Triangular Ribbons for Improved Module Efficiency

32nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 169-172
Different approaches like round wire interconnectors, shingled or back-contact cells have been presented in the past to improve the cell-to-module efficiency ratio by reducing the shading losses of interconnector ribbons. We present a new cell interconnector design based on a triangular cross section to further improve modules based on interconnector ribbons. We analyze the optical behavior of the concept and compare it with rectangular ribbons and round wire interconnectors. An evaluation of the new concept using optical ray tracing is performed. Results show an advantage in optical performance of 2.35% of the new concept compared to standard interconnector ribbons under perpendicular irradiation as well as 1.94% compared to round wires. An analysis using irradiation data (DNI) shows a superior optical performance of the TriCon-Concept. We find that in an elevation tracked module using TriCon 2.32% more light reaches the cell surface over the year compared to rectangular interconnectors (5BB) and 2.02% compared to round wires.