Flexible Fluorine-based Micro-lens Arrays for Photovoltaic Modules

We present the first flexible micro-lens arrays designed for photovoltaic modules that utilize fluorine-based film. These micro-lens are fabricated as a key component of increasing electric generation in the fluorine-based film. The rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) method was used for optical simulation. The simulation results showed that the transmittance of the optimized array structure at the 600 nm wavelength was 99.8% on average. Particularly, it is expected to increase scattering light as a high transmission of incident angle 5 degrees. The conventional c-Si photovoltaic modules tests of solar simulator have demonstrated that these fluorine-based film arrays perform 4.6 % for electric generation, depending on the incident angle. Further, a daily increase in electric generation of up to 6.7% was estimated on a cloudy spring day in Japan when this array was used. The efficiency of the micro-lens structure when compared with a previous model without arrays has been verified by outdoor electric generation tests.