Shingled is another advancement used to obtain cell-to-module (CTM) gains, the technique eliminates the need for interconnecting ribbons and hence reduces resistive losses.  The main difference with other techniques is the aesthetic nature of shingled modules. The modules also look like panels of coloured glass, an excellent approach for aesthetic building design and hence, the rooftop solar market. The International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITRPV) predicts a small increase in market share of about 10% by 2029.

shingled solar panels PV cells follow the same process for shingled solar panels roof tiles on a rooftop, however, standard cell formats cannot be used. It involves slicing complete cells along the busbars and forming interconnections by placing the rear busbar of one slice over the busbar of the next slice. Therefore the busbars are hidden in the overlap of the adjacent sliced cells. This approach removes the need for interconnection ribbons and eliminates the spacing between adjacent cells. The image below from SunPower indicates how the slices are placed and where the interconnection is formed.

In traditional solar cells, front and rear busbars are aligned such that ribbon interconnections can easily contact adjacent cells. From figure 2 above, cells used in shingled solar panels must have their busbars printed such that each resulting slice will have a front busbar on the ‘left’ and a rear busbar on the ‘right’ side. Therefore, this technique involves changes in the cell manufacturing stage as well. The small area of the individual slices also reduces the current that flows in the module and as the resistive power loss Ploss scales with I2R, this will result in a reduction in resistive losses. A smaller current also means the number of size of the fingers can reduced offering opportunities to reduce the cell manufacturing costs by a reduction in the usage of silver.

Furthermore, like many other PV module advancements, shingled solar panels can be combined with glass-glass and bifacial techniques. Since more of the module can be covered by solar cells, shingled solar panels is a very suitable method for bifacial modules. More light can be absorbed and ‘back-escape’ losses can be reduced, which normally occur when light passes through the gaps in traditional bifacial modules.

Learn more about shingled solar panels, please contact us as below:

Email: info@bluesunpv.com

Tel/Whatsapp: +86 158 5821 3997