Shingle assembly and method of manufacturing the same

By designing a wider conductive structure in the shingled module to connect with the solder strip, the problems of high welding difficulty and low reliability were solved, resulting in cost savings and efficiency improvement.

CN111244209BActive Publication Date: 2025-12-23TONGWEI SOLAR (HEFEI) CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202010198671.9
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2020-03-19
Publication Date
2025-12-23
Estimated Expiration
2040-03-19

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing shingled modules face challenges in reducing overlap and grid line width, including difficulties in welding, incomplete soldering, and exposed bare metal, which affect the reliability and efficiency of the modules.

Method used

The connecting pieces of the battery string are located at both ends. The width of the conductive structure of the connecting piece is larger than that of the main grid line of the solar cell. It is used to make conductive connections with the solder strip and is fixed with a non-conductive adhesive to avoid welding.

Benefits of technology

It reduces the wet weight of the modules, saves costs, improves conversion efficiency, simplifies the welding process of the battery strings, and enhances the reliability of the modules.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

The present application relates to a shingled module and a manufacturing method thereof. The battery string of the shingled module of the present application comprises solar cell pieces and connecting pieces, and the cell pieces at the head and tail ends of the battery string in a first direction are connecting pieces. The connecting pieces have conductive structures, the conductive structure of each connecting piece is in conductive contact with the main grid line of the solar cell piece adjacent thereto, and the conductive structure of the connecting pieces at the head and tail ends of the battery string is in conductive connection with a solder strip for leading the current of the battery string outwards. Moreover, the width of the conductive structure of the connecting piece connected with the solder strip is greater than the width of the main grid line of the solar cell piece. According to the present application, the main grid line of the solar cell piece can be made as thin as possible to reduce the wet weight, save costs, and reduce the shingling area to improve the conversion efficiency; and the width of the conductive structure of the connecting piece at the head and tail ends of the battery string connected with the solder strip is greater, which can facilitate the conductive contact of the connecting piece with the solder strip.
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Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of energy, in particular to a shingled module and a manufacturing method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the accelerated consumption of global conventional fossil energy such as coal, oil and natural gas, the ecological environment is deteriorating, and in particular, the increasingly severe global climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions has seriously threatened the sustainable development of human society. Countries around the world have formulated their own energy development strategies to cope with the finiteness of conventional fossil energy resources and the environmental problems caused by their development and utilization. Solar energy has become one of the most important renewable energy sources due to its reliability, safety, universality, long service life, environmental protection and resource adequacy, and is expected to become the main pillar of future global power supply.

[0003] In the new round of energy revolution, China's photovoltaic industry has grown into a strategic emerging industry with international competitive advantage. However, the development of the photovoltaic industry still faces many problems and challenges. Conversion efficiency and reliability are the biggest technical obstacles to the development of the photovoltaic industry, and cost control and scale also form economic constraints. As the core component of photovoltaic power generation, improving the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic modules to develop high-efficiency modules is an inevitable trend. At present, various high-efficiency modules have appeared on the market, such as shingled, half-piece, multi-main grid, and bifacial modules. With the increasingly wide application of photovoltaic modules in various places and regions, the reliability requirements are becoming higher and higher, especially in some areas where severe or extreme weather occurs, high-efficiency and high-reliability photovoltaic modules are needed.

[0004] Under the background of vigorously promoting and using solar green energy, shingled modules use the principle of low current and low loss (the power loss of photovoltaic modules is proportional to the square of the working current) to greatly reduce the power loss of the modules. Secondly, by making full use of the intercell spacing area of the battery module for power generation, the energy density per unit area is high. In addition, the conductive adhesive with elastomer properties is currently used to replace the conventional photovoltaic metal welding strip. Since the photovoltaic metal welding strip exhibits high series resistance in the whole cell, the current loop of the conductive adhesive is much smaller than that of the welding strip, so that the shingled module becomes a high-efficiency module, and the outdoor application reliability is better than that of the conventional photovoltaic module. Because the shingled module avoids the stress damage of the metal welding strip to the interconnection position of the battery and other busbar areas. Especially in the dynamic (wind, snow and other natural load) environment of high and low temperature alternation, the failure probability of the conventional module interconnected and packaged by the metal welding strip is much higher than that of the shingled module packaged by the elastomer conductive adhesive interconnected and cut silicon cell small pieces.

[0005] With the development of the shingled technology, cost reduction and efficiency improvement are paid more and more attention. At present, the shingled module reduces the cost and improves the efficiency mainly through two ways, one is to reduce the shingled amount of the battery string to increase the effective utilization area of the battery and increase the power, and the other is to narrow the width of the grid line to reduce the silver paste consumption and reduce the cost. Reducing the shingled amount can maximize the utilization rate of the battery sheet, and the same number of battery sheets can output higher power and the non-silicon cost is almost unchanged, directly increasing the module revenue while reducing the non-silicon cost. The reason for further reducing the shingled amount is that the existing equipment precision cannot meet the requirements, and on the other hand, the main grid design is too thin to be welded due to the low shingled amount. That is, if a lower shingled amount scheme is adopted, in order to ensure that the battery string does not appear white, the width of the grid line must be reduced. However, reducing the width of the grid line will increase the difficulty of welding the lead-out line of the battery string, and it is easy to appear virtual welding, white and other problems.

[0006] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a shingled module and a manufacturing method thereof to at least partially solve the above problems. SUMMARY

[0007] The purpose of the present application is to provide a shingled module and a manufacturing method thereof. In the present application, the battery string of the shingled module includes connecting sheets and solar cell sheets, and the connecting sheets are located at the two ends of the battery string. Specifically, the main grid lines of the solar cell sheets in the battery string can be made as thin as possible, thereby reducing the wet weight and saving costs on the one hand, and reducing the laminated area to improve the conversion efficiency on the other hand; and the connecting sheets at the two ends of the battery string are used for electrically connecting with the solder strips, and the width of the conductive structure of the connecting sheet for electrically connecting with the solder strip is greater than the width of the thin main grid lines of the other solar cell sheets, thereby facilitating the conductive contact between the connecting sheet and the solder strip.

