Solar panel having monolithic multicell photovoltaic modules of different types

摘要

A solar panel may include a first multi-cell thin-film photovoltaic module of a first fabrication type including a transparent support forming a front surface of the panel, a first pair of connection terminals on the transparent support, and first cells of a certain area, being on the transparent support, and being connected in series to the first pair of connection terminals. The solar panel may include a second multi-cell thin-film photovoltaic module of a second fabrication type comprising a support forming a rear surface of the panel, a second pair of connection terminals on the support, and second cells of a certain area, being on the support, and being connected in series to the second pair of connection terminals. The solar panel may further include a pair of panel terminals for connecting the solar panel to an external circuit, the first and second pairs of connection terminals being connected either in series or in parallel, and then connected to the external circuit through the panel terminals, or both connected to a maximum power point tracker and then connected to the external circuit through the panel terminals.

主权项

1. A solar panel (Sakai) comprising:
a first multi-cell module comprising
a transparent common substrate forming a front surface of the solar panel,a first pair of terminals on said transparent common substrate, anda first plurality of cells being on said transparent common substrate, and configured to be coupled in series to said first pair of terminals, each first cell having a first area and comprising a p-i-n/n-i-p structure with an intrinsic layer comprising thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon, and a transparent film of a conducting material (TCO) layer over said p-i-n/n-i-p structure; a second multi-cell photovoltaic module comprising
a common substrate forming a rear surface of the solar panel,a second pair of terminals on said common substrate, anda second plurality of cells being on said common substrate, and being configured to be coupled in series to said second pair of terminals, each second cell having a second area being different than the first area and comprising a Copper Indium Gallium di-Selenide structure, and a TCO layer over said Copper Indium Gallium di-Selenide structure, the Copper Indium Gallium di-Selenide having a band-gap between 0.9 and 1.3 eV; and a pair of panel terminals configured to couple the solar panel to an external circuit, said first and second pairs of terminals configured to be coupled to said pair of panel terminals; said first and second pluralities of cells configured to equalize at least one of current generation and voltage generation.