Announcement - International Summer School on Photovoltaics (Quantsol)
The International Summer School on Photovoltaics and New Concepts of Quantum Solar Energy Conversion takes place from 9th to 16th September 2012 in Hirschegg, Kleinwalsertal, Austria. Young postdocs, PhD students, and master students can apply by 10th June 2012.Details of the school’s program can be found on the website.
The Quantsol Summer School - established as a "must " for prospective solar scientists - is held for the 5th time. The school primarily addresses young postdocs, PhD students, and students in their final year at university with a strong interest in photovoltaics. During the 7-day program you get a comprehensive introduction to relevant topics in photovoltaics. Various Experts from leading international research institutes and universitys explain wide range of topics on the fundamental principles of the conversion of solar energy into chemical to the implementation of photovoltaics. Technical applications, material aspects and special analytic methods will be discussed additionally.
- New contact material boosts the efficiency of perovskite solar cellsA newly developed material for the electron contact improves the efficiency of single perovskite solar cells and perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. The new material is based on a carborane molecule. It offers several advantages over the standard material C60, as shown by the study led by Steve Albrecht’s team. The new material has since been patented and is already commercially available.
- Precision interface chemistry pushes perovskite solar cells beyond 26% efficiencyAn international research collaboration has developed a new molecular strategy for controlling one of the most critical interfaces in perovskite solar cells. The resulting solar cells reached a power conversion efficiency of 26.19% in the n i p architecture, together with strong operational stability under prolonged illumination and elevated temperature. The results have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
- Perovskite triple-junction solar cells: Even more efficient with GO/SAM bilayersPerovskite semiconductors efficiently convert sunlight into electrical energy; they are also inexpensive and extremely lightweight. A team at HZB has developed a triple-junction solar cell comprising different perovskite semiconductors, with a novel bilayer of graphene oxide (GO) and a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) as the hole conductor. This bilayer significantly increases both efficiency and long-term stability. The efficiency of the novel perovskite triple-junction solar cell is 27.3% and shows hardly any decline even after more than 770 hours of operation. The study has been published in the renowned journal Joule.