Electroplating bath, application thereof and photovoltaic cell electroplating method

Abstract

The invention provides an electroplating bath, application of the electroplating bath and a photovoltaic cell electroplating method, and relates to the technical field of solar photovoltaic cell manufacturing. The electroplating bath comprises an electroplating bath main body and light sources located on the two sides of the electroplating bath main body; wherein the two sides of the electroplating bath main body are light-transmitting; meanwhile, electroplating anodes and a water inlet pipe are arranged at the bottom of the electroplating bath body. The technical problem that in the prior art, shading is caused by the electroplating anode and the water inlet pipe of an electroplating bath is solved, and the technical effects that shading of the electroplating anode and the water inlet pipe is avoided, and meanwhile liquid distribution and current density can be more uniform are achieved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of solar photovoltaic cell manufacturing, and particularly to an electroplating tank and application thereof, and a photovoltaic cell electroplating method. BACKGROUND

[0002] The traditional screen printing process uses silver paste at a high cost, and it is difficult to effectively increase the aspect ratio of the front fine grid lines. The electroplating method has the following advantages: increasing the aspect ratio of the front fine grid lines; reducing the fine grid width to increase the light receiving area of the cell; and the double-sided electrode mainly relies on copper for conduction, which is inexpensive and reduces the production cost of the cell.

[0003] At present, the electroplating tank used for light-induced electroplating in the electroplating cell technology has three structures: a main body of a transparent tank resistant to acid and alkali corrosion, a light source for light induction located below the transparent tank, and an electroplating anode and a water inlet pipe in the electroplating solution in the tank. However, the bottom light source is partially shaded due to the shielding of the electroplating anode and the water inlet pipe, which causes uneven light distribution of the cell piece and affects the electroplating effect of the light-induced surface.

[0004] In view of this, the present application is proposed. SUMMARY

[0005] One of the purposes of the present application is to provide an electroplating tank which can not only avoid shading of the electroplating anode and the water inlet pipe, but also make the light distribution more uniform during light-induced electroplating.

[0006] The second purpose of the present application is to provide an application of the electroplating tank, which is beneficial to improve the electroplating effect of light-induced electroplating.

[0007] The third purpose of the present application is to provide a photovoltaic cell electroplating method which can effectively reduce the cell piece electroplating resistance, reduce the electroplating voltage, make the electroplating grid lines more uniform, and have a better appearance.

[0008] In order to achieve the above purposes of the present application, the following technical solutions are adopted:

[0009] In a first aspect, an electroplating tank includes an electroplating tank main body and light sources located on both sides of the electroplating tank main body.

[0010] The electroplating tank main body is transparent on both sides.

[0011] The electroplating tank main body is provided with an electroplating anode and a water inlet pipe at the bottom.

[0012] Further, the water inlet pipe is equally divided and arranged at the bottom of the electroplating tank main body.

[0013] Further, the water inlet pipe is equally divided and arranged at the bottom of the electroplating tank main body.

[0014] Further, the electroplating anode is arranged directly below the battery piece.

[0015] Further, the electroplating anode is arranged directly below the battery piece.

[0016] Further, the light source is obliquely arranged relative to the electroplating tank body to cover the entire battery piece with light.

[0017] Secondly, the electroplating tank is applied to photo-induced electroplating.

[0018] Further, the photo-induced electroplating includes electroplating of a photovoltaic battery piece.

[0019] Thirdly, a photovoltaic battery piece electroplating method is provided, which utilizes the electroplating tank to electroplate.

[0020] Further, the electroplating method comprises the following steps:

[0021] The photovoltaic battery piece is placed in the electroplating solution of the electroplating tank, and the light source is turned on to laterally irradiate the electroplating tank body, thereby performing photo-induced electroplating.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the electroplating tank has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0023] The electroplating tank provided by the present application has the light source arranged on the side surface to perform lateral irradiation, which can reduce the light shielding of the water inlet pipe and the electroplating anode, and can also divide the water inlet pipe into three equal parts to make the liquid distribution more uniform, and can uniformly distribute the anode under the battery piece to make the current density more uniform. In general, the electroplating tank with the specific structure of the present application is beneficial to improve the electroplating effect and efficiency of the photovoltaic battery piece.

[0024] The application of the electroplating tank provided by the present application is beneficial to improve the electroplating effect of photo-induced electroplating.

[0025] The photovoltaic battery piece electroplating method provided by the present application solves the light shielding problem caused by the water inlet pipe and the anode in the electroplating solution by using lateral irradiation. The electroplating method can effectively reduce the battery piece electroplating resistance value and the electroplating voltage, can make the electroplating grid lines more uniform and the appearance better, and can improve the electroplating effect and efficiency of the photovoltaic battery piece. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the specific embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the specific embodiments or prior art description. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can also be obtained without creative labor based on these drawings.