[0008] In addition, the manufacturing method provided by the present application can realize the feeding of the solar cell sheets and the connecting sheets respectively to form the battery string, and the feeding station of the connecting sheet can be closed separately for the production of traditional battery strings.

[0009] According to one aspect of the present application, a shingled module is provided, which includes a battery string and solder strips located at both ends of the battery string, the battery string includes a plurality of unit sheets arranged in a shingled manner in a first direction, the plurality of unit sheets are composed of solar cell sheets and connecting sheets, and the unit sheets located at the leading end and the trailing end of the battery string in the first direction are connecting sheets, wherein:

[0010] The solar cell sheet includes a base sheet, and the top surface and the bottom surface of the base sheet are provided with main grid lines, wherein the main grid lines on the surfaces of any two adjacent solar cell sheets facing each other are in contact with each other to realize conductive connection;

[0011] The connecting tab has a conductive structure, the conductive structure of each connecting tab is in conductive contact with the main busbar of the solar cell tab adjacent to it, and the conductive structure of the connecting tab at the head and tail of the cell string is in conductive connection with the solder strip for leading the current of the cell string outwards,

[0012] And the width of the conductive structure of the connecting tab connected with the solder strip is greater than the width of the main busbar of the solar cell tab.

[0013] In an embodiment, in addition to the connecting tab at the head and tail of the cell string, there is no other connecting tab in the cell string; or

[0014] In addition to the connecting tab at the head and tail of the cell string, there is also another connecting tab in the cell string.

[0015] In an embodiment, the size of the connecting tab is consistent with the size of the solar cell tab, and the connecting tab and the solar cell tab adjacent to it are connected in a shingle manner.

[0016] In an embodiment, the connecting tab includes a connecting tab base sheet and a connecting tab main busbar on the top surface and the bottom surface of the connecting tab base sheet, and the solder strip is connected with the connecting tab main busbar.

[0017] In an embodiment, the connecting tab main busbar of the connecting tab connected with the solar cell tab is a first main busbar, and the connecting tab main busbar connected with the solder strip is a second main busbar, and the width of the first main busbar is consistent with the width of the main busbar of the solar cell tab.

[0018] In an embodiment, the body part of the connecting tab is made of a non-conductive material, and the conductive structure is a conductive layer applied to the surface of the body part.

[0019] In an embodiment, the body part is a sheet structure made of plastic or ceramic, and the conductive layer is applied to the top surface and the bottom surface of the body part.

[0020] In an embodiment, the main busbar on the top surface of the base sheet of the solar cell tab is a positive electrode, and the main busbar on the bottom surface is a back electrode, and the arrangement of the solar cell tab satisfies one of the following schemes:

[0021] The positive electrode is discontinuously arranged in its extension direction, and the back electrode is continuously arranged in its extension direction;

[0022] The positive electrode is continuously arranged in its extension direction, and the back electrode is discontinuously arranged in its extension direction;

[0023] The positive electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extending direction thereof, the back electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extending direction thereof, and the positive electrodes and the back electrodes are aligned in the first direction.

[0024] In one embodiment, the main grid lines are all formed in a sawtooth structure, and when two solar cell pieces are connected in a shingle manner, the main grid lines of the two solar cell pieces facing each other are in contact with each other in the form of a rack meshing.

[0025] In one embodiment, the main grid lines of the solar cell pieces are a plurality of dot structures or a plurality of segment structures arranged in sequence in the extending direction thereof.

[0026] In one embodiment, the connecting piece and the solder strip are fixed together by conductive glue or non-conductive adhesive.

[0027] In one embodiment, the connecting piece and the solder strip do not have a solder joint and a solder strip at the connecting position.

[0028] In one embodiment, any two adjacent solar cell pieces are conductively connected by direct contact of the main grid lines, and any two adjacent solar cell pieces are fixed relative to each other by non-conductive adhesive.

[0029] In one embodiment, all the connecting pieces have the same structure.

[0030] Another aspect of the present application provides a manufacturing method for manufacturing the shingle assembly according to any one of the above, the manufacturing method comprising:

[0031] a manufacturing step, the manufacturing step comprising manufacturing solar cell pieces and connecting pieces;

[0032] a common feeding step, the common feeding step comprising placing solar cell pieces at predetermined positions, and connecting a plurality of solar cell pieces in sequence in a shingle manner in a first direction;

[0033] a head patching step, the head patching step comprising placing one connecting piece at a head position of the plurality of solar cell pieces in the first direction;

[0034] a tail patching step, the tail patching step comprising placing another connecting piece at a tail position of the plurality of solar cell pieces in the first direction, the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces together forming a cell string;

[0035] a fixing step, the fixing step comprising fixing each of the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces relative to each other; and

[0036] The welding strip is conductively connected with the connecting tabs at the beginning and end of the battery string.

[0037] In one embodiment, the method further comprises the step of providing a loading station, the loading station comprising a regular station and a patch station, the loading station being capable of generating a vacuum suction force when turned on, thereby suctioning and fixing the solar cell or the connecting tab, and each of the loading stations being capable of being turned on and off independently of the other loading stations.

[0038] In one embodiment, the method comprises the step of positioning and detecting the loaded solar cell and the patched connecting tab.

[0039] In one embodiment, the positioning and detecting step comprises:

[0040] presetting the lamination feature parameters in the system;

[0041] taking a photo of the solar cell and the connecting tab using a camera device;

[0042] extracting the actual lamination parameters in the photo and comparing the actual lamination parameters with the lamination feature parameters;

[0043] if the comparison result is greater than a certain threshold, determining that the lamination is defective and performing a correction.

