JPH1012901A - Method and device for removing short-circuiting part of solar battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To apply the reverse direction voltage of not more than withstand voltage when a short-circuiting part occurs between substrate-side electrodes and back-side electrodes, which sandwich semiconductor layers, and to remove or oxidize the short-circuiting part with Joule's heat generated at that time. SOLUTION: When the short-circuiting part of a solar battery 10 constituted of one or plural solar battery cells 6a, 6b... where the first electrode layers 2a, 2b..., the semiconductor layers 5a, 5b... and second electrode layers 3a, 3b... are sequentially formed on an insulating substrate 1 is removed by the method that the temperature of the solar battery cells 6a, 6b... is set to be 15 deg.C or below and the voltage of not more than withstand voltage is applied to the positive and negative adjacent poles of the solar battery cells 6a, 6b....

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for removing a short-circuit portion of a solar cell, particularly an amorphous solar cell, and more particularly, to a substrate-side electrode and a back-side electrode sandwiching a power generation layer. The present invention relates to a method and a device for applying a reverse voltage equal to or lower than the withstand voltage when a short-circuit portion is generated between the electrodes and removing or oxidizing the short-circuit portion by Joule heat generated at that time and insulating the same.

[0002]

Generally, an amorphous solar cell has a structure in which a transparent electrode, a semiconductor layer, and a metal electrode are sequentially laminated and formed on a glass substrate and patterned to integrate a plurality of solar cells. It has been. The transparent electrode, semiconductor layer, and metal electrode that make up an amorphous solar cell are all thin films, and in particular, the thickness of the semiconductor layer is in the order of nanometers. There is. As described above, when a pinhole, a dent, or the like occurs in the semiconductor layer, conduction between the transparent electrode and the metal electrode occurs at that location, a short circuit occurs between the two electrodes, and the output of the solar cell is significantly reduced. Therefore, conventionally, various methods have been adopted as a method of eliminating a defect due to a short circuit between the electrode on the substrate side and the electrode on the back side of the amorphous solar cell.

One of them is as shown in FIG. 1, in which probes 4 and 4 are brought into contact between an electrode 3c having the same potential as the electrode 2b on the substrate 1 and an electrode 3b on the back side, and interposed therebetween. p
This is a method in which a bias voltage is applied in the reverse direction to the electromotive force semiconductor layer 5b such as an in-junction (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-41).
081, JP-A-63-307782, JP-A-3-2
No. 3677). By doing so, current concentrates on the short-circuited portion (hereinafter referred to as a pinhole), and as a result, Joule heat is generated and the metal of the short-circuited portion is oxidized to become an insulating layer. By scattering the metal in that portion, the defect in the pinhole can be eliminated.

[0004] However, this method is inexpensive and simple in terms of cost, but the pinhole portion is oxidized or scattered by Joule heat, so that the short-circuit portion is insulated. Depending on the value and other conditions,
Scattering conditions did not always create an insulating condition. For example, while the power generation layer which is the sandwiched semiconductor layer 5b is scattered, the back metal 3b remains, and as a result, the back metal 3b comes into contact with the electrode 2b on the substrate 1 side, and still remains in a short-circuit state. Was often seen. Furthermore, in the process of applying a voltage to oxidize or scatter the pinhole portion by Joule heat, a voltage higher than the withstand voltage may be applied, and the element of the solar cell may be destroyed. In the integrated portion, the amorphous semiconductor layer 5 which is originally a power generation layer is formed at the end face portion.
Since the transparent electrode 2b is sandwiched between the transparent electrode 2b and the back surface electrode 3b, a discharge occurs even though the back electrode 3b is insulated, and the integrated portion may be scattered by heat at that time. At this time, there was also a disadvantage that the scattering was biased only to the power generation layer, and the short circuit between the transparent electrode 2b and the back electrode 3b was further increased.

The second short-circuit removing method is a method of finding a minute short-circuit from the upper part of the cell and irradiating the portion with a laser using a laser beam to heat and scatter the pinhole. . In this method, the laser generator used to remove the pinhole portion is expensive, and the device for detecting the portion of the pinhole is expensive, leading to an increase in the cost of the solar cell. There was a problem.

