The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 17, 2013
Filed:
Feb. 10, 2011
Tung Thanh Pham, West Conshohocken, PA (US);
Weiming Zhang, Blue Bell, PA (US);
Tung Thanh Pham, West Conshohocken, PA (US);
Weiming Zhang, Blue Bell, PA (US);
Heraeus Precious Metals North America Conshohocken LLC, West Conshohocken, PA (US);
Abstract
A method is provided for applying back contact silver busbars to an aluminum back surface field (BSF) of a solar cell. The method involves providing a solar cell substrate having a front side and a back side; printing a full aluminum backing layer on the back side of the solar cell substrate; drying the printed aluminum backing layer to yield a full aluminum layer; printing and drying a peeling paste on the full aluminum layer in areas where the silver busbars are desired; printing and drying a front contact silver paste on the front side of the solar cell substrate to produce a front grid electrode; co-firing and cooling the front and back sides of the solar cell, wherein during firing the peeling paste wets excess aluminum powder in the aluminum layer, such that during cooling of the solar cell the peeling paste contracts, solidifies, and peels off with the excess aluminum powder to leave a full aluminum BSF having open areas; and printing, drying, and firing a back contact silver paste on the open areas of the BSF to yield silver busbars.