Selective laser scribing of thin films for photovoltaic solar cell devices

Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells have been one of the most quickly developing renewable energy technologies. To upscale into the module level which will provide desired voltage and power outputs, laser scribing technology has been actively developed taking advantages over mechanical scribing, including reliable and precise scribing capabilities due to non-contact processing nature. Short/ultrashort pulsed lasers have shown favorable trends for layer specific scribing based on versatile thermal/non-thermal mechanisms selectively activated at a wide range of temporal and spatial domains. This study focuses on the manufacturing of build-integrated photovoltaic based on thin film PV architectures on two different platforms; fabrication on flexible substrates that will be attached to the arbitrary building surfaces, and fabrication of see-through patterns on conventional glass substrate in conjunction with relevant scribing mechanisms. On-going study includes efforts for larger scale manufacturing and realization of tandem solar module.