The inventor of the present application proposed, as set forth in the International Publication No. WO98/15983, a spherical semiconductor element having light reception or light emission capability and having positive and negative electrodes at opposite portions to each other with regard to the center and a solar battery module wherein a plurality of semiconductor elements are connected in series and two or more of the series-connected semiconductor elements are embedded in a synthetic resin material. The spherical semiconductor element has a spherical pn-junction in the surface part and the positive and negative electrodes are provided at the centers of the surfaces of p-type and n-type regions, respectively.
The inventor of the present application proposed, as set forth in the International Publication Nos. WO02/35612, WO02/35613, and WO03/017382, a solar battery module wherein the above described spherical semiconductor elements are arranged in a plurality of rows and columns and the semiconductor elements in each row are connected in parallel by conductive members and solder or conductive adhesive, the semiconductor elements in each column are connected in series by lead members and solder, and they are embedded in a synthetic resin material.
The inventor of the present application proposed in the International Publication No. WO02/35612 a rod-like semiconductor element having light reception or light emission capability wherein a cylindrical semiconductor crystal has a pair of end faces perpendicular to the axis, a pn-junction is formed near the surface of the semiconductor crystal containing one end face, and positive and negative electrodes are formed on either end face. The inventor of the present application proposed, as set forth in the International Publication No. WO03/036731, a semiconductor module having light reception or light emission capability wherein a plurality of semiconductor elements are embedded in a synthetic resin material.
In the photovoltaic array described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,256, an n-type diffusion layer is formed on the surface of a filament consisting of a p-type silicon semiconductor having a diameter of 0.001 to 0.010 inch and a plurality of such filaments are arranged in parallel and in a plane. A plurality of P-connection wires and N-connection wires are arranged orthogonally and alternately on the top surface of the filament. The P-connection wires are ohmic-connected to the exposed parts of the p-type silicon semiconductors of the plurality of filaments and the N-connection wires are ohmic-connected to the n-type diffusion layers of the plurality of filaments. The plurality of P-connection wires are connected to P-buses and the plurality of N-connection wires are connected to N-buses. Highly strong insulating fibers are interwoven to form a mesh structure with the plurality of P-buses and N-buses, whereby a flexible solar battery blanket receiving the incident light from above for power generation is formed.
In the semiconductor fiber solar battery and module described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,736, a molybdenum conductive layer is formed on the surface of an insulating fiber and two, p-type and n-type, photovoltaic thin semiconductor layers and a ZnO conductive layer are formed on the molybdenum conductive layer around approximately ⅗ of the periphery. A plurality of such semiconductor fiber solar batteries are arranged in parallel and in a plane, a metal coating is formed on the back, and the metal coating is partially removed in a specific pattern to form a connection circuit connecting in series the plurality of semiconductor fiber solar batteries.
Recently, solar batteries are increasingly used as a renewable, clean energy source in view of environmental issues such as air pollution and global warming and depletion of fossil fuel. Light emitting diodes are also increasingly used as an illumination source for saving energy and resources. Saving in materials and resources and less production energy consumption are becoming requirements.    Patent Document 1: International Publication No. WO98/15983;    Patent Document 2: International Publication No. WO02/35612;    Patent Document 3: International Publication No. WO02/35613;    Patent Document 4: International Publication No. WO03/017382;    Patent Document 5: International Publication No. WO03/036731;    Patent Document 6: U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,256; and    Patent Document 7: U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,736.