KR101638753B1 - Photovoltaic power generation system free of bypass diodes - Google Patents

Abstract

A solar power generation system including a solar panel without a bypass diode is disclosed herein. The solar panel includes a plurality of solar sub-modules, and at least two of the plurality of solar sub-modules are electrically connected in parallel. The photovoltaic submodule comprises a plurality of groups of electrically connected photovoltaic cells, at least two of which are electrically connected in series. The photovoltaic group comprises a plurality of rows of photovoltaic cells, and the row of such photovoltaic cells comprises a plurality of photovoltaic cells electrically connected in series. The heat of the solar cells is electrically connected in parallel, and the solar cells are microsystem-enabled solar cells.

Description

[0001] PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION SYSTEM [0002] FREE OF BYPASS DIODES [

Cross-reference to related application

This application claims priority to United States Patent Application No. 13 / 543,297, filed July 6, 2012 under the name " PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION SYSTEM FREE OF BYPASS DIODES " . The entire contents of this patent application are incorporated herein by reference.

Statement of government investment

The present invention was developed under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000 between Sandia Corporation and the US Department of Energy. The US government has certain rights in the invention.

Technical field

The present invention relates to a solar power generation system without a bypass diode.

The environmental concerns associated with the non-regenerative nature of fossil fuels and their use in generating electricity for fossil fuels are increasing the need for alternative energy sources. Exemplary power systems utilizing renewable energy include, among others, solar thermal power generation systems, wind power generation systems, hydroelectric power generation systems, and geothermal power generation systems.

A conventional solar power generation system, and in particular a solar power generation system used to provide power to a house, includes a solar panel (not shown) comprising a plurality of relatively large silicon photovoltaic cells (e.g., approximately 6 inches by 6 inches) solar panel). For example, one solar panel can include approximately 72 cells. A solar cell is manufactured to output an approximately constant specific voltage (for example, 0.6 volts for a silicon cell) irrespective of the amount of solar radiation of a specific wavelength incident on the solar cell, And are electrically connected in series within the solar panel to produce a bolt. Typical residential solar systems include several solar panels (for example, 5 to 10), and the solar panels are electrically connected in series so that hundreds of the cells are electrically connected in series, And outputs approximately the same voltage as a whole. However, it should be noted that when the solar cell and the solar cell array are electrically arranged in series, the current must be the same across each solar cell in each solar cell plate.

Since the current of the photovoltaic cell is proportional to the light incident on the battery, if one of the series-connected cells receives a low light level, the entire series connection has a low current. Thus, a typical solar power system configuration, including several solar panels, can be used to reduce the amount of current (and power output) that a battery or a portion of the battery has, for example, shading, Reduction). Often, when a solar power generation system is installed in a house or other building, a tree or other obstacle may be located nearby, thus shading of at least a portion of the module may occur frequently.

In the case where the shading occurs in a specific pattern over the solar power generation system, the solar cell can be seriously damaged if a protective electrical device is not available. For example, when one solar cell is shielded by an obstruction and all other cells in the solar power generation system are illuminated, one solar cell is subjected to a reverse breakdown . For solar power plants, the battery current is approximately 5 amps, and the silicon battery has a breakdown voltage of approximately 60 volts or greater, depending on the battery design and fabrication technique used to fabricate the battery. Relatively large current (5 amperes) and relatively large power (100 watts or more) cause malfunctions in the device short-circuited or open, since breakdown is not a uniform process across large cells, , Malfunctions and permanent damage to the battery panel and / or equipment.

To prevent the photovoltaic cells of the solar power plant from being driven by reverse breakdown, the bypass diode is selectively located across the cell, bypassing the current from the photocurrent free cell to prevent such current from entering the breakdown region . However, the use of bypass diodes wastes space in solar power generation facilities, is relatively expensive, and increases the assembly time of solar panels. Also, since each bypass diode typically protects one third of the cells in the battery board (for example, there are three bypass diodes on the normal battery board), using a bypass diode can result in excessive power production losses have. Thus, when one cell is shaded, the power production from all cells covered by the bypass diode is lost.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a photovoltaic power generation system without a bypass diode.

