A method for manufacturing a solar cell includes forming a first dielectric layer on a second surface opposite a first surface of a substrate; forming second dielectric layers respectively on an emitter region and the first dielectric layer; forming a third dielectric layer on the second dielectric layer that is positioned on the emitter region; forming a hydrogenated silicon oxide layer on the third dielectric layer; forming a first electrode on the emitter region and connected to the emitter region; and forming a second electrode on the second surface of the substrate and connected to the substrate, wherein the first surface of the substrate has first and second textured surfaces, and wherein the first textured surface includes a plurality of first protrusions and a plurality of first depressions and the second textured surface includes a plurality of second protrusions and a plurality of second depressions.

A process is provided for contacting a nanostructured surface. The process may include (a) providing a substrate having a nanostructured material on a surface, (b) passivating the surface on which the nanostructured material is located, (c) screen printing onto the nanostructured surface and (d) firing the screen printing ink at a high temperature. In some embodiments, the nanostructured material compromises silicon. In some embodiments, the nanostructured material includes silicon nanowires. In some embodiments, the nanowires are around 150 nm, 250 nm, or 400 nm in length. In some embodiments, the nanowires have a diameter range between about 30 nm and about 200 nm. In some embodiments, the nanowires are tapered such that the base is larger than the tip. In some embodiments, the nanowires are tapered at an angle of about 1 degree, about 3 degrees, or about 10 degrees. In some embodiments, a high temperature can be approximately 700 C, 750 C, 800 C, or 850 C.

A solar system, arranged in one or more sub-systems, consists of solar panels. The solar panels are configured into a plurality of solar panel strings, using interconnect wires, wherein a solar panel string comprises at least two of the solar panels electrically connected in a serial manner. The solar panels of a first of the solar panel strings are arranged between at least one of the solar panels of a second of the solar panel strings, and the interconnect wires, for each of the solar panel strings, form only a single path between the top and the bottom of the sub-system. This wiring configuration has application to house wires in a solar awning with limited space to house solar panel interconnect wires.

A solar system comprises at least one solar panel with a plurality of solar cells. The solar panels include first and second split-circuits to extract electrical energy from the solar panel. The first split-circuit includes solar panel wires that electrically connect, in series, the solar cells of the first split-circuit to extract electrical energy from the solar panel. Similarly, the second split-circuit includes solar panel wires that electrically connect, in series, the solar cells of the second split-circuit to extract electrical energy from the solar panel. The first and second split-circuits are configured to generate a voltage not to exceed a voltage specification, such as a voltage specification of 35 volts.

In an example, a method includes providing a photovoltaic string comprising a plurality of from 2 to 45 strips, each of the plurality of strips being configured in a series arrangement with each other, each of the plurality of strips being coupled to another one of the plurality of strips using an electrically conductive adhesive (ECA) material, detecting at least one defective strip in the photovoltaic string, applying thermal energy to the ECA material to release the ECA material from a pair of photovoltaic strips to remove the defective photovoltaic strip, removing any residual ECA material from one or more good photovoltaic strip, aligning the photovoltaic string without the damaged photovoltaic strip, and a replacement photovoltaic strip that replaces the defective photovoltaic strip, and curing a reapplied ECA material on the replacement photovoltaic strip to provide the photovoltaic string with the replacement photovoltaic strip.

In an example, a method includes providing a photovoltaic string comprising a plurality of from 2 to 45 strips, each of the plurality of strips being configured in a series arrangement with each other, each of the plurality of strips being coupled to another one of the plurality of strips using an electrically conductive adhesive (ECA) material, detecting at least one defective strip in the photovoltaic string, applying thermal energy to the ECA material to release the ECA material from a pair of photovoltaic strips to remove the defective photovoltaic strip, removing any residual ECA material from one or more good photovoltaic strip, aligning the photovoltaic string without the damaged photovoltaic strip, and a replacement photovoltaic strip that replaces the defective photovoltaic strip, and curing a reapplied ECA material on the replacement photovoltaic strip to provide the photovoltaic string with the replacement photovoltaic strip.

A photovoltaic module can include a solar cell module including a plurality of solar cells; a converter configured to convert a level of DC power input from the solar cell module; a DC-terminal capacitor configured to store DC power output from the converter; an inverter including a plurality of switching elements and configured to convert DC power from the DC-terminal capacitor into AC power; and a controller configured to control the inverter, in which the converter controls some switching elements among of the plurality of switching elements included in the inverter to perform switching at a third switching frequency, and controls other switching elements among the plurality of switching elements included in the inverter to perform switching at a forth switching frequency higher than the third switching frequency.

A perovskite material including an organic-inorganic perovskite structure of formula (I), A.sub.nMX.sub.3 (I), n being the number of cation A and an integer >4, A being a monovalent cation selected from inorganic cations Ai and/or from organic cations Ao, M being a divalent metal cation or a combination thereof, X being a halide and/or pseudohalide anion or a combination thereof, wherein at least one cation A is selected from organic cations Ao, the inorganic cations Ai are independently selected from Li.sup.+, Na.sup.+, K.sup.+, Rb.sup.+, Cs.sup.+, or Tl.sup.+ and the organic cations Ao are independently selected from ammonium (NH.sub.4.sup.+), methyl ammonium (MA) (CH.sub.3NH.sub.3.sup.+), ethyl ammonium (CH.sub.3CH.sub.2NH.sub.3).sup.+, formamidinium (FA) (CH(NH.sub.2).sub.2.sup.+), methylformamidinium (CH.sub.3C(NH.sub.2).sub.2.sup.+), guanidium (C((NH).sub.2).sub.3.sup.+), tetramethylammonium ((CH.sub.3).sub.4N.sup.+), dimethylammonium ((CH.sub.3).sub.2NH.sub.2.sup.+) or trimethylammonium ((CH.sub.3).sub.3NH.sup.+).

A solar module includes a series circuit of solar cells, a switch arranged in parallel with a section of the series circuit, and an actuation circuit. The actuation circuit is operably coupled to the switch, and is configured to actuate the switch in a clocked manner with a duty cycle, wherein the duty cycle is based on a voltage dropped across the series circuit or across a portion of the series circuit.

A solar module includes a series circuit of solar cells, a switch arranged in parallel with a section of the series circuit, and an actuation circuit. The actuation circuit is operably coupled to the switch, and is configured to actuate the switch in a clocked manner with a duty cycle, wherein the duty cycle is based on a voltage dropped across the series circuit or across a portion of the series circuit.