Photovoltaic Module, Integrated Photovoltaic/Photo-Thermal Module and Manufacturing Method Thereof

Abstract

Disclosed are a photovoltaic module, an integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module and a manufacturing method thereof. The photovoltaic module includes: a front glass plate (1), a first back plate (4), an adhesive layer (3) located between the front glass plate and the first back plate, and cell sheets (5) located in the adhesive layer. At least a hollow layer (2) is included between the front glass plate and the adhesive layer. Since the photovoltaic module and the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module include the hollow layer, making the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module itself has a partial heat insulation function without the need to add a front glass blocking plate or a hollow heat insulation layer directly in front of the light-receiving surface of the module, thereby simplifying the structure and manufacturing process of the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module.

Claims

1. A photovoltaic module, comprising: a front glass plate, a first back plate, an adhesive layer provided between the front glass plate and the first back plate, and a cell sheet provided in the adhesive layer, wherein at least a hollow layer is provided between the front glass plate and the adhesive layer; the photovoltaic module further comprises a support structure, wherein the front glass plate is supported on the support structure, such that the front glass plate is separated from the adhesive layer in a determined distance so as to form the hollow layer; the photovoltaic module further comprises a second back plate provided at a bottom side of the first back plate, and the support structure is supported on the second back plate and the support structure directly contacts with the second back plate, and the support structure surrounds an outside of the first back plate and the adhesive; the second back plate is a thermal collecting plate.

2. The photovoltaic module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hollow layer is vacuum or filled with nitrogen.

3. An integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module, comprising: the photovoltaic module according to claim 1; and a thermal collecting assembly, wherein the photovoltaic module is covered by the thermal collecting assembly at a bottom part and a side part.

4. The integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module as claimed in claim 3, wherein the thermal collecting assembly comprises: a heat exchanger contacting with the second back plate, and a thermal insulation material for realizing a covering function at a bottom part and a side part.

5. The integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module as claimed in claim 4, further comprising: a frame, wherein the frame is used for covering an outer side of the thermal insulation material.

6. The integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module as claimed in claim 4, wherein the heat exchanger is fixed below the thermal collecting plate, and/or the heat exchanger is a thermal conducting copper pipe.

7. A manufacturing method for the photovoltaic module, comprising: installing a first back plate; installing an adhesive layer and a cell sheet on the first back plate, and making the cell sheet to be provided in the adhesive layer; and installing a front glass plate above the adhesive layer, such that a hollow layer is at least provided between the front glass plate and the adhesive layer; installing a support structure, and placing the front glass plate on the support structure, such that the front glass plate is separated from the adhesive layer in a determined distance so as to form the hollow layer; wherein in a scheme in which the support structure is installed, the step of installing the support structure comprising: making the support structure to be supported on a second back plate, wherein the second back plate is installed before the step of installing a first back plate, and the first back plate is provided on the second back plate; or before installing a first back plate, firstly installing a second back plate with a support structure, and installing the first back plate on the second back plate; the second back plate is a thermal collecting plate.

8. A manufacturing method for the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module, comprising: providing the photovoltaic module according to claim 1; and forming a thermal collecting assembly at a bottom part and a side part of the photovoltaic module.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step of forming a thermal collecting assembly comprising: installing a heat exchanger at a lower side of the thermal collecting plate; and covering a lower side of the heat exchanger and a side part of the photovoltaic module by a thermal insulation material.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: covering an outer side of the thermal collecting assembly by a frame.

11. A manufacturing method for the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module, comprising: providing a second back plate with a support structure, the second back plate is a thermal collecting plate, successively laying a first back plate, an adhesive layer and a cell sheet on the second back plate and laminating; placing a front glass plate on the support structure, such that the front glass plate is separated from the adhesive layer in a determined distance so as to form a hollow layer, to obtain the photovoltaic module with the hollow layer; installing a heat exchanger at a lower side of the second back plate; and covering a lower side of the heat exchanger and a side part of the photovoltaic module by a thermal insulation material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] The illustrated drawings herein are used for providing further understanding to the disclosure, and form a part of the disclosure, which are used for explaining the disclosure, and are not intended to limit the disclosure.

[0050] FIG. 1 is a sectional structure diagram of a current conventional semi-finished photovoltaic module.

[0051] FIG. 2 is a sectional structure diagram of an integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module manufactured by using the semi-finished photovoltaic module as shown in FIG. 1.

[0052] FIG. 3 is a sectional structure diagram of the photovoltaic module according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure.

