Abstract:
Provided is a solar battery module having an outer edge maintained by a frame, and comprising a group of strings formed by using a plurality of solar battery cells, connecting adjacent solar battery cells in a longitudinal direction by an inter-cell wiring material to form a plurality of strings, and arranging the plurality of strings in a transverse direction, wherein a spacing distance A between the interior of the frame and the frame-side edge of solar battery cells of the outermost string in the group of strings, a spacing distance B between solar battery cells constituting adjacent strings in the group of strings, and a spacing distance C between the solar battery cells in the transverse direction satisfy the relationship {(995A−20C)/1005}&lt;B&lt;{(1005A+20C)/995}. Additionally, an olefinic resin is used in a first sealing member on the light receiving surface side.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of PCT/JP2015/003378, filed Jul. 6, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference and which claimed priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-198374 filed Sep. 29, 2014. The present application likewise claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-198374 filed Sep. 29, 2014, the entire content of which is also incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a solar cell module. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Patent Literature 1 discloses a structure using, in a solar cell module, a transparent olefin-based resin as a sealant on the side of a light receiving surface, and an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, including a white pigment such as titanium dioxide, as a sealant on the side of a rear surface. 
     CITATION LIST 
     Patent Literature 
     Patent Literature 1: International Publication No. WO 2013/069680 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     The technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to make short-circuit current values uniform for a plurality of solar cells arranged transversely and longitudinally in a solar cell module. 
     Solution to Problem 
     The solar cell module according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a stack body, and a frame holding the outer edges of the stack body, wherein the stack body is formed by laminating a first protection member on the side of a light receiving surface, a first sealing member on the side of the light receiving surface, a string group formed by transversely arranging a plurality of strings each formed by using a plurality of solar cells, and by longitudinally connecting the adjacent solar cells to each other with a wiring member, a second sealing member on the side of the rear surface and a second protection member on the side of the rear surface, in the mentioned order; wherein there are provided, between the adjacent solar cells, reflection members reflecting the incident light and again making the reflected light incident on the light receiving surface of the solar cells; the first sealing member is constituted with an olefin-based resin; and the spacing dimension A between the frame side edge of the outermost string in the string group and the frame inside, the spacing dimension B between the adjacent strings in the string group, and the transverse spacing dimension C of the solar cells satisfy a relation {(995A−20C)/1005}&lt;B&lt;{(1005A+20C)/995}. 
     Advantageous Effects of Invention 
     According to the above-described constitution, the difference between the spacing dimension B and the spacing dimension A falls within a predetermined range, and hence the short-circuit current value difference due to the difference between the spacing dimension B and the spacing dimension A is reduced, and in the solar cell module, it is possible to make the short-circuit current value for the plurality of solar cells arranged transversely and longitudinally uniform. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the solar cell module of an embodiment according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged diagram of the portion II in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view along the line III-III in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view along the line IV-IV in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the solar cell module of another embodiment. 
         FIGS. 6A and 6B  are sectional views along the line VI-VI in  FIG. 5 , in which  FIG. 6A  is a view corresponding to  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 6B  is a partial enlarged view. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail. The below-described material qualities, thicknesses, dimensions, number of solar cells, number of strings and others are examples for describing the embodiments, and can be appropriately modified according to the specifications of solar cell modules. Hereinafter, in all the drawings, the same symbols are allotted to the corresponding elements, and duplicate descriptions are sometimes omitted. 
       FIG. 1  is a plan diagram illustrating the configuration of a solar cell module  10 .  FIG. 2  is an enlarged diagram of the portion marked with II in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  is a sectional view along the line III-III in  FIG. 2 , and  FIG. 4  is a sectional view along the line IV-IV in  FIG. 2 . 