[0044] In one embodiment, the regular loading step and the positioning and detecting step are performed simultaneously, wherein the detection device feeds back the detection result to the loading device in a closed loop.

[0045] In one embodiment, the method further comprises the step of applying an adhesive to the loaded solar cell and connecting tab before the tail-end patching step.

[0046] In one embodiment, the method further comprises the step of detecting adhesive defects of the solar cell and connecting tab to which the adhesive has been applied, the step comprising:

[0047] presetting the feature parameters of the adhesive in the system;

[0048] taking a photo of the applied adhesive using a camera device;

[0049] extracting the actual parameters of the adhesive in the photo and comparing the actual parameters with the feature parameters;

[0050] if the comparison result is greater than a certain defect threshold, determining that the adhesive application is defective.

[0051] In one embodiment, the feature parameters comprise at least one of the width, length, and thickness of the adhesive.

[0052] In one embodiment, the step of applying the adhesive and the step of detecting the adhesive defects are performed simultaneously, wherein the detection device feeds back the detection result to the device for applying the adhesive.

[0053] In one embodiment, a blowing device is used to blow away the impurities on the solar cell and the connecting piece while the adhesive is being applied.

[0054] In one embodiment, the connecting pieces at the head and tail ends of the cell string are fixed to the solder strips by non-conductive adhesive.

[0055] In one embodiment, the method does not include the step of welding the connecting pieces and the solder strips together.

[0056] In one embodiment, in the curing step, a double-layer curing hot plate is provided, and the cell string is positioned between the double-layer curing hot plate to complete the curing.

[0057] In one embodiment, the method further includes the step of detecting the quality of the entire cell string.

[0058] According to the present application, the cell string of the shingled assembly includes connecting pieces and solar cell pieces, and the connecting pieces are located at the head and tail ends of the cell string. Specifically, the main grid lines of the solar cell pieces in the cell string can be as thin as possible, thereby reducing the wet weight and saving costs on the one hand, and reducing the area of the shingled pieces to improve the conversion efficiency on the other hand; and the connecting pieces at the head and tail ends of the cell string are used to be electrically connected to the solder strips, and the width of the conductive structure of the connecting pieces for electrical connection to the solder strips is greater than the width of the thinner main grid lines of the other solar cell pieces, thereby facilitating the conductive contact between the connecting pieces and the solder strips.

[0059] In addition, the manufacturing method provided by the present application can realize the separate feeding of the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces to form the cell string, and the feeding station of the connecting pieces can be closed separately for the production of traditional cell strings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0060] For better understanding of the above and other objects, features, advantages and functions of the present application, reference should be made to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals in the drawings refer to the same components. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the drawings are intended to illustrate the preferred embodiments of the present application schematically, and have no limiting effect on the scope of the present application, and the components in the drawings are not drawn to scale.

[0061] Figure 1 A top view of a shingled assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present application, wherein the solder strips are also shown;

[0062] Figure 2A and Figure 2B are, respectively, Figure 1 a top surface view and a bottom surface view of a solar cell in

[0063] Figure 3A and Figure 3B are, respectively, Figure 1 a top surface view and a bottom surface view of a leading tab in

[0064] Figure 4A and Figure 4B are, respectively, Figure 1 a top surface view and a bottom surface view of a trailing tab in

[0065] Figure 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in Figure 1

[0066] Figure 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in Figure 1

[0067] Figure 6A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in an alternative in Figure 1

[0068] Figure 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in an alternative in Figure 1

[0069] Figure 7A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in another alternative in Figure 1

[0070] Figure 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in another alternative in Figure 1

[0071] Figure 8 is a flow chart of the main steps of a preferred embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention.

[0072] REFERENCE NUMBERS:

[0073] Imbricated assembly 100

[0074] Solder strip 1

[0075] Cell string 2

[0076] Solar cell 21

[0077] Leading tab 22, 22', 22"​​​​​​

[0078] tail end tab 23, 23', 23"

[0079] base sheet 211 of solar cell sheet 21

[0080] positive electrode 212 of solar cell sheet 21

[0081] back electrode 213 of solar cell sheet 21

[0082] base sheet 221 of head end tab 22

[0083] positive electrode 222 of head end tab 22

[0084] back electrode 223 of head end tab 22

[0085] base sheet 231 of tail end tab 23

[0086] positive electrode 232 of tail end tab 23

[0087] back electrode 233 of tail end tab 23

[0088] body portion 221' of head end tab 22'

[0089] top side conductive layer 222' of head end tab 22'

[0090] bottom side conductive layer 223' of head end tab 22'

[0091] body portion 231' of tail end tab 23'

[0092] top side conductive layer 232' of tail end tab 23'

[0093] bottom side conductive layer 233' of tail end tab 23'

[0094] body portion 221" of head end tab 22"

[0095] top side conductive layer 222" of head end tab 22"

[0096] bottom side conductive layer 223" of head end tab 22"

[0097] body portion 231" of tail end tab 23" DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0098] Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present application, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described hereinafter are merely preferred embodiments of the present application, and other ways which can achieve the present application can be conceived by those skilled in the art based on the preferred embodiments, and the other ways also fall within the scope of the present application.

[0099] The present application provides a shingled assembly and a method of manufacturing the shingled assembly, Figures 1 to 8 Several preferred embodiments of the present application are shown.

[0100] Figure 1 A shingled assembly 100 of one preferred embodiment of the present application is shown, which includes a battery string 2 and a solder strip 1 located at both ends of the battery string 2 in the direction of stacking, i.e. the first direction. It is first to be noted that the "first direction" mentioned herein can be understood as the direction of stacking or arrangement of each unit piece (including at least one solar cell piece 21 and the head-end connecting piece 22 and the tail-end connecting piece 23) in the battery string 2, which is roughly consistent with the width direction of each rectangular unit piece, and the first direction is shown by D1 in Figures 1-6B .