[0053] FIG. 4 is a sectional schematic diagram of the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module including the photovoltaic module as shown in FIG. 3 according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure.

[0054] FIG. 5 is a sectional structure diagram of the photovoltaic module according to another preferred embodiment of the disclosure.

[0055] FIG. 6 is a sectional schematic diagram of the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module including the photovoltaic module as shown in FIG. 5 according to another preferred embodiment of the disclosure.

[0056] FIG. 7 is a sectional structure diagram of the photovoltaic module according to yet another preferred embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0057] In order to make the purpose, the technical schemes and the advantages of the disclosure clearer, the disclosure will further be described below in combination with the drawings and embodiments in detail. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely one part of the embodiments of the disclosure, but are not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art in the precondition without the creative work shall fall within the protection scope of the disclosure.

[0058] In addition, it should be noted that words of location, such as ‘above’ and ‘below’, in the context of the disclosure are merely used for conveniently describing, and expressing the relative positions while explained according to the arrangement manners as shown in the figures, and do not mean the absolute position relation.

[0059] According to the technical conception of the disclosure, for the structure of the conventional semi-finished photovoltaic module as shown in FIG. 1, it should be considered that a hollow layer is additionally installed in the photovoltaic module so as to achieve a thermal insulation function. Specifically, a hollow layer may be installed between the EVA filling layer and the front glass plate, such that the formed photovoltaic module itself has a thermal insulation function without the need to add a front glass blocking plate and a hollow heat insulation layer directly in the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module formed by using the photovoltaic module to achieve the thermal insulation effect. At the same time, because a layer of the front glass blocking plate is reduced, the light transmissivity can be guaranteed, thereby improving the conversion efficiency, and reducing the production cost.

[0060] Firstly, the photovoltaic module (namely semi-finished photovoltaic module) according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure is described in combination with FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the photovoltaic module includes a front glass plate 1, a hollow layer 2, an adhesive layer 3, a first back plate 4 and a support structure 6, wherein the support structure 6 is used for supporting the front glass plate 1, such that the hollow layer 2 is formed between the adhesive layer 3 and the front glass plate 1, and a cell sheet 5 is adhered to the first back plate 4 by using the adhesive layer 3.

[0061] The above front glass plate 1, which may be made of tempered glass for example, is good in light transmission, and has a certain intensity, thus achieving a necessary protection function. The support structure 6 is used for supporting the front glass plate 1, in an embodiment, the support structure 6 is installed at the two end positions between the first back plate 4 and the front glass plate 1 or the whole peripheral position, such that the hollow layer may be formed between the adhesive layer 3 and the front glass plate 1. So, in an aspect of the material selection, the first back plate needs to be selected from materials with the mechanical strength, so as to achieve the support to the support structure 6. The support structure may not be limited to the manner, only if a necessary hollow layer may be formed between the front glass plate 1 and the adhesive layer 3. In another embodiment, the support structure may also be installed at the two end positions between the adhesive layer 3 and the front glass plate 1 or the whole peripheral position, at this moment, the height of the support structure 6 is equal to the thickness of the hollow layer 2.

[0062] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the photovoltaic module further includes a second back plate 7 (as a semi-finished product of the photovoltaic/photo-thermal module, the second back plate 7 may be specifically used as a thermal collecting plate or a thermal-conducting plate simultaneously), in another embodiment, the support structure 6 may also be formed on the second back plate (namely the thermal collecting plate or the thermal-conducting plate), or the second back plate with the support structure (namely the second back plate and the support structure are a whole structure or an integrated structure) may be used. The thermal collecting plate (or named as the thermal-conducting plate) will be further described below.

[0063] The adhesive layer 3 is a photovoltaic cell packaging adhesive layer, in at least one alternative embodiment, the adhesive layer 3 is formed by an EVA material with good adhesive force, durability and optical properties and the like. Of course, the disclosure is not limited to this, and a PVB may also be used for forming the adhesive layer. The hollow layer 2 is a vacuum layer in at least one alternative embodiment, or a gas layer filled with nitrogen or inert gases and the like. The back plate 4 is a TPT back plate in at least one alternative embodiment. Of course, the disclosure is not limited to this, and the back plate 4 may also be a Tedlar/PET/EVA (TPE) back plate or a FPF back plate. The support structure 6 uses a material with the strength by which the front glass plate 1 may be supported, for example, an aluminum alloy, and engineering plastics with high mechanical strength (ABS plastics). In addition, in order to improve the leakproofness of the hollow layer, each connecting surface (between the front glass plate 1 and the support structure 6) may be sealed by using sealing silica gel.

