阅读说明：本技术 薄膜太阳能电池装置的制造系统 (Manufacturing system for thin-film solar cell device ) 是由 福尔克尔·布罗德 斯文·霍赫曼 于 2020-04-28 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种用于薄膜太阳能电池装置的具有至少一个沿输送路径布置的制造工位的制造系统,包括太阳能电池清洁工位,其中所述太阳能电池清洁工位适于清洁具有至少一个通孔的薄膜太阳能电池并通过清洁所述薄膜太阳能电池从所述通孔移除材料,特别是介电制造材料残余物。(A manufacturing system for a thin-film solar cell device having at least one manufacturing station arranged along a transport path, comprising a solar cell cleaning station, wherein the solar cell cleaning station is adapted to clean a thin-film solar cell having at least one through hole and to remove material, in particular dielectric manufacturing material residues, from the through hole by cleaning the thin-film solar cell.)

1. A manufacturing system (1000) for thin film solar cell devices (11) having at least one manufacturing station arranged along a transport path (F), the manufacturing system comprising:

a solar cell cleaning station (300), wherein the solar cell cleaning station (300) is adapted for cleaning a thin film solar cell (10) having at least one through hole (18) and removing material, in particular dielectric manufacturing material residues, from the through hole (18) by cleaning the thin film solar cell (10).

2. The manufacturing system (1000) according to claim 1, wherein the solar cell cleaning station (300) has a solvent applicator and/or a mechanical removal device, in particular a milling, grinding or brushing device, and/or a suction device.

3. The manufacturing system (1000) of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

an alignment station (500) adapted to determine positional errors and characteristic defects of the thin-film solar cells (10) conveyed along the conveying path (F) and to discard the thin-film solar cells (10) or to align the thin-film solar cells along a first axis (X) or along a second axis (Y) arranged orthogonal to the first axis (X) or to rotate the thin-film solar cells around a third axis (Z) orthogonal to the first and second axes (X, Y) and/or to determine a position error and a characteristic defect of the thin-film solar cells (10) conveyed along the conveying path (F) and to align the thin-film solar cells along a first axis (X) or along a second axis (Y) arranged orthogonal to the first axis (X) and/or to rotate the thin-film solar cells around a third axis (Z) orthogonal to the first and second axes (X, Y) according to the determination

An interconnecting station (600) adapted to arrange a plurality of thin film solar cells (10, 10 ") in a partially overlapping manner with each other and to interconnect them to each other into the thin film solar cell arrangement (11).

4. Manufacturing system (1000) according to claim 3, wherein the alignment station (500) has at least one gripper (520), in particular a vacuum gripper, for handling the thin-film solar cells (10) being transported, which is adapted for

Moving the thin film solar cell (10) along the first axis (X) and the second axis (Y), and

rotating the thin film solar cell (10) around the third axis (Z); and/or

The alignment station (500) has at least one sensor (510, 512), in particular an optical detection sensor, for determining positional errors and characteristic defects of the thin-film solar cells (10) being transported.

5. The manufacturing system (1000) according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the interconnecting station (600) is further adapted for

Arranging a cover film (660), in particular a perforated cover film, on the plurality of thin-film solar cells (10, 10') which are partially overlapping one another, and

the coating film (660) is pressed onto the plurality of thin-film solar cells (10, 10') which are partially overlapped with each other by means of negative pressure.

6. The manufacturing system (1000) according to claim 5, further comprising a cover film supply device (650) adapted to provide a cover film (660) and to convey the cover film to the interconnection station (600) along an auxiliary conveying direction (N) extending at an angle to the conveying path (F) of the thin film solar cells.

7. The manufacturing system (1000) of any of the above claims, further comprising

A solar cell supply device; and/or

A solar cell inspection station (100); and/or

A laser machining station (200); and/or

An adhesive application station (400) and/or

A solar cell heating station (700); and/or

A feed line contact station (800); and/or

A film removal station (900).

8. The manufacturing system (1000) of any of the above claims, wherein

At least one of the manufacturing stations of the manufacturing system is adapted to

-transporting two or more thin-film solar cells (10) at least substantially parallel to each other along said transport path (F), and/or

Simultaneously processing two or more thin-film solar cells (10) by means of one or more manufacturing stations arranged along the transport path (F), and/or

The at least one gripper (520) of the alignment station (500) is adapted to handle at least two of the thin film solar cells (10) being transported at least substantially parallel to each other.

9. The manufacturing system (1000) of claim 7 or 8, wherein

The solar cell inspection station (100) is adapted to determine a characteristic defect of a thin film solar cell (10) conveyed along the conveying path (F) and to discard the thin film solar cell (10) according to the determination.

10. The manufacturing system (1000) of any of claims 7 to 9, wherein

The laser processing station (200) is adapted to partially perforate the thin-film solar cells (10) transported along the transport path (F) by means of a laser beam, in order to produce in each case at least one through-hole (18) which penetrates at least one dielectric layer (L4, L5) of the thin-film solar cells (10).

11. The manufacturing system (1000) according to any of claims 3 to 10, wherein the interconnecting station (600) has a plurality of interconnecting grippers (612, 614) adapted to pick up thin film solar cells (10) transported along the transport path (F) from the manufacturing track and transport them into a sub-pressure area (610) of the interconnecting station (600),

wherein each of the plurality of interconnected collets (612, 614) is alignable at least along the second axis (Y) and/or rotatable about the third axis (Z) orthogonal to the first and second axes (X, Y), and/or

Wherein the interconnection station (600) is adapted to detect the orientation of the thin film solar cells (10) transported by the interconnection jaws (612, 614) by means of an optical detection sensing mechanism, in particular a camera sensing mechanism, and to control the transport of the thin film solar cells (10) into the underpressure area (610) in dependence on the detection.