[0101] The following continues to refer to Figure 1 . The battery string 2 includes a plurality of unit pieces arranged in a shingled manner in the first direction, which are composed of solar cell pieces 21 and connecting pieces, wherein the unit pieces at the head end and the tail end of the battery string 2 in the first direction are connecting pieces, and the remaining unit pieces can all be solar cell pieces 21. Alternatively, in addition to the connecting pieces at the head end and the tail end of the battery string 2, other connecting pieces are also mixed in the plurality of solar cell pieces 21 in the battery string 2. In this embodiment, only the unit pieces at the head end and the tail end of the battery string 2 in the first direction are connecting pieces, and the remaining unit pieces are all solar cell pieces 21.

[0102] The structure of the top surface and the bottom surface of the solar cell piece 21 is roughly shown in Figure 2A and Figure 2B . From Figure 2A and Figure 2BAs can be seen, the solar cell 21 comprises a base sheet 211, a front electrode 212 and a back electrode 213. The base sheet 211 is preferably made of silicon, and the front electrode 212 and the back electrode 213 are preferably made of silver, which can be collectively referred to as busbars. Specifically, the front electrode 212 extends along one long edge of the base sheet 211 on a top surface of the base sheet 211, and the back electrode 213 extends along another long edge of the base sheet 211 on a bottom surface of the base sheet 211. When a plurality of solar cells 21 are connected in a shingled manner, the front electrode 212 of one of any two adjacent solar cells 21 can be in contact with the back electrode 213 of the other to conductively connect the two. Preferably, the width of the front electrode 212 of the solar cell 21 is equal to the width of the back electrode, and the front electrode 212 and the back electrode of the solar cell 21 can be thin enough, for example, the width can be smaller than the width of the busbars of a conventional solar cell 21, to achieve the purposes of reducing the wet weight, reducing the shingling amount between the solar cells 21, and reducing the manufacturing cost of the solar cell 21.

[0103] In addition to the scheme in which the busbars are continuously arranged in the extension direction thereof as shown in Figure 2A and Figure 2B , the busbars can also have other arrangements. For example, the front electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extension direction thereof, and the back electrodes are continuously arranged in the extension direction thereof; or the front electrodes are continuously arranged in the extension direction thereof, and the back electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extension direction thereof; or the front electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extension direction thereof, and the back electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extension direction thereof, and the front electrodes and the back electrodes are aligned in the first direction. When the busbars are discontinuously arranged in the extension direction thereof, the busbars can be a plurality of dot structures or segment structures arranged in the extension direction thereof in sequence. On the other hand, the surface of the busbar away from the base sheet can be formed into a sawtooth structure, and the busbars of any two adjacent solar cells facing each other can be engaged together in the form of a rack and pinion engagement. On the other hand, the busbar of the solar cell can also have a gradually changing width.

[0104] The structure of the connecting sheet is different from that of the solar cell 21. Specifically, the connecting sheet has a conductive structure, and the conductive structure of the connecting sheet conductively contacts the busbars of its adjacent solar cells 21, and the conductive structure of the connecting sheet can also conductively connect with the solder strip 1 for conducting the current of the cell string 2 out. The width of the conductive structure of the connecting sheet connected with the solder strip 1 is greater than the width of the busbar of the solar cell 21. It should be noted that the width of a certain part referred to herein refers to the dimension of the part in the stacking direction, i.e., the first direction.

[0105] Preferably, the connecting tab can be formed as an additional solar cell tab, that is, the connecting tab also has its base tab and main busbar, and the width of the main busbar of the connecting tab connected with the solder strip must be greater than the width of the main busbar of other solar cell tabs except the connecting tab. It should be noted that in order to distinguish the connecting tab formed as an additional solar cell tab from other solar cell tabs except the connecting tab, the "solar cell tab" mentioned herein refers to the solar cell tab in the cell string except the connecting tab, that is, does not include the additional solar cell tab.

[0106] Figures 3A-4B A specific example of the connecting tab formed as an additional solar cell tab is shown. For the convenience of description, the connecting tab located at the head end of the cell string 2 is referred to as the head-end connecting tab 22, and the top surface and bottom surface structures thereof are shown by Figure 3A and Figure 3B respectively. The connecting tab located at the tail end of the cell string 2 is referred to as the tail-end connecting tab 23, and the top surface and bottom surface structures thereof are shown by Figure 4A and Figure 4B respectively. It can be seen that in the present embodiment, the head-end connecting tab 22 and the tail-end connecting tab 23 are formed as another kind of solar cell tab different from the other solar cell tabs 21 in the cell string 2, which includes a connecting tab base tab and a connecting tab main busbar located on the connecting tab base tab.

[0107] It can be understood that in such a scheme, the conductive structure of the connecting tab is the connecting tab main busbar. Among them, the width of the connecting tab main busbar conductively connected with the solder strip 1 is greater than the width of the main busbar of the solar cell tab 21.

[0108] Specifically, referring to Figure 3A and Figure 3B , the conductive structure of the head-end connecting tab 22 connected with the solder strip 1 is the positive electrode 222 of the head-end connecting tab 22, and the conductive structure of the head-end connecting tab 22 in conductive contact with the solar cell tab 21 adjacent thereto is the back electrode 223 of the head-end connecting tab 22. Preferably, the width W22 of the back electrode 223 of the head-end connecting tab 22 can be consistent with the width of the main busbar of the solar cell tab 21 (i.e. W11 and W12), and the width W21 of the positive electrode 222 of the head-end connecting tab 22 is greater than the width W21 of the back electrode 223 of the head-end connecting tab 22.

[0109] Similarly, referring to Figure 4A and Figure 4BThe conductive structure of the tail end tab 23 connected with the solder strip 1 is the back electrode 233 of the tail end tab 23, and the conductive structure of the tail end tab 23 in conductive contact with the solar cell 21 adjacent thereto is the positive electrode 232 of the tail end tab 23. Preferably, the width W31 of the positive electrode 232 of the tail end tab 23 can be consistent with the width of the main grid line of the solar cell 21 (i.e. W11 and W12), and the width W32 of the back electrode 233 of the tail end tab 23 is greater than the width W31 of the positive electrode 232 of the tail end tab 23.

