In accordance with one or more embodiments herein, a method of manufacturing a photovoltaic (PV) top module, to be used together with a PV bottom module, e.g. an SI-based PV bottom module, is provided. The method may include monolithically interconnecting a plurality of thin film based PV sub-cells, manufactured using a perovskite material and/or a CIGS material as solar absorbing material, in series on a substrate in order to create a PV top module including at least one first PV top sub-module, and arranging metal grid lines on top and bottom contact layers of the PV top module. The metal grid lines may be arranged either above or below the top and bottom contact layers of the PV top module.

The invention relates to an apparatus, system and method for a two-axis of curvature solar panel with doubly-curved solar cells. The solar panel comprises substrate and superstrate preforms having two-axis of curvature geometry and at least one rigid layer. The preforms may comprise one or more strengthened glass and/or polymer layers. A core comprising lower and upper encapsulant layers sandwiching a solar cell array is disposed between substrate and superstrate preforms forming a lamination stack. The solar cells may be tacked to the lower encapsulant layer. The preforms may be formed by flat lamination followed by thermoforming. The curved solar panel may comprise a flange suitable for assisting the assembly process and be made of materials with disparate mechanical and thermal properties. Aspects of the solar cells are recited that provide for the enabling double bendability of the cells within a doubly curved solar panel.

A solar cell including: a substrate having front and back surfaces, the back surface including first and second regions staggered and spaced from each other, and a gap region provided between one first region and one adjacent second region, a plurality of first pyramidal texture structure regions formed corresponding to a plurality of gap regions and a distance between a top and bottom thereof is 2-4 m; a first conductive layer formed over the first region; a second conductive layer formed over the second region, the second conductive layer has a conductivity type opposite to the first conductive layer; a first electrode forming electrical contact with the first conductive layer; a second electrode forming electrical contact with the second conductive layer; and a boundary region between the gap region and the conductive layer(s) adjacent thereto, the boundary region including strip or line-patterned texture structures arranged at intervals.

Some embodiments relate to photovoltaic shingle. A photovoltaic shingle comprises an encapsulated solar cell, a glass layer above the encapsulated solar cell, an anti-reflective layer above the glass layer, and a plurality of protrusions above the glass layer. The plurality of protrusions covers at least a portion of at least one of the glass layer, the anti-reflective layer, or any combination thereof, such that the anti-reflective coating is exposed between at least a portion of the plurality of protrusions.

A method for manufacturing a photovoltaic module with edge protection comprising: a) providing a transparent module substrate comprising a thin film solar module on a first surface of the transparent module substrate, b) applying at least two side busbars to the thin film solar module, c) placing a first encapsulation foil onto the thin film solar module, d) placing a transparent back substrate onto the first encapsulation foil, e) placing a second encapsulation foil onto a second surface of the transparent module substrate, f) placing a transparent front substrate onto the second encapsulation foil, g) laminating a substrate stack, h) placing a pressure mould over the edge of the substrate stack, i) injecting an edge protection mass into the pressure mould, and j) moving the pressure mould along the edges of the substrate stack to form a circumferential edge protection, as well as a photovoltaic module comprising an edge protection.

Each of at least three solar cell strings has a first end and a second end in a first direction each including a connector. At the first end and the second end, a wire member is provided to which the connector of the first end of each of at least two solar cell strings out of the at least three solar cell strings and the connector of the second end thereof are connected. A first sheet member is provided to allow the wire member at the first end to be located in a specific positional relationship with the wire member at the second end, and a second sheet member is provided to allow the wire member at the second end to be located in a specific positional relationship with the wire member at the first end.

The invention relates to a structural element (1) in the form of a particularly sandwich-like facade panel. The structural element (1) comprises a substrate in the form of a monolithic glass plate (2) having an upper side which forms the outer face of the structural element (1) realized in particular as a facade panel. The structural element (1) further comprises a plurality of photovoltaic modules (3) arranged in a row or in an array. The invention particularly provides for the photovoltaic modules (3) to be materially laminated onto an underside of the substrate (2) opposite from the upper side particularly in the course of an autoclave process.

In the soil cultivation system (80) equipped with a solar panel, a light transmitting region (A) is provided in a solar panel (50), and thus a larger amount of light is captured into a frame unit and can thereby be utilized for the cultivation of agricultural plants (P1, P2). Double-sided light receiving solar cells (52) are adopted in the solar panel (50), and thus light reflected off an agricultural ground surface, the agricultural plants (P1, P2), a sheet-shaped member and the like can be effectively utilized for power generation. In this way, it is possible to compensate for a reduction in the area of the solar cells caused by the formation of the transmitting regions A, and it is possible to obtain a large amount of power generated while acquiring the amount of light on the agricultural plants.

A compositional range of high strain point and/or intermediate expansion coefficient alkali metal free aluminosilicate and boroaluminosilicate glasses are described herein. The glasses can be used as substrates or superstrates for photovoltaic devices, for example, thin film photovoltaic devices such as CdTe or CIGS photovoltaic devices or crystalline silicon wafer devices. These glasses can be characterized as having strain points 600 C., thermal expansion coefficient of from 35 to 5010.sup.7/ C.

The disclosure relates to solar cell, and especially to a method for manufacturing a crystalline silicon solar cell module. The method includes: a) providing a solar cell module to be laminated, including a back plate, a first bonding layer, a crystalline silicon solar cell component, a second bonding layer and a top plate in contact in sequence, where the crystalline silicon solar cell component is a crystalline silicon solar cell or a cell string formed by connecting multiple crystalline silicon solar cells; b) laminating the solar cell module to be laminated under current injection, to obtain a laminated solar cell module; and c) installing a frame and a junction box on the laminated solar cell module, to obtain a crystalline silicon solar cell module. The crystalline silicon solar cell module is under the current injection during the laminating process, improving the performance against light-induced degradation.