[0027] Figure 1 The structural schematic diagram of the electroplating tank provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0028] Figure: 1-battery piece; 2-electroplating tank body; 3-light source; 4-electroplating tank water inlet pipe; 5-electroplating anode. EMBODIMENT

[0029] The technical solutions of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the embodiments, obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor are within the protection scope of the present application.

[0030] At present, the electroplating tank used for photo-induced electroplating in the electroplating cell technology is blocked by the electroplating anode and the water inlet pipe because the light source is located below the transparent tank, which causes partial light shielding, and this will cause uneven light distribution of the battery piece and affect the photo-induced surface electroplating effect. In order to solve the above problems, the present application is proposed.

[0031] According to the first aspect of the present application, an electroplating tank is provided, as shown in Figure 1 , comprising an electroplating tank body 2 and light sources 3 located on both sides of the electroplating tank body 2.

[0032] The electroplating tank body 2 is transparent on both sides, and the side surface of the electroplating tank body 2 is made of a light-transmitting material (including but not limited to acrylic plate, glass);

[0033] At the same time, the electroplating tank body 2 is provided with an electroplating anode 5 and an electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 at the bottom.

[0034] The electroplating tank provided by the present application sets the light source 3 on the side to perform lateral light irradiation compared with the bottom light source in the prior art, which can reduce the light shielding of the electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 (as the pipeline for electroplating tank water inlet) and the electroplating anode 5, and can also divide the electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 into three equal parts, so that the liquid distribution is more uniform, and the electroplating anode 5 can be evenly distributed under the battery piece 1, so that the current density is more uniform.

[0035] In summary, the lateral light illumination design of the electroplating tank not only reduces the light blocking of the materials such as the water inlet pipe 4 and the electroplating anode 5 buried in the electroplating solution, so that the light is more evenly distributed in the process of the light-induced electroplating of the battery piece 1, but also the design of the lateral light illumination makes the light source 3 closer to the battery piece 1, so that the light intensity can be relatively reduced to achieve the same light illumination effect as the bottom light source; at the same time, since the lateral light illumination eliminates the light blocking of the electroplating anode 5, the anodes in the tank can be more reasonably arranged to achieve the purpose of more uniform current density; in addition, the lateral light illumination can effectively reduce the electroplating resistance of the battery piece 1, reduce the electroplating voltage, make the electroplating grid lines more uniform, and have a better appearance, and the reason is that the lateral arrangement of the light source 3 makes the light source closer to the battery piece 1, and when the battery piece 1 is electroplated as a light-induced surface, that is, a polishing surface, the greater the light intensity, the lower the resistance during electroplating, so that the electroplating voltage is reduced, and the electroplating effect is better, and compared with the bottom light source, the lateral arrangement of the light source 3 can reduce the light blocking of the anode and the water inlet pipe, which also reduces the electroplating resistance and the electroplating voltage.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment, the electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 can be divided into three parts and arranged at the bottom of the electroplating tank body, which can make the liquid distribution more uniform.

[0037] In a preferred embodiment, the electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 can be divided into three parts and arranged at the bottom of the electroplating tank body, which can make the liquid distribution more uniform.

[0038] The whole three-part division of the electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 means that one spouting pipe is arranged at each end and in the middle of the piece, so that the liquid distribution is faster and more uniform, and more pipe arrangements of the electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 (such as four divisions, five divisions, six divisions, but not limited to this) can also achieve the same liquid distribution effect, while reducing the pipe arrangement (such as two divisions) will make the liquid distribution slower or uneven.

[0039] In a preferred embodiment, the electroplating anode 5 is arranged directly below the battery piece 1.

[0040] In a preferred embodiment, the electroplating anode 5 can be evenly distributed directly below the battery piece 1.

[0041] In the present application, the electroplating anode 5 is arranged directly below the battery piece 1, and further, the electroplating anode 5 is evenly distributed relative to the battery piece 1, so that the current can be effectively and evenly distributed on the surface of the battery piece 1.

[0042] In the present application, the electroplating anode 5 includes but is not limited to a soluble anode and / or an insoluble anode.

[0043] It should be noted that the soluble anode refers to the corresponding metal for electroplating, for example, a nickel anode is used for electroplating nickel, a copper anode is used for electroplating copper, and a tin anode is used for electroplating tin; the insoluble anode refers to an anode different from the electroplated metal, which is generally an anode that does not dissolve itself during electroplating, including but not limited to platinum, nickel, and graphite.

[0044] In the present application, the lamp is provided as the light source 3, which can serve as the light source for the photo-induced electroplating process. The color of the light source 3 includes at least one of visible light sources such as white light, blue light, and green light, and is more conducive to further improving the photo-induced electroplating effect.

[0045] In a preferred embodiment, the light source 3 is obliquely arranged relative to the electroplating tank body 2, so that the light can cover the entire cell sheet 1.