[0110] The cross-sectional view of the solar cell 21 and the tabs arranged in a shingle manner is shown in Figure 5A and Figure 5B , Figure 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along the A-A line in Figure 1 , Figure 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along the B-B line in Figure 1 .

[0111] As can be seen from Figure 5A , the positive electrode 222 of the head end tab 22 is in conductive contact with the solder strip 1, and the back electrode 223 of the head end tab 22 is in contact with the positive electrode 212 of the solar cell 21 adjacent thereto. The width of the back electrode 223 of the head end tab 22 is consistent with the width of the positive electrode 212 of the solar cell 21 adjacent thereto, so that the two can be accurately aligned. Since the width of the back electrode 223 of the head end tab 22 can also be set to be small enough, it is also beneficial to reduce the wet weight of the head end solar cell 21 and can save the manufacturing cost of the head end solar cell 21. On the other hand, as can be seen from the figure, the width of the positive electrode 222 of the head end tab 22 is large enough to be in full contact with the solder strip 1, thereby improving the conductive efficiency.

[0112] As can be seen from Figure 5B , the back electrode 233 of the tail end tab 23 is in conductive contact with the solder strip 1, and the positive electrode 232 of the tail end tab 23 is in contact with the back electrode 213 of the solar cell 21 adjacent thereto. The width of the positive electrode 232 of the tail end tab 23 is consistent with the width of the back electrode 213 of the solar cell 21 adjacent thereto, so that the two can be accurately aligned. Since the width of the positive electrode 232 of the tail end tab 23 can also be set to be small enough, it is also beneficial to reduce the wet weight of the tail end solar cell 21 and can save the manufacturing cost of the tail end solar cell 21. On the other hand, as can be seen from the figure, the width of the back electrode 233 of the tail end tab 23 is large enough to be in full contact with the solder strip 1, thereby improving the conductive efficiency.

[0113] In summary, by setting the main grid line of the solar cell 21 to be sufficiently narrow and setting the main grid line of the connecting piece connected to the solder strip 1 to be relatively wide, it is possible to ensure that the battery string 2 and the solder strip 1 have a sufficiently large conductive contact area while reducing wet weight, reducing the amount of stacking between solar cells 21, and reducing the manufacturing cost of solar cells 21, so as to ensure that the current can be fully discharged.

[0114] As a variation of the above embodiment, in addition to the first and last connecting pieces, an intermediate connecting piece can also be provided in the battery string. This intermediate connecting piece can also be formed in the form of a solar cell, and the width of the main grid line of the intermediate cell can be smaller than the width of the main grid line of the first and last connecting pieces, but larger than the width of the main grid line of the other solar cells.

[0115] Next, go to Figures 6A-6B . Figure 6A and Figure 6B and Figure 5A , Figure 5B Similar, but Figure 6A In the middle, the head end connecting piece 22' was used instead. Figure 5A Middle end connecting piece 22, in Figure 6B The tail end connector 23' was used instead Figure 5B The tail end connecting piece 23, and other components are... Figure 5A and Figure 5B Same as above.

[0116] First refer to Figure 6A The first-end connecting piece 22' includes a sheet-like body portion 221' and conductive layers coated on the top and bottom surfaces of the body portion 221'. The body portion 221' can be made of non-conductive materials such as plastic or ceramic, or it can be made of metal. The conductive layers include a top conductive layer 222' and a bottom conductive layer 223', with a conductive connection between them (not shown in the figure). The bottom conductive layer 223' of the first-end connecting piece 22' is in conductive contact with the positive electrode 212 of the solar cell 21 connected thereto, and the top conductive layer 222' of the first-end connecting piece 22' is in conductive contact with the solder ribbon 1. The bottom conductive layer 223' of the first-end connecting piece 22' can conduct current to the top conductive layer 222' and further to the solder ribbon 1. Because the area of ​​the top conductive layer 222' is large enough, it can make full contact with the solder ribbon 1 to ensure sufficient current conduction.

[0117] The following is for reference. Figure 6BThe tail end tab 23' includes a tab-shaped body portion 231' and a conductive layer coated on the top and bottom surfaces of the body portion 231'. The body portion 231' can be made of non-conductive material such as plastic, ceramic, etc. or made of metal material. The conductive layer includes a top-side conductive layer 232' and a bottom-side conductive layer 233', and the top-side conductive layer 232' and the bottom-side conductive layer 233' have a conductive connection portion (not shown in the figure) therebetween. The top-side conductive layer 232' of the tail end tab 23' is in conductive contact with the back electrode 213 of the solar cell tab 21 connected thereto, and the bottom-side conductive layer 233' of the tail end tab 23' is in conductive contact with the solder strip 1. The top-side conductive layer 232' of the tail end tab 23' can conduct current to the bottom-side conductive layer 233' and further to the solder strip 1. Since the area of the bottom-side conductive layer 233' is large enough, it can be in sufficient contact with the solder strip 1 to ensure sufficient current conduction.

[0118] As a variation of the above solution, the body portion 221' of the head end tab 22' and the body portion 231' of the tail end tab 23' can be configured as conductive tabs (but preferably different from the structure in the solar cell tab), and the top-side conductive layer 222' and the bottom-side conductive layer 223' of the head end tab 22' and the top-side conductive layer 232' and the bottom-side conductive layer 233' of the tail end tab 23' are conductive layers for facilitating soldering / bonding to their respective body portions. Figure 6A Figure 6B Alternatively, the conductive layers of the tabs can be provided only on the top or bottom surface of the body portion of the tabs. For example, the conductive layer of the head end tab can be provided only on the bottom surface of the body portion of the head end tab, and the positive electrode of the solar cell tab adjacent to the head end tab and the solder strip 1 are in conductive contact with the conductive layer. Similarly, the conductive layer of the tail end tab can be provided only on the top surface of the body portion of the tail end tab, and the positive electrode of the solar cell tab adjacent to the tail end tab and the solder strip 1 are in conductive contact with the conductive layer.

