Kei Obinata*, Naohiko Kato, Yasuhiko Takeda and Tomoyoshi Motohiro
Toyota Central R&D Laboratories, Inc., 41-1 Yokomichi, Nagakute-cho, Aichi 480-1192, Japan
*E-mail address: obinata@mosk.tytlabs.co.jp
(Received May 6, 2010; Accepted November 4, 2010)
Abstract. We have proposed that conversion efficiency of photovoltaic modules using thin film solar cells is significantly improved by optimizing the arrangement of each cell in the modules. When the cells are inclined with respect to the light-incident plane of the module, the module efficiency of the modules was relatively higher by 15–50% than the value for conventional arrangement. The module efficiency was further improved by grouping several inclined cells as a unit and optimally arranging the units, compared to uniform arrangements.
Keywords: Photovoltaics, Solar Cells, Geometrical Optimization, Energy Conversion Efficiency, Short-Circuit Current Density