12. A cleaning method for cleaning a thin film solar cell (10) having at least one through hole (18) by means of a cleaning station (300) of a manufacturing system (1000) for a thin film solar cell device, the cleaning method comprising the steps of:

-providing a thin film solar cell (10) having at least one through hole (18);

-introducing a solvent into the through hole (18), wherein the solvent is adapted to at least partially liquefy a material residue (R) located in the through hole (18), and/or

-removing at least partially the material residues (R) in the through holes (18) of the thin film solar cell (10) by mechanical treatment;

-at least partially sucking and/or removing the solvent and/or the dissolved or mechanically removed material residues (R) from the through-hole (18).

Technical Field

Disclosed herein is a system for manufacturing flexible thin film devices, in particular film-like solar cells for application in thin film solar technology.

Background

Solar cells are an important component of photovoltaic modules. Compared with the traditional solar technology based on silicon wafers, the thin-film solar technology can realize a light, thin and flexible design scheme of a solar cell. Thin-film solar cells increasingly open up new fields of application because of their advantageous design. Therefore, the importance of thin film solar technology continues to increase.

The main difference between thin-film solar cells and conventional solar cells based on silicon wafers is the layer thickness of the materials used. The absorber layer used in thin-film solar cells is, for example, about 100 times thinner and flexible than the absorber layer used in silicon-based solar cells. However, this structure has a certain impact on the production process, since thin film-like devices forming the layer structure of the thin film solar cell are more difficult to handle.

The small layer thickness of the components causes plastic deformation due to internal stresses present in these components. Internal stresses can be caused by various external influences (e.g. temperature, mechanical action, air humidity, etc.). In some cases, the internal stress may cause the film-like device to curl.

In addition, electrostatic effects can affect the handling of such components. A higher surface area to volume ratio and a smaller mass may for example result in the devices to be processed adhering to each other.

Thus, these effects make the transport, storage and supply of such components more difficult.

Therefore, thin film solar cells are typically manufactured by means of a special manufacturing system comprising a plurality of manufacturing stations. In this case, the thin-film solar cells or the primary products or sub-products of the thin-film solar cells are conveyed along a conveying path through individual production stations, wherein each production station carries out one or more processing steps on the thin-film solar cells or the primary products or sub-products thereof.

Devices for transporting flat silicon wafers are known from the prior art, for example from DE 10345576 a1 and DE 202008003610U 1. These devices comprise a conveyor belt provided with openings, on which the silicon wafers are arranged. In order to increase the adhesion of the silicon wafers to the conveyor belt, negative pressure is applied to the silicon wafers through the openings.

However, if a plurality of thin-film solar cells are interconnected to form a thin-film solar cell arrangement and the thin-film solar cells are fitted and/or bonded to one another, for example by means of a negative pressure, the thin-film solar cells must first be aligned as precisely as possible for this purpose. Positional errors of the solar cells, which may occur, for example, on a conveyor belt for guiding the solar cells through a plurality of production stations, should be corrected as much as possible. However, the transport of the thin-film solar cells along the transport path only allows position correction along the first axis, i.e. in a direction parallel to the transport path. However, a wrong positioning of the thin-film solar cell along another axis not parallel to the transport path may also occur during the manufacturing process.

Furthermore, damage may also occur to the individual cells from the manufacturing process of the individual thin-film solar cells until they are jointly connected to a thin-film solar cell arrangement comprising a plurality of solar cells. It is therefore desirable to remove individual damaged solar cells before they are co-joined with other solar cells into a thin-film solar cell device, otherwise the entire thin-film solar cell device produced would have to be discarded as defective.

Finally, in terms of production technology, a dielectric protective film applied to a metallization layer of the thin-film solar cells is usually associated with the metallization layer, wherein the metallization layer must be exposed at least in regions in an electrically conductive manner in order to achieve electrical contacting of the individual thin-film solar cells, in particular contacting of the individual thin-film solar cells with one another. In the case of known exposure devices, for example laser perforation devices which perforate at least partially the dielectric protective film and expose at least partially the metallization layer for electrical contact, dielectric impurities or residues of manufacturing material are often present in the exposure (via hole), which hinder the electrical contact of the metallization layer.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for manufacturing thin-film solar cells which is suitable, on the one hand, for correcting any positional errors of the individual solar cells before they are jointly coupled into a thin-film solar cell arrangement and, on the other hand, for ensuring reliable electrical contacting of the thin-film solar cells.

The solution of the invention to achieve the above object consists in a device according to claim 1. Advantageous further developments and solutions are defined by the claims dependent back on this claim.

A manufacturing system for a thin-film solar cell device has at least one manufacturing station arranged along a transport path. The manufacturing stations of the manufacturing system are adapted to process thin film solar cells or primary products or sub-products of thin film solar cells. These manufacturing stations are suitable for processing thin-film solar cells or primary products or sub-products of thin-film solar cells, respectively. The transport path is a path on which the thin-film solar cells and/or the primary products or sub-products of the thin-film solar cells are guided through a plurality of production stations. For example, the thin-film solar cells and/or the preliminary products or partial products of the thin-film solar cells can be guided on one or more conveyor belts through a plurality of production stations, so that the production stations can process the individual thin-film solar cells and/or the preliminary products or partial products of the thin-film solar cells. The conveying path corresponds here to the course of the conveyor belt. However, other embodiments are of course also possible, in which the thin-film solar cells and/or the preliminary products or sub-products of the thin-film solar cells are moved within the confines of a circumferential processing belt or a stationary processing surface, for example by means of (vacuum) grippers, sliders, hooks, switches or suction devices.

The manufacturing system has at least one solar cell cleaning station. The solar cell cleaning station is adapted for cleaning a thin film solar cell having at least one through hole, wherein material, in particular dielectric manufacturing material residues, are removed from the through hole by cleaning the thin film solar cell.