     The solar cell module  10  includes a stack body  14  and a frame  12  holding the edges of the stack body  14 . The stack body  14  is formed as follows: a plurality of solar cells  16  are arranged transversely and longitudinally on a plane, the string group  22  is formed by serially connecting the plurality of solar cells  16  with an inter-cell wiring member  18  and connection wiring members  20  and  21 , the string group  22  is sandwiched between a set of the sealant and the protection member on the side of the light receiving surface and another set of the sealant and the protection member on the side of the rear surface, and thus the stack body  14  is formed. 
     Here, the longitudinal direction is the extending direction of the inter-cell wiring member  18 , and the transverse direction is the extending direction of the connection wiring member  20 .  FIG. 1  shows the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction. 
     The string groups  22  are described, and then, the set of the sealant and the protection member on the side of the light receiving surface and the set of the sealant and the protection member on the side of the rear surface, sandwiching the string groups  22  will be described in terms of contents with reference to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 . 
     The string group  22  is constituted with a plurality of strings  24  connected to each other with the connection wiring member  20 . A plurality of strings  24  are transversely arranged with predetermined spacings. In the example of  FIG. 1 , the string group  22  is constituted by six strings  24 . 
     In the string  24 , a plurality of solar cells  16  are arranged so as to be longitudinally connected to each other with an inter-cell wiring member  18 . In the example of  FIG. 1 , the string  24  is constituted with six of the solar cells  16 . 
     The solar cell  16  is provided with a photoelectric conversion part generating a carrier by receiving solar light. The photoelectric conversion part has, as the electrodes collecting the generated carriers, a light receiving surface electrode formed on the light receiving surface of the photoelectric conversion part, and a rear surface electrode formed on the rear surface. In each of the drawings, the diagrammatic representation of the light receiving surface electrode and the rear surface electrode is omitted. The structure of the solar cell  16  is not limited to such a structure as described above, and may be a structure with the electrodes formed only on the side of the rear surface of the photoelectric conversion part. The rear surface electrode is preferably formed so as to have a larger area than the area of the light receiving surface electrode. In this case, in the solar cell  16 , the surface having a larger electrode area, or the surface with the electrode to be formed so as to have a larger area, is the rear surface. 
     The photoelectric conversion part has a semiconductor substrate such as a crystalline silicon (c-S i ) substrate, a gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrate, or an indium phosphide (InP) substrate, an amorphous semiconductor layer formed on the semiconductor substrate, and a transparent conductive layer formed on the amorphous semiconductor layer. Here a structure is used in which an i-type amorphous silicon layer, a p-type amorphous silicon layer and a transparent conductive layer are laminated in this order on one surface of an n-type single crystalline silicon substrate. The transparent conductive layer uses a transparent conductive oxide prepared by doping tin (Sn) or antimony (Sb) in a film of metal oxide such as indium oxide (In 2 O 3 ) or zinc oxide (ZnO). 
     The inter-cell wiring member  18  is constituted with two types of wiring members. Of the plurality of solar cells  16  constituting the string  24 , in the continuously arranged solar cells  16  of a first solar cell, a second solar cell and a third solar cell, adjacent to each other, one type of wiring member of two types of wiring members connect the light receiving surface electrode of the second solar cell and the rear surface electrode of the first solar cell to each other. Another type of wiring member connects the rear surface electrode of the second solar cell and the light receiving surface electrode of the third solar cell to each other. By repeating this connection, the plurality of the solar cells  16  are serially connected to each other. One solar cell  16  is put between the inter-cell wiring member  18  connected to the light receiving surface electrode and the inter-cell wiring member  18  connected, separately and independently from the foregoing inter-cell wiring member, to the rear surface electrode. In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , three inter-cell wiring members  18  are used on each of the light receiving surface and the rear surface of the solar cell  16 . 
     For the inter-cell wiring member  18 , a thin plate constituted with a metal conductive material such as cooper is used. In place of the thin plate, a twisted wire wiring member can also be used. As the conductive material, in addition to copper, silver, aluminum, nickel, tin, gold or alloys of these can be used. 
