Enhancing Solar Energy Integration with Innovative mini-modules

Abstract

As solar energy finds its way into unexpected applications such as buildings or objects, the traditional rectangle-shaped module becomes inadequate. Although traditional modules have been optimized to deliver a large amount of power, they cannot be fitted easily into a façade or a wearable. This is why, new methods for integrating solar power into buildings and products have to be found. These methods should be attractive to designers and architects and must also allow solar energy to reach common people.
The fabrication of mini-modules can help with this task as they can be fabricated with the already mature technology of crystalline silicon solar cells. They can be made lightweight and in different figures.
This work aims to investigate ways to facilitate the fabrication of modules for use in Building Integrated Photovoltaics or Product Integrating Photovoltaics by means of studying the impact of cutting solar cells into different figures and sizes. To prove the suitability of tools of full-sized modules into mini modules, a Cell-To-Module analysis is performed.
The results show that crystalline silicon can be effectively used for making modules in reduced sizes tackling the full integration of solar cells into objects.