NL2007883C2

NL2007883C2 - Interconnecting thin layer photo-electronic devices.

Info

Publication number: NL2007883C2
Application number: NL2007883A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Bart Alphons Marie Allard
Original assignee: Solinso
Priority date: 2011-11-28
Filing date: 2011-11-28
Publication date: 2013-05-30

Description

INTERCONNECTING THIN LAYER PHOTO-ELECTRONIC DEVICES FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a thin layer photo-electronic device, a method for 5 manufacturing a thin layer photo-electronic device, a photo-electronic assembly comprising at least two interconnected photo-electronic devices, a method for electrically interconnecting at least two photo-electronic devices and a method of manufacturing a module comprising one or more photo-electronic devices.

10 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the art thin layer photo-electronic devices are known comprising an active layer sandwiched between two electrodes. The active layer interacts with radiation or electrical current. The interaction is photoelectric where the device converts incident radiant energy (e.g., in the form of photons) into electrical energy such as in a thin film photovoltaic (PV) 15 cell. The interacting material can also be light emissive, wherein the device converts electrical energy to radiant energy e.g., in the form of photons such as in a organic light emitting diode (OLED).

Generally the active layer comprises a laminated structure or compilation of 20 semiconducting materials comprising at least a p-type material and n-type material which forms a p-n junction, which is required within photo-electronic devices. The materials in the active layer may be inorganic, organic ora combination of both. Well known structures of materials and layer formation techniques are for example described in U.S. patent 2011/0048506. In specific relation to organic photo-electronic devices were the device 25 converts incident radiant energy (e.g., in the form of photons) into electrical energy such as in a thin film photovoltaic (PV) cell are for example described in EP patent 1603169. In specific relation to photo-electronic devices were the device converts electrical energy to radiant energy, e.g., in form of photons such as in a organic light emitting diode (OLED), are for example described in WO patent 2009/136305.

30

Currently most photo-electronic devices, e.g. PV and OLED, are made by depositing thin layers onto a substrate. The substrate could be a rigid substrate (e.g., glass) or a flexible substrate (e.g., foil). Typically in thin film devices the deposited layers are only a few micron in thickness and in general deposited using vacuum deposition or solution coating 35 processes. With regard to mass production of photo-electronic devices, it is desirable to 2 deposit the desired structures using layer deposition techniques that are compatible with roll to roll processing, with the substrate being a long continuous flexible sheet that passes through one or more layer deposition stages in sequence as the subsequent layers are formed on top of each other.

5

On top of an electrically insulating flexible substrate, a bottom electrode (later herein also describe as bottom conductive layer) can be deposited, followed by depositing a layered structure or compilation of interacting materials and on top a top electrode (later herein also describe as top conductive layer). Electrons and holes are transported from either 10 side of the electrode respectively. The deposited layers can be patterned in order to provide a contact area to electrically interconnect the electrodes of the device with for example an electric circuitry. Currently in most photo-electronic devices an intermediate conducting layer is deposited on top of the contact area of an electrode, in order to provide a robust mechanical and/or highly electrical conductive interconnection.

15 Unfortunately the intermediate conducting layer on top of contact areas may not transparent and may be visible for the human eye and disrupt a uniform appearance, making it less attractive from an aesthetic point of view.

Since the active layer is sandwiched between two electrodes, at least one of the 20 electrodes can be light transparent, translucent for radiation over some wavelength range of interest or containing open areas in order to permit light to pass through. In most photo-electronic devices, a film of transparent conducting oxide (e.g., tin oxide, zinc oxide, indium tin oxide) is used to form the transparent electrode because, although the transparent conducting oxide may have a lower electrical conductivity than other 25 electrically conductive materials, the transparent conducting oxide allows to pass more light than many other electrically conductive materials. Unfortunately transparent conductive oxides are deposited using expensive vacuum deposition techniques wherein changing the design of the pattern to deposit is relatively complex. Furthermore mostly used indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes comprising indium which is a rare material which is 30 a disadvantage particularly regarding mass production of photo-electronic devices.

In the past several years, it has been attempted to replace the transparent conducting layer with a less expensive transparent conductor, which can be deposited with less expensive and complex deposition techniques, e.g. solution coating or printing 35 techniques. Compared to the indium tin oxide layer, other transparent conducting 3 materials such as conducting polymers may more transparent but less conductive, which is a disadvantage for making large area devices. Concerning large area, the total interacting surface may have a square surface larger than a few centimetres square. In order to improve the conductivity, the electrode may complemented with a mesh or 5 interdigitated pattern of a highly conductive material. Architectures and methods to produce photo-electronic devices are described in U.S. patent application nr 2004/0187911 entitled ‘Photovoltaic cell with mesh electrode’. The mesh or interdigitated electrodes could be of the same material or in direct connection with an intermediate conductive layer on top of the contact area of the top electrode. Unfortunately the 10 intermediate layer may not transparent and may form a relatively broad layer compared to the wideness of the mesh or interdigitated electrodes, reducing the effective area for photons to pass though and may be visible for the human eye and disrupt a uniform appearance, making it less attractive from an aesthetic point of view.

15 Preferably a number of individual photo-electronic devices are serially connected with each other forming a photo-electronic assembly operating at a relatively high voltage and low current. A serial connection electrically connects the top electrode of an individual photo-electronic device with the bottom electrode of another individual photo-electronic device. The electrical connection between individual photo-electronic devices according to 20 the state of the art is typically made by utilizing conductive flat metal strips or wires which connecting contact areas of adjacent devices, for example by using solder, electrically conductive adhesives or electrically conductive pastes. Unfortunately these flat metal strips and wires are not transparent, having the same disadvantage regarding the reduced effective area and visibility for the human eye as mentioned earlier above.

25

Alternatively a number of serially interconnected photo-electronic devices may be formed on one common insulating substrate by utilizing patterning techniques. The patterning is required to secure insulation between adjacent photo-electronic devices or to secure insulation between corresponding layers from adjacent photo-electronic devices. While 30 the insulation and contact area may reduced by using highly accurate patterning techniques, it has a disadvantage, that the reduced contact areas may be became too small to cut a desired number of interconnected devices from the main substrate without damaging devices along the cutting line. Furthermore the contact areas may be too small to provide a robust mechanical and/or high electrically conductive interconnection with for 35 example an electric circuitry. Adapting the number of interconnected devices within a 4 photo-electronic assembly may only be possible by changing the device manufacturing equipment, which normally is a very expensive exercise. Furthermore high accurate patterning is typically done via photolithographic patterning or layer removal techniques like laser removal or mechanical scribing. While the contact area may reduced, these 5 patterning techniques add extra and expensive processing steps and may introduces complications that could reduce the yield of useful devices. For example, laser patterning or mechanical scribing may result in a condition known as underscribing where the scribing does not cut sufficiently deep into one or more layers. Furthermore, many scribing techniques can generate debris that may be inadvertently and undesirably incorporated 10 into the finished devices.

A photo-electronic device can also be manufactured by depositing layers onto an electrical conductive substrate such as, but not limited to, a copper or stainless steel substrate. The electrical conductive substrate can be used as bottom electrode, thus the 15 active layer may deposited directly onto this substrate followed with the deposition of the top electrode. In order to achieve a photo-electronic assembly containing serially connected devices, the substrate, either common bottom electrode, needs to be electrically disconnected after the deposition of the active layer and top electrode to form individual devices. A flexible conductive substrate may be disconnected by cutting the 20 substrate. To prevent short circuit between the bottom and top electrode after cutting, for example due to a smear effect of the top electrode while cutting, the layers may be patterned. To form the photo-electronic assembly, the contact area of the bottom electrode or substrate respectively of a separated photo-electronic device may assembled on top of the contact area of the top electrode from another separated photo-electronic 25 device and simultaneously serially connect the devices.

Possible methods of producing patterned photo-electronic devices fabricated on a flexible conductive substrate and methods to form an photo-electronic assembly are described in published international patent application W.O. 2010/023264 entitled Thin film solar cell 30 and photovoltaic string assembly’. In an photo-electronic assembly wherein the bottom electrode of a photo-electronic device is assembled on top of the contact area of the top electrode from another device, the contact areas may not be arranged in the front surface. This is only lucrative when the contact areas of the photo-electronic devices located around or at the boundary sides of the active surface of a photo-electronic device, which 35 is disadvantageous regarding the equal distribution of electrons and holes through the 5 transparent electrode in large area photo-electronic devices. In addition, all the individual devices have to be separated first, after which all individual photo-electronic devices have to be aligned with high accuracy and assembled again, making the production of the assembly complex and time consuming and thus more expensive. Furthermore the 5 architecture of a photo-electronic assembly wherein photo-electronic devices overlap the contact area of another device and simultaneously electrically connect each other is not possible using an insulating substrate.

