1. A method for manufacturing an integrated concentrator photovoltaic solar cell, the method comprising:
providing a first mold member, a second mold member, and a third mold member;
providing a photovoltaic member coupled to the first mold member;
coupling the first mold member to the third mold member to form a first volume bounded in part by the photovoltaic member, the first mold member, and the third mold member;
transferring a first material into the first volume to substantially fill the first volume;
curing the first material in the first volume to create a zone of isolation separating the photovoltaic member from adjacent photovoltaic members;
releasing the third mold member;
coupling the first mold member to the second mold member to form a second volume bounded in part by the photovoltaic member, the first mold member, and the second mold member;
transferring a second material into the second volume to partially fill the second volume;
curing the second material in the second volume to form an encapsulant layer coupled to the photovoltaic member;
transferring a third material into the third volume to substantially fill the second volume;
curing the third material in the second volume to form a concentrator element coupled with the encapsulant layer coupled with the photovoltaic member;
releasing the photovoltaic member, the second material, the first mold member, and the second mold member.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising releasing or removing the first material wherein the zone of isolation separating the photovoltaic member from adjacent photovoltaic members comprises gaps.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing for a sheet of material and bonding the sheet of material to the third material.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the sheet of material is between 3.2 and 4 mm thick.
5. The method of claim 3 wherein the sheet of material is a glass material.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the releasing the photovoltaic member includes a use of a vacuum.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the vacuum is applied on a top surface of the photovoltaic member.
8. A method for manufacturing an integrated solar cell and concentrator, the method comprising:
providing a first photovoltaic region and a second photovoltaic region disposed within a first mold member;
providing a zone of isolation with an isolation material separating the first photovoltaic region from the second photovoltaic region;
coupling a second mold member to the first mold member to form a cavity region, the cavity region forming a first concentrator region overlying a vicinity of the first photovoltaic region and a second concentrator region overlying a vicinity of the second photovoltaic region;
transferring a molding compound in a fluidic state into the cavity region to fill the cavity region with the molding compound; and
initiating a curing process of the molding compound,
wherein the isolation material spatially disposed between the first photovoltaic region and the second photovoltaic region is removed.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprises forming a first concentrator element coupled to the first photovoltaic region and a second concentrator element coupled to the second photovoltaic region from the molding compound after the curing process.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein the molding compound in the fluid state comprises precursors to an optically transparent material.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the optically transparent material is selected from: ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA), or polyvinyl acetate (PVA).
12. The method of claim 8 further comprises releasing the first photovoltaic region coupled to the first concentrator element and the second photovoltaic region coupled to the second concentrator element from the first molding member.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the releasing uses a vacuum uniformly applied on a surface region of the integrated solar cell and concentrator.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein the releasing is performed before the curing.
15. The method of claim 12 wherein the releasing is performed after the curing.
16. The method of claim 8 wherein the curing process can be a thermal process, an irradiation process, or a mechanical process.
17. The method of claim 8 further comprises bonding a sheet of glass material to the optically transparent material.
18. The method of claim 8 wherein the first photovoltaic region and the second photovoltaic region are provided in an N by M array, where N is an integer of 1 and greater and M is an integer of two and greater.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an identification information accepting unit configured to accept input of transfer sheet identification information;
an image forming unit configured to form an image on a transfer sheet based on a control value corresponding to the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting unit; and
a correction value accepting unit configured to accept input of an adjustable correction value of the control value, and store the correction value in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information in a storage unit,
wherein the image forming unit forms the image on the transfer sheet based on the control value that is corrected by the correction value when the control value is stored in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting unit,
wherein the storage unit stores set data groups in which the control value is registered in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information,
wherein the storage unit further stores finely adjustable items of the correction value in correspondence with the user set transfer sheet identification information, and
wherein the finely adjustable items include an image density adjustment, an abnormal image quality improvement, a fixing strength adjustment, and registration adjustments.
2. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the correction value accepting unit accepts input of user set transfer sheet identification information, as the transfer sheet identification information, together with input of the correction value of the control value, and copies the control value corresponding to the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting unit and stores the copied control value and the correction value in the storage unit in correspondence with the user set transfer sheet identification information.
3. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 2, further comprising:
an access unit configured to store the correction value and the control value stored in correspondence with the user set transfer sheet identification information in the storage unit,
wherein the storage unit is coupled externally to the image forming apparatus.
4. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
a set data group acquiring unit configured to acquire the set data group from an external information processing apparatus by sending thereto the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting unit.
5. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 4, further comprising:
a data sending unit configured to send to the external information processing apparatus the correction value stored in correspondence with the user set transfer sheet identification information, the control value, and identification information of the image forming apparatus,
wherein the set data group acquiring unit acquires the correction value and the control value from the external information processing apparatus by specifying the user set transfer sheet identification information and the identification information of the image forming apparatus.
6. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the image forming unit forms the image based on the control value that is corrected by the correction value read from the storage unit by the access unit.
7. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the image forming unit forms the image based on the control value that is corrected by the correction value read from the storage unit by the access unit, and wherein the storage unit is coupled externally to the image forming apparatus.
8. A printing system comprising:
an information processing apparatus; and
an image forming apparatus communicable with the information processing apparatus via a network,
wherein the image forming apparatus comprises:
an identification information accepting unit configured to accept input of transfer sheet identification information;
an image forming unit configured to form an image on a transfer sheet based on a control value corresponding to the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting unit; and
a correction value accepting unit configured to accept input of an adjustable correction value of the control value, and store the correction value in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information in a storage unit,
wherein the image forming unit forms the image on the transfer sheet based on the control value that is corrected by the correction value when the control value is stored in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting unit,
wherein the storage unit stores set data groups in which the control value is registered in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information,
wherein the storage unit further stores finely adjustable items of the correction value in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information, and
wherein the finely adjustable items include an image density adjustment, an abnormal image quality improvement, a fixing strength adjustment, and registration adjustments.
9. The printing system as claimed in claim 8 wherein the information processing apparatus comprises:
a user set transfer sheet data storing unit configured to store user set transfer sheet data formed by a combination of the transfer sheet identification information, the correction value, the control value, and identification information of the image forming apparatus,
wherein the user set transfer sheet data is sent to the image forming apparatus.
10. The printing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the correction value accepting unit accepts input of user set transfer sheet identification information, as the transfer sheet identification information, together with input of the correction value of the control value, and copies the control value corresponding to the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting unit and stores the copied control value and the correction value in the storage unit in correspondence with the user set transfer sheet identification information.
11. The printing system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises:
a data collecting unit configured to collect and store the correction value, the control value, and the identification information of the image forming apparatus stored in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information in the user set transfer sheet data storing unit; and
an abnormality detecting unit configured to detect indications of an abnormality in the image forming apparatus based on the control value.
12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores a program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a process comprising:
an identification information accepting procedure causing the computer to accept input of transfer sheet identification information;
an image forming procedure causing the computer to form an image on a transfer sheet based on a control value corresponding to the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting unit;
a correction value accepting procedure causing the computer to accept input of an adjustable correction value of the control value, and store the correction value in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information in a storage unit,
wherein the image forming procedure causes the computer to form the image on the transfer sheet based on the control value that is corrected by the correction value when the control value is stored in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting procedure,
wherein the correction value accepting procedure causes the computer to accept input of user set transfer sheet identification information, as the transfer sheet identification information, together with input of the correction value of the control value, and copy the control value corresponding to the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting procedure and store the copied control value and the correction value in the storage unit in correspondence with the user set transfer sheet identification information;
an access procedure causing the computer to store the correction value and the control value stored in correspondence with the user set transfer sheet identification information in the storage unit,
wherein the storage unit is coupled externally to the computer,
wherein the access procedure causes the computer to further store finely adjustable items of the correction value in correspondence with the transfer sheet identification information in the storage unit, and
wherein the finely adjustable items include an image density adjustment, an abnormal image quality improvement, a fixing strength adjustment, and registration adjustments.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 12, wherein the process further comprises:
a set data group acquiring procedure causing the computer to acquire the set data group from an external information processing apparatus by sending thereto the transfer sheet identification information accepted by the identification information accepting procedure.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 13, wherein the process further comprises:
a data sending procedure causing the computer to send to the external information processing apparatus the correction value stored in correspondence with the user set transfer sheet identification information, the control value, and identification information of the computer,
wherein the set data group acquiring procedure causes the computer to acquire the correction value and the control value from the external information processing apparatus by specifying the user set transfer sheet identification information and the identification information of the computer.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 12, wherein the image forming procedure causes the computer to form the image based on the control value that is corrected by the correction value read from the storage unit by the access procedure.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as claimed in claim 14, wherein the image forming procedure causes the computer to form the image based on the control value that is corrected by the correction value read from the storage unit by the access procedure, and wherein the storage unit is coupled externally to the computer.