[0046] The light source 3 is obliquely arranged on both sides of the electroplating tank body 2, so that the light source 3 performs oblique lighting, which can cover the entire cell sheet 1 and make the light distribution more uniform, thereby more conducive to improving the electroplating effect.

[0047] It should be noted that the angle of the light source 3 is set according to the actual size of the electroplating tank, and the light emitted from the center of the light source 3 can irradiate the center of the top cell sheet to ensure uniform lighting; the electroplating tank is rectangular, and the space on both sides of the electroplating tank can be designed to be oblique to place the lamp, and the lamp is supported on both sides by gravity and the inclined tank bottom, as shown in Figure 1 .

[0048] According to a second aspect of the present application, the electroplating tank of any one of the above is applied in photo-induced electroplating.

[0049] The application of the electroplating tank provided by the present application is conducive to improving the electroplating effect of photo-induced electroplating.

[0050] In a preferred embodiment, the photo-induced electroplating includes but is not limited to photovoltaic cell sheet electroplating, and the cell sheet includes at least one of a P-type cell sheet and an N-type cell sheet.

[0051] According to a third aspect of the present application, a photovoltaic cell sheet electroplating method is provided, which utilizes the electroplating tank of any one of the above to electroplate, including the following steps:

[0052] The cell sheet 1 is placed in the electroplating solution of the electroplating tank, and the light source 3 is turned on to perform lateral lighting on the electroplating tank body 2, thereby performing photo-induced electroplating.

[0053] The photovoltaic cell electroplating method provided by the application solves the light shielding problem caused by the water inlet pipe and the anode in the electroplating solution by adopting a lateral light irradiation mode; the electroplating method can effectively reduce the cell electroplating resistance value and the electroplating voltage, can make the electroplating grid lines more uniform, and can make the appearance better; the electroplating method can improve the electroplating effect and the electroplating efficiency of the photovoltaic cell.

[0054] In a preferred embodiment, the cell 1 includes but is not limited to at least one of a P-type cell and an N-type cell; the color of the light source 3 includes but is not limited to at least one of a white light, a blue light, and a green light, and the like visible light source.

[0055] The application will be further described by examples. Unless otherwise specified, the materials in the examples are prepared according to the existing methods or directly purchased from the market.

[0056] Example 1

[0057] An electroplating tank includes an electroplating tank body 2 and light sources 3 located on both sides of the electroplating tank body 2;

[0058] The electroplating tank body 2 is transparent on both sides, and the side surface of the electroplating tank body 2 is made of a light-transmitting material (an acrylic plate or glass);

[0059] The light sources 3 are obliquely arranged relative to the electroplating tank body 2, so that the light irradiation covers the entire cell;

[0060] The electroplating tank body 2 is provided with an electroplating anode 5 and an electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 at the bottom;

[0061] The electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 is divided into three equal parts at the bottom of the electroplating tank body, that is, one pipe is arranged at each of the two ends and the middle of the cell, so that the liquid distribution is faster and more uniform;

[0062] The electroplating anodes 5 are uniformly distributed directly below the cell;

[0063] In this embodiment, the light source 3 is a lamp, the color of the light source 3 is at least one of a white light, a blue light, and a green light, and the like visible light source; the electroplating tank water inlet pipe 4 is the water inlet pipe of the electroplating tank body 2; and the electroplating anode 5 is a soluble anode and / or an insoluble anode.

[0064] In this embodiment, the light sources are arranged on the side surface to irradiate the electroplating tank body laterally, which can reduce the light shielding of the water inlet pipe and the electroplating anode, can divide the water inlet pipe into three equal parts to make the liquid distribution more uniform, and can uniformly distribute the anodes below the cell to make the current density more uniform.

[0065] Example 2

[0066] A photovoltaic cell plating method, using the plating bath of embodiment 1 to carry out plating, comprising the following steps:

[0067] Place the cell 1 in the plating solution of the plating bath, turn on the light source 3 to irradiate the plating bath body 2 from the side, thereby carrying out photo-induced plating.

[0068] In this embodiment, the cell 1 includes at least one of a P-type cell and an N-type cell, but is not limited thereto.

[0069] The plating method of this embodiment solves the problem of light blocking caused by the water inlet pipe and the anode in the plating solution by using a lateral light irradiation method; the plating method can effectively reduce the cell plating resistance and the plating voltage, can make the plating grid lines more uniform, and the appearance morphology better; the plating method can improve the plating effect and efficiency of the photovoltaic cell.

[0070] Embodiment 3

[0071] This embodiment provides a plating bath, which is different from embodiment 1 in that the water inlet pipe 4 of the plating bath is divided into two equal parts and arranged at the bottom of the plating bath body in this embodiment;

[0072] The remaining settings are the same as those of embodiment 1.

