US 12,244,265 B2
Wiring for a rigid panel solar array
Eric M. Rehder, Los Angeles, CA (US)
Assigned to THE BOEING COMPANY, Arlington, VA (US)
Filed by The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed on Mar. 28, 2018, as Appl. No. 15/938,791.
Prior Publication US 2019/0305723 A1, Oct. 3, 2019
Int. Cl. H02S 40/34 (2014.01); H01L 31/02 (2006.01); H01L 31/042 (2014.01); H01L 31/05 (2014.01); H02S 10/40 (2014.01); H02S 30/10 (2014.01)
CPC H02S 40/34 (2014.12) [H01L 31/0201 (2013.01); H01L 31/02013 (2013.01); H01L 31/042 (2013.01); H01L 31/0508 (2013.01); H01L 31/0512 (2013.01); H02S 30/10 (2014.12); H02S 10/40 (2014.12)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a panel for mounting solar cells thereon, wherein the panel is a rigid panel; and
a flex circuit applied to the rigid panel and electrically connected to the solar cells using one or more interconnects, wherein:
the flex circuit is comprised of a flexible substrate having one or more conducting layers deposited on the flexible substrate and one or more insulating layers laminated on top of the one or more conducting layers by an adhesive in a laminate structure,
the one or more conducting layers are sandwiched between the flexible substrate and the one or more insulating layers of the flex circuit in the laminate structure,
the one or more conducting layers are patterned to provide embedded conductors in the laminate structure for making electrical connections to the solar cells,
the flex circuit has a web structure with cutouts for mounting the solar cells on the rigid panel,
the solar cells are aligned and mounted on the rigid panel in the cutouts of the web structure so that cropped corners of the solar cells define a corner region, and
the one or more interconnects electrically connect the solar cells to the one or more conducting layers in the flex circuit in the corner region defined by cropped corners of the solar cells.