Process for fabricating glass-encapsulated solar cell arrays and the product produced thereby
US4234351A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 14, 1978 |
| Grant date | Nov 18, 1980 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 14, 1998 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02E10/50
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
The process includes the steps of (1) forming a pattern of indentations and adjacent boundary ridges in a base layer of glass which is heated to a temperature where it is formable but not flowing, (2) depositing electrically conducting first connecting elements on the upper surface of the base glass layer, with each first connecting element extending from an indentation to a point on an adjacent ridge, (3) positioning a solar cell into each indentation in the base glass layer in such a manner that the lower surface of the solar cell comes in electrical contact with one end of a first connecting element, (4) depositing electrically conducting second connecting elements which extend between the end of the first connecting elements on a ridge to the top surface of a solar cell in an adjacent indentation, and (5) forming a top glass layer which is in intimate contact with the product of steps 1-4. The product produced thereby is an array of glass-encapsulated solar cells which are electrically connected together by means of the first and second connecting elements but are otherwise physically isolated from each other by the glass-encapsulation.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.