[0073] Compared with embodiment 1, the defect of this embodiment is that when the two equal parts of the water inlet pipe are distributed on both sides of the cell, bubbles are generated in the center and are difficult to discharge, affecting the plating effect; when the two equal parts of the water inlet pipe are distributed on one side and the center of the cell, the liquid distribution on the other side is slow, and uniform distribution under the cell will cause the liquid to be not fully distributed on the edges of both sides.

[0074] Comparative example 1

[0075] This comparative example provides a plating bath, which is different from embodiment 1 only in that the light source 3 is arranged below the plating bath body 2 (a transparent tank) to irradiate the plating bath;

[0076] The remaining settings are the same as those of embodiment 1.

[0077] Compared with embodiment 1, the defect of this comparative example is that since the light source 3 is arranged at the bottom, the light source 3 will be blocked by the plating anode 5 and the plating bath water inlet pipe 4, thereby causing partial light blocking, which will cause uneven light distribution on the cell 1, thereby affecting the photo-induced surface plating effect; or, since the light source 3 is arranged at the bottom, the plating bath water inlet pipe 4 is arranged less due to the blocking of light, which will cause slow liquid distribution and uneven liquid distribution.

[0078] Comparative example 2

[0079] The comparative example provides a plating tank, which is different from the example 1 in that only one side of the plating tank body 2 is provided with the light source 3 in the comparative example, and the other side of the plating tank body 2 is not provided with the light source 3;

[0080] The rest of the settings are the same as those of the example 1.

[0081] Compared with the example 1, the defect of the comparative example is that the plating tank body 2 is provided with the light source 3 only on one side, which can cause the light intensity to be high on the side of the battery piece 1 close to the light source 3 and the light intensity to be low on the side of the battery piece 1 far from the light source 3, thereby causing the light distribution to be uneven and reducing the plating effect and the plating efficiency.

[0082] Comparative example 3

[0083] The comparative example provides a plating tank, which is different from the example 1 in that the light source 3 is provided on four sides of the plating tank body 2 in the comparative example;

[0084] The rest of the settings are the same as those of the example 1.

[0085] Compared with the example 1, the defect of the comparative example is that the plating tank body 2 is a cuboid and the light source 3 provided on four sides is not good for the irradiation of the battery piece when the two battery pieces are plated in a group, which can cause the plating effect to be poor.

[0086] In summary, the light source 3 is provided on both sides of the plating tank body 2, which not only reduces the shielding of the light by the materials such as the plating tank water inlet pipe 4 and the plating anode 5 buried in the plating solution, thereby making the light distribution more uniform in the process of the light-induced plating of the battery piece 1, but also makes the light source 3 closer to the battery piece 1, so that the light intensity can be relatively reduced to achieve the same light irradiation effect as the bottom light source; at the same time, the plating tank water inlet pipe 4 can be equally divided into three parts, so that the liquid distribution is more uniform, and the plating anode 5 can be uniformly distributed under the battery piece, so that the current density is more uniform; in addition, the plating resistance of the battery piece 1 can be effectively reduced, the plating voltage can be reduced, the plating grid lines are more uniform, and the appearance is better.

[0087] Finally, it should be noted that: the above examples are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, but not to limit them; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing examples, those skilled in the art should understand that: it can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing examples, or make equivalent replacement for part or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the examples of the present application.

Claims

1. An electroplating tank, characterized in that, It includes the main body of the electroplating tank and light sources located on both sides of the main body of the electroplating tank; The electroplating tank body is translucent on both sides; The electroplating tank body is equipped with an electroplating anode and a water inlet pipe at its bottom.

2. The electroplating tank according to claim 1, characterized in that, The water inlet pipes are evenly distributed at the bottom of the electroplating tank body.

3. The electroplating tank according to claim 1, characterized in that, The water inlet pipe is divided into three equal parts and installed at the bottom of the electroplating tank body.

4. The electroplating tank according to claim 1, characterized in that, The electroplated anode is positioned directly below the battery cell.

5. The electroplating tank according to claim 4, characterized in that, The electroplated anodes are evenly distributed directly below the battery cells.

6. The electroplating bath according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The light source is set at an angle relative to the main body of the electroplating tank so that the light covers the entire battery cell.

7. The application of the electroplating bath according to any one of claims 1-6 in photo-induced electroplating.

8. The application according to claim 7, characterized in that, The photo-induced electroplating includes photovoltaic cell electroplating.

9. A method for electroplating photovoltaic cells, characterized in that, The electroplating method utilizes the electroplating tank described in any one of claims 1-6 for electroplating.

10. The electroplating method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The electroplating method includes the following steps: The photovoltaic cells are placed in the electroplating solution of the electroplating tank, and the light source is turned on to illuminate the main body of the electroplating tank from the side, thereby performing photo-induced electroplating.

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