Tesla, Inc.
CASCADED SOLAR CELL STRING

Abstract:

One embodiment can provide a photovoltaic roof tile. The photovoltaic roof tile can include a front cover, a back cover, and a plurality of photovoltaic structures positioned between the front and back covers. A respective photovoltaic structure can include a first edge busbar positioned near an edge of a first surface and a second edge busbar positioned near an opposite edge of a second surface. The plurality of photovoltaic structures can be arranged in such a way that the first edge busbar of a first photovoltaic structure overlaps the second edge busbar of an adjacent photovoltaic structure with a layer of adhesive conductive film sandwiched between the first and second edge busbars, thereby resulting in the plurality of photovoltaic structures forming a serially coupled string.