A third method of removing a short-circuit portion is to fill a pinhole portion in advance using a resist. In this method, after depositing an amorphous layer, a resist is applied, and then the resist is cured using light passing only through the pinhole portion, and an insulating layer is created only in the pinhole portion. is there. Thereafter, the unreacted portion of the applied resist film is removed by a remover, and after washing and drying, a backside metal layer is deposited to manufacture a solar cell without a short-circuit portion.

In this method using a resist, there is a so-called wet process such as a developing process or a removing process of the resist before depositing the back metal layer. There is a disadvantage that it is difficult to make a good ohmic junction. In addition, there is a problem that the number of steps is increased, which leads to an increase in the cost of the solar cell.

The inventors of the present invention have the first method which is inexpensive in terms of cost and can be easily processed as a method of removing a short-circuit portion, that is, applying a reverse bias voltage between electrodes constituting a solar cell. A method was adopted and the method was improved. According to this method, as described above, the pinhole portion is completely oxidized or scattered by Joule heat depending on the application time of the bias voltage and the value of the applied voltage, thereby eliminating the conductive portion and creating an insulating state. is there. However, according to this method, as described above, depending on the application time of the reverse bias voltage and the value of the applied voltage, the short-circuited portion is not completely oxidized or scattered by Joule heat, and instead, the short-circuited portion is enlarged. There was fear.

The inventors of the present invention have conducted intensive studies and studies to solve these problems, and as a result, have invented a method and an apparatus for removing a short-circuited portion of a solar cell according to the present invention.

[0010]

The gist of the method for removing a short-circuit portion of a solar cell according to the present invention is that a first electrode layer, a semiconductor layer, and a second electrode layer are sequentially formed on an insulating substrate. In the method for removing a short-circuit portion of a solar cell including one or a plurality of solar cells, at least the temperature of the solar cell is set to 1
An object of the present invention is to apply a voltage lower than the withstand voltage in the opposite direction to both the positive and negative electrodes adjacent to the solar cell while keeping the temperature at 5 ° C. or lower.

Further, in such a method for removing a short-circuit portion of a solar cell, the present invention is characterized in that at least the solar cell is cooled while being covered with a dry gas or a dehumidified gas.

[0012] Next, the gist of the solar cell short-circuit removing device according to the present invention is that one or more of a first electrode layer, a semiconductor layer, and a second electrode layer are sequentially formed on an insulating substrate. In a solar cell comprising a solar cell, a voltage less than the withstand voltage is applied in the opposite direction to both the positive and negative electrodes adjacent to the solar cell, and the solar cell short-circuit part removing device removes the short-circuit part. Another object of the present invention is to have a temperature control means for maintaining the temperature of the battery cell at a predetermined temperature.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The method and apparatus for removing a short-circuited portion of a solar cell according to the present invention reduce the temperature of a solar cell, particularly at least the solar cell whose removal is to be short-circuited, when performing a reverse bias voltage application process. The resistance of the metal at the electrode portion was reduced at a rate obtained by multiplying the temperature coefficient of resistance by the reduced temperature, thereby enabling an increase in the amount of current. It is thought that this allows more current to flow at a voltage lower than the withstand voltage, and at the same time, when the brittleness of the metal increases, not only the power generation layer but also the metal part is scattered at the same time,
Short circuit due to sagging of the metal on the back electrode is eliminated.

Further, in the method and apparatus for removing a short-circuited portion of a solar cell according to the present invention, since the temperature of the solar cell is lowered, dew condensation easily occurs on the surface of the solar cell. When dew condensation occurs, a current path may be newly formed, and as a result, the amount of current that originally passes through the pinhole portion may be reduced. In this case, the pinhole portion is scattered or insulated. You will not be able to do it.
For this reason, when lowering the temperature of the solar cell, the surface of the solar cell where at least the short circuit portion is to be removed is subjected to dehumidification, dehumidification, and so on so as not to become a saturated vapor at a cooling temperature of a dry gas or a dehumidified gas. By spraying a dried gas or making the entire atmosphere including the solar cell such a gas, dew condensation can be prevented from occurring on the surface of the solar cell.

Next, embodiments of a method and an apparatus for removing a short-circuited portion of a solar cell according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, as a solar cell to which the present invention is applied, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a solar cell 10 in which a plurality of solar cells 6a, 6b... The solar cell 10 has a plurality of first electrode layers 2a, 2b,..., Semiconductor layers 5a, 5b,... And second electrode layers 3a, 3b,. The plurality of solar cells 6a, 6b... Are integrated.