The following is a brief overview of the subject matter described in greater detail herein. This summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Various techniques related to photovoltaic systems are disclosed herein. In particular, there is disclosed herein a photovoltaic power generation system without any bypass diode. In an exemplary embodiment, the solar power generation system may include at least one solar panel (also referred to as a module) comprising a plurality of photovoltaic sub-modules. Each photovoltaic submodule may have an operating voltage of 50 volts to 2000 volts, preferably 500 volts to 2000 volts, depending on the purpose, and thus the multiple panel assemblies may be arranged electrically in parallel. The nominal operating voltage of a solar panel is generally in the range of 200 volts to 500 volts, which is practically optimal for a typical commercial inverter due to a modern limit of 600 volts in the United States, but the appended claims are not limited by such limitation Do not. Further, in an exemplary embodiment, the photovoltaic submodule is less than 30 cm wide and less than 30 cm long, but submodules of other sizes may be considered. The parallel arrangement of the photovoltaic submodules in the solar panel facilitates prevention of dissipation of a relatively large amount of power across one of the one submodule when a particular submodule or set of submodules is shaded .

In another embodiment, each photovoltaic submodule may comprise a plurality of groups of connected solar panels, each group being configured to output 2 volts to 3 volts, at least one subset of the groups being connected in series And is electrically connected. Each group of connected cells in a solar module can include a plurality of strings of solar cells, and the rows of such solar cells are electrically connected in parallel. Each row of photovoltaic cells may comprise a plurality of photovoltaic cells electrically connected in series. The serial / parallel / serial / parallel arrangement of such photovoltaic cells in a solar module allows a relatively large amount of photovoltaic cells (for example, photovoltaic cells) Thereby facilitating preventing the current from being driven.

According to one example, the solar cell used to construct the solar panel may be a microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cell configured to have an operating voltage of 0.3 volts to 2.0 volts. Due to the relatively large number of cells (e.g., more than 30,000 cells) that can be included in a given solar panel, the amount of power that can be dissipated across a single cell for nearly all the potential shading patterns of the solar panel, Does not damage any given battery even if it is operating with reverse surge. Thus, the solar panel disclosed herein need not include a conventionally used bypass diode to ensure that one or more of the cells in the solar panel is not damaged when the battery is operating in reverse-surge. This is because the power dissipation across such a battery does not exceed the limit of damage to the battery even if one battery is in a breakdown state in the solar panel disclosed in this specification. That is, since the amount of current that can be directed to any battery in the solar panel is relatively small, the battery can continue to operate indefinitely with reverse surge without being damaged.

As described above, the photovoltaic cell in the solar panel may be a battery usable in a microsystem. According to an example, such a battery may be a III-V battery such as a gallium arsenide battery, an indium gallium phosphide battery or an indium gallium arsenide battery. In another exemplary embodiment, the photovoltaic cell may comprise a silicon cell. In yet another embodiment, the photovoltaic cell may comprise a germanium photovoltaic cell. According to yet another exemplary embodiment, the solar panel may comprise a multi-junction solar cell, wherein each multi-junction solar cell comprises a plurality of solar cells with different band gaps, Battery. According to an example, each photovoltaic cell in a multi-junction photovoltaic cell can be electrically connected in series so that the operating voltage of the multi-junction photovoltaic cell is connected to a photovoltaic cell Is equal to the sum of the operating voltages. In another exemplary embodiment, the individual types of photovoltaic cells may be selectively arranged in series and in parallel, and a plurality of photovoltaic cells arranged in series may vary depending on the desired output or the intermediate voltage.

Other aspects will become apparent when reading and understanding the accompanying drawings and description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a view showing an exemplary solar panel including a plurality of solar sub-modules, Fig.
Figure 2 shows an exemplary photovoltaic submodule comprising a plurality of photovoltaic groups of electrically connected photovoltaic cells,
3 is a diagram showing an exemplary solar light group of a cell comprising a plurality of rows of solar cells,
Figure 4 shows another exemplary solar panel comprising a plurality of photovoltaic submodules self-contained in each of a plurality of groups of electrically connected photovoltaic cells,
Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary multi-junction microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cell;
6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary method for constructing a solar panel that does not include a bypass diode,
7 illustrates an exemplary method for constructing a solar panel that does not include a bypass diode;