[0064] The structure of the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module including the photovoltaic module as shown in FIG. 3 according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure is described below in combination with FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, besides the above photovoltaic module, the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module further includes a thermal collecting assembly, and the photovoltaic module is covered by the thermal collecting assembly at the bottom part and the side part, so as to collect the heat energy and use the heat energy. In at least one alternative embodiment, the thermal collecting assembly specifically includes: a thermal collecting plate 7 (or named as a thermal-conducting plate) located at the bottom side of the photovoltaic module (for example, adhered below the first back plate 4), a heat exchanger 8 contacting with the thermal collecting plate 7 (for example, installed on the thermal collecting plate 7), and a thermal insulation material 9 for realizing a covering function at the bottom part and the side part (for example, installed below the heat exchanger 8 and at the periphery of each of the above elements). Further in at least one alternative embodiment, the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module may further includes a frame K, wherein the frame K is used for covering the outer side of the thermal insulation material 9, and used for encapsulating the above module.

[0065] An adhesive for adhering the thermal collecting plate 7 below the back plate 4 may be an EVA in at least one alternative embodiment, or adhesive materials such as a PVB. The thermal collecting plate or the thermal-conducting plate 7 uses a material with a good thermal collecting or thermal-conducting function, and in at least one alternative embodiment is further selected from black metals, so as to improve the thermal collecting capacity, such as black cadmium. The heat exchanger 8 uses a thermal-conducting copper pipe in at least one alternative embodiment, which is fixedly connected to the lower surface of the thermal collecting plate 7 in manners such as laser welding. The heat exchanger 8 may be an S-shaped copper pipe, and through a combined manner of a main pipe and capillary pipes, thereby increasing the thermal-conducting contact area, and improving the heat exchange capacity. The thermal insulation material 9, such as a thermal insulation foaming material in at least one alternative embodiment, may be filled between the clearances of the pipes forming the heat exchanger 8 and the peripheral positions of the front glass plate 1, the support structure 6, the back plate 4 and the thermal collecting plate 7, so as to achieve the good thermal insulation effect. The frame K is a metal frame in at least one alternative embodiment, and further in at least one alternative embodiment is made of aluminum or aluminum alloy. The outer surface of the thermal insulation material 9 and the outer edge position of the front glass plate 1 are covered by the frame K, and the frame K is used for protecting each element in the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module.

[0066] The structure of the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module including the photovoltaic module as shown in FIG. 5 according to another preferred embodiment of the disclosure is described in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, besides the above photovoltaic module, the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module further includes a thermal collecting assembly, and the photovoltaic module is covered by the thermal collecting assembly at the bottom part and the side part. In the embodiment, because the photovoltaic module includes a second back plate 7, while the photovoltaic module is used in the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module, the second back plate 7 may be manufactured by using a thermal collecting or thermal-conducting material, such that the second back plate 7 may be used as a thermal collecting plate or a thermal-conducting plate. In this circumstance, in at least one alternative embodiment, the thermal collecting assembly does not need to include the thermal collecting plate, but only include a heat exchanger 8 contacting with (for example, installed on the thermal collecting plate 7) the second back plate 7 (namely the thermal collecting plate or the thermal-conducting plate), and a thermal insulation material 9 for realizing a covering function (for example, installed below the heat exchanger 8 and at the periphery of each of the above elements) at the bottom part and the side part. Similarly, the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module may further include a frame K also, wherein the frame K is used for covering the outer side of the thermal insulation material 9, and used for encapsulating the above assembly.

[0067] In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, in order to obtain the hollow layer 2 in the photovoltaic module, a second glass 10 may further be included between the front glass plate 1 and the adhesive layer 3, the second glass 10 contacts with the adhesive layer 3, and two sides of the hollow layer 2 are the front glass plate 1 and the second glass 10 respectively. The hollow layer is installed between two layers of the glass, so it is relatively easy in both the supporting aspect and the sealing aspect, so the installation of the adhesive layer and the cell sheet and the like may not be affected.

