SOLAR MODULE

Abstract

A solar module comprising a plurality of solar cell strings arranged side-by-side, each solar cell string having positive and negative terminals at opposite ends thereof, the plurality of solar cell strings comprising: a first group of adjacent solar cell strings, each oriented such that their positive terminals are disposed towards a first end of the solar module; and a second group of adjacent solar cell strings, each oriented such that their positive terminals are disposed towards a second end of the solar module opposite the first end, the positive terminals of the second group of solar cell strings electrically connected to the negative terminals of the first group of solar cell strings.

Claims

1. A solar module comprising a plurality of solar cell strings arranged side-by-side, each solar cell string having positive and negative terminals at opposite ends thereof, the plurality of solar cell strings comprising: a first group of adjacent solar cell strings, each oriented such that their positive terminals are disposed towards a first end of the solar module; and a second group of adjacent solar cell strings, each oriented such that their positive terminals are disposed towards a second end of the solar module opposite the first end, the positive terminals of the second group of solar cell strings electrically connected to the negative terminals of the first group of solar cell strings.

2. A solar module according to claim 1 wherein each solar cell string of the first group is connected in series with at least one solar cell string of the second group.

3. A solar module according to claim 2 wherein each solar cell string of the first group is connected in parallel with the other solar cell strings of the first group, and each solar cell string of the second group is connected in parallel with the other solar cell strings of the second group.

4. A solar module according to claim 1 wherein each solar cell string is connected in series with only one other solar cell string to define a solar cell string pair, each solar cell string pair comprising a solar cell string of the first group and a solar cell string of the second group.

5. A solar module according to claim 4 wherein each solar cell string pair is connected in parallel with the other solar cell string pairs.

6. A solar module according to claim 1 comprising one or more intermediate conductive elements connecting the positive terminals of the second group of solar cell strings to the negative terminals of the first group of solar cell strings.

7. A solar module according to claim 1 comprising a single intermediate conductive element connecting each positive terminal of the second group of solar cell strings to each negative terminal of the first group of solar cell strings.

8. A solar module according to claim 4 comprising a plurality of intermediate conductive elements, each intermediate conductive element connecting the positive terminal of the solar cell string of the second group in a solar string pair to the negative terminal of the solar cell string of the first group in the solar string pair.

9. A solar module according to claim 8 wherein each intermediate conductive element comprises: a first leg connected to the negative terminal of the solar cell string of the first group; a second leg connected to the positive terminal of the solar cell string of the second group; and a crosslink connecting the first and second legs.

10. A solar module according to claim 8 wherein the intermediate conductive elements are arranged concentrically.

11. A solar module according to claim 1 further comprising: a first conductive element connected to the positive terminals of the first group of solar cell strings; and a second conductive element connected to the negative terminals of the second group of solar cell strings.

12. A solar module according to claim 1 comprising a bypass diode connected in parallel with the solar cell strings.

13. A solar module according to claim 12, wherein the bypass diode is connected between the first and second conductive elements.

14. A solar module according to claim 1 wherein each solar cell string comprises a plurality of solar cells overlapping in a longitudinal direction of the solar cell string.

15. A solar module according to claim 14 wherein each solar cell is rectangular, having a greater width than length.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Embodiments will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the figures, in which:

[0042] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a solar module; and

[0043] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a variation of the solar module of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] Aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure will now be discussed with reference to the accompanying figures. Further aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the figures, the dimensions of elements maybe exaggerated for clarity. Also, the relative dimensions of elements shown in the figures is not necessarily representative of the actual relative thicknesses of the elements in all embodiments.

[0045] FIG. 1 depicts a solar module 100 comprising six solar cell strings 101a, 101b arranged side-by-side so as to be parallel and extending between first 102 and second 103 opposite ends of the solar module 100. Specifically, there are three solar cell strings 101a and three solar cell strings 101b. Although not apparent from the figure, each solar cell string 101a, 101b is formed of a plurality of solar cells connected in series. The solar cells may, in particular, be arranged so as to partially overlap in the longitudinal direction of the string (i.e. so as to be arranged in a shingled manner).

[0046] Each solar string 101a, 101b comprises positive and negative terminals (as depicted by the plus and minus symbols in the figure) at opposite ends of the solar string 101a, 101b. The solar cell strings 101a, 101b are arranged in a first group 104 of solar cell strings 101a, and a second group 105 of solar cell strings 101b. The solar cell strings 101a of the first group 104 may be different to the solar cell strings 101b of the second group 105 (e.g. different type, size, shape, etc.) or they may be the same. Each of the first 104 and second 105 groups comprises three solar cell strings 101a, 101b. As is apparent from the figure, the positive terminals of the solar strings 101a of the first group 104 are disposed towards the first end 102 of the solar module 100. Accordingly, the negative terminals of the solar strings 101a of the first group 104 are disposed towards the second end 103 of the solar module 100.

[0047] The solar cell strings 101b of the second group 105 have a reversed orientation to the solar cell strings 101a of the first group 104. Thus, each solar cell string 101b of the second group 105 has a negative terminal disposed towards first end 102 of the solar module 100 and a positive terminal disposed towards the second end 103 of the solar module 100.