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a photovoltaic system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. Also, as used herein, the word "exemplary" is intended to mean serving as an illustration or example of something, and is not intended to represent any preference.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary solar panel 100 is shown without any bypass diodes. In an exemplary embodiment, the solar panel 100 may have a length of 1 m to 2 m and a width of 1/2 m to 3/2 m. In addition, the solar panel 100 may be configured to output 200 to 300 volts, but in other embodiments, the solar panel 100 may be configured to output up to 2000 volts. Depending on the purpose, preferably, the solar panel 100 may be configured to output 200 volts to 600 volts. According to a specific example, the solar panel 100 may be configured to output 240 volts. However, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the amount of voltage that can be output by the solar panel 100 may vary depending on the application in which the solar panel 100 is used and may range from 200 volts to 300 volts Lt; / RTI >

The solar panel 100 includes a plurality of solar submodules 102 to 148. Although the solar panel 100 is shown as including 24 solar submodules, it is possible to use not only the amount of space available for installing the solar panel 100, but also the application in which the solar panel 100 is used, It is to be understood that the solar panel 100 may include more or less solar submodules, depending on the arrangement of the solar submodules 102 - 148 within the solar cell submodule 102 - 148.

In an exemplary embodiment, the photovoltaic submodules 102 to 148 may be electrically connected in parallel with each other. Thus, each of the photovoltaic submodules can output approximately the same voltage (e.g., 200 volts to 600 volts). In another exemplary embodiment, rather than each of the solar submodules 102 - 148 being electrically connected in parallel, at least one subset of the solar submodules 102 - 148 may be connected to the power management integrated circuit And such an integrated circuit may be configured to output a desired voltage and / or current level resulting from power produced from a subset of photovoltaic submodules 102-148 electrically connected thereto. For example, the solar panel 100 may include one integrated circuit directly connected to each of the solar submodules 102 - 148. Then, the power management integrated circuit can make the final amount of power to be output by the solar panel 100 a predetermined level (voltage and current). In another exemplary embodiment, a subset of the photovoltaic submodules may be connected in parallel, and such subset may be connected to the power management integrated circuit. For example, a first subset of the photovoltaic submodules may include solar submodules 102, 104, 106, 108 that can be electrically connected in parallel. Similarly, a second subset of the photovoltaic submodules may include solar submodules 110, 112, 114, 116 that can be electrically connected in parallel. The first subset and the second subset of the photovoltaic submodules may then be connected to an integrated circuit which performs power management so that the desired amount of power is output by the solar panel 100. Other configurations may also be considered, and such configurations are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

The parallel arrangement of at least some of the photovoltaic submodules 102 to 148 in the solar panel 100 is such that any one or more photovoltaic modules Or the battery therein) is effectively damaged. At least some of the solar submodules 102 to 148 are arranged in an electrically parallel manner so that there is no need for current matching between the modules when at least one of the solar submodules 102 to 148 is shaded. This effectively reduces the amount of power that can be dissipated across any one of the sub-modules of the photovoltaic sub-module, thereby reducing damage to such sub-module when at least a portion of the photovoltaic sub- Reduce the risk.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an exemplary photovoltaic submodule 200 that may be included in the solar panel 100 is shown. According to one example, the size of the solar sub-module 200 may be 10 cm to 30 cm in length and 10 cm to 30 cm in width. The photovoltaic submodule 200 includes a plurality of groups 202-240 of electrically connected photovoltaic cells, and the groups 202-240 are electrically connected in series. Although the photovoltaic submodule 200 is shown as including twenty groups, the number and arrangement of groups within the photovoltaic submodule 200 is dependent on the desired power output by the photovoltaic submodule 200 It should be understood that it may vary. Also, while the photovoltaic sub-module 200 is shown as being a definable physical sub-element of the solar panel, the photovoltaic submodule can be defined by the circuit used to connect the cells in the solar panel And all of these configurations are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

According to one example, the photovoltaic submodule 200 may include approximately 100 groups, each group configured to output a constant voltage, for example approximately 2.4 volts. In this example, the desired output of the photovoltaic submodule 200 is approximately 240 volts. Also, as illustrated herein, some of the groups may be connected in parallel. For example, the photovoltaic submodule 200 may comprise a first plurality of groups connected in series and a second plurality of groups connected in series, wherein the first plurality of groups and the second plurality of groups may be arranged in parallel Respectively.

