Solar device fabrication limiting power conversion losses
US12046693B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 1, 2021 |
| Grant date | Jul 23, 2024 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 1, 2041 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10F77/311
Abstract
Separation of individual strips from a solar cell workpiece, is accomplished by excluding a junction (e.g., a homojunction such as a p-n junction, or a heterojunction such as a p-i-n junction) from regions at which separation is expected to occur. According to some embodiments, the junction is excluded by physical removal of material from inter-strip regions of the workpiece. According to other embodiments, exclusion of the junction is achieved by changing an effective doping level (e.g., counter-doping, deactivation) at inter-strip regions. For still other embodiments, the junction is never formed at inter-strip regions in the first place (e.g., using masking during original dopant introduction). By imposing distance between the junction and defects arising from separation processes (e.g., backside crack propagation), losses attributable to electron-hole recombination at such defects are reduced, and collection efficiency of shingled modules is enhanced.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.