Recently, research on cost reduction and efficiency improvement of crystalline silicon(c-Si) photovoltaic(PV) module has been conducted. In order to reduce costs, the thickness of solar cell wafers is becoming thinner. If the thickness of the wafer is reduced, cracking of wafer may occur in high temperature processes during the c-Si PV module manufacturing process. To solve this problem, a low temperature process has been proposed. Conductive paste(CP) is used for low temperature processing; it contains Sn57.6Bi0.4Ag component and can be electrically combined with solar cells and ribbons at a melting point of 150℃. Use of CP in the PV module manufacturing process can minimize cracks of solar cells. When CP is applied to solar cells, the output varies with the amount of CP, and so the optimum amount of CP must be found. In this paper, in order to find the optimal CP application amount, we manufactured several c-Si PV modules with different CP amounts. The amount control of CP is fixed at air pressure (500 kPa) and nozzle diameter 22G(outer diameter 0.72Ø, inner 0.42Ø) of dispenser; only speed is controlled. The c-Si PV module output is measured to analyze the difference according to the amount of CP and analyzed by optical microscope and Alpha-step. As the result, the optimum amount of CP is 0.452 ~ 0.544 g on solar cells.

In this study, we investigate the relationship between the peeling behavior of the backsheet of a photovoltaic(PV) module and its surface temperature in order facilitate removal of the backsheet from the PV module. At low temperatures, the backsheet does not peel off whereas, at high temperatures, part of the backsheet remains on the surface of the PV module after the peeling process. The backsheet material remaining on the surface of the PV module is confirmed by X-ray diffraction(XRD) analysis to be poly-ethylene(PE). Differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) is also performed to investigate the interfacial characteristics of the layers of the PV module. In particular, DSC provides the melting temperature(Tm) of laminated ethylene vinyl acetate(EVA) and of the backsheet on the PV module. It is found that the backsheet does not peel off below the Tm of ethylene of EVA, while the PE layer of the backsheet remains on the surface of the PV module above the Tm of the PE. Thus, the backsheet is best removed at a temperature between the Tm of ethylene and that of PE layer.

In this study, using a wet chemical process, we evaluate the effectiveness of different solution concentrations in removing layers from a solar cell, which is necessary for recovery of high-purity silicon . A 4-step wet etching process is applied to a 6-inch back surface field(BSF) solar cell. The metal electrode is removed in the first and second steps of the process, and the anti-reflection coating(ARC) is removed in the third step. In the fourth step, high purity silicon is recovered by simultaneously removing the emitter and the BSF layer from the solar cell. It is confirmed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy(ICP-MS) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy(SIMS) analyses that the effectiveness of layer removal increases with increasing chemical concentrations. The purity of silicon recovered through the process, using the optimal concentration for each process, is analyzed using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy(ICP-AES). In addition, the silicon wafer is recovered through optimum etching conditions for silicon recovery, and the solar cell is remanufactured using this recovered silicon wafer. The efficiency of the remanufactured solar cell is very similar to that of a commercial wafer-based solar cell, and sufficient for use in the PV industry.

In recent years, solar cells based on crystalline silicon(c-Si) have accounted for much of the photovoltaic industry. The recent studies have focused on fabricating c-Si solar modules with low cost and improved efficiency. Among many suggested methods, a photovoltaic module with a shingled structure that is connected to a small cut cell in series is a recent strong candidate for low-cost, high efficiency energy harvesting systems. The shingled structure increases the efficiency compared to the module with 6 inch full cells by minimizing optical and electrical losses. In this study, we propoese a new Conductive Paste (CP) to interconnect cells in a shingled module and compare it with the Electrical Conductive Adhesives (ECA) in the conventional module. Since the CP consists of a compound of tin and bismuth, the module is more economical than the module with ECA, which contains silver. Moreover, the melting point of CP is below 150 ℃, so the cells can be integrated with decreased thermal-mechanical stress. The output of the shingled PV module connected by CP is the same as that of the module with ECA. In addition, electroluminescence (EL) analysis indicates that the introduction of CP does not provoke additional cracks. Furthermore, the CP soldering connects cells without increasing ohmic losses. Thus, this study confirms that interconnection with CP can integrate cells with reduced cost in shingled c-Si PV modules.