In the example described above, each group 202-240 is configured to output approximately 2.4 volts. Even when a subset of the groups 202-240 in the photovoltaic submodule 200 are shielded, the voltage output is relatively low and the current through the groups 202-240 is relatively small (on the order of milliamperes) Even though each cell is operating with a reverse breakdown, power that is not sufficient to damage these groups 202-240 (or the cells therein) dissipates across the groups 202-240. Thus, the photovoltaic submodule 200 need not include any bypass diodes connected to any of the groups 202-240.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown an exemplary group 300 that may be included as one of the groups 202-240 in the photovoltaic sub-module 200. FIG. The group 300 includes a plurality of solar cells 302 to 332. Microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells can have a size less than 2 cm in height and less than 2 cm in width. In one example, the solar cells 302 to 332 are micro-system-based solar cells, which are relatively thin (1.0 to 50 μm thick) solar cells (width 50 to 10 mm wide) formed using the concept of microfabrication, And may be an available solar cell. In another example, the photovoltaic cell may be 2 cm long x 2 cm wide or less. For example, the following references, which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose the formation of solar modules comprising a plurality of solar cells using microfabrication techniques: Nielson et al., " Microscale C-SI (C) PV Cells for Low-Cost Power "(34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, June 7-10 2009, Philadelphia, PA, 978-1-4244- 2950/90) and Nelson et al., "Microscale PV Cells for Concentrated PV Applications" (24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, September 21-25, 2009, Hamburg, Germany 3-936338 -25-6). In summary, this reference discloses one sun and condensing system with an integrated micro-optical lens and also uses epitaxial lift-off on silicon (Si) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 10%. ≪ / RTI >

Accordingly, the photovoltaic cells 302 to 332 may be Si battery, GaAs battery and / or phosphor (indium) gallium (InGaP) battery. Therefore, at least one of the photovoltaic cells 302 to 332 may be a III-V photovoltaic cell. Additionally or alternatively, the photovoltaic cells 302 to 332 may comprise at least one germanium (Ge) photovoltaic cell. Furthermore, the photovoltaic cells 302 to 332 may be multi-junction cells comprising layers of different types of photovoltaic cells having different band gaps, or may be included in a multi-junction cell. Heterogeneously integrating (e.g., vertical stacking) of different cell types for the dielectric layer therebetween can produce a high performance multi-junction cell wherein the designer of the solar cell panel is a monolithic cell, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > lattice < / RTI >

In an exemplary embodiment, each of the photovoltaic cells 302 to 332 may be a multi-junction cell, and for each multi-junction cell, the layers are integrally connected. This effectively forms the heat of a solar cell electrically connected in series in a relatively small space. In another exemplary embodiment, as shown herein, the cells in the multi-junction cell may not be integrally connected. In yet another exemplary embodiment, the solar cells 302 to 332 may be of the same type (silicon). Other configurations of photovoltaic cells may also be considered.

In an exemplary embodiment, the submodule 300 includes a first row 334 of photovoltaic cells, a second row 336 of photovoltaic cells, a third row 338 of photovoltaic cells, And a fourth column 340. The first row 334 of photovoltaic cells includes photovoltaic cells 302 to 308 that are electrically connected in series. Similarly, the second row 336 of photovoltaic cells includes photovoltaic cells 310 to 316 that are electrically connected in series. The third row 338 of the photovoltaic cell includes solar cells 318 through 324 that are electrically connected in series and the fourth column 340 of the photovoltaic cells includes the series connected photovoltaic cells 326, 332). The first row 334 of solar cells, the second row 336 of photovoltaic cells, the third row 338 of photovoltaic cells and the fourth row 340 of solar cells are electrically connected in parallel.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, different types of solar cells have different operating voltages. For example, if the photovoltaic cells 302 to 332 are Ge cells, the operating voltage may be approximately 0.3 volts. If the solar cells 302 to 332 are Si cells, the operating voltage may be approximately 0.6 volts. If the solar cells 302 to 332 are GaAs batteries, the operating voltage may be approximately 0.9 volts, and if the solar cells 302 to 332 are InGaP batteries, the operating voltage may be approximately 1.3 volts. According to an example, the solar cells 302 to 332 may be Si batteries. In this example, each row 334 to 340 of the photovoltaic cell outputs approximately 2.4 volts (common voltage), and thus the output of group 300 is approximately 2.4 volts. In this case, columns 334, 336, 338, 340 have a different number of cells for different cell types to approximate a common voltage. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, the first row 334 of the photovoltaic cells may comprise eight germanium cells (8 x 0.3 = 2.4), and the second row 336 of the photovoltaic cells may comprise The third row 338 of the photovoltaic cell may comprise three GaAs cells (3 x 0.9 = 2.7), and the third row 338 of photovoltaic cells may comprise three solar cells (3 x 0.9 = 2.7) The fourth column 340 may include two InGaP cells (2 x 1.3 = 2.6). Some voltage mismatching is acceptable and, if desired, a greater number of cells and higher voltages may be used to provide more accurate voltage matching. In another embodiment as previously described, the power management circuit can be used to independently boost the voltage generated by the series connection of different battery types to a common voltage. If the desired output of the solar panel 100 is approximately 240 volts, the photovoltaic submodule 200 may comprise 100 groups 300 electrically connected in series. Therefore, each of the sub modules 102 to 148 in the solar panel 100 outputs approximately 240 volts, and accordingly, the output of the solar panel 100 is approximately 240 volts.