One advantage here is that residues of the non-conductive manufacturing material, which otherwise could make subsequent electrical contacting of the thin-film solar cell rather difficult, can be removed from the through-hole. In the operational practice of thin-film solar cell manufacturing, the presence of faulty and/or insufficient electrical contacts between individual thin-film solar cells, which are caused in particular by non-conductive material residues remaining in the through-holes, is one of the most common reasons for discarding the finished thin-film solar cell devices. Further improvements of the known (laser) perforation devices for introducing through-holes into the non-conductive layers of thin-film solar cells in order to reduce the above-mentioned problems are complicated and difficult, since on the one hand the high numerical throughput of the thin-film solar cells per unit time of the manufacturing system should not be negatively affected and on the other hand the conductive layers of the thin-film solar cells should not be damaged by laser beams which may be too energy-intensive. Thus, in operational practice, at least one non-conductive manufacturing material residue having the disadvantages described for the conductor contact is often left in the through hole. The implementation of a separate solar cell cleaning station as a separate manufacturing station integrated directly into the manufacturing system along the transport path of the thin film solar cells is therefore a significant improvement in the technology and practice of the manufacturing system. The numerical throughput of the thin-film solar cells to be produced per unit time of the production system is not influenced in particular by the individual solar cell cleaning stations arranged along the transport path.

This solar cell cleaning station may in particular have a solvent applicator and/or a mechanical removal device, in particular a milling, grinding or brushing device, and/or a suction device.

In one variant, the solar cell cleaning station may be adapted to first introduce a solvent (e.g. acetone) into the through-holes of the thin film solar cells in order to dissolve possible dielectric material residues of the conductive layers of the thin film solar cells. Further, the solar cell cleaning station may be adapted to suck or wipe off solvent with partially dissolved or dissolved material residues.

In one embodiment, the solar cell cleaning station may be adapted to mechanically separate possibly present residues of dielectric material from the conductive layer of the thin film solar cell by means of milling, grinding or brushing and to suck off or wipe off the separated material residues.

A further manufacturing station of the manufacturing system may be an alignment station which is adapted to determine position errors and characteristic defects of thin-film solar cells transported along the transport path, for example by means of at least one optical detection sensor, in particular by means of a camera sensor, and to discard or align or reposition the thin-film solar cells on the basis of the determination. Here, discarding means excluding the thin film solar cell from further manufacturing by the manufacturing system.

The thin-film solar cells to be discarded can be transported from the alignment station, for example by means of grippers, in particular vacuum grippers, into a reject container. This enables, for example, thin-film solar cells which are to be discarded due to the presence of characteristic defects to be excluded from further processing or production. One advantage here is that during the production of the thin-film solar cell arrangement, individual thin-film solar cells can already be excluded from processing or production, so that discarding of the entire thin-film solar cell arrangement as a result of individual defective thin-film solar cells can be avoided.

Furthermore, the alignment station may be further adapted to align or reposition the thin film solar cell transported along the transport path along a first axis and along a second axis arranged orthogonal to the first axis based on the determination of the position error. The first axis may, for example, be arranged parallel to the transport path of the thin-film solar cell. In other words, this alignment station is adapted to align or reposition the transported thin film solar cells on a surface, for example on the surface of a conveyor belt or a processing table, wherein the alignment or repositioning can be performed along a first (motion) axis or direction and a second (motion) axis or direction. This alignment station can align or reposition the thin film solar cell in the processing plane.

This alignment station may also be adapted to rotate the transported thin film solar cells around a third axis orthogonal to the first and second axis depending on the determination of the position error. This third axis is parallel to the surface normal of the plane spanned by the first and second axes.

The further manufacturing station may be an interconnection station adapted to arrange a plurality of thin film solar cells in each case in a partially overlapping manner with respect to one another and to interconnect them into a thin film solar cell arrangement. This interconnection station can in particular combine thin-film solar cells aligned or repositioned by the alignment station with one another into a thin-film solar cell arrangement. The alignment of the thin-film solar cells, in particular in a direction parallel and/or orthogonal to the transport direction of the thin-film solar cells, by means of this interconnection station can be omitted or not required.

In one embodiment, the alignment station may be arranged along the transport path of the thin film solar cells before the interconnection station. The alignment station and the interconnection station may in particular be arranged one after the other along a transport path, wherein no further processing stations of the manufacturing system are arranged along the transport path between the alignment station and the interconnection station. One advantage here is that the individual thin-film solar cells can be arranged in some way by the alignment station, so that a repositioning of the thin-film solar cells by the interconnection station can be at least partially dispensed with. At this interconnection station, in particular, the alignment of the thin-film solar cells in the transport direction can be dispensed with.

This alignment station may for example have at least one gripper for handling the transported thin film solar cells, in particular a vacuum gripper, which is adapted to move the thin film solar cells along the first axis and the second axis at least within a predetermined area. Furthermore, this (vacuum) gripper may also be adapted to rotate the thin film solar cell around the third axis at least within the predetermined area. This (vacuum) gripper may have a plurality of actuators, in particular hydraulically or electrically operated, for example with one or more electrically operated linear drives.

Furthermore, the alignment station can have at least one sensor, in particular an optical detection sensor, for determining positional errors and characteristic defects of the thin-film solar cells being transported. This alignment station can have, for example, at least one imaging sensor or camera sensor, which is suitable for determining positional errors and characteristic defects of the thin-film solar cells being transported.

In one embodiment, the interconnection station can have a plurality of, in particular two or four, interconnection grippers which are adapted to pick up thin-film solar cells transported along a transport path from, in particular, mutually parallel, production tracks of the interconnection station and to transport them into the underpressure region of the interconnection station.

In one embodiment, the interconnecting station has two production tracks parallel to one another, which have a total of four interconnecting grippers.