[0119] Alternatively, the conductive layers of the tabs can be provided only on the top or bottom surface of the body portion of the tabs. For example, the conductive layer of the head end tab can be provided only on the bottom surface of the body portion of the head end tab, and the positive electrode of the solar cell tab adjacent to the head end tab and the solder strip 1 are in conductive contact with the conductive layer. Similarly, the conductive layer of the tail end tab can be provided only on the top surface of the body portion of the tail end tab, and the positive electrode of the solar cell tab adjacent to the tail end tab and the solder strip 1 are in conductive contact with the conductive layer. Figure 7A Figure 7B Fig. 2 shows an example of such a solution.

[0120] Referring to Fig. 3, Figure 7A The head end tab 22" includes a body portion 221" and a bottom-side conductive layer 223" on the bottom side of the body portion 221", and the top side of the body portion 221" is not provided with a conductive structure. The bottom-side conductive layer 223" of the head end tab 22" is in contact with the positive electrode 212 of the solar cell tab 21 adjacent to the head end tab 22" and also in contact with the solder strip 1 to achieve conductive connection between the solar cell tab 21 and the solder strip 1.

[0121] Similarly, referring to Fig. 4, Figure 7B ​​The tail end connecting tab 23" includes a body portion 231" and a top side conductive layer 232" on the top side of the body portion 231", and the bottom side of the body portion 231" is not provided with a conductive structure. The top side conductive layer 232" of the tail end connecting tab 23" is in contact with the back electrode 213 of the solar cell tab 21 adjacent to the tail end connecting tab 23", and is also in contact with the solder strip 1, so as to realize the conductive connection between the solar cell tab 21 and the solder strip 1. In the above scheme, the main grid line of the solar cell tab 21 can be set to be thin enough. Such a scheme can ensure that the conductive contact area between the battery string 2 and the solder strip 1 is large enough to ensure that the current can be fully conducted out, on the premise of reducing the wet weight, reducing the lamination amount between the solar cell tabs 21, and reducing the manufacturing cost of the solar cell tab 21.

[0122] In the above various embodiments, the structure of each connecting tab is substantially the same. However, in other embodiments not shown, each connecting tab can have a different structure. For example, in a certain battery string, the head end connecting tab can be a structure similar to the solar cell tab including a base tab and a main grid line, and the tail end connecting tab can be a structure including a body portion and a conductive layer.

[0123] In addition, in the above various embodiments, the adjacent unit tabs are fixed relative to each other by an adhesive. The adhesive can be a conductive adhesive, or can be an adhesive without conductivity. Preferably, the connecting tab and the solder strip can be fixed relative to each other by an adhesive instead of being welded.

[0124] The present application also provides a method for manufacturing a shingled assembly, Figure 8 The main steps of one specific embodiment of the method are shown. As shown in Figure 8 The method mainly includes a manufacturing step, a general feeding step, a head end patching step, an adhesive applying step, a tail end patching step, and a subsequent processing step.

[0125] Specifically, the manufacturing step includes manufacturing solar cell tabs and connecting tabs; the general feeding step includes placing the solar cell tabs at predetermined positions, so that the plurality of solar cell tabs are sequentially connected in a shingled manner in a first direction; the head end patching step includes placing one connecting tab at a head end position of the plurality of solar cell tabs in the first direction; the adhesive applying step includes applying an adhesive on the fed solar cell tabs and the connecting tab; the tail end patching step includes placing another connecting tab at a tail end position of the plurality of solar cell tabs in the first direction, and the solar cell tabs and the connecting tabs together form a battery string; and the subsequent processing step includes a curing step and a connecting solder strip step, the curing step includes fixing the solar cell tabs and the connecting tabs relative to each other, and the connecting solder strip step includes conductively connecting the solder strip with the connecting tabs at the head end and the tail end of the battery string.

[0126] Preferably, the method further comprises a step of setting up the loading stations before loading, the loading stations comprising regular stations and patch stations, the loading stations being capable of generating vacuum suction force when turned on, so as to suction and fix the solar cell pieces or the connecting pieces, and each loading station being capable of being turned on and turned off independently of other loading stations. If the patch stations are shielded, the loading device can be used to produce regular solar cell pieces.

[0127] In order to optimize the loading precision of each unit piece, the method further comprises a positioning and detecting step for positioning and detecting the loaded solar cell pieces and the patched connecting pieces. The positioning and detecting step further comprises the following sub-steps: presetting the stacking feature parameters in the system; taking photos of the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces by using the camera device; extracting the actual stacking parameters in the photos and comparing the actual stacking parameters with the stacking feature parameters; if the comparison result is greater than a certain threshold value, judging that the stacking is defective and performing deviation correction.

[0128] Preferably, the above positioning and detecting step can be performed synchronously with the ordinary loading step, specifically, the detecting device can feed back the detection result to the loading device, and the loading device can adjust the operation of the robot according to the detection result.

[0129] Also preferably, the above step of applying the adhesive can also have various preferred settings. For example, the above method can further comprise a step of detecting adhesive defects of the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces to which the adhesive has been applied, the step comprising the following sub-steps: presetting the feature parameters of the adhesive in the system, which can be, for example, the appropriate width, length or thickness of the adhesive; taking photos of the applied adhesive by using the camera device; extracting the actual parameters of the adhesive in the photos and comparing the actual parameters with the feature parameters; if the comparison result is greater than a certain defect threshold value, judging that the adhesive application is defective. The above calculation and comparison steps can be performed through the UI window, and the calculation result can be further generated into a line graph, a scatter plot, etc. If it is finally judged that the adhesive application is defective, the unit piece is rejected and patched later.