Using this example, the solar panel 100 includes 38,400 cells. When the entire solar panel 100 is dimmed, the photovoltaic cells 302 to 332 in each group generate 4 milliwatts of power. For microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells, a power on the order of 100 milliwatts across one cell will not cause damage, even if such a cell is operating with reverse surge. Due to the serial / parallel / serial / parallel selective arrangement of photovoltaic cells, submodules and modules in a solar panel as disclosed herein, power exceeding 100 milliwatts can occur across a single cell There are few. Given such an exemplary arrangement and using a microsystem-enabled solar cell, even if a part of the solar panel is shielded, the individual cell will not be damaged, so that the solar panel made of the above- It is very obvious that there is no pass diode.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown an exemplary photovoltaic submodule 400 that may be included as one of the photovoltaic submodules 102 - 148 in the solar cell 100. In one example, the solar sub-module 400 may include a plurality of multi-junction solar cells, such that each multi-junction solar cell includes a plurality of solar cells. As described above, each multi-junction solar cell may include a Si photovoltaic cell and a III-V photovoltaic cell. In a more specific example, each multi-junction solar cell may comprise a Ge solar cell, a Si solar cell, a GaAs solar cell, and an InGaP solar cell.

The exemplary photovoltaic submodule 400 includes 72 multi-junction photovoltaic cells, each of which includes a Ge cell, a Si cell, a GaAs cell, and an InGaP cell. Although these different cells are shown disposed adjacent to each other, such an arrangement is for illustrative purposes. As shown above, the cells in the multi-junction cell are stacked on top of each other. In another exemplary embodiment, the cells may be arranged in a side-by-side configuration (e.g., where a spectral diffusion optic is used).

The solar module 400 includes a different number of each cell type (forming heat) connected in series to reach a similar medium (high) voltage. These columns can be connected in parallel to effectively add current. In one example, the desired intermediate voltage output by the solar module 400 may be approximately 10 volts. As described above, the Ge cell may have an operating voltage of approximately 0.3 volts, the Si cell may have an operating voltage of approximately 0.6 volts, the GaAs cell may have an operating voltage of approximately 0.9 volts, And can have an operating voltage of approximately 1.3 volts. Thus, the photovoltaic submodule 400 may include a first column 402 of Ge cells and a second column 404 of Ge cells, each of which includes 36 cells electrically connected in series. Thus, the first column 402 of the Ge cell and the second column 404 of the Ge cell each output approximately 10.8 volts.

The exemplary solar submodule 400 also includes a first row 406 of Si cells, a second row 408 of Si cells, a third row 410 of Si cells and a fourth row 412 of Si cells ). Each of the rows 406-412 of the Si cells may comprise eighteen cells electrically connected in series so that each column outputs approximately 10.8 volts.

Furthermore, the submodule 400 includes a first row 414 of GaAs cells, a second row 416 of GaAs cells, a third row 418 of GaAs cells, a fourth row 420 of GaAs cells, And a sixth column 424 of the GaAs battery. Each row 414-424 of the GaAs cell may include twelve cells electrically connected in series so that each row of the GaAs cell outputs approximately 10.8 volts.

