ULTRATHIN SILICON SOLAR CELL ASSEMBLY TECHNOLOGY* Y. MATSUI, K. KAMIMURA, K. SAKURAI, S. KAMINISHI, T. MATSUTANI, T. HIRANO and A. SUZUKI Sharp Corporation 282-1 Hajikami Shinjo-cho Nara 639-21, Japan Abstract — The assembly technology of newly developed ultrathin silicon solar cells was studied. The fundamental technology of welding interconnectors to 50-)u,m-thick, 2x4-cm solar cells, CIC (connector integrated cell) fabrication, module fabrication and of integrating these modules to substrates was developed, and thus the production process was established. In order to verify this production process, testing panels were fabricated and thermal cycling tests were performed. The test results showed that these panels had no visual damage and no electrical degradation. 1. INTRODUCTION For the near-future solar arrays such as for space stations, the high power-to-weight ratio and long orbital mission life will be much more required. According to these requirements, solar cells must be thinner, larger and lightweight. Large and long-life solar arrays which encourage the advantages of these solar cells must be developed. For the first step of this solar array development, the assembly technology of the ultrathin silicon solar cells (2) which are lightweight (50 jum in thickness and 2x4-cm in size), and which have improved radiation resistance, was investigated. It is expected that the new ultrathin silicon solar cell array was about twice the power-to-weight ratio and five times the mission life compared to the conventional 280-/zm silicon solar cell array. The main themes in this program are as follows: (1) Interconnection technique. (2) CIC fabrication. (3) Module integration. (4) Fabrication of testing panels and performing thermal cycling tests. 2. INTERCONNECTION TECHNIQUE (I) Interconnector The major problems of welding interconnectors to the ultrathin cells are brittle- *Presented at the Fourth ISAS Space Energy Symposium, at ISAS, Tokyo, 1 March 1985.
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