Screen Printing Mesh Layout for Homogeneous Solar Cell Fingers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing screen printing forms struggle to produce elongated, rectilinear structures with small widths consistently, leading to inhomogeneous structures and increased line resistances due to fabric element intersections, which reduces the stability and increases waste in the manufacturing process.
Innovation Solution
A screen printing form with fabric elements arranged at precise angles and distances to minimize intersections within the channel area, ensuring no or reduced nodes within the channel, thereby maintaining stability and homogeneity of the structure produced.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a conventional screen printing stencil with standard mesh arrangement is used, then the stencil is stable and easy to manufacture, but the material application becomes inhomogeneous due to fabric element intersections (nodes) in the channel area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by deliberately offsetting the mesh elements in the channel area relative to the mesh elements in the contact area. This asymmetric arrangement ensures that no fabric element intersections (nodes) occur within the channel area, while maintaining regular mesh structures in the contact area for stability. The asymmetric design eliminates the inhomogeneity caused by nodes without requiring complete irregularity throughout the entire stencil.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by applying different mesh arrangements to different functional areas of the stencil. The contact area maintains a standard regular mesh pattern for structural stability and ease of manufacture, while the channel area features an offset mesh pattern specifically designed to eliminate nodes. This localized modification addresses the homogeneity problem only where it occurs (in the channel area) without complicating the entire stencil structure.
2Length of moving object
If the channel width is reduced to create narrower structures, then the shading and recombination losses are reduced, but the impact of fabric element intersections becomes more significant, increasing line resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The asymmetric mesh arrangement in the channel area specifically addresses narrow channel widths by ensuring no nodes intersect the channel regardless of its width. This allows the channel to be made as narrow as needed (to reduce shading and recombination losses) without the node intersection problem becoming more severe, as the offset arrangement guarantees node-free passage even for narrow channels.
3Manufacturing precision
If 0° grids are used to eliminate nodes in the channel area, then material application homogeneity is improved, but the stability of the screen printing stencil is significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by maintaining the stable regular mesh arrangement in the contact area while introducing the offset arrangement only in the channel area. This localized approach achieves the node elimination benefit (improving homogeneity) without sacrificing the overall structural stability provided by the regular mesh in the contact area. The stencil retains its rigidity and handling properties while achieving homogeneous material application.
Solution Approach 2:
The asymmetric offset arrangement in the channel area provides node elimination without requiring the complete 0° grid configuration. By applying asymmetry only locally in the channel area rather than throughout the entire stencil, the patent achieves homogeneity improvement while preserving the symmetric regular mesh structure in the contact area that provides structural stability.
4Manufacturing precision
If the mesh element spacing is decreased to reduce nodes, then material application homogeneity is improved, but the manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The asymmetric offset arrangement achieves node elimination through a simple positional shift of existing mesh elements rather than by decreasing mesh spacing. This approach maintains the original mesh element density and spacing, avoiding the need for finer, more expensive mesh while still eliminating nodes through the asymmetric positioning. The manufacturing process remains straightforward as it only requires offsetting the channel area mesh relative to the contact area mesh.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a screen printing mould (1, 1') for use in a screen printing method, in particular for producing a metallic contact structure of a photovoltaic solar cell, having a woven screen printing fabric (1b) with a plurality of elongate woven fabric elements, which are arranged in a first element direction and a second element direction perpendicular thereto, and a stencil (1c), which is arranged on the woven screen printing fabric (1b) and has at least one opening in the form of a straight channel with a channel width BK, wherein the woven fabric elements have a spacing AF in the first element direction and a spacing which deviates by less than 5% from AF in the second element direction, and the woven fabric elements have a diameter DG in the first element direction and a diameter which deviates by less than 5% from DG in the second element direction. The invention also relates to a screen printing device and a screen printing mould.