The plurality of interconnected chucks of this alignment station may be moved along the first axis together or in synchronism with each other. Further, the plurality of interconnected collets may each be independently aligned with each other at least along the second axis and/or rotated about a third axis orthogonal to the first and second axes. The first axis is here parallel to the transport direction of the thin-film solar cell, the second axis is here orthogonal to the transport direction of the thin-film solar cell, and the third axis is here parallel to the surface normal of the plane defined/spanned by the first axis and the second axis.

The interconnection station may be adapted to detect the orientation of the thin film solar cells conveyed by the interconnection collet by means of an optical detection sensor, in particular a camera sensor, and to control the conveyance of the thin film solar cells into the underpressure region in dependence on this detection.

The optical detection sensor of this interconnection station can in particular detect one (bottom) side of the thin-film solar cells transported by the interconnection gripper and correct position errors of the thin-film solar cells transported by the interconnection gripper along the second axis and/or by rotating around the third axis. In other words, this interconnection station may cause a rotation of the thin film solar cell around the third axis and/or a displacement of the thin film solar cell along the second axis in order to correct the determined position error of the thin film solar cell being transported.

In one embodiment, the interconnection station may be adapted to arrange a cover film, in particular a perforated cover film, on a plurality of partially overlapping thin film solar cells. This cover film can be pressed onto a plurality of thin-film solar cells which are partially overlapped with each other by means of negative air pressure. In this way, the individual thin-film solar cells arranged partially overlapping one another can be pressed against one another in order to produce a thin-film solar cell arrangement. The underpressure generated by the interconnecting station may be between 1mbar and 12mbar, preferably 5 mbar.

Furthermore, the interconnection station may comprise a cover film supply device adapted to provide cover films and to convey these cover films to the interconnection station along an auxiliary conveying direction extending at an angle to the conveying path of the thin-film solar cells. These covering films can be plastic films permeable to negative pressure, in particular perforated.

An advantage of conveying the cover film in a direction at an angle to the conveying path of the thin-film solar cell is that this cover film supply device can be arranged beside the conveying path of the thin-film solar cell in a space-saving manner.

Alternatively, the manufacturing system and/or individual manufacturing stations of at least one of the manufacturing systems may be adapted to convey two or more thin-film solar cells or their precursors or sub-products at least substantially parallel to each other along a conveying path. In other words, the production system can have, at least in sections, a plurality of mutually parallel transport tracks which transport a plurality of thin-film solar cells of the same type in parallel spatially and temporally along a transport path. A plurality of thin-film solar cells can be arranged, for example, side by side on a conveyor belt and transported by the conveyor belt along a transport path. A production system with a plurality of conveyor belts running parallel to one another at least in sections, which transport one or more thin-film solar cells parallel to one another in time and space, can also be used. Of course, embodiments are also possible in which a plurality of thin-film solar cells and/or the precursors or sub-products of these thin-film solar cells are moved parallel to one another, for example by means of (vacuum) grippers, slides, hooks, switches or suction devices, at least in sections, in the region of a circulating processing belt or a stationary processing surface. A plurality of thin-film solar cells and/or their precursors or sub-products are arranged/transported in particular parallel to one another if they are arranged at least substantially on a common alignment axis orthogonal to the transport path.

Furthermore, the manufacturing system may be adapted to simultaneously process two or more thin film solar cells through one or more manufacturing stations arranged along the transport path. Furthermore, two or more thin-film solar cells arranged parallel to each other or transported parallel to the transport path of the thin-film solar cells can also be processed by the manufacturing stations of the manufacturing system. For this purpose, the individual production stations can in particular have a plurality of processing tracks which run parallel to one another and are designed in the same way for thin-film solar cells or their precursors or their sub-products.

In an embodiment, the at least one gripper of the alignment station may be adapted to handle at least two of the thin film solar cells transported at least substantially parallel to each other. The gripper of the alignment station may in particular be adapted to discard and/or align or reposition thin film solar cells transported along the transport path on the first processing track of the alignment station and thin film solar cells transported along the transport path on the first processing track of the alignment station. Thus, the grippers of the alignment station can be used to align/reposition thin film solar cells that are transported parallel to each other.

In particular in embodiments in which the interconnection station is only suitable for correcting position errors of the individual thin-film solar cells along the second axis and/or for rotating the individual thin-film solar cells about the third axis, it is particularly advantageous if, before the thin-film solar cells are transported to the alignment station, the thin-film solar cells transported along the transport path are aligned by means of the grippers of the alignment station at least in a direction parallel to the transport path of the thin-film solar cells or along the first axis. Thus, when the thin film solar cell is processed, the layout error of the thin film solar cell in the direction parallel to the conveying path of the thin film solar cell or along the first axis can be avoided.

Furthermore, the manufacturing system may comprise another or further manufacturing stations, for example a solar cell supply and/or a solar cell inspection station and/or a laser processing station and/or an adhesive application station and/or a solar cell heating station and/or a feed line contacting station and/or a cover film removal station.

The solar cell supply device may be adapted to provide thin film solar cells, for example by feeding a conveyor belt.

The solar cell inspection station may be adapted to determine characteristic defects of thin film solar cells transported along the transport path and to discard these thin film solar cells on the basis of the determination. For the inspection of thin-film solar cells, this inspection station can have at least one imaging sensor, for example a camera sensor. For the inspection, in particular, the thin-film solar cells can be irradiated by means of ultraviolet light, wherein the at least one imaging sensor can also be suitable for detecting light in the ultraviolet wavelength range.

The laser processing station may be adapted to partially perforate the thin film solar cell conveyed along the conveying path by means of a laser beam, thereby producing at least one through hole penetrating at least one dielectric layer of the thin film solar cell. In other words, this laser processing station is adapted to remove at least a portion of the non-conductive layer of the thin film solar cell by the action of the laser beam in order to be able to contact the conductive layer of the thin film solar cell. The grooves produced in the non-conductive layer of the thin film solar cell by means of the laser beam may be referred to as through holes.

