Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Tatsuya Kura

Seiichi Kiyama

Yasuaki Yamamoto

Hiroaki Izu

Wataru Shinohara

Takahisa Sakakibara

A method of fabricating a three-dimensionally shaped photovoltaic device involves first forming a photovoltaic element on a flexible substrate, preferably while it is flat, and then deforming the substrate to achieve the three-dimensional shape. Preferably a crystalline photovoltaic conversion layer is first formed on the flat substrate, then the layer is cut or divided while leaving the substrate uncut to form a plurality of separate adjacent photovoltaic elements on the substrate, and finally the substrate is deformed into the three-dimensional shape. The cutting can be carried out by laser irradiation. The deforming can be carried out by providing a shape memory member as the substrate, or bonding a shape memory member onto the substrate, and then restoring the shape memory member to its previously memorized three-dimensional shape. The adjacent photovoltaic elements can be electrically interconnected in series with each other by applying bond wires or an insulating film and then a conducting film in the cut regions between adjacent photovoltaic elements.

Growing community of inventors

Moriguchi, Japan

Tatsuya Kura