Flexible photovoltaic array with integrated wiring and control circuitry, and associated methods

摘要

A flexible photovoltaic module for converting light into electricity includes a plurality of photovoltaic cells, a wiring harness, and a connection subsystem. The plurality of photovoltaic cells are electrically interconnected to form a positive node for supplying current to a load and a negative node for receiving current from the load. The wiring harness includes a plurality of flexible electrical conductors, each electrical conductor being electrically isolated within the wiring harness. The connection subsystem is operable to selectively connect the positive node to one of the electrical conductors of the wiring harness. A plurality of flexible photovoltaic modules may be connected to form a photovoltaic array.

主权项

1. A flexible photovoltaic module for converting light into electricity, comprising:
a plurality of photovoltaic cells electrically interconnected to form a high-voltage power output including a positive node for supplying current to a load and a negative node for receiving current from the load; a first wiring harness including (a) a plurality of flexible high-voltage electrical conductors and (b) a low-voltage electrical conductor, each of the plurality of flexible high-voltage electrical conductors being electrically isolated within the first wiring harness from each other of the plurality of flexible high-voltage electrical conductors, the low-voltage electrical conductor being electrically isolated within the first wiring harness from each of the plurality of flexible high voltage electrical conductors; a connection subsystem for selectively connecting the positive node to one of the plurality of flexible high-voltage electrical conductors of the first wiring harness; and a low-voltage tap connected to the low-voltage electrical conductor of the first wiring harness and configured to provide a low-voltage power output from the photovoltaic module, the low-voltage power output being separate from the high-voltage power output, a voltage of the low-voltage power output being less than an entire voltage across the positive and negative nodes, the low-voltage tap connected to a first intermediate node of the plurality of photovoltaic cells, the first intermediate node being different from the positive and negative nodes.