitudinal direction of the substrate 1) along the arrangement direction. Third groove 12
Thus, the semiconductor region 8e outside the third groove 12 and the second
It is electrically separated from the electrode region 9e. Further, the semiconductor films 8a and 8c and the second electrode films 9a and 9c are provided on the inner side of both ends in the lateral direction of the substrate 1 and have a width of about 50 μm.
Due to the groove 13, the semiconductor region 8 outside the fourth groove 13 is formed.
f, electrically separated from the second electrode region 9f.

By forming these first to fourth grooves 3, 4, 12 and 13, photoelectric conversion elements 10a to 10a are formed.
Outside the layered structure of the first electrode regions 2e and 2f, the semiconductor regions 8e and 8f, and the second electrode regions 9e and 9f so as to surround c (thus, it has the same layered structure as the photoelectric conversion regions 10a to 10c). The rectangular element regions 14e and 14f are formed in a state of being electrically separated from the photoelectric conversion elements 10a to 10c.

The exposed surfaces of the photoelectric conversion elements 10a to 10c and the outer element regions 14e and 14f are covered with an insulating protective film 15 such as a silicone resin, an epoxy resin, a PET film and a fluorine resin film.

Further, as a feature of the present invention, by irradiating the second electrode regions 9e and 9f of the outer element regions 14e and 14f with a laser beam, the second electrode regions 9e and 9f are irradiated.
e and 9f are electrically connected to the first electrode regions 2e and 2f, respectively.

Therefore, even if the outer element regions 14e and 14f are irradiated with light, no photoelectromotive force is output, and the outer element regions 14e and 14f are not corroded. Further, in this embodiment, the outer element regions 14e and 14f are arranged so as to surround the entire circumference of the photoelectric conversion elements 10a to 10c, so that the outer element regions 14e and 14f are arranged in the photoelectric conversion element 1.
It serves as a moisture resistant protective wall against 0a to 10c.

[0024]

According to the present invention, a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each composed of a laminate of a first electrode film, a semiconductor film and a second electrode film are arranged on an insulating surface of a substrate, and these elements are electrically connected in series. In the photovoltaic device, a groove provided inside the end portion of the substrate along the arrangement direction of the photoelectric conversion element electrically insulates the photoelectric conversion element from an element region outside the groove. Since the first electrode film and the second electrode film in the outer element region are electrically short-circuited, even if the outer element region is irradiated with light, no photoelectromotive force is output, and the outer element region is not output. No area corrosion occurs. As a result, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the inner photoelectric conversion element with a simple structure, and thus prevent the deterioration of the function of the photovoltaic device.

Further, in the method for manufacturing a photovoltaic device according to the present invention, the formation of the groove and the electrical short circuit between the first electrode film and the second electrode film in the outer element region are performed by irradiation with an energy beam. It is possible to prevent functional deterioration of the photovoltaic device due to corrosion of the outer element region without requiring complicated steps.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Substrate 2a-2c First electrode film 2e, 2f First electrode region 3 First groove 4 Second groove 8a-8c Semiconductor film 8e, 8f Semiconductor region 9a-9c First electrode film 9e, 9f First electrode region 10a- 10c Photoelectric conversion element 12 Third groove 13 Fourth groove 14e, 14f Outer element region

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A photovoltaic device in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each including a laminated body of a first electrode film, a semiconductor film, and a second electrode film are arranged on an insulating surface of a substrate, and these elements are electrically connected in series. In, while electrically insulating the photoelectric conversion element from the element region outside the groove by the groove provided inside the end portion of the substrate along the arrangement direction of the photoelectric conversion element, A photovoltaic device, wherein the first electrode film and the second electrode film in the element region are electrically short-circuited. 2. A photovoltaic device in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each including a laminated body of a first electrode film, a semiconductor film, and a second electrode film are arranged on an insulating surface of a substrate, and these elements are electrically connected in series. In the manufacturing method of, a groove is formed by irradiating an energy beam inward of an end portion of the substrate along the arrangement direction of the photoelectric conversion element, and the photoelectric conversion element is electrically connected to an element region outside the groove. A method for manufacturing a photovoltaic device, characterized in that the first electrode film and the second electrode film in the outer element region are electrically short-circuited while being insulated from each other by irradiation with an energy beam.