Shingled Solar Wafer Parallel String Architecture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional solar panels face inefficiencies due to series connections, which are sensitive to shading, dead cells, and physical damage, as well as limitations in power output due to mismatched operating currents among individual solar wafers.
Innovation Solution
The solar panel design incorporates a shingled arrangement of solar wafers with chamfered edges, where each wafer overlaps vertically adjacent wafers in series and is connected to horizontally adjacent wafers in parallel, enhancing robustness and reducing power loss through multiple current paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If solar wafers are connected in series, then the voltage output is increased, but the system becomes sensitive to shading, dead cells, and physical damage
Solution Approach 1:
The solar panel is segmented into multiple independent parallel strings of solar wafers. Each string can operate independently, so if one wafer or string is shaded or damaged, the other strings continue to generate power. This segmentation into parallel pathways resolves the contradiction by maintaining voltage output through multiple independent series connections within each string while reducing sensitivity through the parallel architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the electrical connection parameter from purely series to a parallel-strings-of-series configuration. By organizing wafers into parallel strings where each string maintains series connections for voltage buildup, but the strings themselves are connected in parallel, the system achieves both high voltage output and reduced sensitivity to individual wafer failures or shading events.
2Device complexity
If conventional series connections are used, then the structure is simple, but additional conductors and diodes are needed for protection and current management
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the functions of conductors and protection diodes into the solar wafer interconnection structure itself. The parallel string architecture uses shared conductive pathways that serve both as electrical connections and as current management routes. By distributing wafers across parallel strings with common connection points, the design eliminates the need for separate protection diodes and additional conductors that would be required in a single series configuration, thus reducing material quantity while maintaining structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The parallel string connection structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides electrical connection, current management, and inherent protection against shading and damage. The shared conductive pathways in the parallel architecture perform both connection and current distribution functions, eliminating the need for separate protective components and reducing the overall quantity of conductors and diodes required.
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
This design increases the solar panel's resistance to shading and physical damage, optimizes power output by allowing individual wafers to operate at their optimal currents, and reduces the need for additional conductors and diodes, while also providing heat management benefits.
Implementation Method 1
Photovoltaic (PV) cells, commonly known as solar cells, are well-known devices for converting solar radiation into electrical energy
Data Source
AI summary
A solar device includes a first string of first solar wafers, wherein a plurality of the first solar wafers each overlap with at least one vertically adjacent solar wafer from the first string. Additionally, the solar device includes a second string of second solar wafers, wherein a plurality of the second solar wafers each overlap with at least one vertically adjacent solar wafer from the second string, wherein a plurality of the first solar wafers overlap with one or more of the plurality of second solar wafers to electrically connect horizontally adjacent solar wafers in parallel.