After manufacturing the photo-electronic assembly, the photo-electronic assembly is 10 generally formed into a photo-electronic module by providing a protection layer on front and back side, for example to improve the chemical and mechanical resistance of the photo-electronic assembly. Typically large area photo-electronic modules are manufactured by providing a backside protection layer, an interlayer material on top of the backside protection layer, the photo-electronic assembly on top of the interlayer material, 15 a second interlayer material and on top the front protection layer (such a transparent foil). The layers are aligned and mostly laminated together wherein the interlayer material is liquidized and solidified again assemble the front and back protection layer with the photo-electronic assembly in between. The photo-electronic assembly is mostly laminated between flat protection layers because laminating shaped surfaces is more complex 20 regarding to the alignment and movement of the photo-electronic assembly during lamination. It may be desired to form the photo-electronic module into a certain shape, for example for the integration of the module in a two or three-dimensional shaped product wherein it is desirable that the photo-electronic module follows an outline of the product. Shaping of a laminated flat module may be possible when the module itself is flexible, 25 which could be obtained by utilizing flexible and stretchable materials for the back and front side layers. The requirement of flexibility and stretch ability however limit the choice of suitable materials. Furthermore, another production step may be required to assemble the module onto a carrier or housing for mechanical stability. In addition, another production step is required wherein the photo-electronic assembly is connected to a 30 junction box to allow connection with an external feature, e.g., an external load regarding PV devices or an external energy source regarding OLED. Another disadvantage concerning flat and large area unbroken assemblies is that the thermal expansion coefficient of materials from different layers may be cause internal tension in the photo-electronic assembly, by which interconnections may be disconnect or layers may be 35 delaminate.

6

SUMMARY

It is an object of the invention to overcome the problems and/or disadvantages as set out above.

5

The object is achieved according to a first aspect of the invention in a photo-electronic device, comprising a substrate made from insulating material forming a first plane, a bottom conductive layer formed on one side of the substrate, an active layer on top of and partially overlapping the bottom conductive layer. The active layer comprises at least one 10 pair of layers of semi conducting material forming a photo-active semiconductor junction. The device further comprises a top conductive layer on top of and overlapping with the active layer. The top conductive layer is made from a transparent conductive material that allow passage of light. The bottom conductive layer has a first contact area and the top conductive layer has a second contact area.

15 The photo-electronic device has a first fold in the substrate, such that at least one of the first and second contact area is folded away from the device top surface and forms a surface having a first angle with the top surface of the photo-electronic device.

The object is also achieved in a photo-electronic device comprising a substrate made from 20 conductive material forming the first plane, wherein the bottom conductive layer and the first contact area are formed by the substrate. Thus the substrate, bottom conductive layer and first contact area are formed by the same plane.

By folding at least one of the contact areas back from the device top surface, the 25 interconnection with a contact area of the photo-electronic device can be made outside and back from the top surface of the photo-electronic. This has the advantage that the electrical connection is no longer in view of the operational surface of the photo-electronic device, thus contact areas and conductive intermediate layers on top of the contact area no longer disturb the view. A further advantage is that when concatenating photo-30 electronic devices and connecting them in series or parallel, tolerance for alignment errors in the contact areas is increased. The folds determine the relative positions of the photo-electronic devices, whereas the contact areas of the devices which are out of view may vary in size and position. That has the advantage that high accurate layer deposition or high accurate layer removal techniques could be eliminated without influencing the 35 effective area or disturbing the view of the top surface. A further advantage is that the 7 device and its interconnections can be kept on position by temporarily clamping the folded contact areas of a device while applying a protection layer on top of the operational surface.

5 4ln an embodiment of the above described photo-electronic device, the angle of the contact area with the front surface is a right angle. That has the advantage that folds in the substrate can be manufactured by utilizing deformation elements that move in vertical direction with respect to a substrate with devices that is arranged horizontally.

Furthermore it will allow concatenating of photo-electronic devices adjacent to each other 10 while maintaining a flat top surface, having the advantage that a rigid protection layer such as glass could be applied on top side.

In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic device, the angle of the contact area with the front surface is an oblique angle. This offers the possibility to 15 manufacture devices on a planar substrate where after the planar device is folded such that a two or three dimensional shape could be established. That is advantageous for devices that should follow contours of two or three dimensional products. Furthermore the angle may increased to induce less tension in the layers along the fold of the device, which is advantageous for the yield of the device.

20

The object is also achieved in a photo-electronic device having a second fold in the substrate, such that at least one of the first and second contact area is folded away from the top surface forming a second surface having a second angle with the top surface. The second fold offers the possibility to bend a first or second contact areas of a photo-25 electronic to the back side of the front surface in case it was not on the first contact area formed by the first fold, such that both contact areas no longer in the view of the operational surface.

In an embodiment of the above described photo-electronic device, the first and second 30 fold each form an edge of the top surface of the photo-electronic device. That will make interconnection via the sides of the device possible which is especially advantageous for concatenating and interconnecting multiple devices.

8

In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic device, the first and second fold have parallel directions. This has the advantage that folds could be made in a continuous deformation process which is suitable with roll to roll production of devices.

5 In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic device, the first and second fold have different directions. This offers the possibility to manufacture devices having a non rectangular or square top surface. This is especially advantageous for making different top surface patterns.

10 In another embodiment of any of the above described photo-electronic devices, a patterned layer of a high conducting material is formed on top of and partially overlapping the top conductive layer and comprising open areas to allow the passage of light. Providing a patterned layer of a highly conductive material on top of the top conductive layer improves the conductivity of the top conductive layer, having the advantage that the 15 transparent top conductive layer can be made from less conductive but highly transparent and cost effective material can be used as top conductive layer without losing performance of the photo-electronic device. Furthermore it has the advantage that the top conductive layer can be applied with less complex and expensive deposition techniques.

20 The object is also achieved in a photo-electronic device having at least two folds placed adjacent to each other, forming a trench having at least part of a contact area within the trench. That will make it possible to fold a contact area which is not located at an edge of the photo-electronic device top surface to the backside of the top surface such that it is not longer in the operational surface and does not disturb the view. That is particularly 25 advantageous for large area photo-electronic devices and photo-electronic devices comprising a mesh electrode, typically having the contact area for interconnecting the top conductive layer located in the middle of the device. In addition, currently most the photo-electronic devices having the contact area for interconnecting the top conductive layer located in the middle of the top surface, additionally have a non transparent intermediate 30 layer deposited on top of that contact area for increasing the conductivity or yield, which are disturb the view when not folded to the backside.

In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic device, a connection element connected to the contact area and extending out of the trench for interconnection 9 with another device. That has the advantage that an electrical connection with the top conductive layer can be made although the contact area is arranged within the trench.

In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic devices, the active layer 5 is a light emitting layer, such that the photo-electronic device converts electrical energy to radiant energy, e.g., in form of photons such as in a organic light emitting diode (OLED).

In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic devices, the active layer is a photo-voltaic layer, such that the photo-electronic device converts incident radiant 10 energy (e.g., in the form of photons) into electrical energy.

The object is also achieved according to the invention by manufacturing a photo-electronic device assembly wherein the assembly comprising a first photo-electronic device and a second photo-electronic device as set out above, wherein the first photo-electronic device 15 is arranged adjacent to the second photo-electronic device, such that for the first photo-electronic device a folded away contact area faces and contacts a folded away contact area of the second photo-electronic device. This offers the possibility to manufacture a photo-electronic device assembly having serially or parallel interconnected devices wherein the interconnection with a contact area of a neighbouring photo-electronic device 20 can be made outside and back from the top surface of the photo-electronic devices involved. This has an advantage of increasing the effective area of the photo-electronic device assembly for absorbing light for a photovoltaic effect where the photo-electronic device is a photovoltaic device. In the case of the photo-electronic device being a light emitting device, the effective area for emitting light is increased. A further advantage is 25 that the electrical connection is no longer in view of the operational surface of the connected photo-electronic devices, thus connecting elements, busbars and the like no longer disturb the view. When the opto-electronic assembly as set out above is sandwiched between a front and/ or back protection layer to form it into a photo-electronic module, the folds are advantageous because interconnections are not in line with the 30 main surface, by which they are less influenced by tension due to different crimp of expansion of layers caused by thermal coefficients of the protection layers and the photo-electronic assembly.