     An adhesive is used in the connection between the inter-cell wiring member  18  and the light receiving surface electrode and the connection between the inter-cell wiring member  18  and the rear surface electrode. As the adhesive, it is possible to use a thermosetting resin adhesive such as an acrylic adhesive, a polyurethane-based adhesive having high flexibility, or an epoxy-based adhesive. The adhesive includes conductive particles. As the conductive particles, it is possible to use nickel particles, silver particles, gold-coated nickel particles, tin-plated copper particles and the like. As the adhesive, it is also possible to use an insulating resin adhesive. For example, in the case of the light receiving surface of the solar cell  16 , one or both of the mutually facing surfaces of the inter-cell wiring member  18  and the light receiving surface electrode are made concave-convex, the resin is removed from between the inter-cell wiring member  18  and the light receiving surface electrode to form a region bringing the inter-cell wiring member  18  and the light receiving surface electrode into direct contact with each other, and thus the inter-cell wiring member  18  and the light receiving surface electrode are electrically connected. 
     The connection wiring members  20  and  21  are the wiring members connecting between the mutually adjacent strings  24 , in a plurality of strings  24  arranged transversely. As the material for the connection wiring members  20  and  21 , any of the materials described for the inter-cell wiring member  18  can be used. The connection wiring members  20  and  21  are disposed, outside the arrangement region of the plurality of the strings  24 , on both longitudinal end sides of the plurality of the strings  24 . The connection wiring member  20  is disposed on the longitudinal lower end side, and the connection wiring member  21  is disposed on the longitudinal upper end side. 
     In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , the string  24  disposed on the transversely most left side and the string  24  disposed at the second position as counted from the left are connected to each other with the connection wiring member  20   a  on the lower end side of  FIG. 1 . 
     The string  24  disposed second as counted from the left and the string  24  disposed third as counted from the left are connected to each other with the connection wiring member  21   a  on the upper end side of  FIG. 1 . 
     Hereinafter similarly, the string  24  disposed third as counted from the left and the string  24  disposed fourth as counted from the left are connected to each other with the connection wiring member  20   b  on the lower end side of  FIG. 1 . The string  24  disposed fourth as counted from the left and the string  24  disposed fifth as counted from the left are connected to each other with the connection wiring member  21   b  on the upper end side of  FIG. 1 . The string  24  disposed fifth as counted from the left and the string  24  disposed sixth as counted from the left are connected to each other with the connection wiring member  20   c  on the lower end side of  FIG. 1 . 
     With the three connection wiring members  20   a ,  20   b  and  20   c  on the lower end side and the two connection wiring members  21   a  and  21   b , the six strings  24  are serially connected to each other to form a string group  22 . Accordingly, the string group  22  is the (6×6)=36 solar cells  16  serially connected to each other. Across both ends of the 36 serially connected solar cells  16 , a voltage of 36 times the terminal voltage of one solar cell  16  is output, and the currents flowing through the respective solar cells  16  constituting the string group  22  are the same current values as each other. 
     To the solar cell  16  on the upper most end side in the string  24  disposed on the most left side, one end of another connection wiring member  21   c  is connected, and the other end of the connection wiring member  21   c  is connected to one terminal of a terminal box  26  disposed on the rear side of the solar cell module  10 . Similarly, to the solar cell  16  on the upper most end side in the string  24  disposed on the most right side, one end of a connection wiring member  21   d  is connected, and the other end of the connection wiring member  21   d  is connected to the other terminal of the terminal box  26 . In  FIG. 1 , the wires drawn from the connection wiring members  21   a  and  21   b  are respectively connected to the terminal box  26 , and these are used for detecting, for example, the intermediate voltage of the string group  22 . 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram extracting five solar cells  16  in the portion surrounded by the frame marked with II in  FIG. 1 . Here, the solar cells  16  are distinguished from each other as follows: the solar cell disposed so as to be closest to the frame  12  is designated as the solar cell  16   a , and the other solar cells disposed on the center side of the solar cell module  10  are designated as the solar cells  16   b.    