[0130] The above step of applying the adhesive and the step of detecting adhesive defects are performed simultaneously, wherein the detecting device feeds back the detection result to the device for applying the adhesive. The control module of the device for applying the adhesive can adjust the operation of the robot according to the detection result. This setting can timely correct possible problems such as missing, breaking or printing deviation of the adhesive, and can improve the printing precision, quality and stability of the adhesive.

[0131] In addition, a blowing device is used to blow away impurities on the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces while the adhesive is being applied.

[0132] Preferably, the tabs at the head and tail ends of the battery string are fixed to the solder strips by a non-conductive adhesive. Also, the method does not include a step of soldering the tabs and the solder strips together.

[0133] In the curing step of the subsequent processing steps, a double-layer curing hot plate is provided, and the battery string is positioned between the double-layer curing hot plate to complete the curing. Also, preferably, the method further includes a step of performing quality detection on the entire battery string.

[0134] In addition to the above-described arrangements, the various steps of the present application can have other additional preferred arrangements. For example, multiple tabs can be provided at the first patching station and the second patching station to facilitate the production of multiple battery strings, which can reduce the frequency of material replacement; a heat preservation cover can also be provided for the battery string to achieve better curing effect and reduce energy consumption.

[0135] According to the scheme provided by the present application, the battery string of the shingled module includes tabs and solar cell pieces, and the tabs are located at the head and tail ends of the battery string. Specifically, the main grid lines of the solar cell pieces in the battery string can be made as thin as possible, thereby reducing the wet weight and saving costs on the one hand, and reducing the tab area to improve the conversion efficiency on the other hand; and the tabs at the head and tail ends of the battery string are used for electrically connecting with the solder strips, and the width of the conductive structure of the tabs for electrically connecting with the solder strips is greater than the width of the thin main grid lines of the other solar cell pieces, thereby facilitating the conductive contact between the tabs and the solder strips.

[0136] In addition, the manufacturing method provided by the present application can realize the separate feeding of the solar cell pieces and the tabs to form the battery string, and the feeding station of the tabs can be closed separately for the production of conventional battery strings.

[0137] The above description of various embodiments of the present application is provided to a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art for descriptive purposes. It is not intended to exclude or limit the present application to a single disclosed embodiment. As described above, a person of ordinary skill in the art of the above teachings will understand various alternatives and modifications of the present application. Therefore, although some alternative embodiments are specifically described, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand or relatively easily develop other embodiments. The present application is intended to include all alternatives, modifications and variations of the present application described herein, and other embodiments falling within the spirit and scope of the present application described above.

Claims

1. A shingled assembly comprising a battery string and a tab located at both ends of the battery string, the battery string comprising a plurality of unit pieces arranged in a shingled manner in a first direction, the plurality of unit pieces comprising solar cell pieces and connection pieces, the unit pieces located at the head and tail ends of the battery string in the first direction being connection pieces, wherein: the solar cell pieces comprise base pieces, and main busbars are provided on the top and bottom surfaces of the base pieces, wherein the main busbars on the surfaces of any two adjacent solar cell pieces facing each other are in contact with each other to achieve conductive connection; the connection pieces have conductive structures, the conductive structures of each connection piece conductively contact the main busbars of the solar cell pieces adjacent thereto, and the conductive structures of the connection pieces located at the head and tail ends of the battery string are conductively connected to the tabs for conducting current out of the battery string, and the width of the conductive structures of the connection pieces connected to the tabs is greater than the width of the main busbars of the solar cell pieces. 2.The shingled assembly according to claim 1, wherein: in addition to the connection pieces located at the head and tail ends of the battery string, there are no other connection pieces in the battery string; or in addition to the connection pieces located at the head and tail ends of the battery string, there are other connection pieces in the battery string; the connection pieces have the same size as the solar cell pieces, and the connection pieces and the solar cell pieces adjacent thereto are connected in a shingled manner; the connection pieces are additional solar cell pieces and comprise connection piece base pieces and connection piece main busbars provided on the top and bottom surfaces of the connection piece base pieces, and the tabs are connected to the connection piece main busbars; the connection piece main busbars connected to the solar cell pieces are first main busbars, and the connection piece main busbars connected to the tabs are second main busbars, and the width of the first main busbars is consistent with the width of the main busbars of the solar cell pieces; the body part of the connection piece is made of a non-conductive material, and the conductive structure is a conductive layer applied to the surface of the body part; the body part is a sheet structure made of plastic or ceramic, and the conductive layer is applied to the top and bottom surfaces of the body part; the main busbars on the top surface of the base piece of the solar cell piece are front electrodes, and the main busbars on the bottom surface are back electrodes, and the arrangement of the solar cell pieces satisfies one of the following schemes: the front electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extension direction thereof, and the back electrodes are continuously arranged in the extension direction thereof; the front electrodes are continuously arranged in the extension direction thereof, and the back electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extension direction thereof; the front electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extension direction thereof, and the back electrodes are discontinuously arranged in the extension direction thereof, and the front electrodes and the back electrodes are aligned in the first direction; and the main busbars are all formed in a sawtooth structure, and when two solar cell pieces are connected in a shingled manner, the main busbars on the surfaces of the two solar cell pieces facing each other are in contact with each other in the form of rack meshing. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 3. The shingle assembly of claim 1, wherein, ​ 4. The shingle assembly of claim 3, wherein, ​ 5. The shingle assembly of claim 4, wherein, ​ 6. The shingle assembly of claim 1, wherein, ​ 7. The shingle assembly of claim 6, wherein, ​ 8. The shingle assembly of claim 1, wherein, ​ ​ ​ ​ 9. The shingle assembly of claim 1, wherein, ​ 10. The shingle assembly of claim 1, wherein, The main grid lines of the solar cell pieces are a plurality of dot structures or a plurality of segment structures arranged in sequence in the extension direction of the main grid lines.

