MASKING POSITIONED BETWEEN SOLAR CELLS
Composite making regions are provided. These masking regions can include layers or other areas of different transparency where a first layer has a first transparency and a second layer has a different transparency. Masking regions can be positioned between adjacent photovoltaic cells of photovoltaic arrays.
1 . A photovoltaic array comprising:
a plurality of photovoltaic cells,
wherein at least some of the photovoltaic cells of the plurality are electrically interconnected to each other across a gap between adjacent photovoltaic cells of the plurality, and
a masking region positioned within the gap, the masking region having a first width along an upper surface and a second width along a lower surface, the first width and the second width less than a width of the gap between adjacent photovoltaic cells.
2 . The photovoltaic array of claim 1 wherein the masking region has a higher opacity in the first width than the second width.
3 . The photovoltaic array of claim 1 further comprising an electrical interconnection located underneath the masking region, the first width and the second width are the same, and the lower surface is completely opaque.
4 . A photovoltaic panel comprising:
a plurality of photovoltaic cells arranged in a two-dimensional array,
wherein at least one of the photovoltaic cells of the plurality is electrically interconnected to another photovoltaic cell of the plurality across a gap between these electrically interconnected photovoltaic cells, and a masking region is positioned within the gap, the masking region having a first width along a first surface of the masking region and a second width along a second surface of the masking region, the first width and the second width smaller than the gap.
5 . The photovoltaic panel of claim 4 wherein the masking region has a higher opacity in the first width than the second width and wherein the first width and the second width are not the same.
6 . The photovoltaic panel of claim 4 wherein the masking region is 100% opaque.
7 . The photovoltaic panel of claim 4 wherein the masking region comprises one or more of PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate, POE (PolyOlefinElastomer), and EVA (Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate).
8 . The photovoltaic panel of claim 4 wherein the masking region comprises a carrier layer, a first sticky layer, a masking layer and a second sticky layer.
9 . The photovoltaic panel of claim 4 wherein the masking region comprises a masking layer and a transparent layer.
10 . The photovoltaic panel of claim 4 wherein the gap is an end-to-end gap between two photovoltaic cells of the plurality of photovoltaic cells.
11 . The photovoltaic panel of claim 4 wherein the masking region in the gap is visible.
12 . A photovoltaic array comprising:
a plurality of photovoltaic cells,
wherein at least some of the photovoltaic cells of the plurality are electrically interconnected across a gap between adjacent photovoltaic cells, and
a masking region is positioned within the gap, the masking region having a width along an opaque surface, the width smaller than a width of the gap,
wherein the masking region is positioned above an electrical interconnection in the gap.
13 . The photovoltaic array of claim 12 wherein the masking region is in contact with the electrical interconnection.
14 . The photovoltaic array of claim 12 wherein the gap has a varying width across its length.
15 . The photovoltaic array of claim 12 wherein the masking region comprises a tape and an ink.
16 . The photovoltaic array of claim 12 wherein the masking region comprises a first tape and a second tape, the first tape adhesively connected to the second tape.
17 . The photovoltaic array of claim 16 wherein the first tape has a uniform thickness and the second tape has a uniform thickness.
18 . The photovoltaic array of claim 16 wherein the first tape has a uniform width and the second tape has a uniform width.
19 . The photovoltaic array of claim 12 wherein photovoltaic cells of the plurality of photovoltaic cells are arranged adjacent one another in a two-dimensional grid pattern.
20 . The photovoltaic array of claim 12 wherein photovoltaic cells of the plurality of photovoltaic cells are arranged adjacent one another in a one-dimensional linear array pattern.