In a variant of the manufacturing system, the solar cell supply device may be adapted to provide thin-film solar cells which have been pre-perforated or which have been provided with through holes. This variant of the manufacturing system can be implemented in particular without a laser processing station.

The adhesive application station can apply an adhesive, in particular a non-conductive adhesive, to the thin-film solar cells transported along the transport path. This adhesive can be used to subsequently interconnect or join the thin film solar cells into a thin film solar cell device through an interconnection station. In addition, this adhesive application station can fill the conductive adhesive into at least one through-hole of the thin-film solar cell conveyed along the conveying path. This conductive adhesive can be used to establish conductive contact between individual thin film solar cells to be interconnected by the interconnection station.

The solar cell heating station may in particular be a heating furnace. Furthermore, this solar cell heating station may be adapted to heat the thin film solar cell arrangement made by the interconnection station together with the cover film. This results in curing of the adhesive and the electrically conductive adhesive, which are arranged in particular on/between the individual thin-film solar cells of the thin-film solar cell arrangement.

The feed line contacting station may be adapted to provide the interconnection station with conductor sections (wires) for contacting the solar cell device.

The cover film removal station may be adapted to remove the cover film arranged on the thin-film solar cell device by the interconnection station from the thin-film solar cell device again.

A cleaning method for cleaning a thin film solar cell having at least one through hole by a cleaning station of a manufacturing system for a thin film solar cell device, for example. The cleaning method comprises the following steps: providing a thin film solar cell having at least one through hole; introducing a solvent into the through-hole. In this case, this solvent is intended and suitable for at least partially liquefying the, for example, electrically non-conductive material residues located in the through-hole. Alternatively or additionally, material residues in the through-holes of the thin-film solar cells are at least partially removed by mechanical treatments such as high-pressure blowing, brushing, scraping, cleaning by means of a broach; and at least partially sucking off and/or removing the solvent and/or the dissolved or mechanically removed material residues from the through-hole.

Drawings

Other features, characteristics, advantages and possible variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in connection with the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherein the figures schematically and exemplarily show a manufacturing system, a manufacturing station of a manufacturing system and an example of a thin-film solar cell, respectively. All of the features described and/or illustrated in the figures are shown, individually or in any combination, as the subject matter disclosed herein. The sizes and proportions of elements shown in the figures are not drawn to scale.

Fig. 1 is an example of a manufacturing apparatus of a thin film solar cell.

Fig. 2a-2c schematically and exemplarily show the structure of a thin film solar cell.

Fig. 3 schematically and exemplarily shows a process for cleaning a thin film solar cell.

Fig. 4 schematically and exemplarily shows an alternative procedure for cleaning a thin film solar cell.

Fig. 5 schematically and exemplarily shows an adhesive application station of a manufacturing system for thin film solar cells.

Fig. 6 schematically and exemplarily shows an alignment station of a manufacturing system for thin film solar cells.

Fig. 7 shows schematically and exemplarily an alignment station for an interconnection station of thin film solar cells.

Fig. 8 schematically and exemplarily shows a flow of interconnecting a plurality of thin film solar cells into a thin film solar cell device.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 schematically and exemplarily shows a manufacturing system 1000 for a thin film solar cell device. Each thin film solar cell, initially unprocessed, is provided by a solar cell supply (not shown) and then transported by the manufacturing system 1000 along a transport path F. In this case, the thin-film solar cells are transported discontinuously or stepwise, wherein every two individual thin-film solar cells to be produced are transported along the transport path F in parallel or in a side-by-side arrangement with respect to one another. The parallel transport of thin-film solar cells, which are transported side by side or parallel to one another, takes place spatially and temporally along the respective transport tracks F1 and F2 (see below), wherein the two transport tracks F1 and F2 follow the transport path F parallel to one another.

In other embodiments, a plurality, in particular four, thin-film solar cells arranged parallel to one another or side by side can also be transported along the transport path.

First, the transported thin-film solar cells arrive at a solar cell inspection station 100, which is adapted to irradiate the thin-film solar cells with ultraviolet light and to detect inspection characteristic defects with an optical detection sensor. The thin-film solar cells can, for example, pass through this inspection station in the following manner: the thin-film solar cells are gripped by an assembly head from a solar cell supply and moved by this assembly head along a transport path past an inspection station. The inspection station can in this case irradiate and inspect the underside of the solar cell by means of uv light.

If it is determined that the delivered thin film solar cells have characteristic defects, they are sorted out and excluded from further manufacturing by the manufacturing system 1000. In particular, the thin-film solar cells with characteristic defects are transported into the waste receptacle 150 along a waste path a extending at an angle to the transport path F of the thin-film solar cells.

The thin-film solar cells which are not determined to be defective are further transported along the transport path to a laser processing station 200, which laser processing station 200 produces, by means of a laser beam, recesses or through-holes in at least one non-conductive layer of the transported thin-film solar cells, which enable subsequent electrical contacting of the conductive layer covered by the at least one non-conductive layer. In all embodiments of the manufacturing system 1000, the laser machining station 200 is not required. In particular, embodiments of the production system 1000 in which a pre-perforated thin-film solar cell with a through-hole that is already provided for electrical contacting is provided by a solar cell supply device can also be implemented.

The thin-film solar cells provided with through-holes are subsequently conveyed along a conveying path F to a solar cell cleaning station 300, which removes electrically non-conductive material residues that may remain in the through-holes and that may negatively influence the subsequent contacting of the thin-film solar cells being conveyed. For a detailed description of solar cell cleaning, reference is made to fig. 2, 3 and the associated drawings.

After cleaning is completed, the thin-film solar cell is then conveyed along the conveying path F to an adhesive application station 400, which arranges an adhesive on the surface of the conveyed thin-film solar cell and arranges a conductive adhesive in the through-hole of the conveyed thin-film solar cell. For a detailed description of the adhesive application station 400, reference is made to FIG. 5 and the associated drawing figures.