The object is also achieved according to the invention by manufacturing a photo-electronic 35 device assembly wherein the assembly comprising a first photo-electronic device and a 10 second photo-electronic device as set out above, wherein the first photo-electronic device is arranged adjacent to the second photo-electronic device, such that for the first photo-electronic device a folded away contact area is parallel and in line with a folded away contact area of the second photo-electronic device. This will make it possible to 5 concatenating devices in two directions wherein interconnections with a contact area of a neighbouring photo-electronic devices made outside and back from the top surface of the photo-electronic devices involved. This is advantageous for producing a large photo-electronic device assembly comprising a plurality of devices concatenated in two directions.

10

In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic device assemblies the contact areas of neighbouring devices are interconnected by utilizing an intermediate layer comprising an electrical conductive material. The interlayer material can be used to provide an electrical connection between neighbouring devices wherein the contact areas 15 orientated parallel in line or facing each other. Furthermore the interlayer material can be used to electrically and/ or mechanically improve the connection. That is advantageous for improving the yield of the interconnection.

In an embodiment wherein an intermediate layer is used, the material can be selected 20 from the group of conductive adhesive, conductive ink and conductive paste. These conductive materials could be deposited using wet coating or printing techniques. That has the advantage that it is relatively easy to change the pattern or design of the layer that has to be deposited. Furthermore these conductive materials advantageous because the materials may fill cavities between contact areas and therewith provide interconnection 25 without pressing the intermediate layer onto or between contact areas.

In another embodiment wherein an intermediate layer is used, the material can be selected from the group of conductive wires, strips, tapes and braids. These materials are advantageous for a consolidated connection. Furthermore these materials can be applied 30 without the risk that the material fluid to an undesired location.

In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic assembly, the substrate is made of insulating material that is uninterruptedly disposed between each pair of adjacent photo-electronic devices. Manufacturing the assembly starting with an uninterrupted 35 substrate eliminates the steps of aligning, assembling and connecting individual devices.

11

It furthermore eliminates the step of disconnecting devices from a main substrate when devices are manufactured using a roll to roll processing, with the substrate being a long continuous flexible sheet. The elimination of production steps and the fast production of devices reduces the production time and production costs.

5

In another embodiment of the photo-electronic assembly the substrate is made of an electrically conductive substrate which is interrupted at the interconnection of the first and second contact areas of the neighbouring photo-electronic devices. The interruption disconnects the continuous bottom conductive layer or substrate respectively, by which a 10 serial interconnection of adjacent devices is established. That makes it possible to manufacture a photo-electronic assembly having serially interconnected photo-electronic devices, wherein the photo-electronic devices produced on a electrically conductive substrate by roll to roll processing.

15 In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic assembly, the assembly comprises a permanent carrier. The permanent carrier comprising gaps, and the folded contact areas are arranged into the gaps. That is advantageous since the permanent carrier offers a protection and mechanical stability to the photo-electronic device assembly. Furthermore there is no additional production step required to provide a desired 20 carrier for the photo-electronic assembly, which will save production time and also production costs.

In an embodiment wherein the described photo-electronic assembly comprises a permanent carrier, the carrier is made from a thermoplastic material. The use of 25 thermoplastic material allow replica production processes for manufacturing the permanent carrier, which is advantageous regarding to mass production of the permanent carrier. Furthermore the material and production processes are suitable for producing a carrier comprising the desired gaps in one single production cycle.

30 In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic assembly, the first or second contact area is connected to a conductive element having a contact area to allow connection with an electric circuit. That has an advantage of interconnecting the photo-electronic device assembly with an electric circuitry, e.g., an external load regarding photovoltaic devices or an external energy source regarding light emitting devices.

35 12

In another embodiment of the above described photo-electronic assembly, the conductive element may manufactured by processes like stamping, milling, punching and drilling.

This has the advantage that the conductive element can be manufactured into the desired shape by mass production technology.

5

The object is also achieved according to the invention by a method of folding the contact areas of at least one photo-electronic device having a first contact area for connection the bottom conductive layer and a second contact area for connecting the top conductive layer. The method comprising the step of positioning the substrate on a permanent carrier 10 wherein the carrier comprising gaps. The substrate is positioned such that each contact area correspond to a gap. After positioning the substrate, a deformation element will locally press onto the substrate such that the substrate is pressed into the corresponding gaps, producing folded contact areas. After the folding, the deformation element can retracted.

15 The method has the advantage that the photo-electronic device immediately is applied onto a permanent carrier, thus production cycles for applying a protection layer on the backside of a photo-electronic device after folding are eliminated. This has also the advantage that the photo-electronic device will not be affected due to providing a backside protection layer after folding the photo-electronic device.

20

The object is also achieved according to the invention by the method of interconnecting two photo-electronic devices, each of the photo-electronic devices having a first and second contact area. The first or second contact area of a first photo-electronic device arranged adjacent to the second or first contact area respectively of a neighbouring photo-25 electronic device. The method comprising the steps of positioning a substrate having a plurality of photo-electronic devices on a mold, wherein the mold subdivided into mold sections separated by gaps, such that each photo-electronic device corresponds to a mold section and the contact areas corresponding to the gaps. The step is followed by a step of pressing a deformation element onto the substrate between the first and second 30 contact areas of the neighbouring photo-electronic devices such that the substrate is pressed into the corresponding gaps, producing folded contact areas facing each other. The next step is retracting the deformation element. After retraction of the deformation element the folded contact areas compressed to produce an electrical connection.

13

In an embodiment of the above described methods, the method further comprising a step of supplying a conductive material onto at least one of the contact areas during pressing the deformation element on the substrate. The conductive material may provides a robust mechanic bond with the contact area and or provides an increased conductivity with the 5 contact area of the conductive layers. That has the advantage that it improves the performance and yield of the device interconnections. Depositing the layer of conductive during pressing eliminates the separate step of depositing the conductive material before pressing. Both having the advantage that production time and production costs are reduced.

10

In another embodiment of the above described methods, the method further comprising a step of supplying a layer of conductive material during retraction of the deformation element. Since the conductive layer is supplied during retraction of the deformation element, the conductive material is always located at the folded contact area on the back 15 of the top surface and thus never disturbing the view. This is particularly advantageous when applying the conductive material in liquid phase, since it eliminate that conductive material will fluid over the top surface. In addition the alignment of the substrate such that a contact area correspond to the gap may allowed with less accuracy, which make the production less complex.

20

In another embodiment of the above described method, the method further comprising a step of cutting the substrate while pressing the substrate into the corresponding gaps. Cutting the substrate while pressing the substrate provide the possibility separate the desired number of photo-electronic devices from a substrate, such that multiple photo-25 electronic devices could be produced on a single substrate using the advantages of roll to roll processing. Furthermore it has the advantage that only the substrate have to be aligned above the permanent carrier or mold, instead of aligning individual devices.

In another embodiment of the above described method, the method further comprising a 30 step of applying a protection layer on top of a photo-electronic assembly. The protection layer provides a protection to the photo-electronic devices on the top side. Furthermore it may provide mechanical stability to the photo-electronic device assembly. That has the advantage that the electronic assembly may fixed in a desired shape.

14

In another embodiment of the above described method, the protective layer is applied by at least one process of lamination, molding, casting, and coating. These processes have the advantage that they can be fast and cheap with regard to mass production. Furhtermore these processes offer the possibility to texture the top surface of the 5 protection layer in the same production cycle. Texturing of the top surface may advantageous guiding light trough the top surface or may advantageous from aesthetic point of view.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 10 Figure 1 A: Cross section view of a basic architecture of a photo-electronic device manufactured on an insulation substrate according to the state of art.

Figure 1B: Cross section view of a basic architecture of a photo-electronic device manufactured on an electrically conductive substrate according to the state of art.

Figure 2: Graphical representation of a photo-electronic device according to the state of 15 art comprising a mesh electrode.

Figure 3A: Graphical representation of a photo-electronic assembly containing local deformations according to the invention in a flexible insulating substrate comprising a collection of photo-electronic devices on top.

