CONTACT DEVICE AND ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING SUB-CELLS

1 . A contact device for contacting multiple sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) that have resulted from the division of full cells ( 1 ) and that are physically and electrically separate from one another, each of the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) having at least one back-side contact and at least one front-side contact,

wherein the contact device comprises:

a planar carrier element ( 23 ) with at least two back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ), or at least two planar carrier elements ( 23 ) each with at least one back-side contact arrangement ( 21 a , 21 b ), wherein each back-side contact arrangement ( 21 a , 21 b ) corresponds to the at least one back-side contact of one of the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) and is suitable for electrically contacting the at least one back-side contact of the sub-cell ( 1 a , 1 b );

at least one front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ), wherein each front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) corresponds to the at least one front-side contact of one of the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) and is suitable for electrically contacting the at least one front-side contact of the sub-cell ( 1 a , 1 b ); and

at least one holding device for fixing the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) on the planar carrier element or elements ( 23 ),

wherein:

a) the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ) of the individual sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) can be electrically contacted separately, while the front-side contact arrangements ( 3 ) of all the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) are electrically connected to a common front-contact arrangement ( 3 ) and can be contacted with a common front-side potential,

or

b) the front-side contact arrangements ( 3 ) of the individual sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) can be electrically contacted separately, while the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ) of all the sub-cells are electrically connected to a common back-contact arrangement and can be contacted with a common back-side potential.

2 . The contact device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) is also designed on the carrier element or elements ( 23 ), but is electrically insulated from the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ).

3 . The contact device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) is arranged on the illumination side of the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) independently of the at least one holding device.

4 . The contact device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) is integrated into the holding device.

5 . The contact device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one holding device comprises a grid ( 31 ), one or more brackets, one or more spring elements, or some other releasable clamping device.

6 . The contact device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one holding device comprises a suction device.

7 . The contact device according to claim 1 , wherein the carrier element or elements ( 23 ) are designed as a printed circuit board (PCB).

8 . An arrangement for characterising sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) resulting from the division of full cells ( 1 ), having a lighting device ( 61 ) for characterising solar cells, a chuck for holding solar cells, on which a contact device ( 2 ) according to claim 1 is arranged which is suitable for contacting multiple sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ), and one or more measuring devices ( 5 a , 5 b ) suitable for recording measured values while the multiple sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) are being exposed to light by means of the lighting device ( 61 ), wherein

a measuring device ( 5 a , 5 b ) is assigned to each sub-cell ( 1 a , 1 b ), and the multiple measuring devices ( 5 a , 5 b ) are configured to perform a simultaneous measurement between

the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ) of the individual sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) and the common front-contact arrangement ( 3 ), or

the front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) of the individual sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) and the common back-contact arrangement ( 21 a , 21 b ) during the lighting operation,

or the one measuring device ( 5 a , 5 b ) performs successive measurements on each sub-cell ( 1 a , 1 b ) between

the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ) of one of the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) and the common front-contact arrangement ( 3 ), or

the front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) of one of the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) and the common back-contact arrangement ( 21 a , 21 b ) during successive lighting operations, wherein a circuit connects the one measuring device ( 5 a , 6 b ) to another sub-cell ( 1 a , 1 b ) after each lighting operation until all sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) have been characterised.

9 . A method for characterising sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) resulting from the division of full cells ( 1 ), comprising at least the following steps:

providing an arrangement according to claim 8 ,

arranging at least two sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) on the contact device ( 2 ) and fixing the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) by means of the at least one holding device;

electrically contacting the measuring devices ( 5 a , 5 b ) with the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ) and the front-side contact arrangements ( 3 ); and

simultaneously illuminating all sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) and, at the same time, simultaneously recording the measured values of all the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) located on the contact device ( 2 ).

10 . A method for characterising sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) resulting from the division of full cells ( 1 ), comprising at least the following steps:

a) providing an arrangement according to claim 8 ,

b) arranging at least two sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) on the contact device ( 2 ) and fixing the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) by means of the at least one holding device;

c) electrically contacting the measuring devices ( 5 a , 5 b ) with the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ) and the front-side contact arrangements ( 3 ) of a first sub-cell ( 1 a ); and

d) simultaneously illuminating all sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) and, at the same time, recording the measured values of the first sub-cell ( 1 a );

e) electrically contacting the measuring devices ( 5 a , 5 b ) with the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ) and the front-side contact arrangements ( 3 ) of a further sub-cell ( 1 b ); and

f) Simultaneous illumination of all the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) and parallel recording of the measured values of the other sub-cell ( 1 b ),

g) repeating steps e) and f) until all sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) have been measured.

11 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the electrical characteristics (I-V curves) of the individual sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) are determined from the measured values.

12 . A method simultaneous or serial characterisation of multiple sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) comprising providing the contact device according to claim 1 and illuminating the sub-cells with a lighting device ( 61 ) for full cells ( 1 ).

13 . The contact device according to claim 5 , wherein:

the at least one front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) is also designed on the carrier element or elements ( 23 ), but is electrically insulated from the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ); or

the at least one front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) is arranged on the illumination side of the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) independently of the at least one holding device; or

the at least one front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) is integrated into the holding device.

14 . The contact device according to claim 6 , wherein:

the at least one front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) is also designed on the carrier element or elements ( 23 ), but is electrically insulated from the back-side contact arrangements ( 21 a , 21 b ); or

the at least one front-side contact arrangement ( 3 ) is arranged on the illumination side of the sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) independently of the at least one holding device.

15 . The contact device according to claim 14 , wherein the at least one holding device comprises a grid ( 31 ), one or more brackets, one or more spring elements, or some other releasable clamping device.

16 . The contact device according claim 2 , wherein the carrier element or elements ( 23 ) are designed as a printed circuit board (PCB).

17 . The contact device according claim 3 , wherein the carrier element or elements ( 23 ) are designed as a printed circuit board (PCB).

18 . The contact device according claim 4 , wherein the carrier element or elements ( 23 ) are designed as a printed circuit board (PCB).

19 . The contact device according claim 15 , wherein the carrier element or elements ( 23 ) are designed as a printed circuit board (PCB).

20 . The method according to claim 10 , wherein the electrical characteristics (I-V curves) of the individual sub-cells ( 1 a , 1 b ) are determined from the measured values.