[0068] Specifically, a vacuum glass assembly may be formed by the front glass plate 1 and the second glass 10 in advance. Namely, the existing vacuum glass assembly G may be used for replacing the front glass plate 11 in the conventional semi-finished photovoltaic module as shown in FIG. 1 in the prior art. Except that the front glass plate 11 is replaced by using the vacuum glass assembly G, the rest structure of the photovoltaic module is the same as the structure of the conventional semi-finished photovoltaic module as shown in FIG. 1. Namely, except the vacuum glass assembly G, the photovoltaic module further includes an adhesive layer 3 and a first back plate 4, the cell sheet 5 are clamped between the vacuum glass assembly G and the first back plate 4, and the vacuum glass assembly G, the cell sheets 5 and the first back plate 4 are adhered together by the adhesive layer 3. For the photovoltaic module in such structure, because the vacuum thermal insulation layer is provided, the good thermal insulation function is achieved. At the same time, compared with the photovoltaic module in the prior art, the structure has the beneficial effect of being more stable and reliable. In addition, because a vacuum glass technology is mature relatively, a vacuum glass assembly is directly used such that the photovoltaic module further has the advantages of low cost, reliable quality and the like.

[0069] Further, while the photovoltaic module with the above structure is applied to the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module, the structure as shown in FIG. 4 may be referenced, namely, the structure includes a thermal collecting plate 7 adhered below a first back plate 4 by using an adhesive, a heat exchanger 8 fixed on the thermal collecting plate 7, and a thermal insulation material 9 installed below the heat exchanger 8 and the periphery of each of the above elements, and further includes a frame K, used for covering the outer side of the thermal insulation material 9, and encapsulating each of the above elements. Because the structure is the same as the structure as shown in FIG. 4, it is not graphically expressed and elaborated one by one herein.

[0070] Manufacturing methods for the photovoltaic module according to the disclosure and the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module including the photovoltaic module are described below.

[0071] On one hand, the manufacturing method for the photovoltaic module includes: a first back plate is installed; an adhesive layer and a cell sheet are installed on the first back plate; and a front glass plate is placed above the adhesive layer, such that at least a hollow layer is further included between the front glass plate and the adhesive layer. It is explained below one by one.

[0072] S1: an adhesive layer 3 and a cell sheet 5 are installed on the first back plate 4.

[0073] Specifically, the first back plate 4 is successively coated with the adhesive layer 3 and adhered with the cell sheet 5, such that the cell sheet 5 are adhered to the first back plate 4 by using the adhesive layer. The adhesive layer 3 is in at least one alternative embodiment selected from an EVA material or a PVB material as above. The first back plate 4 is a TPT back plate in at least one alternative embodiment, and may be a TPE back plate or a FPF back plate.

[0074] S2: a front glass plate 1 is placed above the adhesive layer, such that a hollow layer 2 is formed between the front glass plate 1 and the adhesive layer 3.

[0075] Specifically, in an embodiment, a support structure 6 may be installed for supporting the front glass plate 1, so as to obtain the hollow layer 2. For example, the support structure 6 may be installed at two end positions or the whole peripheral position between the first back plate 4 and the front glass plate 1, and each connecting surface is sealed, such that the hollow layer may be formed between the adhesive layer 3 and the front glass plate 1. Also, the support structure is not limited to this, only if the necessary hollow layer 2 may be formed between the front glass plate 1 and the adhesive layer 3. In another embodiment, the support structure 6 may also be installed at two end positions or the whole peripheral position between the adhesive layer 3 and the front glass plate 1, at this moment, the height of the support structure 6 is equal to the thickness of the hollow layer 2.

[0076] Specifically, as a semi-finished product of the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module, the photovoltaic module further includes a second back plate, the second back plate may be used as a thermal collecting plate at the same time in at least one alternative embodiment, in another embodiment, the support structure may also be formed on the second back plate, or a thermal collecting plate with the support structure may be used.

[0077] In at least one alternative embodiment, the hollow layer 2 is a vacuum layer or a gas layer filled with gases, such as nitrogen. The support structure 6 uses a material with the strength by which the front glass plate 1 may be supported, for example, an aluminum alloy, and engineering plastics (ABS plastics) with high mechanical strength. In addition, in order to improve the leakproofness, each connecting surface (for example, between the front glass plate 1 and the support structure 6) at the periphery of the hollow layer may be sealed by using sealing silica gel and the like. In this circumstance, the step of placing the front glass plate 1 cannot be operated in the air, instead, it may be operated in vacuum or an environment (for example, a nitrogen atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere) filled correspondingly with a gas, or may be operated in the air environment with the very low humidity, for preventing water vapor from corroding the internal materials.