Figure 3B: Cross section view of a photo-electronic assembly containing local 20 deformations according to the invention in a flexible electrically conductive substrate comprising a collection of photo-electronic devices on top.

Figure 4A: Detailed cross section view before deformation of a flexible insulating substrate comprising photo-electronic devices.

Figure 4B: Detailed cross section view of a deformed flexible insulating substrate 25 comprising photo-electronic devices.

Figure 4C: Detailed cross section view of a deformed flexible electrically conductive substrate comprising photo-electronic devices.

Figure 5: Detailed cross section view of a deformed insulating substrate and contact areas wherein between the contact areas a conductive material is provided.

30 Figure 6A: Graphical representation of a deformation element containing arrangements for providing a conductive material.

Figure 6B: Detailed cross section view of a deformation element containing arrangements for providing a conductive element.

Figure 7A: Graphical representation of a typical large area photo-electronic device 35 manufactured on an electrical conductive substrate.

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Figure 7B: Graphical representation of a large area photo-electronic device comprising folds adjacent to each other and an intermediate layer into the deformed area.

Figure 8A: Cross section view to illustrate a deformation technique wherein a press and mold are used.

5 Figure 8B: Cross section view of a deformed photo-electronic assembly that is kept in a mold for providing a front layer.

Figure 8C: Cross section view of a photo-electronic assembly that is deformed utilizing a shaped press and a shaped mold.

Figure 9: Cross section view of a photo-electronic assembly.

10 Figure 10A: Detailed cross section view to illustrate a method to press and deform a flexible substrate comprising photo-electronic devices onto a permanent carrier.

Figure 10B: Detailed cross section view a photo-electronic assembly that is pressed, deformed and connected to a permanent carrier.

15 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1A illustrates a cross-section view of the basic architecture of a photo-electronic device 100 that is produced on a flexible insulating substrate 101. The photo-electronic device 100 comprises a bottom electrode layer 102, an active layer 103 and a top electrode layer 104. At least the top electrode 104 is transparent or at least translucent for 20 light in some wavelength range of interest in order to allow photons to pass through the top surface 118 on the top side 105. It is also possible to deposit the layers on a transparent substrate 101 wherein the bottom electrode 102 is transparent in order to allow photons to pass through the bottom surface 117 on the bottom side 106. Depending on which of the electrodes 102,104 is transparent, the electrode may be made from a 25 reflective material in order to reflect photons within the active layer 103. Thus electrode 104 can be transparent and electrode 102 can be reflective or vice versa, or both electrodes 102,104 can be transparent. The active layer 103 comprises at least a n-type and a p-type material which enables p-n junction.

30 The bottom and top electrodes 102,104 can be patterned wherein the active layer 103 is at least on one edge smaller in size than the patterned bottom electrode 102 to form a first contact area 107 to allow an electric interconnection with the bottom electrode 102. The active layer 103 may partially overlap with the bottom electrode 102 such that a short current between bottom electrode 102 and top electrode 104 within the photo-electronic 35 device 100 is prevented. The top electrode 104 is deposited on top of the active layer 103, 16 having a second contact area 108 to allow an electric interconnection with the top electrode 104. The area where the active layer 103 is sandwiched between the bottom electrode 102 and top electrode 104 is the total usable interacting surface 109. The contact areas 107, 108 of the device are passive areas since they do not contain the 5 section wherein the active layer 103 is sandwiched between the electrodes 102,104. Additionally an intermediate conducting material 116 may deposited on top of the contact area 107, 108 in order to provide a robust mechanical and/or highly electrical conductive connection with for example a conductive flat metal strip or wire to make connection with another device or electric circuitry. The intermediate conductive layer 116 will not be 10 separately shown in the following figures if not mentioned in the description.

Alternatively to the illustrated device architecture, it is also possible to form the second contact area 108 located above the patterned active layer 103 (not shown).

15 Alternatively a photo-electronic device 110 can be manufactured on a flexible electrically conductive substrate 111, like illustrated in the cross section view of figure 1B. The electrically conductive substrate 111 functions as bottom electrode which makes it possible to directly deposit the active layer 103 on top of the conductive substrate 111. On top of the active layer 103 a top electrode 104 is deposited, which does not extend the 20 active layer 103 such that a short current between the electrically conductive substrate 111 and top electrode 104 within the photo-electronic device 110 is prevented. Since the electrically conductive substrate 111 probably is not transparent, the photons pass through the top surface 118 on the top side 105. Patterning of the active layer 103 and top electrode 104 may be required to form a first contact area 107 to allow interconnection 25 with the conductive substrate 111, bottom electrode respectively, via the top side 105 of the device 110. Furthermore the first contact area 107 provide an ideal location to disconnect devices 110 when a collection of photo-electronic devices structures are deposited on the same electrically conductive substrate 111. The disconnection can be achieved by cutting the electrically conductive substrate 111 along the boundary 112 30 without the risk for damaging devices along the boundary 112. The total usable interacting surface 109 is the surface without the contact area 108 of top electrode 108 since the contact area 108 will be covered by a connection means such as a flat metal strip or wire that is not transparent. In addition it may comprise an intermediate conductive layer made from a non transparent material (not shown).

35 17

In large area devices the transparent top electrode 104 may be comprises a mesh of non transparent but highly conductive material to increase the conductivity of the transparent top electrode 104. Figure 2 graphically represents a photo-electronic device 200 according to the state of the art where a mesh electrode 213 of a highly conductive 5 material is deposited on top of the transparent top electrode 104. The mesh electrodes 213 consists of small patterned tracks 214 to maintain open areas 215 through which photons can pass through so that a non transparent but highly conductive material could used with only a little loss of total usable interacting area. The small patterned tracks 214 of the mesh electrode 213 may in direct connection with a intermediate conductive layer 10 116, which is formed on top of the contact area 108 of top electrode 104. While figure 2 illustrates a photo-electronic device 100 which is manufactured on an insulation substrate 101, a comparable mesh electrode 213 could be utilized fora photo-electronic device 110 which is manufactured on an electrically conducting substrate 111 as well. Typically the height of the small tracks 214 and the intermediate conductive layer 116 are in the range 15 of microns which makes it possible to bend them without losing connection. The small tracks 214 and intermediate layer 116 are preferably formed from the same material such as a paste filled with silver particles and may deposited in a same production cycle, for example by a printing process such as screen-printing.

20 The mesh electrodes 213 may made of a highly conductive materials that can be printed on top of a transparent electrically conducting polymer layer that is applied using wet coating or printing techniques. Exemplary electrically conducting polymers include polythiophenes (e.g., poly(3,4-ethelynedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)), polyanilines (e.g., doped polyanilines), polypyrroles (e.g., doped polypyrroles). Importantly, such 25 combination may eliminate the expensive transparent conducting oxide layer which is normally deposited with relatively complex and expensive deposition techniques.

Figure 3A graphically represents a photo-electronic assembly 300 containing local deformations 317 in a flexible insulating substrate 101 whereon a collection of photo-30 electronic devices 100 were manufactured. The deformations 317 made by folding the substrate 101 in such a manner that the contact areas 107, 108 of the photo-electronic devices 100 are folded to the backside with respect to the top surface 118 on the top side. In this architecture the folds made in parallel direction 319 such that the contact area 107 of the bottom electrode 102 of an photo-electronic device 100 is facing the contact area 18 108 of the top electrode 104 of an adjacent photo-electronic device 100. The contact areas 107, 108 may be compressed together to serially interconnect the devices.

Figure 3B shows a cross section view of a photo-electronic assembly 310 that is 5 generated by locally deform a flexible electrical conductive substrate 111 comprising a collection of photo-electronic devices 110. Local deformations 317 are made in such manner that the contact areas 107,108 of the photo-electronic devices 110 are folded to the backside of the top surface 118 wherein contact area 107 forms a surface having a first angle a with the top surface 118 and contact area 108 forms a surface having a 10 second angle p with the top surface 118. In this example the angles are right angles and the contact areas 107,108 facing each other. The contact areas 107,108 may be compressed together to interconnect the contact area 108 of top electrode 104 with the contact area 107 arranged in the conductive substrate 111, bottom electrode 102 respectively. Furthermore the conductive substrate 111 has a disconnection 322 such that 15 a photo-electronic assembly 310 with serially interconnected photo-electronic devices 110 is established. The disconnection 322 may be made during or direct after the deformation of the flexible electrically conductive substrate 111 (as described later herein) and eliminate the need of alignment of each single photo-electronic device.