In the solar cell 10, when a light-transmitting substrate such as a glass substrate or a transparent resin substrate is used as the insulating substrate 1, usually, the first electrode layers 2a, 2b... When metal electrodes are formed as the electrode layers 3a, 3b,..., And when a non-transmissive substrate such as a metal plate is used as the insulating substrate 1, the first electrode layers 2a, 2b
Are formed as metal electrodes, and transparent electrodes are formed as second electrode layers 3a and 3b. These transparent electrodes and metal electrodes are formed from one or more layers by a conventional method, and any known materials are used and are not particularly limited.

The semiconductor layers 5a, 5b are not particularly limited. For example, in the case of an amorphous silicon-based semiconductor layer, amorphous silicon, hydrogenated amorphous silicon, hydrogenated amorphous In addition to silicon carbide and amorphous silicon nitride, amorphous silicon made of an alloy of silicon and another element such as carbon, germanium, and tin is used.
A semiconductor layer having an in-type, nip-type, ni-type, pn-type, MIS-type, heterojunction-type, homojunction-type, Schottky barrier-type, or a combination thereof is used. In addition, the semiconductor layer 18 is not limited to the silicon-based one, and may be a CdS-based, GaAs-based, InP-based, or the like, and is not limited at all.

After the solar cell 10 is formed, as shown in FIG. 2, lead electrodes 12 and 14 are attached to positive and negative electrode portions of the solar cell 10 by solder 16 at both ends of the insulating substrate 1. The extraction electrodes 12 and 14 are made of solder-plated copper foil or the like, and the extraction electrodes 12 and 14 are soldered by, for example, ultrasonic soldering of solder preliminarily soldered to the positive and negative electrode portions of the solar cell 10. The method is carried out by melting, but other methods may be used, and there is no particular limitation. After the extraction electrodes 12 and 14 are attached, the solar cells 6 are sealed before being sealed with a sealing resin to form a module.
a, 6b... are removed.

The removal of the short-circuit portion of the solar cell is performed as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the short-circuit removing device 18 for a solar cell includes a cooling stage 20 on which the solar cell 10 is mounted, and a refrigerator 22 for supplying a refrigerant for cooling the cooling stage 20. , An X (horizontal one axis direction) -Z (vertical direction) robot 24 equipped with probes 4 and 4 for removing short-circuited portions of the solar cell 10, and a dry gas production and supply device (not shown). A drying gas introduction pipe 26 having one or a plurality of holes for introducing a drying gas;
0, an XZ robot 24, and a chamber 28 accommodating a drying gas introduction pipe 26.

Inside the cooling stage 20, a refrigerator 22 is provided.
The cooling stage 20 is provided with a pipe 30 for guiding a refrigerant such as water or an organic solvent cooled to a low temperature, or a refrigerant liquefied from a gas such as nitrogen or air, and performing heat exchange. And it is cooled uniformly.
The cooling stage 20 is provided with a temperature sensor, and the driving of the refrigerator 22 is controlled by the temperature sensor, so that the cooling stage 20 can be maintained at a set substantially constant temperature. Preferably. And, by disposing the solar cell 10 on the cooling stage 20, the solar cell 10 is cooled by heat conduction. The cooling temperature is preferably set to 15 ° C. or lower, preferably 5 ° C. or lower, and more preferably 0 ° C. or lower to facilitate scattering of the metal electrode.

On the other hand, since the moisture contained in the atmosphere is condensed and adheres to the cooled surface of the solar cell 10, it is produced and supplied by a dry gas production and supply device (not shown) in order to prevent dew condensation. The dried gas is supplied through the introduction pipe 26, and the surface of the solar cell 10 is covered. The dry gas is preferably dried or dehumidified or dehumidified to such an extent that it does not become saturated vapor when it contacts the cooled surface of the solar cell 10 and is cooled to that temperature. Therefore, it is preferable to set the degree of drying or the like in accordance with the cooling temperature from the viewpoint of cost and the like. In addition, air, nitrogen, oxygen, and the like can be used as the gas, and are not particularly limited.
Not only can the short-circuit portion be scattered by Joule heat, but it can also be oxidized to make it insulative.In particular, for the purpose of oxidation, it is necessary to appropriately set the mixing ratio of oxygen and nitrogen to promote oxidation. preferable. Note that the mixing ratio depends on the area of the solar cell, the voltage value applied in the reverse direction, and the amount of current, and thus it is preferable to appropriately determine the mixing ratio. The dry gas may be continuously supplied and blown to the surface of the solar cell 10, but the supply of the dry gas may be stopped after the inside of the chamber 28 is substantially replaced with the dry gas. .

