The increasing demand for photovoltaic (PV) electricity has resulted in wider usage for many applications. Current dominant PV electrical sources use crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar modules. These would provide greater potential as an energy source if they could be installed to any surface with a curvature, for example integration into buildings, and would perform better under omni-directional incident light, which is not considered in the design of current modules. In this study, we propose an origami-type foldable c-Si solar cell module by introducing a tessellated module design and textile-based woven metal connections to overcome the limitations of using c-Si solar cell modules on curved surfaces and under various light conditions. For the proposed module, two main concepts are introduced: a tessellation design for rigid folding and stretchable textile-based metal connections. The flexible crease pattern and interconnection allows the modules to be folded up to 180°, and a diagonal force on the metal textile can be induced on the inter-module connections using rotating wires. These features allow solar cell modules to cover an arbitrary surface without electrical degradation. Tessellating the module allows for maximum potential using the origami design when applied to both flat and curved surfaces. The origami-type foldable tessellated modules performed better than conventional modules. Their energy production under various angles of incident light is higher per day than that of flat modules, even during periods of lower intensity sunlight from a low solar altitude. These findings demonstrate a new approach to extend the usage of c-Si solar cells.

对光伏 (PV) 电力日益增长的需求导致许多应用得到更广泛的使用。当前占主导地位的光伏电源使用晶体硅 (c-Si) 太阳能模块。如果它们可以安装在任何有曲率的表面上，例如集成到建筑物中，并且在全向入射光下表现更好，那么这些将提供更大的能源潜力，这在当前模块的设计中没有考虑。在这项研究中，我们提出了一种折纸型可折叠 c-Si 太阳能电池模块，通过引入镶嵌模块设计和基于织物的编织金属连接来克服在曲面和各种光照条件下使用 c-Si 太阳能电池模块的局限性. 对于提议的模块，引入了两个主要概念：用于刚性折叠和可拉伸的基于纺织品的金属连接的镶嵌设计。灵活的折痕图案和互连允许模块最多折叠 180°，并且可以使用旋转线在模块间连接上感应金属织物上的对角力。这些特性使太阳能电池模块能够覆盖任意表面而不会出现电气退化。当应用于平面和曲面时，镶嵌模块允许使用折纸设计获得最大潜力。折纸型可折叠镶嵌模块的性能优于传统模块。即使在来自低太阳高度的低强度日光期间，它们在不同入射光角度下每天的能量生产也比扁平组件高。