In addition, submodule 400 includes a first column 426 of InGaP cells, a second column 428 of InGaP cells, a third column 430 of InGaP cells, a fourth column 432 of InGaP cells, The fifth column 434 of the InGaP cell, the sixth column 436 of the InGaP cell, the seventh column 438 of the InGaP cell, the eighth column 440 of the InGaP cell and the ninth column 442 of the InGaP cell can do. Each of the rows 426 to 442 of the InGaP cell may comprise eight cells electrically connected in series, so that each row of the InGaP cell outputs approximately 10.4 volts.

From the above it can be seen that the intermediate operating voltage for each row of cells can be approximately 10 volts. It may also be noted that the voltages output by the different battery types are not the same, so that the voltage output by the submodule 400 is the lowest voltage output by the heat of the battery.

Because only one type of battery is initially connected in series, the power output from the other battery in the submodule 400 is a spectral shift that causes output degradation of one type of battery to another type of battery shift). For example, a 10% reduction in current from one battery type results in a reduction in the array current from 1% to 4.3%, as the solar input to the battery decreases. Thus, the submodule 400 may be less sensitive to reduced output power from a spectral shift that affects the reaction of the cell type in an unequal manner, as compared to conventional solar modules.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the solar panel 100 includes, although not shown, the voltage output by the solar panel 100 from the DC to the AC, which is desired by the consumer of the power produced by the solar panel 100, To the inverter. Further, although not shown, the solar panel 100 may include micro-concentrating optics configured to focus the light from the sun onto the photovoltaic cells in the solar panel. In another exemplary embodiment, rather than attempting precise voltage matching between battery types, microelectronics may be used to ensure that the intermediate voltage is at a desired level (the voltage output by each module 102 to 148) Can be used. Therefore, the photovoltaic submodule or group may include one or more DC-DC converters (with micropower tracking electronics) that make the intermediate output voltage approximately equal and dynamically adjustable. The solar group may also include a micro-inverter that converts the DC voltage output by the battery or array of cells to an AC voltage. Since the individual cells in the solar panel 100 are relatively small in size, there is sufficient space between the cells, submodules, or groups to add various microelectronic devices for boost conversion and power tracking.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an incision view of an exemplary heterogeneous (bi-monolithic) integrated multi-junction photovoltaic cell 500 is shown. The multi-junction solar cell 500 includes a plurality of solar cells: the InGaP cell 508 first receives light from the sun; GaAs cell 506 immediately adjacent to InGaP cell 508; The Si battery 504 is immediately adjacent to the GaAs battery 506 and the Ge cell 502 is immediately adjacent to the Si battery 504. [ It is to be understood that other configurations may be contemplated by the inventors, and such configurations are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.

Exemplary embodiments in which the solar panel 100 is advantageously utilized include any facility that is at least partially shieldable. For example, the rooftops of buildings with trees nearby, intermittent cloud cover areas, and areas close to air traffic. Further, the features described herein are also applicable to a solar panel 100, a portion thereof, or an entire facility, which is flexible, curved, compliant or other non-planar type equipment in such a manner that at least a part of the solar panel 100 is always shielded . In such a facility, the solar panel can output a desired voltage without including a bypass diode.

Referring now to Figures 6 and 7, various exemplary methods are shown and described. Although a method is described as being a sequence of operations performed sequentially, it should be understood that the method is not limited by such a sequence. For example, some operations may occur in an order different from that described herein. Also, one operation may occur simultaneously with another operation. Moreover, in some instances, not necessarily all operations may be necessary to implement the methods disclosed herein.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown an exemplary method 600 that facilitates forming a solar panel without a bypass diode. The method 600 begins at step 602, and at step 604, a plurality of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells are received. In an exemplary embodiment, the microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cell may have anode and cathode contacts on its backside.

In step 606, a plurality of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells are electrically connected to create a photovoltaic submodule, and the photovoltaic submodule has no bypass diode. As discussed above, the relatively small amount of current traveling through the microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells ensures that such cells are not damaged when any individual photovoltaic cells are shaded to operate with reverse breakdown.

In step 608, a plurality of solar sub-modules are electrically connected to produce a solar panel. Because the photovoltaic submodule consists of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells, the solar panel may be free of bypass diodes. However, in an exemplary embodiment, the solar panel may include a power management integrated circuit, which is electrically connected to the solar sub-module in the solar panel, and at least the voltage output by each solar sub- Power can be output based on partly. In another embodiment, the power management integrated circuit may be arranged in a connection relationship with the group such that the heat of the solar cell is electrically connected to the power management integrated circuit, and the output of the submodule is connected to each group connected to the integrated circuit Based on the voltage output by the inverter. The method 600 ends at step 610. [

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown another exemplary method 700 for creating a solar panel without a bypass diode. The method 700 begins at step 702, and at step 704, a plurality of photovoltaic submodules are received.