[0078] On the other hand, the above-mentioned manufacturing method for the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module includes: firstly the photovoltaic module is formed; then a thermal collecting assembly is formed at the bottom part and the side part of the photovoltaic module; and further in at least one alternative embodiment, a frame is installed. Specifically, the step of forming a thermal collecting assembly includes steps of installing the thermal collecting plate (or a second back plate is directly used as the thermal collecting plate) at the bottom part of the photovoltaic module, and installing a heat exchanger below the thermal collecting plate and coating the outer side by a thermal insulation material. It is explained below one by one.

[0079] S3: a thermal collecting assembly is formed at the bottom part and the side part of the photovoltaic module.

[0080] In a preferred embodiment, the step of forming the thermal collecting assembly specifically includes:

[0081] S31: a thermal collecting plate 7 is installed at the bottom part of the photovoltaic module (for example, the thermal collecting plate and the photovoltaic module are adhered together); or, in the case of the presence of a second back plate, the second back plate is used as a thermal collecting plate. Namely, the thermal collecting plate 7 is located below a first back plate 4 in any case.

[0082] An adhesive by which the thermal collecting plate 7 is adhered below the first back plate 4 is an EVA in at least one alternative embodiment, or selected from adhesive materials such as PVB. The thermal collecting plate 7 uses a material with a good thermal collecting function, and in at least one alternative embodiment is further selected from black metals, so as to improve the thermal collecting capacity, for example, black cadmium.

[0083] S32: a heat exchanger 8 is installed on the thermal collecting plate 7 formed at the lower side of the first back plate 4.

[0084] In some embodiments, the heat exchanger 8 uses a thermal-conducting copper pipe, and is fixedly connected to the lower surface of the thermal collecting plate 7 in manners such as laser welding. The heat exchanger 8 may be an S-shaped copper pipe, and through a combined manner of a main pipe and capillary pipes, thereby the thermal conducting contact area is increased, the heat exchange capacity is improved.

[0085] S33: cover with the thermal insulation material 9.

[0086] The thermal insulation material 9 is in at least one alternative embodiment a thermal insulation foaming material, the thermal insulation material is adequately filled between clearances of pipes which is made up the heat exchanger 8 and the peripheral positions of the front glass plate 1, the support structure 6, the first back plate 4 and the thermal collecting plate 7, such that the good thermal insulation effect is achieved.

[0087] S4: the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module is further in at least one alternative embodiment provided with a frame. The frame K is a metal frame in at least one alternative embodiment, and further in at least one alternative embodiment is made of aluminum or aluminum alloy. The outer surface of the thermal insulation material 9 and the outer edge position of the front glass plate 1 are covered by the frame K, and the frame K is used for protecting each element in the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module. Then, the frame and the front glass plate are sealed for preventing water vapor from entering.

[0088] In addition, the manufacturing method for the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module and the manufacturing method for the photovoltaic module may be simultaneously operated, for example, the method may include: a second back plate with a support structure is provided, and a first back plate, an adhesive layer and a cell sheet are successively laid on the second back plate for laminating; after laminating, the front glass plate is placed on the support structure, such that the front glass plate is separated from the adhesive layer in a determined distance so as to form a hollow layer, to obtain the photovoltaic module with the hollow layer; a heat exchanger is installed at the lower side of the second back plate; and the lower side of the heat exchanger and the side part of the photovoltaic module is covered with a thermal insulation material; and further in at least one alternative embodiment, a frame is installed.

[0089] The photovoltaic module, the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module and the manufacture method thereof according to the disclosure are described in combination with the above drawings. The hollow layer is applied to the photovoltaic module and the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module, so the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module itself has a partial heat insulation function without the need to add a front glass blocking plate and a hollow heat insulation layer directly in front of the light-receiving surface of the assembly, thereby simplifying the structure and manufacturing process of the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module.

[0090] Specifically, while the photovoltaic module only includes the front glass plate (namely, does not include the second glass), compared with the integrated photovoltaic/photo-thermal module in the prior art, because a layer of the front glass blocking plate is reduced, the refractive index changes are reduced in a route in which light is emitted to the assembly, so the light transmissivity is improved, the conversion efficiency is further improved, and the production cost of products is reduced.

[0091] In conclusion, it should be easily understood by those skilled in the art that the above beneficial manners may be freely combined and superposed in the precondition without confliction.

[0092] The above are merely the embodiments of the disclosure, and are not intended to limit the disclosure. Various modifications and changes of the disclosure may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent replacements and improvements and the like made in the spirit and principle of the disclosure shall fall within the scope of the claims of the disclosure.