11. The shingle assembly of claim 1, wherein, The connecting piece and the solder strip are fixed together by conductive glue or non-conductive adhesive.

12. The shingle assembly of claim 11, wherein, The connecting position of the connecting piece and the solder strip is free of welding points and welding rods.

13. The shingle assembly of claim 1, wherein, Any two adjacent solar cell pieces are conductively connected by direct contact of the main grid lines, and any two adjacent solar cell pieces are fixed relative to each other by non-conductive adhesive.

14. The shingle assembly of claim 1, wherein, The structures of all the connecting pieces are the same.

15. A method of manufacturing the shingle assembly according to any one of claims 1-14, characterized in that, The manufacturing method comprises: a manufacturing step, which comprises manufacturing solar cell pieces and connecting pieces; a general feeding step, which comprises placing solar cell pieces at predetermined positions, and connecting a plurality of solar cell pieces in a shingle manner in a first direction; a head patching step, which comprises placing one connecting piece at a head position of the plurality of solar cell pieces in the first direction; a tail patching step, which comprises placing another connecting piece at a tail position of the plurality of solar cell pieces in the first direction, the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces together forming a cell string; a fixing step, which comprises fixing each of the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces relative to each other; and electrically connecting a solder strip with the connecting pieces at the head and tail of the cell string.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The method further comprises a step of providing feeding stations, the feeding stations comprising regular stations and patching stations, the feeding stations being capable of generating vacuum adsorption force when opened, so as to adsorb and fix the solar cell pieces or the connecting pieces, and each of the feeding stations being capable of being opened and closed independently of other feeding stations.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein, The method comprises a positioning and detecting step for the fed solar cell pieces and the patched connecting pieces.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The positioning and detecting step comprises: presetting lamination characteristic parameters in the system; taking photos of the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces by using a camera device; extracting actual lamination parameters in the photos, and comparing the actual lamination parameters with the lamination characteristic parameters; if the comparison result is greater than a certain threshold value, judging that the lamination is defective and performing correction.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein, The general feeding step and the positioning and detecting step are performed simultaneously, wherein a detecting device feeds back the detection result to a feeding device in a closed loop.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein, The method further comprises a step of applying adhesive to the fed solar cell pieces and connecting pieces before the tail patching step.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, The method further comprises a step of detecting adhesive defects of the solar cell pieces and connecting pieces to which adhesive has been applied, the step comprising: presetting characteristic parameters of the adhesive in the system; taking photos of the applied adhesive by using a camera device; extracting actual parameters of the adhesive in the photos, and comparing the actual parameters with the characteristic parameters; if the comparison result is greater than a certain defect threshold value, judging that the adhesive application is defective.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein, The characteristic parameters comprise at least one of the width, the length and the thickness of the adhesive. The connecting piece and the solder strip are fixed together by conductive glue or non-conductive adhesive. The connecting position of the connecting piece and the solder strip is free of welding points and welding rods. Any two adjacent solar cell pieces are conductively connected by direct contact of the main grid lines, and any two adjacent solar cell pieces are fixed relative to each other by non-conductive adhesive. The structures of all the connecting pieces are the same. The manufacturing method comprises: a manufacturing step, which comprises manufacturing solar cell pieces and connecting pieces; a general feeding step, which comprises placing solar cell pieces at predetermined positions, and connecting a plurality of solar cell pieces in a shingle manner in a first direction; a head patching step, which comprises placing one connecting piece at a head position of the plurality of solar cell pieces in the first direction; a tail patching step, which comprises placing another connecting piece at a tail position of the plurality of solar cell pieces in the first direction, the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces together forming a cell string; a fixing step, which comprises fixing each of the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces relative to each other; and electrically connecting a solder strip with the connecting pieces at the head and tail of the cell string. The method further comprises a step of providing feeding stations, the feeding stations comprising regular stations and patching stations, the feeding stations being capable of generating vacuum adsorption force when opened, so as to adsorb and fix the solar cell pieces or the connecting pieces, and each of the feeding stations being capable of being opened and closed independently of other feeding stations. The method comprises a positioning and detecting step for the fed solar cell pieces and the patched connecting pieces. The positioning and detecting step comprises: presetting lamination characteristic parameters in the system; taking photos of the solar cell pieces and the connecting pieces by using a camera device; extracting actual lamination parameters in the photos, and comparing the actual lamination parameters with the lamination characteristic parameters; if the comparison result is greater than a certain threshold value, judging that the lamination is defective and performing correction. The general feeding step and the positioning and detecting step are performed simultaneously, wherein a detecting device feeds back the detection result to a feeding device in a closed loop. The method further comprises a step of applying adhesive to the fed solar cell pieces and connecting pieces before the tail patching step. The method further comprises a step of detecting adhesive defects of the solar cell pieces and connecting pieces to which adhesive has been applied, the step comprising: presetting characteristic parameters of the adhesive in the system; taking photos of the applied adhesive by using a camera device; extracting actual parameters of the adhesive in the photos, and comparing the actual parameters with the characteristic parameters; if the comparison result is greater than a certain defect threshold value, judging that the adhesive application is defective. The characteristic parameters comprise at least one of the width, the length and the thickness of the adhesive.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein, The step of applying the adhesive and the step of detecting the adhesive defects are performed simultaneously, wherein the detection device feeds back the detection result to the adhesive applying device.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein, The blowing device is used to blow away the impurities on the solar cell and the connecting piece while the adhesive is being applied.

25. The method of claim 15, wherein, The connecting pieces at the head and tail ends of the cell string are fixed with the solder strips by non-conductive adhesive.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The method does not include the step of welding the connecting pieces and the solder strips together.

27. The method of claim 15, wherein, In the curing step, double-layer curing hot plates are arranged, and the cell string is located between the double-layer curing hot plates to complete the curing.

28. The method of claim 15, wherein, The method further includes the step of detecting the quality of the whole cell string.

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