     In  FIG. 2 , the spacing dimension A indicates the spacing dimension between the inside of the frame  12  and the frame side edge of the solar cell  16   a . The spacing dimension A is measured along the transverse direction of the solar cell module  10 . The inside of the frame  12  means the inside edge of the frame  12 , namely, the inner edge of the frame  12 . The frame side edge of the solar cell  16   a  means the outer edge, on the frame  12  side, of the solar cell  16   a.    
     In  FIG. 2 , the spacing dimension B involves the solar cells  16   b , and is the spacing dimension between a solar cell  16   b  and the solar cell  16   a  or the solar cell  16   b  adjacent to the mentioned solar cell  16   b . B is the spacing dimension between the adjacent strings  24 , and is measured along the transverse direction of the solar cell module  10 . In the region involving the spacing dimension B, the inter-cell wiring member  18  is not disposed. 
     In contrast, the spacing dimension between the adjacent solar cells  16   a  in the same string  24 , or the spacing dimension between the adjacent solar cells  16   b  in the same string  24  is represented by the spacing dimension D in  FIG. 2 . The spacing dimension D is a widthwise dimension along the longitudinal direction of the solar cell module  10 . In the region involving the spacing dimension D, the inter-cell wiring member  18  is disposed. 
     In  FIG. 2 , the spacing dimension C is the width dimension of the solar cell  16  in the transverse direction. 
     In the spacing dimension B and the spacing dimension D, the spacing dimensions between the adjacent solar cells  16  are the spacing dimensions between the outer edges of the solar cells  16  facing each other. In the spacing dimension C, the transverse width dimension of the solar cell  16  is the spacing dimension between the outer edges of the two sides parallel to each other, along the longitudinal direction of one solar cell  16 . 
     Before describing the relations between the spacing dimensions A, B, C and D, the thickness direction configuration of the solar cell module  10  will be described with reference to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 3  is a sectional view along the line III-III in  FIG. 2 , and a sectional view along the longitudinal direction in the stack body  14  of the solar cell module  10 .  FIG. 4  is a sectional view along the line IV-IV in  FIG. 2 , and a sectional view along the transverse direction in the stack body  14  of the solar cell module  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , the stack body  14  is formed by laminating a first protection member  30  on the side of the light receiving surface, a first sealing member  32  on the side of the light receiving surface, the string group  22 , a second sealing member  34  on the side of the rear surface and a second protection member  36  on the side of the rear surface, in the mentioned order.  FIG. 3  shows the section along the longitudinal direction of one string  24  in the string group  22 , and  FIG. 4  shows the section along the transverse direction of three strings  24  in the string group  22 . 
     The first protection member  30  is a protection member on the side of the light receiving surface in the solar cell module  10 , and is constituted with a transparent member in order to make light incident on the solar cell  16 . As the transparent member, for example, a glass substrate, a resin substrate and a resin film may be quoted. In consideration of fire resistance, durability and others, it is preferable to use a glass substrate. The thickness of the glass substrate can be set to be approximately 1 to 6 mm. 
     The first sealing member  32  is a member playing a role of sealing the string group  22  including the solar cells  16  by filling the gap between the string group  22  including the solar cells  16  and the first protection member  30 . When the first protection member  30  is a glass substrate, the first sealing member  32  is preferably a material capable of suppressing the elution of the alkali metal component such as Na from the glass substrate. Additionally, the first sealing member  32  is preferably a material not generating an acid such as acetic acid even when moisture enters from the outside of the solar cell module  10 . As such a first sealing member  32 , a resin is used that is low in moisture content and does not generate an acid such as acetic acid as a result of the reaction with moisture. For example, an olefin resin is used. As the olefin resin, for example, polyethylene and polypropylene can be used. 
