Low cost semi automated assembly unit for small size back contact modules and low cost interconnection approach

We present our low cost assembly unit to manufacture back contact solar modules based on the conductive backsheet (CBS) approach. This in house developed apparatus was built to assemble test modules containing one up to four 6 inch back contact solar cells. The system is a retrofit of a commercially available CNC system which is equipped with a cell grabber and a manual dispensing system (by Nordson). The total cost of the setup was roughly 4000 (sic) excluding the dispenser unit. Using this equipment we assembled several small size modules containing one and four Zebra cells, which are low cost 6 inch IBC solar cells developed at ISC Konstanz [1, 2]. The contact between copper backsheet and back contact cell of the one cell modules we present here is formed by low temperature solder paste (LTSP). First cell to module (CTM) loss evaluations and reliability results suggest that this material could be a viable alternative to electrically conductive adhesive (ECA) which is currently the most commonly used material for this purpose. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.