20 Since the contact areas 107, 108 do not contribute to the total usable interacting surface 109, the interacting surface increases resulting in a overall improved performance of the photo-electronic assembly 300, 310. Furthermore intermediate conductive layers, connections, contact areas and isolating areas are not visible anymore for the human eye, making the surface a uniform appearance and thus increase the aesthetic value, because 25 they are now hidden from view within the recess of the substrate deformations 317.

Figures 4 illustrates procedures to manufacture a photo-electronic assembly 300 or 310 by folding the substrate 101 or 111 and contact areas 107,108 of adjacent devices to the backside of the top surface 118. Figure 4A show a detailed cross section view before 30 deformation of a flexible insulating substrate 101 that is uninterruptedly disposed between each pair of adjacent photo-electronic devices 100 which were manufactured on top of the substrate 101. The flexible insulating substrate 101 is positioned in such manner that the contact areas 107,108 are located above a gap 425. The gap 425 may provided by support elements 426 which may can shift in lateral direction 427 to vary the size of the 35 gap 425. On the other side a deformation element 428 is positioned above the centreline 19 429 between adjacent photo-electronic devices 100. Deformation element 428 may move in vertical direction 430 along the centre line 429 to press the flexible insulating substrate 101 and contact areas 107,108 into the gap 425 between the support elements 426. Deformation of the flexible substrate 101 while pressing may be simplified by providing at 5 least partially weakened zones 431. Local weakening may be effected by such methods as, but not limited to, ablation, milling, scratching or the local application of heat or solvents. Providing a weakened zone 431 along the folding line may also ease the repositioning of the flexible insulating substrate 101 during deformation. Support elements 426 may have adapted edges 432 (e.g., chamfered or filleted) in order to increase the 10 bending radius of the flexible insulating substrate 101.

Figure 4B shows a detailed cross section view after the flexible insulating substrate 101 is deformed due to the movement in vertical direction 430 of the deformation element 428, pressing the flexible insulating substrate 101 into the gap between support elements 426. 15 After folding the substrate by pressing, deformation element 428 can be retracted. After retraction adjacent devices may interconnected by compressing the contact areas 107,108 against each other by a lateral shift 427 of support elements 426. If the holding force of the support elements 426 is insufficient, the flexible insulating substrate 101 may be kept in position before retraction of deformation element 428, for example by creating a 20 vacuum onto the flexible insulating substrate 101. Vacuum may provided by incorporating a vacuum element 436 in support elements 426 that consist of a porous structure to allow suck up air when it is connected to a vacuum apparatus.

Likewise photo-electronic devices 110 having electrically conducting substrates may be 25 deformed and interconnected. Figure 4C show a detailed cross section view regarding the deformation and interconnection of photo-electronic devices 110 manufactured on a flexible electrically conductive substrate 111. Before deformation, the deformation element 428 is located above the substrate 111 or contact area 107 respectively, in such way that both contact area 107 and contact area 108 may pressed into the gap between the 30 support elements 426. After retraction of the deformation element 428 the contact areas may compressed to each other to allow an electrical connection 438. The electrically conductive substrate 111 either common bottom electrode 102 must be electrically disconnected in order to achieve a photo-electronic assembly containing a collection of serially connected photo-electronic devices 110. The electrically conductive substrate 111 35 may be automatically disconnected during or direct after the deformation cycle. For 20 example support element 426 may have a cutting device 437 such as a knife or blade for cutting through the electrically conductive substrate 111 direct after the substrate is pressed into the gap between the support elements 426. The cutting device 437 may be operated while compressing contact areas together by the lateral shift 427 of support 5 elements 426.

The connection 438 between the contact area 107 of a bottom electrode 102 of a photo-electronic device 100 and the contact area 108 of the top electrode 104 of an adjacent photo-electronic device 100 may be mechanically and electrically improved, for example 10 by providing a conductive material 540 between the contact areas 107,108 of adjacent photo-electronic devices 100. For example figure 5 shows a detailed cross section view of a deformed insulating substrate 101 and contact area 108 of the top electrode 104 and contact area 107 of the bottom electrode 102 wherein between a conductive material 540 is provided. The conducting material 540 e.g., conducting adhesive, conductive paste, 15 conductive tape, may be deposited on top of at least one contact area 107,108 before deformation. To prevent that top electrode 104 inadvertently and undesirably makes electrical contact with the top electrode 104 of an adjacent device 110, it may be advantageous to at least partly apply an insulating material 541 on the edge 542 of top electrode 104 before deformation. The insulating material 541 may be transparent so that 20 it at least partially overlaps the top electrode 104. This eliminates the need for highly accurate deposition of the insulating material 541.

After the flexible insulating substrate 101 is pressed between the supporting elements 426 and the deformation element 428 is retracted, the contact areas 108, 107 with the conductive element 540 in between may compressed against each other by the lateral 25 shift 427 of the support elements 426. Additionally the support elements 426 may heated to melt the flexible insulating substrate 101 together or to solder the conductive material 540 along the locally deformed contact areas 108,107. The heat may provided by a heating element 543 that is integrated in the support elements 426. Alternatively the heating element 543 may be integrated in vacuum element 436 which may consist of a 30 heat conductive material such as a metal alloy.

Alternatively electrically conductive material may provided during the deformation cycle (as described later herein) such that after pressing and retraction of the deformation element 428, the interconnection 438 already provided by the conductive material 540. In 35 such example it may not necessary to additionally compress the contact areas 107, 108 to 21 each other to establish an interconnection. It furthermore allow that first angle a and second angle 3 may form an oblique angle with the top surface 118 while maintaining the interconnection.

5 The electrically conductive material 540 may provided during the deformation cycle by special arrangements in the deformation element. For example figure 6A shows a detailed cross section view of the deformation element 428 containing a channel 650 through which a conductive material 540 such as a metal powder, conductive paste or conductive adhesive can be supplied. The conductive material 540 is provided via a supply channel 10 652 that is on one end connected with the channel 650 in the deformation element 428 and on the other end may be connected to a reservoir. To provide conductive material 540 on demand, the deformation element 428 may comprise a valve 653. During the deformation cycle, the conductive material 540 may deposited while deformation element 428 retracts after pressing the substrate whereon photo-electronic devices 100,110 are 15 manufactured. In the case of a conductive material 540 in fluid phase, the solidification after deposition may be accelerated by heat and/ or pressure provided by heating element which is integrated in the support elements 426. The interconnection may be made by the intermediate conductive material 540 such that compressing the contact areas against each other is not required.

20

In yet another example a conducting element such as a strip, wire, braid or tape may provided with special arrangements in the deformation element. For example figure 6B graphically represents a deformation element 428 comprising arrangements to temporary hold and position a conductive element 655. Conductive element 655 may be temporarily 25 attached to deformation element 428 by utilizing vacuum, for example by providing vacuum channels 656 in the deformation element 428 that are connected to a vacuum apparatus via supply channel 652. During the deformation cycle, conductive element 655 may positioned between the contact areas during pressing and released when deformation element 428 retracts. After retraction of deformation element 428 the 30 interconnection can be made by compressing the contact areas against each other with the released conductive element 665 in between. The interconnection may be further improved by providing pressure and heat during compressing the contact areas, for example by soldering the conductive elements 655 between the contact areas.

22

Many other advantageous photo-electronic assemblies may made with deforming a flexible substrate and the passive areas of photo-electronic devices which manufactured on top of the substrate. Figure 7Afor example graphically represents a typical large area photo-electric device 700 which is produced on an electrically conductive substrate 111 5 wherein the active layer 103 and top electrode 104 deposited on top of each other and may be covering the full area of the flexible conductive substrate 111, which simplify the roll to roll production of large area photo-electric devices 700. The contact area to interconnect the bottom electrode 102 may arbitrary chosen on the bottom side 117 of the substrate 111. The transparent top electrode 104 may be comprises a mesh electrode 10 213 of non transparent but highly conductive material on top of the top electrode 104 to increase the conductivity of the transparent top electrode 104. The small patterned tracks 214 of the mesh electrode 213 may in direct connection with a intermediate conductive layer 116, which is formed on top of the contact area 108 arranged in the top electrode 104 to provide a mechanical robust and high conductive interconnection with the top 15 electrode 104. The intermediate layer 116 may be located in the middle of the device in order to achieve a more equal distribution of electrons or holes over the device 700. An interconnection in the middle of the photo-electric device 700 normally visible for the human eye and disrupt the uniform appearance, making it less attractive from an aesthetic point of view. Local deformations regarding to the invention provide a possible way to 20 deform the substrate such that the contact area with its intermediate layer 116 on top is folded away from the device top surface 118.

