Semi-Translucent Photovoltaic Stack Patterning to Mitigate Moiré
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Solution Overview
Problem
Semi-translucent photovoltaic devices face challenges in minimizing the visibility of misalignments in smaller scaled translucent patterns, which can result in a Moiré effect, affecting their aesthetic and functional performance.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a substrate with a photovoltaic stack, where spatially distributed openings are created, followed by the deposition of a protective layer and a radiation-curable polymer precursor, which is selectively cured and converted into a translucent polymer, ensuring proper alignment and reducing the visibility of patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the pattern of translucent sections is provided at a smaller scale, then the aesthetic performance and solar radiation conversion capability are improved, but the Moiré effect becomes more visible due to misalignments of individual layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-aligning multiple photovoltaic stacks before lamination. The stacks are positioned and fixed in a predetermined pattern on a support surface, ensuring proper alignment before the lamination process begins. This pre-alignment prevents the Moiré effect from occurring in the final product, allowing smaller scaled translucent patterns to be used without the harmful visibility issue.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the pattern of translucent sections is provided at a larger scale, then the Moiré effect is no longer visible, but the aesthetic performance and solar radiation conversion capability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-aligns multiple photovoltaic stacks before lamination, ensuring that patterns are precisely positioned regardless of scale. This preliminary alignment action enables the use of smaller scaled patterns (which have better aesthetic performance and solar radiation conversion) without suffering from the Moiré effect, thus resolving the contradiction between scale and harmful effect visibility.
3Ease of manufacture
If individual layers of the photovoltaic stack are manufactured separately and then assembled, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but misalignments occur that cause the Moiré effect
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains manufacturing flexibility by allowing individual photovoltaic stacks to be manufactured separately, but applies preliminary action by pre-aligning these separately manufactured stacks on a support surface before lamination. This pre-alignment step ensures high precision positioning, preventing misalignments and the resulting Moiré effect, thus resolving the contradiction between manufacturing flexibility and alignment precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a support surface as an intermediary element. Individual photovoltaic stacks are placed and aligned on this support surface, which acts as a mediator to maintain precise relative positions during assembly. This intermediary facilitates both the flexibility of separate manufacturing and the precision of final alignment, preventing the Moiré effect.
4Illumination intensity
If translucent material is used to create openings in the photovoltaic stack, then semi-translucency is achieved, but misalignments of layers become clearly visible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-aligning all photovoltaic stacks containing translucent sections before lamination. By ensuring precise positioning of these stacks in advance, the patent prevents misalignment visibility issues that would otherwise be exacerbated by the use of translucent materials. This allows the desired semi-translucency to be achieved without the harmful side effect of visible layer misalignments.
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 method effectively mitigates the Moiré effect in semi-translucent photovoltaic devices, allowing for the production of devices with smaller scaled translucent patterns while maintaining their functional solar radiation conversion capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
a layer of a radiation curable precursor for a polymer is deposited over the protective layer... The radiation is absorbed by the material of the photovoltaic stack outside these regions. Therewith the radiation curable precursor present within, and optionally in front of, the spatially distributed openings is selective cured and converted to a translucent polymer
Implementation Method 2
A photovoltaic device typically comprises a photovoltaic stack comprising at least a photovoltaic layer sandwiched between a first electrode and a second electrode... convert the absorbed solar radiation into electric energy
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a semi-translucent photovoltaic device (1) having a translucent substrate (10) with a photovoltaic stack (11) interrupted in spatially distributed openings (11o) filled with a translucent polymer (13a). Also disclosed is a method of manufacturing the device. The method comprises: • - providing (SI) the substrate (10) at a first side (10a) with the photovoltaic stack (11); • - removing (S2) material from the stack in spatially distributed regions, therewith forming openings (11o) within these regions; • - blanket-wise depositing (S3) a protective layer (12) over the substrate with the photovoltaic stack (11); • - blanket-wise depositing (S4) a layer (13) of a radiation-curable precursor for the translucent polymer over the protective layer (12) • - irradiating (S5) the substrate (10) from a second side (10b) opposite its first side (10a) to therewith selectively cure the radiation-curable precursor within and in front of the spatially distributed openings (11o), the radiation-curable precursor being converted therewith into said translucent polymer (13a); • - removing (S6) an uncured remainder (13b) of the layer of the radiation-curable precursor.