Printed PV Film Structure Without Vacuum or Sintering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing photovoltaic (PV) layer manufacturing processes at room temperature fail to achieve nanoscale planarity, leading to uneven layers and high production costs due to the need for vacuum processing and high-temperature sintering, which introduces impurities and contaminants.
Innovation Solution
A room temperature method involving the printing of an aqueous solution or mixture of electrically conductive and semiconductive inorganic agglomerates, followed by a chemical reaction to form a PV-active layer with nanoscale structures, including chains, networks, vacancies, and pores, without the need for sintering or annealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If vacuum plasma processes are used to achieve nanoscale planarity, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex vacuum plasma processes with a simple screen printing mechanical process. The screen printing method uses a mesh screen to mechanically deposit paste patterns directly onto substrates, achieving the required planarity and precision without needing vacuum chambers or plasma equipment. This mechanical substitution dramatically simplifies the manufacturing system while maintaining the necessary manufacturing precision for PV layer production.
2Reliability
If high-temperature sintering is used to form conductive electrodes, then electrical conductivity is improved, but harmful factors increase due to impurity diffusion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the temperature parameter from high-temperature sintering (typically 700-900°C) to room temperature or low-temperature drying processes. By using screen-printed pastes with optimized formulations that can be cured at low temperatures, the method achieves sufficient electrical conductivity without the harmful impurity diffusion that occurs during high-temperature sintering. This parameter change eliminates the trade-off between conductivity and purity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs disposable screen printing screens and single-use paste formulations that are designed to be applied and cured in one step without requiring high-temperature processing. These consumable elements are optimized for room temperature or low-temperature processing, allowing the production of conductive electrodes with adequate conductivity while avoiding the impurity contamination associated with traditional high-temperature sintering methods.
3Ease of manufacture
If room temperature printing processes are used, then production cost is reduced, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to uneven layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces imprecise room temperature deposition methods (such as spin coating or flooding) with precision screen printing. The screen printing mechanism uses a mesh screen with precisely controlled openings to deposit paste in uniform patterns, ensuring consistent layer thickness and coverage. This mechanical precision of screen printing maintains manufacturing precision while keeping the process simple and cost-effective at room temperature.
4Manufacturing precision
If batch processing in vacuum chambers is used, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces batch processing in vacuum chambers with continuous screen printing operations. Screen printing allows substrates to be processed continuously on production lines, with multiple substrates being printed in sequence without the need to evacuate and seal vacuum chambers for each batch. This mechanical printing approach maintains layer quality through precise screen control while dramatically increasing production throughput and eliminating the bottlenecks of vacuum batch processing.
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 method produces stable, flexible PV layer sequences with high efficiency and long-term stability, achieving 10% terrestrial efficiency without initial degradation, using technically pure materials and reducing production costs by eliminating high-temperature processing steps.
Implementation Method 1
printing at least one aqueous solution and/or mixture comprising electrically conductive and/or semiconductive, inorganic agglomerates and curing them with an accompanying chemical reaction to form a PV-active layer
Data Source
AI summary
A disadvantage of classic, printed PV film cells is that the production of these cells frequently calls for expensive vacuum preparations and thermal tempering or sintering steps, wherein the thin, doped vacuum-films are highly susceptible to corrosion and contamination. Thus the aim of the invention is to overcome these disadvantages and to provide a suitable method and an appropriate PV film structure. This aim is achieved by means of a room temperature method in which aqueous dispersions are printed onto a substrate and cured by an accompanying reaction. The accompanying reaction forms gradients and also nanoscale structures at the film boundaries, which produce a PV active film having standard performance and a higher stability. At around 10% efficiency, stability and no initial loss in performance in the climatic chamber test can be obtained and over a 20 year test period, consistently less fluctuation can be achieved. The method is free from tempering or sintering steps, enables the use of technically pure, advantageous starting materials and makes the PV film structure available as a finished, highly flexible cell for a fraction of the typical investment in production or distribution. For the first time, PV film structures can be produced completely analogously to the manufacture of a printed product. Therefore, the invention can offer an extremely versatile applicability with regard to both production and use in all fields in which established PV thin-films were previously rejected as too expensive or too instable.