After the adhesive is applied to the transferred thin film solar cells, the thin film solar cells are further transferred to an alignment station 500, which checks the position errors of the thin film solar cells and re-positions them as necessary. The alignment station 500 further inspects the transported thin-film solar cells for characteristic defects that may be caused only during processing of the thin-film solar cells by the manufacturing system 1000 and excludes thin-film solar cells evaluated as defective from further manufacturing by the manufacturing system 1000. In particular, the thin-film solar cells with characteristic defects are transported into the second reject container 550 along a second reject path a' extending at an angle to the transport path F of the thin-film solar cells. For a detailed description of the alignment station 500, reference is made to FIG. 6 and the associated drawing figures.

The thin film solar cells aligned by the alignment station 500 are then further transported to the interconnection station 600. The interconnecting station 600 interconnects individual thin film solar cells being transported into a thin film solar cell arrangement. To this end, the interconnect station 600 is provided with conductor sections (wires) by the feed line contacting station 800. Furthermore, at least one cover film is provided by the cover film supply device 650, which is pressed onto a plurality of thin film solar cells stacked on top of each other by means of a negative pressure method, thereby fixing and bonding or interconnecting the thin film solar cells to each other into a thin film solar cell device. For a detailed description of the interconnection station 600, reference is made to FIGS. 7 and 8 and the associated drawings.

The thin film solar cells adhered to each other or interconnected with each other are then transported to a solar cell heating station 700 together with the cover film. The solar cell heating station 700 may be, in particular, a furnace that heats the thin film solar cell devices made by the interconnection station 600. Thereby, both the adhesive used for connecting the thin film solar cells and the conductive adhesive used for making electrical contact with the thin film solar cells dry out.

Subsequently, the thin-film solar cell device is further conveyed to a coating film removing station 900, which removes or separates the film arranged on the thin-film solar cell by the interconnecting station 600 from the thin-film solar cell device.

Fig. 2 schematically and exemplarily shows a thin film solar cell 10 that can be processed by a manufacturing system 1000. Here, fig. 2a is a front view of the thin-film solar cell 10, and fig. 2b is a rear view of the thin-film solar cell 10. Furthermore, fig. 2c is a cross-sectional view of the solar cell 10 along the cutting axis X-X' shown in fig. 2a and 2 b.

Fig. 2a is a front view of a thin film solar cell 10 with a contact area 12 and a grid of solar cells 14.

Fig. 2b is a rear view of the same thin film solar cell 10. The thin-film solar cell 10 has a plurality of through-holes 18 which enable electrical contact of the solar cell with contact regions of another solar cell. Furthermore, an adhesive 16 is applied to the thin film solar cell 10 as shown. The adhesive 16 may be applied by an adhesive application station 400 of the manufacturing system 1000.

Fig. 2c is a cross-sectional view of the thin film solar cell 10. The exemplary thin-film solar cell 10 has a transparent conductive layer L1 arranged on an absorber layer L2. The solar cell grid 14, which is also shown in fig. 2a, is arranged on the surface of the transparent conductive layer L1 facing away from the absorber layer L2. The absorber layer L2 is arranged on a conductive metallization layer L3, which may be a copper layer, for example.

An adhesive layer L4 and a protective film L5 are arranged on the surface of the conductive metallization layer L3 facing away from the absorber layer L2, wherein the protective film L5 is fixed to the conductive metallization layer L3 by means of the adhesive layer L4. Neither the protective film L5 nor the adhesive layer L4 was conductive. Nevertheless, in order to be able to make electrical contact to the conductive copper layer L3, a via or groove 18 is introduced in the adhesive layer L4 and the protective film L5, which penetrates the adhesive layer L4 and the protective film L5 and at least partially exposes the conductive metallization layer L3, so that this conductive metallization layer can be electrically contacted.

The through-holes or grooves 18 can be made, for example, by means of a laser machining station 200. Alternatively, a thin film solar cell with a pre-fabricated via or groove may also be provided by the manufacturing system 1000. However, during the production of thin-film solar cells by means of a laser processing station and in the case of thin-film solar cells with prefabricated through-holes, non-conductive material residues and/or impurities may remain or be present in the through-holes. These material residues and/or impurities may make subsequent contact of the thin film solar cells with each other difficult or may prevent subsequent contact of the thin film solar cells with each other. To overcome this, the thin film solar cells are cleaned by a solar cell cleaning station 300, as shown in fig. 3 or 4.

Fig. 3 shows a flow of a first variant of cleaning the thin film solar cell 10 by means of a cleaning station 300.

As is schematically shown in fig. 3, a non-conductive material residue R is present in the through-hole 18 of the solar cell 10, which at least makes electrical contacting of the metallization layer L3 (not shown in fig. 3 for the sake of clarity) of the thin-film solar cell 10 more difficult. (S A1)

Thus, acetone-containing solvent is first introduced into the through-openings 18 by the solar cell cleaning station 300, which solvent dissolves the non-conductive material residues R. (S A2)

The dissolved material residues R and solvent are then removed from the through-holes 18 of the thin-film solar cell 10, for example by wiping or suction. (S A3)

Thereby leaving the thin-film solar cell 10 with at least one through hole 18 from which the non-conductive material residue R is at least substantially removed. (S A4)

Fig. 4 shows a flow of a second variant of cleaning the thin film solar cell 10 by means of a cleaning station 300.