In step 706, the solar modules are electrically connected to create a solar panel, at least one subset of the solar submodules are electrically connected in parallel, and the solar panel has no bypass diode. The method 700 ends at step 708. [

Note that several examples are provided for illustrative purposes. These examples are not to be construed as limiting the appended claims. It is also to be understood that the examples provided herein may be interchanged within the scope of the claims.

Claims (20)

In the solar sub-module,
Each of the micro-system-available photovoltaic cells in the plurality of micro-system-available photovoltaic cells is at least 2 cm in height and 2 cm in width And the solar sub-module has no bypass diodes
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a first group of micro-system-available photovoltaic cells and a first group of micro-system-available photovoltaic cells, wherein the first group of micro-system- The cells in the second column of the micro-system-available solar cells are electrically connected in series, and the first column and the second column are electrically connected in parallel
Solar submodule. 3. The method of claim 2,
Further comprising a third group of micro-system-available photovoltaic cells and a second group of fourth-rows of micro-system-available photovoltaic cells, wherein the third group of micro-system- The cells in the fourth column of the micro-system-available solar cells are electrically connected in series, the third column and the fourth column are electrically connected in parallel, and the first group is electrically connected in series, And electrically connected in series with the second group
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
Outputting 500 volts to 2000 volts
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a first group,
Wherein the first group comprises:
A first row of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells,
A second column of micro-system-available photovoltaic cells, wherein the cells in the first column of the micro-system-available photovoltaic cells are electrically connected in series and the second columns of the micro-system- The battery being electrically connected in series, the second row,
A power management integrated circuit electrically connected to a first row of the micro-system-available solar cells and a second column of the micro-system-available solar cells,
Wherein the power management integrated circuit outputs a predetermined amount of power based at least in part on a voltage output by the first row of the micro-system-available photovoltaic cells and the second column of the micro-system-available photovoltaic cells, It can also be dynamically adjustable based on external operating conditions or system operating commands.
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
Less than 30 cm in length and less than 30 cm in width
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein at least one of the plurality of photovoltaic cells has both an anode and a cathode contact on the back surface of the at least one solar cell
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the plurality of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells comprise at least one of an InGaP cell or an InGaAs cell
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the plurality of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells comprise a GaAs cell
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the plurality of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells comprise at least one of a Ge cell and a Si cell
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
A plurality of multi-junction cells each include a plurality of solar cells
Solar submodule. The method according to claim 1,
Included in the solar panel
Solar submodule. 13. The method of claim 12,
The solar panel has no bypass diode
Solar submodule. 14. The method of claim 13,
The solar panel is a non-
Solar submodule. In a solar panel,
A first solar sub-module including a first plurality of solar cells,
And a second photovoltaic submodule having a second plurality of photovoltaic cells,
The first solar submodule and the second solar submodule are electrically connected in parallel, and the solar cell plate has no bypass diode
Solar panel. 16. The method of claim 15,
Which is configured to output 200 volts to 600 volts
Solar panel. 16. The method of claim 15,
The first solar submodule has a length less than 30 cm and a height less than 30 cm
Solar panel. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the first photovoltaic submodule comprises a first group of photovoltaic cells,
The first group of the solar cells comprises:
A first column of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells, and
A second row of micro-system-available photovoltaic cells,
Wherein the cells in the first column of the micro-system-available solar cells are electrically connected in series and the cells in the second column of the micro-system-available solar cells are electrically connected in series, The first row of photovoltaic cells and the second row of microsystem-enabled photovoltaic cells are electrically connected in parallel
Solar panel. 19. The method of claim 18,
A plurality of multi-junction solar cells comprises a first row of microsystem-enabled solar cells and a second column of microsystem-available solar cells
Solar panel. In a solar panel,
Wherein the plurality of solar submodules are electrically connected in parallel to each other, each solar submodule includes a plurality of III-V solar cells electrically connected in series to each other, or a plurality of solar sub- And at least one of a plurality of connected silicon cells, wherein the solar panel has no bypass diodes
Solar panel.

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