AUTOMATED ASSEMBLY AND MOUNTING OF SOLAR CELLS ON SPACE PANELS

摘要

The present disclosure provides methods of fabricating a multijunction solar cell panel in which one or more of the steps are performed using an automated process. In some embodiments, the automated process uses machine vision.

主权项

1. A method of fabricating a multijunction solar cell array panel comprising one or more of the steps of:
fabricating a wafer utilizing a metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactor; metallizing the backside of the wafer; lithographically patterning and depositing metal of the front side of the wafer; forming a mesa on the front side of the wafer by lithography and etching; depositing an antireflective coating (ARC) over the wafer; dicing one or more solar cells from the wafer; testing the functionality of the one or more solar cells; attaching interconnects to the one of more solar cells, wherein one of the interconnects is welded to a bottom metal contact layer of the one of more solar cells; attaching a cover glass to each solar cell to form a Cell-Interconnect-Cover Glass (CIC); forming a string configuration of CICs; interconnecting string configurations of CICs; bonding string configurations or interconnected string configurations to a substrate; configuring and wiring a panel circuit; configuring a blocking diode; wiring a first terminal and a second terminal of first and second polarities, respectively, for the solar cell panel; and testing the functionality of the solar cell panel; wherein at least one of the method steps is performed using an automated process.