Patent ID: 8101851

Claim:
A process for manufacturing a solar cell foil comprising: providing an etchable temporary substrate; applying a front electrode of a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) onto a first side of the temporary substrate; applying a photovoltaic layer onto the TCO; applying a back electrode; applying a permanent carrier ensuring that the front electrode and the back electrode are electrically connected in an interconnect to establish a series connection, the front and the back electrode each being interrupted by a front groove and a back groove, respectively, at different sides of the interconnect, wherein in any one of the preceding steps after application of the TCO: the thickness of the temporary substrate is reduced by etching part of the temporary substrate; subsequently an etch resist is applied on a second side of the temporary substrate opposite to the first side of the temporary substrate covering the interconnect, and at least not at the entire width of the front groove; followed by selectively removing portions of the temporary substrate where it is not covered with the etch resist, to obtain the solar cell foil provided with a protective cap on the TCO.