JPS62173765A - solar cells - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a larger power by providing photodetectors on the front and back surfaces of a battery body to obtain a large photodetecting amount at predetermined position. CONSTITUTION:A metal electrode on the lower surface of a battery is a transparent electrode 9, and a glass plate 10 is used as the reinforcing means of the lower surface. To directly connect the cells of an amorphous layer 7, conductive materials 11 are used as means for connecting transparent electrodes 3, 9 of upper and lower sides. With this construction, both the front and back surfaces of a solar battery formed in a flat plate shape are formed of transparent members, and the both sides can receive light. Power generated from the layer 7 which receives the light is output from the electrode 3 at the end of the battery. Accordingly, larger power can be generated by receiving the light from both sides of the battery.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a solar cell, and more particularly to a solar cell that converts light energy received from a light receiving portion into electrical energy and outputs the electrical energy.

[Prior Art] Solar cells have conventionally been used as a power source in electronic devices such as electronic desktop calculators.

Recently, power consumption has been reduced by configuring circuits using CMOS elements and the like, and it has become possible to supply enough power to drive the device even with a solar cell.

Furthermore, improvements in the output of solar cells are also expanding the range of uses for solar cells.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] FIG. 3 shows a schematic structure of a conventional solar cell. As shown in the figure, the battery body has a p
- It has a laminated structure in which a plurality of silicon devices consisting of an amorphous silicon layer 4, an i-amorphous silicon layer 5, and an n-amorphous silicon layer 6 are sandwiched, and the transparent electrode 3 on the upper surface is further covered with glass that plays a reinforcing role. In a solar cell such as one in which the battery is completed by adhering to the plate 1, the silicon layer 4 is exposed by applying light from above through the glass/plate 1 and the transparent electrode 3.
An electromotive force of ~6 is obtained, and the generated power is output from the metal electrode 2 and the transparent electrode 3.

In this case, the p-amorphous silicon layer 4 side has + output,
One output is provided on the n-amorphous silicon layer 6 side.

In reality, it is often not possible to obtain a sufficient power supply voltage with a single battery cell, so metal TrL8i2 is connected to the transparent electrode 3 of adjacent battery cells as shown in Figure 4, and multiple cells are connected in series. A structure is used in which a desired power supply voltage is generated by connection. FIG. 4 shows a structure in which four solar cells are connected in series.

In order to protect the gold RIA electrode 2 from physical damage, humidity, etc., a protective resin film 8 is molded on the metal electrode 2 side. Incidentally, in FIG. 4, the amorphous silicon layer is simply shown as one layer with reference numeral 7.

By the way, the above solar cell receives light from only one side of the cell, converts this energy into electrical energy, and outputs it. For example, in FIGS. 3 and 4, one side of the battery is constituted by the metal electrode 2 or the protective resin II@8, so light cannot be received from this side.

Therefore, in a conventional device equipped with a solar cell as a power source, in a situation where light can only be obtained from a limited direction, the device may not be able to be driven without taking an unreasonable operating posture.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, in a solar cell that converts light energy received from a light receiving part into electrical energy and outputs it, the front and back surfaces of the battery body are A configuration was adopted in which a light-receiving section was provided at the front.

[Function] According to the above configuration, since a plurality of surfaces of the device are configured as light receiving portions, the degree of freedom regarding the posture of the device to which the solar cell is attached can be increased. Furthermore, since it is possible to receive light from multiple surfaces, it is possible to generate more power.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings. However, in each of the following drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding parts as in the conventional example, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a four-cell solar cell according to the present invention. The difference from the conventional example is that the metal electrode on the lower surface of the battery is replaced with a transparent electrode 9, and a glass plate 10 is employed as reinforcement means for the lower surface. The other structure is the same as that of the conventional example, and the structure of the amorphous silicon layer 7 is also almost the same. However, in order to connect each cell in series, a conductive material 11 is used as a means for connecting the upper and lower transparent electrodes 3.9. The four-electric material 11 is made of a material such as silver paste, which has been conventionally used as a conductive adhesive.

Figure 2 shows the end structure of the solar cell in Figure 1.
As shown in the figure, since glass is used as a reinforcing means for the bottom surface of the battery in this embodiment, it is difficult to seal the edges as in the case of the protective resin film 8 in FIG. In order to seal, a sealing material 1 made of epoxy resin etc.
4 is used.

According to the above configuration, the front and back screens of the solar cell formed in a flat plate shape are made of transparent members, and light can be received from both sides. The dielectric force generated by the amorphous silicon layer 7 upon receiving light is also output from the transparent electrode 3 at the end of the battery.

Therefore, it is possible to generate more power by receiving light from both sides of the battery, and when installing it as a power source in various electronic devices, if the battery is installed so that both sides of the battery can receive light, the operating position of the device can be improved. It is possible to increase the degree of freedom regarding

For example, it is conceivable to attach the solar cell so that one side of the solar cell is aligned with an operating surface such as a keyboard of the device, and the other side is aligned with the opposite surface of the operating surface. According to this structure, the room in which the operation is performed is relatively dim, but in a situation where a large amount of light can be obtained from a window etc., if the operation surface is faced toward the window, the operator's posture may become uncomfortable or
In cases where the display becomes difficult to read, a sufficient amount of flash can be obtained by turning the back of the device in the positive direction.

Although it is a special application, it is conceivable that electronic devices (calculators, translators, etc.) that have the above-mentioned power supply structure and have a light-transmissive display and operation section are projected directly onto a screen using an OHP. In such cases, light can only be obtained from the bottom of the device, making it impossible to operate with conventional devices that only have a solar cell light-receiving section on one side, but this has not been done yet. According to the example, it is possible to generate electricity from a solar cell using an OHP light source, and the operation can be performed without any problems.

In the above configuration, the solar cell is configured in a flat plate shape, and one
Although we have shown an example in which the front and back sides of two cells are made up of transparent electrodes and transparent reinforcing plates, solar cells with a conventional structure can also be placed back to back or bonded a certain distance apart to achieve the same function. Batteries can be realized.

The transparent reinforcing plates on the front and back of the battery can be made of materials other than glass.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, in a solar cell that converts light energy received from a light receiving portion into electrical energy and outputs the same, the light receiving portion is provided on the front and back surfaces of the cell body. By adopting a configuration that allows a large amount of light to be received at a certain position, a larger electromotive force can be obtained. It is possible to provide an excellent solar cell that can supply sufficient power for operation without causing any problems.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the solar cell according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a partial structure of the solar cell shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the basic structure of a conventional solar cell. The sectional view shown in FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the structure of a conventional solar cell. 1.10... Glass plate 2... Metal electrode 3... Transparent electrode 7... Amorphous silicon layer 9... Transparent electrode 11... Conductive material C

Claims (1)

[Claims] A solar cell that converts light energy received from a light receiving part into electrical energy and outputs the same, characterized in that the light receiving part is provided on the front and back surfaces of a battery main body.