Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol.180, 148-157, 2018
Conductive-paste-based high-yielding interconnection process for c-Si photovoltaic modules with 50 mu m thin cells
Thin crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic (PV) cells (< 100 pm) have the potential to curtail manufacturing costs by reducing the amount of Si needed per wafer. However, thermo-mechanical stress induced by high temperature (> 200 degrees C) soldering causes frequent wafer breakage in thin c-Si-based modules. Hence, in this work, we proposed low-temperature interconnection method using conductive paste (CP) for thin c-Si PV modules and systematically studied the modules' electrical and mechanical properties as a function of annealing temperature of CP. The potential advantage of this method is significantly reduced wafer bowing due to the low temperature tabbing (< 150 degrees C) of CP dispensed cells to ribbons using heat and pressure during lamination. Module degradation and peel stress tests indicated that CP cured above its melting point provides stable (degraded 3.0% after 500 h damp heat test) and efficient current flow paths. By contrast, CP annealed below the melting point is vulnerable to thermal and humidity stress, leading to 7.8% degraded output after the test. Given these features, stable, large modules with thin c-Si cells integrated using a CP approach (laminated at 150 degrees C) were successfully realized without cell breakage.
Keywords:C-Si photovoltaic module;Thin c-Si PV cell;Interconnection;Soldering;Conductive paste;Cell-stringfree