Abstract: One embodiment can provide a photovoltaic roof tile. The photovoltaic roof tile can include a transparent front cover, a transparent back cover, and a plurality of polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structures positioned between the front cover and the back cover. A respective polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structure has a front surface facing the front cover and a back surface facing the back cover. The photovoltaic roof tile can further include a paint layer positioned on a back surface of the back cover facing away from the front cover. A color of the paint layer substantially matches a color of the front surface of the respective polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structure.

Abstract: One embodiment can provide a photovoltaic roof tile. The photovoltaic roof tile can include a transparent front cover, a transparent back cover, and a plurality of polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structures positioned between the front cover and the back cover. A respective polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structure has a front surface facing the front cover and a back surface facing the back cover. The photovoltaic roof tile can further include a paint layer positioned on a back surface of the back cover facing away from the front cover. A color of the paint layer substantially matches a color of the front surface of the respective polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structure.

Abstract: One embodiment can provide a photovoltaic roof tile. The photovoltaic roof tile can include a transparent front cover, a transparent back cover, and a plurality of polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structures positioned between the front cover and the back cover. A respective polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structure has a front surface facing the front cover and a back surface facing the back cover. The photovoltaic roof tile can further include a paint layer positioned on a back surface of the back cover facing away from the front cover. A color of the paint layer substantially matches a color of the front surface of the respective polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structure.

Abstract: One embodiment can provide a photovoltaic roof tile. The photovoltaic roof tile can include a transparent front cover, a back cover, a plurality of photovoltaic structures positioned between the front cover and the back cover, and a front-cover-colorant layer positioned on an interior surface of the transparent front cover that faces a top surface of the photovoltaic structures. A color of the front-cover-colorant layer can substantially match a color of the top surface of the photovoltaic structures, and the front-cover-colorant layer can be configured to cover regions of the interior surface that are not directly above the top surface of the photovoltaic structures, thereby enabling a substantially uniform appearance of the photovoltaic roof tile.

Abstract: One embodiment can provide a photovoltaic roof tile module. The photovoltaic roof tile module can include a front encapsulant layer and a back encapsulant layer where both the front and back encapsulant layers include different pigments. The front encapsulant layer can include a small amount of pigment that absorbs and scatters particular frequencies of visible light to give the photovoltaic roof tile a desired color. The small amount of pigment does not absorb or scatter a significant amount of infrared light. Two or more photovoltaic roof tiles can be combined to form a photovoltaic module. The two or more photovoltaic roof tiles can have different concentrations of pigment in the front encapsulant layer to give the photovoltaic module a small amount of color variation.

Abstract: One embodiment can provide a photovoltaic roof tile. The photovoltaic roof tile can include a transparent front cover, a transparent back cover, and a plurality of polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structures positioned between the front cover and the back cover. A respective polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structure has a front surface facing the front cover and a back surface facing the back cover. The photovoltaic roof tile can further include a paint layer positioned on a back surface of the back cover facing away from the front cover. A color of the paint layer substantially matches a color of the front surface of the respective polycrystalline-Si-based photovoltaic structure.

Abstract: One embodiment can provide a photovoltaic roof tile. The photovoltaic roof tile can include a transparent front cover, a back cover, a plurality of photovoltaic structures positioned between the front cover and the back cover, and a front-cover-colorant layer positioned on an interior surface of the transparent front cover that faces a top surface of the photovoltaic structures. A color of the front-cover-colorant layer can substantially match a color of the top surface of the photovoltaic structures, and the front-cover-colorant layer can be configured to cover regions of the interior surface that are not directly above the top surface of the photovoltaic structures, thereby enabling a substantially uniform appearance of the photovoltaic roof tile.

Abstract: One embodiment can provide an electrode grid of a photovoltaic structure. The electrode grid can include a plurality of finger lines and a busbar coupled to the finger lines. The busbar can include one or more stress-release structures, thereby reducing stress caused by thermal expansion mismatch between the busbar and underlying layers of the photovoltaic structure.

Abstract: A system for fabricating a photovoltaic module is provided. During operation, the system can obtain a plurality of photovoltaic structures. A respective photovoltaic structure can include first and second metallic grids on first and second surfaces, respectively. The system can then encapsulates the photovoltaic structures between a first cover and a second cover using an encapsulant having a moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR) less than a predetermined value, thereby preventing oxidation and corrosion of the metallic grids during the service life of the photovoltaic module.