[0048] The negative terminals of the solar cell strings 101a of the first group 104 are electrically connected to the positive terminals of the solar cell strings 101b of the second group 105. In particular, each solar cell string 101a of the first group 104 is connected in series with a single solar cell string 101b of the second group 105 to define a solar cell string pair. Each pair of solar cell strings 101a, 101b is connected by an intermediate conductive element in the form of an interconnection bus bar 106a, 106b, 106c. There are three pairs of solar cell strings 101a, 101b, and thus three corresponding intermediate interconnection bus bars 106a, 106b, 106c.

[0049] The first intermediate interconnection bus bar 106a connects the innermost pair of solar cell strings 101a, 101b (i.e. those closest to a vertical centreline of the solar module 100, as shown in FIG. 1). The second intermediate interconnection bus bar 106b connects the pair of solar cell strings 101a, 101b immediately outside of the innermost pair of solar cell strings 101a, 101b. The third intermediate interconnection bus bar 106c connects the outermost pair of solar cell strings 101a, 101b. In this way, the intermediate bus bars 106a, 106b, 106c are arranged concentrically, so as not to overlap. Each intermediate interconnection bus bar 106a, 106b 106c comprises a pair of legs 107 extending parallel with the solar cell strings 101a, 101b, and a crosslink 108 connecting the legs 107. Thus, the intermediate interconnection bus bars 106a, 106b, 106c are each substantially U-shaped. Also, for each of the intermediate interconnection bus bars 106a, 106b, 106c a length of the associated crosslink 108 may be greater than a length of each associated leg 107.

[0050] The solar module 100 further comprises a first conductive element in the form of a first interconnection bus bar 109, which comprises a plurality of legs 110 connected to the first group 104 of solar cell strings 101a and a crosslink 111 that extends transversely so as to connect the legs 110. The first interconnection bus bar 109 may connect the positive terminals of the solar cell strings 101a of the first group 104 to a positive terminal connector 108 of the solar module 100. This positive terminal connector 108 may connect the solar module 100 to one or more external components such as a further solar module (not shown).

[0051] A second conductive element in the form of a second interconnection bus bar 112 is also provided, which comprises a plurality of legs 113 connected to the second group 105 of solar cell strings 101b, and a crosslink 114 that extends transversely so as to connect the legs 113. The second interconnection bus bar 112 may connect the negative terminals of the solar cell strings 101b of the second group 105 to a negative terminal connector 115 of the solar module 100. This negative terminal connector 115 may also connect the solar module 100 to one or more external components such as a further solar module (not shown). In this way, each pair of connected solar cell strings 101a, 101b is connected in parallel with the other pairs of solar cell strings 101a, 101b.

[0052] As should be apparent from FIG. 1, due to the arrangement of the solar cell strings 101a, 101b, the first 109 and second 112 interconnection bus bars do not overlap. This avoids the need to insulate the first and second interconnection bus bars 109, 112 from one another in overlap regions because no overlap regions exist. In turn, this reduces the cost and complexity of manufacturing the solar module 100 because insulators for overlap regions are not required.

[0053] A bypass diode 116 is connected between the first 109 and second 112 interconnection bus bars, so as to be connected in parallel with the solar cell strings 101a, 101b. The bypass diode 116 is configured to conduct when the solar cell strings 101a, 101b are reverse biased (e.g. due to shading or malfunctioning solar cells). The bypass diode 116 is connected to the first 109 and second 112 interconnection bus bars via connectors 118 and 119, respectively.

[0054] The solar module 100 illustrated in FIG. 2 is a variation of that described above. As such, many of the features of this solar module 100 remain the same, and the same reference numerals have been used.

[0055] This variation solar module 100 differs only in that a single intermediate conductive element in the form of an intermediate interconnection bus bar 106 is provided (as opposed to a plurality of intermediate interconnection bus bars, as shown in FIG. 1). The intermediate interconnection bus bar 106 comprises a plurality of legs 107 and a single crosslink 108 connecting all of the legs 107. This variation may permit the solar module 100 to be more compact than that of FIG. 1 (i.e. due to the need to space the U-shaped bus bars 106a, 106b and 106c of FIG. 1). This means that for a given solar module surface area, a higher percentage of that area can contain electricity generating solar cells in solar module 100 compared to solar module 100. In this way, the solar module 100 may generate more electricity than an equivalently sized solar module 100, meaning that the solar module 100 has a higher power and a higher efficiency compared to the solar module 100. Additionally, since the plurality of intermediate interconnection bus bars of solar module 100 are replaced by the single intermediate interconnection bus bar of solar module 100 the cost and complexity of manufacture is lower compared to that of solar module 100. Further, the solar module 100 and the solar module 100 only require a single bypass diode each.

[0056] It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments above-described and various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the concepts described herein. Except where mutually exclusive, any of the features may be employed separately or in combination with any other features and the disclosure extends to and