System and method for dendritic web solar cell shingling

Abstract

A dendritic web solar cell shingled array comprises at least two dendritic web solar cells. A first cell overlaps a portion of a second cell such that a back contact of the first cells interconnects with a top contact of the second cell. The cells are less than 150 microns thick, allowing a direct connection between the back contact and top contact of the two cells without the use of a visible busbar. The cells may be shingled together using soldering material and/or electrically conductive adhesives.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A shingled solar cell array, comprising: 
 at least two dendritic web silicon solar cells shingled together so that a bottom of one cell overlaps a top of a next cell, the cells each having a thickness of less than about 150 microns.    
     
     
         2 . The shingled solar cell array of  claim 1 , wherein less than 10% of the surface area of one cell is overlapped by the next cell.  
     
     
         3 . The shingled solar cell array of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two cells are interconnected via a back contact layer of one cell to a top contact layer of the next cell.  
     
     
         4 . The shingled solar cell array of  claim 1 , wherein the array is has an anti-reflective coating.  
     
     
         5 . The shingled solar cell array of  claim 1 , wherein the array is encapsulated with an encapsulation material.  
     
     
         6 . The shingled solar cell array of  claim 5 , wherein the encapsulation material includes ethylene vinyl acetate.  
     
     
         7 . The shingled solar cell array of  claim 1 , wherein the shingled solar cell array has an interconnect between cells having a low resistance.  
     
     
         8 . The shingled solar cell array of  claim 1 , wherein the shingled solar cell array has an interconnect between cells lacking undesirable stress.  
     
     
         9 . A solar cell shingling method, comprising: 
 placing soldering material on a top contact layer of a first dendritic web silicon solar cell, the first cell having a thickness of less than about 150 microns;    overlapping a second dendritic web silicon solar cell over the soldering material, the second cell having a thickness of less than about 150 microns;    applying heat to the first and second solar cells so that the cells bond.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising placing soldering material on the back contact layer of the second cell.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising encapsulating the solar cells with an encapsulation material.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the encapsulation material includes ethylene vinyl acetate.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first and second cells have an anti-reflective coating.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the second cell does not overlap more than 10% of the surface area of the first cell.  
     
     
         15 . A system for solar cell shingling method, comprising: 
 means for placing soldering material on a top contact layer of a first dendritic web silicon solar cell, the first cell having a thickness of less than about 150 microns;    means for overlapping a second dendritic web silicon solar cell over the soldering material, the second cell having a thickness of less than about 150 microns;    means for applying heat to the first and second solar cells so that the cells bond.    
     
     
         16 . A solar cell shingling method, comprising: 
 placing soldering material on a bottom contact layer of a first dendritic web silicon solar cell, the first cell having a thickness of less than about 150 microns;    coupling the first cell with a second dendritic web silicon solar cell such that a top contact layer of the second cell is in communication with the soldering material, the second cell having a thickness of less than about 150 microns;    applying heat to the first and second solar cells so that the cells bond.    
     
     
         17 . A shingled solar cell array, comprising: 
 at least two dendritic web silicon solar cells shingled together with electrically conductive adhesive so that a bottom of one cell overlaps a top of a next cell, the cells each having a thickness of less than about 150 microns.    
     
     
         18 . A solar cell shingling method, comprising: 
 placing electrically conductive adhesive on a top contact layer of a first dendritic web silicon solar cell, the first cell having a thickness of less than about 150 microns; and    overlapping a second dendritic web silicon solar cell over the adhesive so that the cells bond, the second cell having a thickness of less than about 150 microns.