     The second sealing member  34  is preferably a material diffusely reflecting the light incident from the side of the light receiving surface at the boundary with the first sealing member  32 . The light diffusely reflected at the boundary with the first sealing member  32  is again made incident on the side of the light receiving surface of the solar cell  16 . In the present embodiment, the interface of the second sealing member  34  with the first sealing member  32  serves as a reflection member reflecting the light incident between the adjacent solar cells and again making the reflected light incident on the light receiving surfaces of the solar cells.  FIG. 4  shows what occurs in the above-described situation. The region capable of diffusely reflecting light in the boundary with the first sealing member  32  is the region where the upper surface of the second sealing member  34  is exposed between the adjacent solar cells  16 . This corresponds to the region involving the spacing dimensions A, B and D in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 3  shows the region corresponding to the spacing dimension D, and  FIG. 4  shows the region corresponding to the spacing dimension B. The region involving the spacing dimension A is both ends of  FIG. 4 , and here the diagrammatic representation of both ends is omitted.  FIG. 4  also shows the spacing dimension C in the transverse direction of the solar cell  16 . 
     As described above, the light incident from the side of the light receiving surface is reflected diffusely in the region involving the spacing dimensions A, B and D, and the diffusely reflected light is again made incident on the light receiving surface of the solar cells  16 . Thus, the quantity of the incident light contributing to the photoelectric conversion can be increased, and the short circuit current value I SC  that is a property of the solar cell module  10  can be increased. 
     As such a second sealing member  34 , a pigment-containing resin can be used. As the pigment, a white pigment is preferable. As the white pigment, there can be used, for example, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, white lead, zinc sulfide, barium sulfate, barium borate, calcium carbonate, magnesium oxide, antimony trioxide, zirconium oxide and aluminum oxide. As the resin, an olefin-based resin can be used, similarly to the case of the first sealing member  32 , and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and polyvinyl butyral (PVB) can also be used. 
     The second protection member  36  is a protection member on the side of the rear surface in the solar cell module  10 , and is not particularly required to have transparency. As such a second protection member  36 , a resin film is used. The resin film may include a layer of a metal such as aluminum, or an inorganic layer formed of a material such as silica. The thickness of the resin can be approximately 50 to 300 μm. 
     The widths of the regions involving the spacing dimensions A, B and D are different from each other, and hence the extent of increase in the short circuit current values I SC  in the 36 solar cells  16  constituting the string group  22  are different from each other. Because the string group  22  is constituted with the 36 serially connected solar cells  16 , the effect of the increase in the short circuit current value I SC  of the solar cell module  10  is limited by the amount of increment of the short circuit current value I SC  of the solar cell  16  that has the smallest amount of increment of the short circuit current value I SC  among the 36 solar cells  16 . Consequently, for the 36 solar cells  16 , the dimensions of the spacing dimensions A, B and D are required to be set in such a way that the increments of the short circuit current values I SC  are made uniform. 
     The description again goes back to  FIG. 2 . In the region involving the spacing dimension D, the region in which the second sealing member  34  is exposed is narrowed by the inter-cell wiring members  18 . Consequently, in order to achieve the increase of the short circuit current value I SC  on the basis of the diffuse reflection in the region involving the spacing dimension D, the spacing dimension D is required to be set wider than the regions involving the spacing dimensions A and B. When the spacing of the spacing dimension D is widened, the inter-cell wiring member  18  is made longer, and the resistance value of the inter-cell wiring member  18  is increased. When the resistance value of the inter-cell wiring member  18  is increased, FF (Fill Factor), one of the properties of the solar cell module  10 , is degraded. As described above, the spacing dimension D cannot be made large, and accordingly, here the relation D&lt;B is adopted. 