For example figure 7B graphical represents a photo-electric device 700 comprising a electrically conductive substrate 111 deformed by folds placed adjacent to each other, 25 such that a trench 757 is formed having the contact area 108 and the intermediate layer 116 within the trench 757. Alternatively the intermediate layer 116 may deposited during the deformation as described earlier, which eliminates the deposition of the intermediate layer 116 before deformation of the substrate 111.

Preferably an electrical conductive interconnection element 760 such as a flat metal strip 30 or wire may be provided during deformation by arrangements in the deformation element as described earlier. The interconnection element 760 may extend to allow electrical interconnection with another device or with an electric circuitry. While the photo-electric device 700 in this example needs to be separated and connected again, it offers the possibility to manufacture a large area photo-electric 700 that can be interconnected to a 23 photo-electronic assembly, while the aesthetic value is maintained. This may be particularly advantageous for making large surfaces.

Deformation elements and support elements may be applied in production equipment 5 used in replica deformation techniques, such as techniques like pressing, stamping and molding. For example figure 8A shows a cross section view to illustrate a possible deformation method wherein a press 970 and a mold 971 are used to deform the flexible substrate 101 comprising a collection of photo-electronic devices 100, which is sandwiched in between the press 970 and mold 971. The mold 971 is subdivided into 10 mold segments 969, separated by gaps 425. The press 970 contains deformation elements 428 that after the press 970 moved towards the mold 971 partly eject to locally press the flexible substrate 101 into the gap 425 between mold segments 969 of the mold 971. In order to prevent the substrate 101 to tear, the deformation elements 428 may be ejected sequentially starting from the middle. In addition, it may be desirable that also 15 press 970 comprises movable press segments 972 that can move along with the substrate during deformation. The mold segments 969 also move in lateral direction 427 and are able to provide compression onto deformed contact areas after the deformation element 428 retracted.

20 Preferably the press and mold comprise additional arrangements to add extra functions during the deformation cycle. For example, as illustrated in the cross section view of figure 8A a connector 975 may be inserted in the mold outer segments 973 to provide the connector 975 at both ends of the photo-electronic assembly 300. The connector 975 may be connected in a comparable way as described for the interconnection of the photo-25 electronic devices 100. A connector 975 may provide an electrical connection with the device assembly and an external device, e.g., an external load for PV devices or an external energy source for OLEDs. The connector 975 may be made from a conductive material such as a metal or alloy which is manufactured by stamping, milling, punching or drilling.

30

After the deformation the deformed photo-electronic assembly 300 may be kept in the mold 971 for positioning and aligning the whole assembly 300 in a single step, for providing a material on the top side of the assembly 300 by utilizing such techniques such as laminating, casting, coating or molding. Figure 8B shows a cross section view of a 35 deformed photo-electronic assembly 300 that is kept in mold 971 to provide a transparent 24 protection layer 976 using a lamination technique. Typically for lamination a transparent interlayer material 977 such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) or polyvinyl butyral (PVB) foil is sandwiched between the assembly 300 and the transparent protection layer 976. Preferable the transparent protection layer 976 is a flexible layer like plastic foil such as 5 polyethylenenaphthalate or polyethyleneterephthalate to allow bending around the end sides of the photo-electronic assembly 300. The layers 976, 977 may be laminated by heating and pressing the layers onto each other. Since the deformed assembly 300 is kept in position by the mold 971 there is no risk of movement of the assembly 300 or added components when laminated. Furthermore, keeping the assembly 300 in the mold 10 is advantageous in order to prevent for damage or disconnection to the electronic connections while the layers 976, 977 on top are provided.

The deformed photo-electronic assembly 300 can also be transformed in a desirable shape using shaped press segments 978 and shaped mold segments 979 as illustrated in 15 figure 8C. Assuming that the deformed assembly 300 is kept in position after deformation by the the shaped mold segments 979, it is relatively easy to provide an additional layer on top of the shaped top surface of the photo-electronic assembly 300. The shaped press segments 978 and shaped mold segments 979 can be utilized for applying a material onto the photo-electronic assembly 300 into cavity 980 as illustrated in the figure. After 20 deformation, the deformation elements 428 retract and the shaped press segments 978 are lifted in order providing cavity 980 between the deformed photo-electronic assembly 300 and the press segments 978. A transparent material in liquid phase can be supplied in the cavity 980, for example by injecting a fluid material through opening 981 in the press segment 978’. The liquid phase material, when solidified, creates a layer that 25 protects the deformed photo-electronic assembly 300 and secures that the shaped form of the photo-electronic assembly 300 stays intact when the photo-electronic assembly 300 comprising the protection layer is relieved from the shaped mold segments 979.

Especially when casting and molding techniques are used, it is relatively easy to provide a texture on the top surface of the protection layer in the same production cycle by using 30 surface treated press segments 978.

Furthermore a support material can be supplied on the back side of the photo-electronic assembly 300 for example for protection, adhesion, mechanical properties or mounting of the photo-electronic assembly 300. Figure 9 shows a cross section view of the photo-35 electronic assembly 300 where on the bottom side a backside layer 1082 is supplied.

25

Preferably the back side layer 1082 is supplied after the protection layer 1083 on the front side of the photo-electronic assembly 300 is provided. The backside layer 1082 may supplied using techniques like casting, coating or molding because these technologies offer the possibilities to add additional features in the same production cycle. Favourably 5 the backside layer 1082 comprises additional features such as mounting features 1084 for mounting the photo-electronic assembly 300 onto another carrier. It can furthermore provide arrangements for mechanical stability and fittings 1085 to contact the connector 975.

10 Alternatively the mold 971,979 may be a permanent carrier 1186 having gaps 425 which correspond to the contact areas 107,108 of photo-electronic devices in order to deform and simultaneously fix a flexible substrate comprising photo-electronic devices onto a permanent carrier 1186. Figure 10A shows a detailed cross section view of a flexible electric conductive substrate 111 comprising a collection of photo-electronic devices 110 15 which is positioned above a permanent carrier 1186 containing a gap 425. The gap 425 may be in the form of a trench. Deformation element 428 is positioned above the insulating area 112 in order to press the substrate into gap 425 by the movement 1188 towards the permanent carrier 1186. Furthermore deformation element 428 may comprise a cutting element 1189 such as a blade to separate the electrical conductive substrate 20 111 during the deformation cycle. An elevation 1190 may provided on top of the permanent carrier 1186 nearby the side wall of the gap 425. The elevation 1190 may made from a transformable material such as a thermoplastic material or not solidified but kneadable adhesive. Preferably, the permanent carrier 1186 and elevation 1190 are both from the same thermoplastic material and manufactured in one cycle, for example by a 25 molding technology. After pressing the substrate 111 in gap 425, the press 970 may rest onto the deformed photo-electronic assembly 300 while the deformation element 428 retracts. Subsequently press segment 1191 provide a pressure on the elevation 1190 such that the elevation 1190 will be pressed into the gap 425. Press segment 1191 may be heated to locally melt the elevation 1190 to simplify pressing the elevation 1190 into 30 the gap 425. Figure 10B shows a detailed cross section view of the deformed photo-electronic assembly 300 after transforming the elevation 1190 such that a electrical connection 438 is provided. The electrical connection 438 may be improved by providing a conductive material between the contact areas as described earlier. The permanent carrier 1186 may manufactured utilizing a molding technique by which it is relatively easy 35 to provide a desirable gap structure in the carrier 1186. Furthermore the permanent carrier 26 1186 may be comprise an integrated circuit and/or connectors to allow electrical connection with the contact areas of devices and an external device. An integrated circuit and/or connectors may be applied while manufacturing the carrier by the technique known as insert molding or molded interconnected devices.

5

The procedure wherein the flexible substrate comprising photo-electronic devices is deformed and pressed immediately onto a permanent carrier, is suitable for both devices manufactured on an insulating substrate 101 or conducting substrate 111.

