Patent ID: 8569094

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a thin film solar cell device comprising the steps of: providing a substrate ( 2 ) with a back contact ( 5 ), wherein the back contact ( 5 ) is patterned into a plurality of longitudinal segments; providing a multilayer structure ( 13 ) with at least a CIGS layer ( 7 ) and a front contact ( 15 ) on the substrate ( 2 ), wherein the multilayer structure ( 13 ) is patterned into a plurality of longitudinal segments, each of them overlapping a respective longitudinal segment of the back contact ( 5 ) and together forming longitudinal thin film solar cell segments ( 18 ) that are serially connected in order to form a thin film solar cell module ( 17 ); characterized in that the method further comprises the subsequent steps of selectively removing the multilayer structure ( 13 ) in at least a first peripheral area ( 22 ) of the thin film solar cell module ( 17 ) to expose the back contact ( 5 ) in at least a first longitudinal portion ( 3 ) of the first peripheral area ( 22 ) adjacent a first longitudinal thin film solar cell segment ( 18 ) by blasting; and connecting a first contacting means ( 27 ) to the exposed back contact ( 5 ).