Flexible Solar Module Foil and Embedded Wiring Layout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional solar panels are rigid, heavy, and brittle, limiting their efficiency, durability, and versatility, and pose challenges in efficiently collecting and transporting photovoltaic-generated electricity without causing safety hazards.
Innovation Solution
The development of flexible solar modules with an integral thin metal foil that collects and transports electric power, and a polymeric support substrate with embedded metal wiring that conceals and protects the wiring layout, allowing for improved mechanical resilience and efficient electricity collection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional solar panels are made rigid and heavy for structural stability, then structural strength is improved, but mechanical resilience and flexibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces rigid glass and metal structures with flexible thin-film solar cells mounted on a flexible substrate. The entire panel becomes bendable and adaptable to curved surfaces, directly resolving the contradiction between structural strength and flexibility by using flexible materials throughout the construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures combining flexible substrates, thin-film photovoltaic materials, and protective coatings. This composite approach maintains structural integrity while enabling flexibility, allowing the panel to bend without breaking and adapt to various installation surfaces.
2Reliability
If metal wiring is exposed on the surface for electricity collection, then electrical conductivity is improved, but safety and mechanical durability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds metal wiring within layers of the flexible substrate, nesting the conductive elements inside the panel structure rather than exposing them on the surface. This maintains electrical connectivity while eliminating safety hazards from exposed wires and improving mechanical durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible substrate acts as an intermediary layer that contains and protects the metal wiring. This mediator allows electrical conductivity to function while preventing direct exposure of wires, thus eliminating safety hazards and improving overall panel durability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If thin-film solar cells are used to achieve flexibility, then mechanical resilience is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the solar cell active layer, wiring, and substrate into a single integrated flexible structure. This consolidation simplifies manufacturing by reducing the number of separate components and assembly steps, countering the expected increase in complexity from using thin-film technology.
4Adaptability or versatility
If solar panels are made flexible and rollable, then adaptability is improved, but structural stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses flexible thin-film solar cells and flexible substrates that maintain structural integrity even when bent or rolled. The materials are engineered to provide both flexibility for adaptability and sufficient structural stability to maintain panel composition during flexing and installation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances the mechanical resilience and efficiency of solar panels, enabling flexible and rollable designs that reduce the risk of electrical hazards and improve the collection and transportation of photovoltaic-generated electricity while maintaining safety and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
The photovoltaic (PV) effect is the creation of voltage and electric current in a material upon exposure to light. It is a physical and chemical phenomenon. The PV effect has been used in order to generate electricity from sunlight.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible solar module has an integral and internal thin metal foil, which is an integral layer of the solar cell stack. The thin metal foil collects and transports photovoltaic (PV) generated electric power from a plurality of regions of the solar module. A single metal foil can mechanically connect, and can collect PV-generated electric power, from multiple such solar cells; and is further coated from beneath by lamination or encapsulation layers. A plurality of solar modules are mounted on top of a support structure or a polymeric support substrate, that has metal wires running integrally therein. The metal wires are arranged in accordance with a pre-defined layout, such that most of the length of each metal wire is concealed and is protected within the support structure or the polymeric support substrate. An ending of each metal wire protrudes from the support structure or the polymeric support substrate, at a particular location that is configured to match an intended location of an electrical terminal of a PV module that is intended to be mounted on top of the support structure or the polymeric support substrate.