10 The detailed drawings, specific examples and particular materials given serve the purpose of illustration only. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, production processes, and arrangements of the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

15

Reference numerals list 100 photo-electronic device; 101 flexible insulating substrate; 102 bottom electrode 20 103 active layer 104 top electrode 105 topside 106 bottom side 107 contact area bottom electrode 25 108 contact area top electrode 109 total usable interacting surface 110 photo-electronic device on conductive substrate 111 flexible electrical conductive substrate 112 boundary 30 116 intermediate conducting layer 117 bottom surface 118 top surface 200 photo-electronic device comprising mesh electrode 213 mesh electrode 35 214 small patterned tracks 27 215 open areas 216 conductive intermediate layer 300 photo-electronic assembly with an insulating substrate 310 photo-electronic assembly with an electrically conductive substrate 5 317 local deformation 319 parallel direction 322 disconnection 425 gap 426 support element 10 427 lateral shift 428 deformation element 429 centreline 430 vertical direction 431 weakened zone 15 432 adapted edge 436 vacuum element 437 cutting device 438 conductive tape 540 conductive material 20 541 insulating material 542 edge of top electrode 543 heating element 650 channel 652 supply channel 25 653 valve 655 conductive element 656 vacuum channel 700 large area photo-electronic device 757 trench 30 760 conductive interconnection element 969 mold segment 970 press 971 mold 972 movable press segment 35 973 outer segment 28 975 connector 976 protection layer 977 interlayer 978 shaped press segment 5 979 shaped mold segment 980 cavity 981 opening 1082 back side layer 1083 protection layer front side 10 1084 mounting features 1085 fitting 1186 permanent carrier 1188 movement direction 1189 cutting element 15 1190 elevation 1191 press segment 20

Claims

1. Foto-elektronische inrichting, omvattende een substraat gemaakt van een isolerend materiaal dat een eerste laag vormt, een geleidende onderlaag aangebracht op een zijde 5 van het substraat, een actieve laag bovenop en gedeeltelijk overlappend met de geleidende onderlaag en waarbij de actieve laag tenminste een lagenpaar van halfgeleidende materialen omvat die een pn-overgang vormen, een geleidende toplaag bovenop en gedeeltelijk overlappend met de actieve laag, waarbij de toplaag bestaat uit een materiaal dat licht doorlaat, waarbij de geleidende onderlaag een eerste contactvlak omvat en de geleidende 10 toplaag een tweede contactvlak omvat, gekenmerkt door een eerste vouw in het substraat, zodat ten minste een van een eerste of tweede contactvlak naar achteren wordt gevouwen ten opzichte van het bovenvlak van de inrichting en een oppervlak vormt dat onder een hoek staat ten opzichte van het bovenvlak van de 15 foto-elektronische inrichting.A photoelectric device comprising a substrate made of an insulating material forming a first layer, a conductive substrate layer applied to a side of the substrate, an active layer on top and partially overlapping with the conductive substrate and wherein the active layer is at least comprises a pair of layers of semiconductive materials forming a pn junction, a conductive top layer on top and partially overlapping with the active layer, the top layer consisting of a material that transmits light, the conductive bottom layer comprising a first contact surface and the conductive top layer a second contact surface, characterized by a first fold in the substrate, such that at least one of a first or second contact surface is folded backwards with respect to the upper surface of the device and forms a surface which is at an angle with respect to the upper surface of the photoelectric device.

2. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens conclusie 1, waarbij het substraat is gemaakt yan een elektrisch geleidend materiaal, waarbij de geleidende onderlaag en het eerste contactvlak door het elektrisch geleidende substraat worden gevormd.The photoelectric device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is made of an electrically conductive material, the conductive substrate and the first contact surface being formed by the electrically conductive substrate.

3. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens conclusie 1 of 2, waarbij de eerste hoek een 20 rechte hoek is.3. A photoelectric device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first corner is a right angle.

4. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens conclusie 1 of 2, waarbij de eerste hoek een schuine hoek is.The photoelectric device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first corner is an oblique corner.

5. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens een van de conclusies 1-4, verder omvattende een tweede vervorming in het substraat, zodat ten minste het eerste of tweede contactvlak 25 naar achteren wordt gevouwen ten opzichte van het bovenvlak van de foto-elektrische inrichting en een tweede oppervlak vormt dat onder een tweede hoek staat ten opzichte van het bovenvlak van de foto-elektronische inrichting.5. A photoelectric device as claimed in any one of claims 1-4, further comprising a second deformation in the substrate, so that at least the first or second contact surface 25 is folded backwards with respect to the upper surface of the photoelectric device and a forming a second surface that is at a second angle to the top surface of the photoelectric device.

6. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens conclusie 5, waarbij zowel de eerste en tweede vouw elk een rand vormen van het bovenvlak van de foto-elektrische inrichting.The photoelectric device of claim 5, wherein both the first and second fold each form an edge of the top surface of the photoelectric device.

7. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens conclusie 6, waarbij de eerste en tweede vouw evenwijdig gericht zijn.The photoelectric device of claim 6, wherein the first and second fold are oriented parallel.

8. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens conclusie 6, waarbij de eerste en tweede vouw respectievelijk verschillende richtingen hebben. 2007883The photoelectric device according to claim 6, wherein the first and second fold have different directions, respectively. 2007883

9. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens een van de voorgaande conclusies, waarbij een van een patroon voorziene laag van een elektrisch geleidend materiaal is aangebracht boven op de geleidende toplaag, waarbij het patroon open ruimten bevat voor het doorlaten van licht.A photoelectric device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a patterned layer of an electrically conductive material is disposed on top of the conductive top layer, the pattern including open spaces for transmitting light.

10. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens een van de voorgaande conclusies, waarbij het substraat naast elkaar liggende vouwen omvat zodat een gleuf wordt gevormd waarin ten minste een deel van een contactvlak is gelegen.The photoelectric device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the substrate comprises adjacent folds to form a slot in which at least a portion of a contact surface is located.

11. Foto-elektrische inrichting volgens conclusie 10, omvattende een verbindingselement dat is verbonden met het contactvlak dat in de gleuf ligt en dat gedeeltelijk uit de gleuf steekt, 10 zodat het contactvlak kan worden verbonden met een andere inrichting.11. Photoelectric device as claimed in claim 10, comprising a connecting element which is connected to the contact surface which lies in the slot and which partially protrudes from the slot, so that the contact surface can be connected to another device.

12. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens een van de voorgaande conclusies, waarbij de actieve laag een licht emitterende laag is.The photoelectric device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the active layer is a light-emitting layer.

13. Foto-elektronische inrichting volgens een van de voorgaande conclusies, waarbij de actieve laag een foto-voltaïsche laag is.A photoelectric device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the active layer is a photovoltaic layer.

14. Foto-elektronisch samenstel, omvattende een eerste foto-elektronische inrichting en een tweede foto-elektronische inrichting volgens één of meer van de voorgaande conclusies 1-13, waarbij de eerste foto-elektronische inrichting aangrenzend aan de tweede foto-elektronische inrichting is aangebracht, zodat een omgevouwen contactoppervlak van de eerste foto-elektronische inrichting tegenover het omgevouwen contactoppervlak van de 20 tweede foto-elektronische inrichting gerangschikt is, en de omgevouwen contactoppervlakken van respectievelijk de eerste en tweede inrichting met elkaar een elektrische verbinding vormen.A photoelectric assembly comprising a first photoelectric device and a second photoelectric device according to one or more of the preceding claims 1-13, wherein the first photoelectric device is arranged adjacent to the second photoelectric device so that a folded contact surface of the first photoelectric device is arranged opposite the folded contact surface of the second photoelectronic device, and the folded contact surfaces of the first and second device, respectively, form an electrical connection with each other.

15. Foto-elektronisch samenstel, omvattende ten minste een eerste foto-elektronische inrichting en een tweede foto-elektronische inrichting volgens één of meer van de 25 voorgaande conclusies 1-13, waarbij de eerste foto-elektronische inrichting aangrenzend aan de tweede foto-elektronische inrichting is gerangschikt, zodat een omgevouwen contactoppervlak van de eerste foto-elektronische inrichting evenwijdig is georiënteerd aan en uitgelijnd is met het omgevouwen contactoppervlak van de tweede foto-elektronische inrichting en de omgevouwen contactoppervlakken van respectievelijk de eerste en tweede 30 inrichting met elkaar een elektrische verbinding vormen.15. A photoelectric assembly comprising at least a first photoelectric device and a second photoelectric device according to one or more of the preceding claims 1-13, wherein the first photoelectric device adjacent to the second photoelectronic device is arranged so that a folded contact surface of the first photoelectronic device is oriented parallel to and aligned with the folded contact surface of the second photoelectronic device and the folded contact surfaces of the first and second device respectively have an electrical connection to shape.