     The relation between the spacing dimension A and the spacing dimension B is such that when the solar cell module  10  is constituted, in general, the relation A&gt;B is frequently set. In this case, the quantity of the light diffusely reflected from the region involving the spacing dimension A is larger than the quantity of the light diffusely reflected from the region involving the spacing dimension B. Consequently, a magnitude distribution of the short circuit current value I SC  is caused among the 36 solar cells  16  constituting the string group  22 . In one example, the spacing dimension B is set to be approximately 2 to 3 mm, whereas the spacing dimension A is set to be approximately 5 to 8 mm. In this way, when the spacing dimension A is as large as three times the spacing dimension B, the increment of the short circuit current value I SC  of the solar cell  16   a  becomes larger than the increment of the short circuit current value I SC  of the solar cell  16   b.    
     On the basis of the results of experiments, simulations and others, the relation between the spacing dimensions A and B was investigated in detail. According to the results of experiments, simulations and others, from the reflection property of the white member, the proportion of the light reflected diffusely and again made incident on the one side of the solar cell  16  is approximately 25% in relation to the light incident on the white member. 
     Thus, when the transverse width dimension of the solar cell  16  is set to be the spacing dimension C, the ratio between the short circuit current value I SC (A) of the solar cell  16   a  and the short circuit current value I SC (B) of the solar cell  16   b  is calculated as [I SC (B)/I SC (A)]={1+(0.25×2B)/C}/[1+{0.25×(A+B)}/C]. 
     Here, when the variation of [I SC (B)/I SC (A)] is intended to fall within a variation of ±0.5%, the relation 0.995&lt;[I SC (B)/I SC (A)]&lt;1.005 is required to be satisfied. By solving this expression, a relation {(995A−20C)/1005}&lt;B&lt;{(1005C+20C)/995} is obtained. By setting the spacing dimensions A, B and C so as to satisfy this relation, the variation of the short circuit current value I SC  between the solar cell  16   a  and the solar cell  16   b  can be made to fall within a range of ±0.5%. 
     In the above-description, in the region between the transversely adjacent solar cells  16 , as the member diffusely reflecting the incident light, the second sealing member  34 , namely, a white-pigment-containing resin is used.  FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 6A , and  FIG. 6B  are diagrams showing an example in which no restriction is set on the material of the second sealing member  34 , and the reflection member  40  is used as the member diffusely reflecting the incident light.  FIG. 5  is a plan view corresponding to  FIG. 1 .  FIGS. 6A and 6B  are sectional views along the line VI-VI in  FIG. 5 , in which  FIG. 6A  is a diagram corresponding to  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 6B  is a partially enlarged diagram. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the reflection member  40  is arranged along the longitudinal direction on the surface, on the side of the light receiving surface, of the portion of the second sealing member  34 , exposed between the adjacent strings in the string group  22 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 , the reflection member  40  serves as a reflection member reflecting the light incident on the adjacent solar cells and again making the reflected light incident on the light receiving surface of the solar cells. On the concave-convex surface of the reflection member  40 , a thin metal film  46  is provided. For example, an aluminum thin film is attached by vapor deposition or the like. The reflection member  40  having the metal thin film  46  suppresses moisture diffusion from the second sealing member  34  to the first sealing member  32 . 
       FIG. 6A  shows the state in which the light incident on the reflection member  40  is reflected diffusely by the concave-convex shape covered with a metal thin film  46 , and the diffusely reflected light is again made incident on the solar cell  16 . In this way, by using the reflection members  40 , the improvement of the short circuit current value I SC  of the solar cell module  10  can be achieved, and the diffusion of the moisture from the second sealing member  34  to the first sealing member  32  can be suppressed. 
     REFERENCE SYMBOL LIST 
       10  solar cell module,  12  frame,  14  stack body,  16 ,  16   a ,  16   b  solar cell,  18  inter-cell wiring member,  20 ,  20   a ,  20   b ,  20   c ,  21 ,  21   a ,  21   b ,  21   c ,  21   d  connection wiring member,  22  string group,  24  string,  26  terminal box,  30  first protection member,  32  first sealing member,  34  second sealing member,  36  second protection member,  40  reflection member,  46  metal thin film.