As is schematically shown in fig. 4, a non-conductive material residue R is present in the through-hole 18 of the solar cell 10, which at least makes electrical contacting of the metallization layer L3 (not shown in fig. 4 for the sake of clarity) of the thin-film solar cell 10 more difficult. (S B1)

According to a variant of the cleaning method schematically illustrated in fig. 4, the material residues R are separated from the surface of the conductive metallization layer L3 by the solar cell cleaning station 300 by means of a mechanical milling method. (S B2)

The mechanically separated material residues R are subsequently sucked away by the solar cell cleaning station 300. As an alternative, the material residues R can also be brushed off or removed by means of a brushing process. (S B3)

Thereby leaving the thin-film solar cell 10 with at least one through hole 18 from which the non-conductive material residue R is at least substantially removed. (S B4)

The solar cell cleaning station 300 may be adapted to simultaneously clean a plurality of thin film solar cells 10 being transported in parallel to each other. To this end, the solar cell cleaning station may comprise a plurality of production tracks parallel to one another in the conveying direction, which production tracks each have one or more solvent applicators and/or mechanical removal devices, in particular milling, grinding or brushing devices.

The first group of the plurality of solvent applicators and/or mechanical removal devices arranged in the transport direction of the thin-film solar cells may for example clean a first group of the thin-film solar cells, and the second group of the plurality of solvent applicators and/or mechanical removal devices arranged in the transport direction of the thin-film solar cells may for example clean a second group of the thin-film solar cells transported in parallel with the first group of thin-film solar cells.

Fig. 5 schematically and exemplarily shows the structure of an adhesive application station 400 also shown in fig. 1. The adhesive application device 400 shown is suitable for simultaneously processing two thin film solar cells transported parallel to each other. For this purpose, the adhesive application station 400 has two parallel production tracks F1 and F2 on which two thin-film solar cells are transported in each case parallel to one another along a transport path F.

The adhesive application station 400 comprises two dosing means 410, 412 for a non-conductive adhesive movable at least in a direction Y orthogonal to the transport path F of the thin film solar cells. In other embodiments (not shown) the dosing means for the non-conductive adhesive may also be moved in a direction X parallel to the transport path F of the thin film solar cell. The dosing devices 410, 412 are adapted to apply a non-conductive adhesive 16 (see fig. 2) to the thin film solar cells being transported.

The thin film solar cells are then transported along a transport path F or following parallel transport tracks F1 and F2 into a pre-drying zone 420. The pre-drying zone 420 is adapted to pre-dry the adhesive applied by the dosing means 410, 412 to the thin film solar cell by means of uv light. In this case, at least the non-conductive adhesive on the thin-film solar cells being transported is dried to a predetermined degree.

The thin-film solar cells are subsequently conveyed further along a conveying path F or following mutually parallel conveying tracks F1, F2 into the working area of two conductive adhesive dosing devices 430, 432, which conductive adhesive dosing devices 430, 432 are in each case adapted to introduce a conductive adhesive into the through-openings 18 (see fig. 2) of the conveyed thin-film solar cells. The conductive adhesive metering devices 430 and 432 are movable in a direction Y orthogonal to the transport path F of the thin film solar cell and a direction Z orthogonal to the transport path F of the thin film solar cell and to the direction Y. In other embodiments (not shown), the conductive adhesive dosing device may also be moved in a direction X parallel to the transport path F of the thin-film solar cell.

Alternatively, the application of adhesive and/or conductive adhesive by the adhesive application device 400 may be monitored by an optical detection sensing mechanism, in particular a camera sensing mechanism.

Fig. 6 schematically and exemplarily shows a structure of the alignment station 500 shown in fig. 1. The illustrated alignment station 500 is adapted to process two thin film solar cells that are transported parallel to each other. For this purpose, the alignment station 500 has two parallel production tracks F1 and F2 on which two thin-film solar cells are transported in each case parallel to one another along a transport path F. In other embodiments, the alignment station 500 may include additional manufacturing rails, for example, a total of four manufacturing rails.

The alignment station 500 includes an optical inspection camera sensor 510, 512 for each manufacturing track F1, F2. The camera sensors 510, 512 are adapted to determine position errors and characteristic defects of the thin film solar cells being transported. If it is determined that the thin film solar cell has a positional error, the corresponding thin film solar cell is repositioned by the vacuum gripper 520 so as to eliminate the positional error.

The vacuum gripper 520 is adapted to lift the thin-film solar cell by means of the underpressure and to move or reposition the thin-film solar cell in a direction X parallel to the transport path F of the thin-film solar cell and in a direction Y orthogonal to the transport path F. Further, the vacuum gripper 520 is adapted to rotate the transported thin-film solar cell about a rotation axis Z orthogonal to the transport path F and to a direction Y orthogonal to the transport path F of the thin-film solar cell as required in order to correct a positional error of the thin-film solar cell determined by the camera sensors 510, 512.

If one of the camera sensors 510, 512 determines that a transported thin film solar cell has a characteristic defect, the alignment station 500 causes the vacuum gripper 520 to transport the thin film solar cell having the characteristic defect along a second reject path a' extending at an angle to the transport path F of the thin film solar cell into a corresponding second reject receptacle 550 of the alignment station 500. This also makes it possible, for example, to exclude damaged thin-film solar cells from further production, the damage of which occurs only during the production process.

The vacuum gripper 520 is only used if it is determined by the camera sensors 510, 512 that there is a position error or a characteristic defect, so that, in the example shown, a single vacuum gripper 520 is sufficient for processing thin-film solar cells transported on two parallel transport tracks. However, if repositioning and/or discarding of two parallel transported thin film solar cells is required, the vacuum gripper 520 may process the parallel transported thin film solar cells sequentially.

The alignment station 500 may optionally comprise a further optical detection sensor (not shown), in particular a camera sensor, which is adapted to re-check the position error of the thin film solar cell which is repositioned or aligned by the vacuum gripper. In other words, the further optical detection sensor of this alignment station can check the effect of the repositioning performed by the vacuum gripper.

Fig. 7 and 8 schematically and exemplarily show the structure of the interconnection station 600 shown in fig. 1 and a flow for interconnecting individual thin film solar cells into a thin film solar cell device.

