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PV research at the highest level

At the University of Constance, Germany were led by Prof. Dr. Hahn Giso two new photovoltaic Department, the European Union (EU) funded research projects raised. The EU-wide project "20plμs" (20 percent efficiency on less than 100 microns thick Industrially feasible c-Si solar cells, www.20plus-pv.eu), with a total of seven million euros, will be coordinated here - is also involved a Swiss university.

Barbara Terheide, vice department director of the Constance photovoltaics, leads the project with research partners from across Europe: the University École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Lausanne), the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE, Freiburg, Germany), the National Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC, Blyth, United Kingdom), the company Projects in Solar Energy (PSE, Freiburg, Germany), the solar cell manufacturer Photovoltech (Tienen, Belgium) and Q-Cells (Thalheim, Germany) and the machine producer Mechatronics Systems Engineering (Villach, Austria) are involved in the project .

objective of the project 20plμs is to develop solar cells that are significantly thinner and will still be more efficient than usual. Crystalline silicon solar cells will be created with a maximum thickness of 100 microns, which are simultaneously show an efficiency of 20 percent. It will not stick to pure research: the participating research partners have set themselves the aim of transferring the development of cells in an industrial pilot production line.

"That means that we will do a fitness test to show for practice and that the technologies we develop even at high flow rates are industrially applicable," says Dr. Terheide the challenge of the project together. With a term of three years, the share of funding for the University of Konstanz amounts to about 1.2 million €. The bulk of the budget, over 75 percent are employed as staff for scientific and technical workers, while the remaining funds for consumables and travel to the necessary project meetings will be used.

Terheide Barbara also heads the second of the University of Konstanz raised project: "R2M-Si" (Roll to modules processed Crystalline Silicon Thin-Films for higher than 20% efficient modules). In cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Freiburg, Germany), dem Forschungszentrum Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC, Leuven, Belgien), dem physikalisch-technischen Abram F. Ioffe-Institut (St. Petersburg, Russland), den Firmen RENA GmbH (Gütenbach, Deutschland) und S'Tile SA (Poitiers, Frankreich) sowie dem Forschungsinstitut SINTEF (Trondheim, Norwegen) sollen hier noch dünnere Solarzellenmodule, basierend auf Silizium-Dünnschichten, entwickelt werden.

Allerdings liegt das Forschungsinteresse in einem kreativen Produktionsansatz: Wie es der Titel des Projekts andeutet, sollen dünne Silizium-Schichten von einem runden Silizium-Kristall abgerollt werden anstatt den Kristall in Scheiben zu sägen. Die in diesem innovativen Vorhaben hergestellten Solar cells should allow an efficiency of 20 percent. The Constance Terheide scientist points out: "If we could manage to develop such a roll-to-module procedures could be made much progress for the production of solar cells. It could be possible to significantly lower costs than before a produce very high-quality silicon. "Even for the" R2M-Si "is a term of three years, in case of total of nearly four million euros is the share of funding for the University of Konstanz around 450,000 €.

Source: University of Konstanz