Next, the probes 4, 4 to be brought into contact with the second electrode layers 3a, 3b of the individual solar cells 6a, 6b of the solar cell 10 arranged on the cooling stage 20. Is driven by the XZ robot 24. The XZ robot 24 is configured so that the arm 32 to which the probes 4 and 4 are attached can be moved in one horizontal axis direction (lateral direction) and in a vertical direction (vertical direction).
First, the second electrode layers 3 of the solar cells 6a, 6b...
The probes 4, 4 contacted with a, 3b,... are separated from each other in the vertical direction, and then moved on the second electrode layer of the solar cell adjacent in the horizontal direction.
Are brought into contact with the second electrode layer.

In the above-described configuration, the manufactured solar cell 10 has a plurality of solar cells 6a, 6b... Integrated in series, and the first electrode layer (hereinafter referred to as a transparent electrode) of any solar cell 6b. 2b) is a second electrode layer (hereinafter, referred to as a metal electrode) 3c of the adjacent solar cell 6c,
The semiconductor layers 5b and 5c are electrically connected by a scribe line 18 separating the semiconductor layers 5c. Therefore, the transparent electrode 2b of any solar cell 6b has the same potential as the metal electrode 3c of the solar cell 6c adjacent to the solar cell 6b, and the connection of the probes 4, 4 for removing the short-circuit portion is adjacent. This is performed for the metal electrodes 3b and 3c of the two solar cells 6b and 6c. For this reason, first, the solar cell 10 is disposed at a predetermined position of the cooling stage 20 of the short-circuit removing device 18 and is fixed by suction or a clamp, and then the XZ robot 24 is driven.
The probes 4 and 4 are brought into contact with metal electrodes of two adjacent solar cells at the end of the plurality of solar cells 6. At this time, the cooling stage 20 is cooled, the solar cell 10 is cooled to a preset temperature, and the drying gas is introduced into the chamber 28 through the introduction pipe 26.
To prevent condensation on the cooled surface of the solar cell 10.

The probes 4 and 4 are formed of electrically good conductors, and the tips of the probes 4 and 4 have metal electrodes 3a and 3a.
When the probe is brought into contact with the surface of each of the metal electrodes 3a, 3b and the semiconductor layer 5 thereunder,
a, 5b... are not damaged. Therefore, the probes 4 and 4 may be formed of a material having elasticity and flexibility, such as a conductive resin, in addition to copper or gold-plated metal, and is not particularly limited.
In addition, it is preferable that a buffer member or a buffer device such as a spring or a sponge for making the contact pressure of the probes 4 and 4 substantially constant is incorporated in the arm 32 for mounting the individual probes 4 and 4 and guiding the current.

The probes 4 and 4 are disposed so as to be in contact with the surfaces of the metal electrodes 3b and 3c of the adjacent solar cells 6b and 6c, respectively. The probes 4 and 4 have the solar cells 6b and 6c, respectively. A voltage is applied to both the positive and negative poles in the opposite direction, that is, in the direction opposite to the bias voltage application direction. This will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.
The transparent electrodes 2a, 2b,.
, An amorphous silicon semiconductor is laminated in the order of p, i, n to form semiconductor layers 5a, 5b,..., And further, metal electrodes 3a, 3b,. A description will be given by taking a solar cell 10 in which battery cells 6a, 6b... Are integrated as an example. Any solar cell 6 in this solar cell 10
For b, in order to remove the short-circuit part, first, probe 4
Is brought into contact with the metal electrode 3b in contact with the n-side of the solar cell 6b, and the probe 4 is brought into contact with the metal electrode 3c of the adjacent solar cell 6c having the same potential as the transparent electrode 2b in contact with the p-side. Then, a voltage in a direction opposite to the pin is applied.

At this time, since the solar cell 10 is cooled by the cooling stage 20, the metal electrodes 3b, 3c
Further, the electric resistance of the transparent electrode 2b becomes lower than usual, and the voltage drop can be minimized. The surface of the cooled solar cell 6 is covered with a dry gas,
Since no dew condensation occurs, the applied current does not flow to other than the pinhole portion. Therefore, it is easy to control the voltage applied to the probes 4 and 4, and the element is destroyed due to an excessive electric field applied to the insulating part, particularly the integrated part, of the solar cell 6, or the element itself has a reverse voltage higher than the withstand voltage. By taking
The element is not destroyed.