The illustrated interconnection station 600 is adapted to process and add two thin film solar cells transported parallel to each other to a thin film solar cell arrangement. For this purpose, the shown interconnection station also has two manufacturing tracks F1 and F2 which are at least substantially parallel to each other, on which two thin-film solar cells are transported in each case parallel to each other along the transport path F. In other embodiments, the interconnecting station 600 may include additional manufacturing rails, for example, a total of four manufacturing rails.

For each manufacturing track F1, F2, the interconnecting station 600 has at least one interconnecting gripper 612, 614 adapted to pick up the transported thin film solar cells and arrange them partially overlapping each other in the interconnecting/underpressure zone 610. The interconnect clamps 612, 614 may alternatively be designed as vacuum grippers. In other embodiments (not shown), every second interconnect gripper can also be assigned to a manufacturing track, so that four thin-film solar cells can be processed through this interconnect station.

The interconnect clamps 612, 614 are movable together or simultaneously in a first direction X parallel to the transport path F of the thin film solar cells. Furthermore, the interconnect clamps 612, 614 are movable independently of each other in a second direction Y orthogonal to the transport path of the thin film solar cells and are rotatable about an axis Z orthogonal to the first direction X and the second direction Y. In other words, the axis Z is parallel to the surface normal of the plane spanned by the first direction X and the second direction Y.

The interconnection grippers 612, 614 can only be moved in the first direction X jointly or synchronously with each other, so that advantageously, at least in the first direction X, i.e. in a direction parallel to the transport path, the thin-film solar cells have already been aligned by the previous alignment station 500 in order to avoid individual thin-film solar cell layout errors when manufacturing the thin-film solar cell arrangement.

In a further development of the interconnection station (not shown), the optical detection sensor means, in particular the camera device, can detect the thin-film solar cells which are transported by the interconnection gripper into the interconnection zone/underpressure zone and determine possible position errors in order to correct these position errors, for example in the second direction Y, by means of the interconnection gripper and/or to take these position errors into account when interconnecting the individual thin-film solar cells.

At least one film is supplied by a film supply 650 (see fig. 1) and is transported in an auxiliary transport direction N to the interconnecting station 600 by means of auxiliary transport tracks N1, N2 which are at least substantially parallel to one another.

The interconnection station 600 arranges the cover film supplied by the cover film supply device 650 on the thin-film solar cell device to be manufactured. Optionally, the cover film supply 650 may also provide a cover film as a quasi-annular web or a quasi-annular film, wherein the interconnecting station 600 is adapted to cover the plurality of thin film solar cell devices by means of the provided quasi-annular cover film.

The thin-film solar cell arrangement with the cover film arranged thereon is then transported into the underpressure region 610. The interconnecting station 600 is adapted to apply or expose a negative pressure to or to a thin film solar cell arrangement covered with a cover film, wherein the cover film and/or the manufacturing tracks F1, F2 are designed in a manner permeable to negative pressure.

Fig. 8 shows a flow of interconnection of solar cell devices by the interconnection station 600.

A plurality of thin-film solar cells 10, 10', 10 ″ are arranged on a conveyor track, for example designed as a conveyor belt, of the interconnection station 600, partially overlapping one another, wherein the through-holes of a thin-film solar cell filled with a conductive adhesive are arranged in an overlapping manner with the contact regions of another thin-film solar cell. Furthermore, the thin-film solar cells which are partially overlapped with each other are arranged by the interconnection station in such a way that the adhesive applied to the thin-film solar cells by the adhesive application station 600 establishes adhesive connections between the thin-film solar cells which are respectively arranged overlapped with each other. (S C1)

The superstrate film 660 provided by the superstrate film supply 650 is then disposed on the plurality of thin film solar cells 10, 10', 10 "that overlap one another by the interconnect station 600. In the example shown, the cover film 660 is a perforated plastic film permeable to negative pressure. As an alternative, it is also possible to provide a perforated cover tape which is permeable to underpressure and which remains dimensionally stable or does not thermally deform during the heating of the thin-film solar cell device in the solar cell heating station. (S C2)

After arranging a cover film on a plurality of thin-film solar cells 10, 10', 10 ″ lying one above the other, this cover film is pressed onto the thin-film solar cells by applying a negative pressure. This causes the individual thin-film solar cells of the thin-film solar cell arrangement to be produced to also be pressed against one another, so that the adhesive connection established by the adhesive and the electrically conductive adhesive is reinforced. Furthermore, this also allows the thin-film solar cell arrangement composed of individual thin-film solar cells to maintain its spatial layout/positioning during the transport of the thin-film solar cell arrangement to the subsequent processing station. (S C3)

The drying and/or at least substantially complete curing of the adhesive is achieved by heating the thin-film solar cell arrangement by means of a subsequent solar cell heating station 700, wherein a cover film remains on the transported thin-film solar cell arrangement or a plurality of thin-film solar cells 10, 10', 10 ″ which partially overlap one another during the heating.

Since the alignment of the thin film solar cells has been performed by the previous alignment station 500, the alignment of the thin film solar cells by the interconnection station 600 may be omitted. In the case of a production system having a plurality of transport rails, a repositioning of the individual thin-film solar cells in a direction parallel to the transport path F of the thin-film solar cells is difficult to achieve, in particular because the synchronous operation of a plurality of similarly designed processing or transport tools of different transport rails is interrupted and/or unsynchronized, so that it is particularly advantageous to pre-align the individual thin-film solar cells by means of the vacuum gripper at least in one direction parallel to the transport path of the thin-film solar cells.

Of course, the above-described exemplary embodiments are not alterable and do not limit the subject matter disclosed herein. It is particularly obvious to a person skilled in the art that any combination of the described features and/or omission of different features may be made without departing from the subject matter disclosed herein.