Cell-To-Module (CTM) Analysis for Photovoltaic Modules with Cell Overlap

Both, the interconnection of solar cells by ribbons and shingling are known to the solar industry. Typically cells interconnected with ribbons did not overlap while modules with shingled cells did not feature ribbons. A combination of concepts has been presented lately that features ribbons as well as a cell overlap. We analyze this concept for power and efficiency gains and losses from cell to module (CTM) and present models to calculate the CTM-ratio of such photovoltaic modules. We find the efficiency of the PV modules increases by overlapping of the cells, whereas the power of the PV module decreases compared to the conventional module with ribbons and cell spacing.