In the above, one embodiment of the method and the apparatus for removing the short-circuited portion of the solar cell according to the present invention has been described in detail.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the drying (dehumidification / dehumidification) gas is blown into the chamber 28, but the chamber 28 is removed and the drying (dehumidification / dehumidification) is performed.
(Dehumidification) gas may be blown to the surface of the solar cell 10. Furthermore, it is also possible to use a blower or the like to blow air to the surface of the solar cell to blow off the vapor that is condensed without using a drying (dehumidifying / dehumidifying) gas.

It is also possible to cool the solar cell by blowing cooled air or other gas onto the solar cell without using the cooling stage, and to prevent the dew condensation from occurring on the surface of the solar cell. .

Next, the voltage applied through the application member may be either DC or AC, and the DC voltage may be applied in the form of a pulse, and the pulse interval is not particularly limited. Further, although the applied voltage may be constant, the voltage may be increased or decreased continuously or intermittently, or the voltage may be repeatedly increased and decreased. Conditions such as the applied voltage, the magnitude of the current, and the presence or absence of a pulse are determined by the solar cell.

In addition, the integration method and structure of the solar cell are not limited to the above-described embodiment.
The present invention can be implemented in various modified, modified, and modified modes based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0033]

Example 1 First, an amorphous solar cell to which the present invention was applied was manufactured. As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate size is 400 mm
Thermal CVD on a glass substrate 1 having a size of 300 mm and a thickness of 4 mm
After forming the transparent conductive film layer (2) by the method, using a second harmonic of a YAG laser having a wavelength of 0.53 μm,
The transparent conductive film layer (2) is scribed from the glass substrate side, and electrically separated into strips to form transparent electrodes 2a, 2b.
Was prepared. Thereafter, ultrasonic cleaning is performed with pure water, and the substrate temperature is set to 20 on the surface on which the transparent electrodes 2a, 2b.
At 0 ° C. and a reaction pressure of 0.5 Torr to 1.0 Torr, a mixed gas of monosilane, methane and diborane, a mixed gas of monosilane and hydrogen, and a mixed gas of monosilane, hydrogen and phosphine were added in this order. The film (5) of a P-type, I-type, and N-type amorphous semiconductor layer was formed by decomposition in a capacitively coupled glow discharge decomposition device. Then, the second harmonic of the YAG laser having a wavelength of 0.53 μm is incident from the glass surface side at a position slightly shifted from the scribe line by the laser so as not to damage the transparent electrodes 2a, 2b. After separation, the amorphous semiconductor layers 5a, 5b... Were formed. Subsequently, aluminum is formed as a metal layer (3) on the surface side of the amorphous semiconductor layers 5a, 5b.
m, the metal layer (3) is set to a wavelength of 0.53 μm
Electrode 2 using the second harmonic of the YAG laser
The scribe lines of the amorphous semiconductor layers 5a, 5b... are slightly separated from the scribe lines of the amorphous semiconductor layers 5a, 5b. By forming..., An integrated amorphous silicon solar cell 10 was produced.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Positive and negative extraction electrodes 12 and 14 were provided at both ends of 0. The extraction electrodes 12 and 14 are made of solder-plated copper foil, and are bonded to the glass substrate 1 by ultrasonic soldering with the solder 16 preliminarily soldered.

The solar cell manufactured in this way is an integrated one of a plurality of solar cells, and the individual solar cells are hereinafter referred to as unit cells 6a, 6b... As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the potential of one unit cell 6b in two adjacent unit cells 6b, 6c is the potential of metal electrode 3b in contact with the n-side of the pin junction, and the potential of the other unit cell 6c. Is the same as the potential of the transparent electrode 2b in contact with the p-side. Therefore, in order to apply a voltage in the opposite direction, (+) is applied to the metal electrode 3b in contact with the n-side, and the metal electrode 3 having the same potential as the transparent electrode 2b.
A voltage of (-) is applied to c.

