Process and apparatus for continuous production of lightweight arrays of photovoltaic cells

Abstract From the Canadian patent

A process for producing a relatively large-area lightweight array of thin film photovoltaic cells includes depositing a semiconductor alloy film, such as amorphous silicon, onto a surrogate substrate, affixing a support material to the deposited film and separating the film and support material from the surrogate substrate. The surrogate substrate is an endless band that cycles through a depositing apparatus. The semiconductor alloy film is preferably deposited by glow discharge, to form a preselected photovoltaic structure, the support material is laminated thereupon and the film is peeled from the surrogate substrate. The bare substrate is then recycled back through the deposition …