,16. Foto-elektronisch samenstel volgens conclusie 14 of 15, waarbij respectievelijk de contactvlakken van aangrenzende foto-elektronische inrichtingen met behulp van een verbindingslaag elektrisch met elkaar zijn verbonden, waarbij de verbindingslaag een elektrisch geleidend materiaal omvat., 16. Photoelectric assembly according to claim 14 or 15, wherein respectively the contact surfaces of adjacent photoelectronic devices are electrically connected to each other with the aid of a connecting layer, the connecting layer comprising an electrically conductive material.

17. Foto-elektronisch samenstel volgens conclusie 16, waarbij het geleidende materiaal wordt geselecteerd uit de groep van geleidende lijmen, geleidende inkten, geleidende 5 pasta’s.17. Photoelectric assembly according to claim 16, wherein the conductive material is selected from the group of conductive adhesives, conductive inks, conductive pastes.

18. Foto-elektronisch samenstel volgens conclusie 16, waarbij het geleidende materiaal wordt geselecteerd uit de groep van geleidende draden, geleidende strips, geleidende tapes, geleidend vlechtwerk.The photoelectric assembly according to claim 16, wherein the conductive material is selected from the group of conductive wires, conductive strips, conductive tapes, conductive braid.

19. Foto-elektronisch samenstel volgens een van de conclusies 14-18, waarbij het 10 substraat is gemaakt van een isolerend materiaal en ononderbroken is aangebracht tussen de respectieve eerste en tweede foto-elektronische inrichtingen.19. A photoelectric assembly as claimed in any one of claims 14-18, wherein the substrate is made of an insulating material and is arranged uninterruptedly between the respective first and second photoelectronic devices.

20. Foto-elektronisch samenstel volgens een van de conclusies 14 -18, waarbij het substraat is gemaakt van een elektrisch geleidend materiaal en onderbroken is aangebracht tussen de respectieve eerste en tweede foto-elektronische inrichtingen.The photoelectric assembly according to any of claims 14-18, wherein the substrate is made of an electrically conductive material and is intermittently arranged between the respective first and second photoelectronic devices.

21. Foto-elektronisch samenstel volgens een van de conclusies 14-20, verder omvattende een permanente drager met gleuven waarbij de omgevouwen contactvlakken zijn ondergebracht in de gleuven.The photoelectric assembly according to any of claims 14-20, further comprising a permanent support with slots wherein the folded contact surfaces are accommodated in the slots.

22. Foto-elektronisch samenstel volgens conclusie 21, waarbij de permanente drager van een thermoplastisch materiaal is gemaakt.The photoelectric assembly according to claim 21, wherein the permanent support is made of a thermoplastic material.

23. Foto-elektronisch samenstel volgens een van de voorgaande conclusies, waarbij een eerste of tweede contactvlak elektrisch verbonden is met een elektrisch geleidend element voor het maken van een verbinding met een elektrisch schakeling.A photoelectric assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a first or second contact surface is electrically connected to an electrically conductive element for making a connection to an electric circuit.

24. Foto-elektronisch samenstel volgens conclusie 23, waarbij het elektrisch geleidende element gemaakt is van een metaal of metaallegering.The photoelectric assembly according to claim 23, wherein the electrically conductive element is made of a metal or metal alloy.

25. Werkwijze voor het omvouwen een foto-elektronische inrichting, omvattende een substraat, een eerste contactvlak voor het verbinden van de geleidende bodemlaag en een tweede contactvlak heeft voor het verbinden van de geleidende toplaag, de werkwijze omvattende de stappen: - het positioneren van het substraat op een permanente drager, waarbij de drager 30 gleuven heeft, zodat de foto-elektronische inrichting samenvalt met de permanente drager en de contactvlakken samenvallen met de gleuven; - het drukken van een vervormingselement op het substraat zodat het substraat in de overeenkomende gleuven wordt gedrukt en de contactvlakken worden omgevouwen; - het terugtrekken van het vervormingselement.25. Method for folding over a photoelectronic device, comprising a substrate, a first contact surface for connecting the conductive bottom layer and a second contact surface for connecting the conductive top layer, the method comprising the steps of: - positioning the substrate on a permanent support, the support having 30 slots, so that the photoelectronic device coincides with the permanent support and the contact surfaces coincide with the slots; - pressing a deformation element onto the substrate so that the substrate is pressed into the corresponding slots and the contact surfaces are folded over; - withdrawing the deformation element.

26. Werkwijze voor het onderling verbinden van twee foto-elektronische inrichtingen, waarbij elk van de foto- elektronische inrichtingen een eerste en tweede contactvlak heeft, waarbij het eerste of tweede contactvlak van een eerste foto- elektronische inrichting 5 aangrenzend aan een respectievelijk tweede of eerste contactvlak van een naastgelegen foto-elektronische inrichting is aangebracht, de werkwijze omvattende de stappen: - het positioneren van een substraat dat een aantal foto- elektronische inrichtingen omvat op een mal, waarbij de mal is onderverdeeld in maldelen die uit elkaar staan waardoor zich een gleuf vormt, zodat elk foto- elektronische inrichting samenvalt met een maldeel en 10 de contactvlakken samenvallen met de gleuven; - het drukken met een vervormingselement op het substraat tussen het eerste en tweede contactvlak van naast elkaar gelegen foto- elektronische inrichtingen, zodat het substraat in de overeenkomende gleuven gedrukt wordt, zodat gevouwen contactvlakken tegenover elkaar komen te liggen; 15. het terugtrekken van het vervormingselement; - het samendrukken van de gevouwen contactvlakken om een elektrische verbinding te maken.26. Method for interconnecting two photoelectronic devices, wherein each of the photoelectronic devices has a first and second contact surface, the first or second contact surface of a first photoelectronic device 5 adjacent to a respective second or first contact surface of an adjacent photoelectronic device is provided, the method comprising the steps of: - positioning a substrate comprising a number of photoelectronic devices on a mold, wherein the mold is subdivided into mold parts that stand apart, causing a slot to form so that each photoelectric device coincides with a mold part and the contact surfaces coincide with the slots; - pressing with a deformation element on the substrate between the first and second contact surfaces of adjacent photoelectronic devices, so that the substrate is pressed into the corresponding slots, so that folded contact surfaces come to face each other; 15. withdrawing the deformation element; - compressing the folded contact surfaces to make an electrical connection.

27. Werkwijze volgens conclusie 25 of 26, verder omvattend een stap van het toevoeren van een elektrisch geleidend materiaal op de contactvlakken , gelijktijdig met het drukken 20 van het vervormingselement op het substraat.27. Method as claimed in claim 25 or 26, further comprising a step of applying an electrically conductive material to the contact surfaces, simultaneously with the pressing of the deforming element on the substrate.

28. Werkwijze volgens conclusie 25 of 26, verder omvattend een stap van het toevoeren van elektrisch geleidend materiaal tijdens het terugtrekken van het vervormingselement.A method according to claim 25 or 26, further comprising a step of supplying electrically conductive material during the withdrawal of the deforming element.

29. Werkwijze volgens een van de conclusies 25 - 28, verder omvattend een stap van het doorsnijden van het substraat tijdens het drukken van het substraat in de 25 overeenkomende gleuf.29. The method of any one of claims 25 to 28, further comprising a step of cutting the substrate while pressing the substrate into the corresponding slot.

30. Werkwijze volgens een van de conclusies 25 - 29, verder omvattend een stap van waarbij het aanbrengen van een beschermende laag aan de bovenzijde van een foto-elektrisch samenstel.The method of any one of claims 25 to 29, further comprising a step of wherein applying a protective layer to the top of a photoelectric assembly.

31. Werkwijze volgens conclusie 30, waarbij de beschermende laag is aangebracht door 30 middel ten minste een van lamineren, spuitgieten, gieten en coaten. 200788331. The method of claim 30, wherein the protective layer is applied by at least one of laminating, injection molding, casting and coating. 2007883