The solar cell 10 manufactured by the above method has a length of 0.75 cm and a width of 38.8 cm.
Of the elongated strip-shaped unit cells 6a, 6b.
Step, integrated structure. Therefore, the solar cell 10 is placed on the aluminum cooling stage 20 of the short-circuit removing device 18 shown in FIG.
8 was put on. The cover 28 was filled with dry nitrogen continuously flowing. Further, a thermocouple was attached on the cooling stage 20 which was in contact with the glass substrate 1 of the solar cell 10, and the substrate temperature was measured. Then, after confirming that the substrate temperature became 5 ° C. or less, the probes 4 and 4 were brought into contact with the metal electrodes 3 and 3 of the adjacent unit cells 6 and 6, respectively, as shown in FIG. A bias voltage was applied in the opposite direction to No. 6 to remove pinholes. A reverse bias was applied to all of the unit cells 6a, 6b,... Of the 40 stages integrated in this manner, and the pinholes of the integrated solar cell were removed. Note that the voltage was applied twice, and a voltage of 6 V was applied at the first time, and a voltage of 8 V was applied at the second time with a rectangular wave of 0.5 seconds each.

First, the outputs of the ten manufactured solar cells 10 were measured as characteristics without performing any processing. The measurement was performed under the condition of 100 mW / cm ² air mass 1.5. The average of the results is shown in Table 1 as an initial value. Next, after the characteristics of the solar cell 10 were restored by the above-described method for removing short-circuit portions, the characteristics were measured. The average of the results is shown in Table 1 as after treatment.

[0038]

[Table 1]

[0039]

Comparative Example 1 The characteristics of ten solar cells 10 manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 were measured without any treatment, and the average value is shown in Table 1 as an initial value. next,
By a conventional method, the characteristics of the solar cell were recovered by applying a reverse bias voltage in a clean room at room temperature of 25 ° C. The characteristics of the obtained solar cell were measured, and the average value was shown in Table 1 as after treatment.

As can be seen from Table 1, in the method for removing short-circuit portions by cooling the solar cell shown in Example 1, the output was improved about 1.33 times the initial value after the treatment. On the other hand, in the conventional method, the characteristics have been recovered only up to the output of 1.16 times.

[0041]

According to the method and the apparatus for removing a short-circuit portion of a solar cell according to the present invention, since the short-circuit portion is removed by cooling the solar cell, the first electrode and the second electrode having a large electric resistance are removed. The voltage drop at the electrode can be reduced,
Easy and stable setting and control of applied voltage,
The short-circuit portion can be removed reliably. Further, by cooling the solar cell, when the semiconductor layer in the pinhole portion is scattered, the second electrode at that position is also easily scattered at the same time, and the removal of the pinhole portion is ensured. As a result, by using this method, the maximum output of the solar cell is significantly improved, and the yield of the solar cell itself can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective explanatory view of a main part showing one embodiment of a method and an apparatus for removing a short-circuited portion of a solar cell according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory views showing an example of a solar cell used in the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is an enlarged front view of a main part, and FIG. 2B is a plan view.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a method and an apparatus for removing a short-circuited portion of a solar cell according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Insulating substrate (glass substrate) 2: First electrode layer (transparent electrode) 3: Second electrode layer (metal electrode) 4: Probe (applying member) 5: Semiconductor layer 6: Solar cell 10: Solar cell 18: Short circuit removal device 20: Cooling stage

Claims (3)

[Claims] A first electrode layer, a semiconductor layer,
In the method for removing a short-circuit portion of a solar cell including one or a plurality of solar cells in which a second electrode layer is sequentially formed, at least the temperature of the solar cell is set to 15 ° C. or less, and the positive and negative adjacent cells of the solar cell are removed. A method for removing a short-circuit portion of a solar cell, comprising applying a voltage equal to or lower than a withstand voltage in opposite directions to both electrodes. 2. The method for removing a short-circuit portion of a solar cell according to claim 1, wherein at least the solar cell is cooled while being covered with a dry gas or a dehumidifying gas. 3. A semiconductor device comprising: a first electrode layer, a semiconductor layer,
In a solar cell including one or a plurality of solar cells in which a second electrode layer is sequentially formed, a voltage lower than a withstand voltage is applied in the opposite direction to both positive and negative electrodes adjacent to the solar cell, thereby forming a short-circuit portion. What is claimed is: 1. A device for removing a short-circuit portion of a solar cell, comprising: a temperature control unit for maintaining a temperature of the solar cell at a predetermined temperature.