SuperSilicon PV: extending the limits of material performance
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: Sch of Engineering
Abstract
Climate change attributed to the emission of carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas has stimulated policies which encourage the use of renewable energy via tax concessions or feed-in tariffs. These are necessary because the cost of renewable energy is more than that of energy derived from fossil fuels. The potential of photovoltaics (PV) is enormous, with sunlight delivering the world's annual energy needs every 15 minutes. Unfortunately, in most circumstances, no PV technology yet delivers adequately low cost electricity.
Silicon photovoltaics (PV) are a major renewable technology, accounting for ~90% of the PV market. The present industry view is that silicon will continue to dominate the market for the foreseeable future. Apart from the capital cost, the key parameters affecting cost per kWh are efficiency and working life. The efficiency of a cell is limited by the portion of the spectrum it can use. For a simple (single-junction) cell this fundamental limit is ~30%. Many ideas which aim to go beyond this have been researched but the essential combination of low cost, long life and efficiency have proved very elusive. Commercial modules made from low cost multi-crystalline silicon generally have efficiencies in the range 13 to 16%. Commercial production using high quality (more expensive) silicon reaches 20%, where the world record efficiency for a cell is 25.8%. From our experience of silicon materials research projects over the past five or so years, we believe it will be possible to enhance the carrier lifetime of cheaper forms of silicon to provide substantially higher production conversion efficiencies of ~22%. For domestic installation - where grid parity is regarded as matching the utility supplier's price - latest figures suggest this efficiency is sufficient for parity at latitudes of up to 60 degrees from the equator.
This project unites three UK silicon PV groups with four materials manufacturers, a major cell manufacturer, two materials characterisation companies, and three leading international university groups to work on some of the most pertinent issues in silicon PV materials. We aim to provide underlying science which will enable silicon PV to produce electricity at lower prices than traditional generating plants. The quality of silicon, as characterised by the minority carrier lifetime, places the upper limit on the efficiency that can be achieved. Cell processing is sufficiently mature to be able to make high efficiency cells provided the starting material is of high quality. Simplistically, the aim of this project is to remove defects which act as recombination centres and limit the efficiency of silicon PV cells. We are developing novel new methods of impurity gettering and defect passivation which have the potential to remove recombination centres which remain after existing processes. The project will also further understanding of the fundamental properties of defects in silicon, including the role of nano-precipitates in recombination, factors which prevent the fundamental carrier lifetime of silicon being reached, and the thermodynamics of impurity-dislocation interactions.
Silicon photovoltaics (PV) are a major renewable technology, accounting for ~90% of the PV market. The present industry view is that silicon will continue to dominate the market for the foreseeable future. Apart from the capital cost, the key parameters affecting cost per kWh are efficiency and working life. The efficiency of a cell is limited by the portion of the spectrum it can use. For a simple (single-junction) cell this fundamental limit is ~30%. Many ideas which aim to go beyond this have been researched but the essential combination of low cost, long life and efficiency have proved very elusive. Commercial modules made from low cost multi-crystalline silicon generally have efficiencies in the range 13 to 16%. Commercial production using high quality (more expensive) silicon reaches 20%, where the world record efficiency for a cell is 25.8%. From our experience of silicon materials research projects over the past five or so years, we believe it will be possible to enhance the carrier lifetime of cheaper forms of silicon to provide substantially higher production conversion efficiencies of ~22%. For domestic installation - where grid parity is regarded as matching the utility supplier's price - latest figures suggest this efficiency is sufficient for parity at latitudes of up to 60 degrees from the equator.
This project unites three UK silicon PV groups with four materials manufacturers, a major cell manufacturer, two materials characterisation companies, and three leading international university groups to work on some of the most pertinent issues in silicon PV materials. We aim to provide underlying science which will enable silicon PV to produce electricity at lower prices than traditional generating plants. The quality of silicon, as characterised by the minority carrier lifetime, places the upper limit on the efficiency that can be achieved. Cell processing is sufficiently mature to be able to make high efficiency cells provided the starting material is of high quality. Simplistically, the aim of this project is to remove defects which act as recombination centres and limit the efficiency of silicon PV cells. We are developing novel new methods of impurity gettering and defect passivation which have the potential to remove recombination centres which remain after existing processes. The project will also further understanding of the fundamental properties of defects in silicon, including the role of nano-precipitates in recombination, factors which prevent the fundamental carrier lifetime of silicon being reached, and the thermodynamics of impurity-dislocation interactions.
Planned Impact
If the project is successful it will accelerate the take-up of photovoltaics and hence will lead to reductions in pollution and carbon dioxide emission. In turn, the market expansion will speed the technology along the learning curve and will reduce prices further. The impact will be a wider spread use of photovoltaics to generate electricity. This will benefit the UK, and could also enable more comprehensive electrification of rural areas in developing countries.
If grid parity without subsidy is achieved it will transform the industry. At the moment the market is mostly policy driven. If feed-in tariffs are reduced the market is stalled, an effect magnified by solar financing schemes. This is much less predictable than a simple competitive market and is not good for manufacturers.
The project will directly benefit UK industry. We will address problems identified in collaboration with our project partner (PV Crystalox Solar), who produce multicrystalline silicon for photovoltaics in Oxfordshire. Although much of our research will be generic for the whole industry, Crystalox will clearly be an early beneficiary. Our work will give them a better understanding of the defects which reduce minority carrier lifetime in their materials, and will allow them to develop remedial actions. A better product may facilitate a substantial increase in their market share. Two other UK companies that will benefit from this project are Oxford Instruments and Horiba UK. We will work with them to develop better instrumentation, which should result in new applications for their products.
Our international partners will also accrue benefit from our research. SunEdison Semiconductor (Italy), SunEdison Solar (USA) and CaliSolar (Germany) will learn about defects in their materials, including how they arise and how to deal with their detrimental effects to achieve higher carrier lifetimes. SunPower (USA) may be able to use our knowledge base to create high efficiency cells. Some of the scientific outcomes (e.g. understanding gettering and passivation) in the project will also be directly relevant to the £200bn semiconductor industry. The fundamental knowledge gained will result in higher yield production of more reliable electronic devices.
If grid parity without subsidy is achieved it will transform the industry. At the moment the market is mostly policy driven. If feed-in tariffs are reduced the market is stalled, an effect magnified by solar financing schemes. This is much less predictable than a simple competitive market and is not good for manufacturers.
The project will directly benefit UK industry. We will address problems identified in collaboration with our project partner (PV Crystalox Solar), who produce multicrystalline silicon for photovoltaics in Oxfordshire. Although much of our research will be generic for the whole industry, Crystalox will clearly be an early beneficiary. Our work will give them a better understanding of the defects which reduce minority carrier lifetime in their materials, and will allow them to develop remedial actions. A better product may facilitate a substantial increase in their market share. Two other UK companies that will benefit from this project are Oxford Instruments and Horiba UK. We will work with them to develop better instrumentation, which should result in new applications for their products.
Our international partners will also accrue benefit from our research. SunEdison Semiconductor (Italy), SunEdison Solar (USA) and CaliSolar (Germany) will learn about defects in their materials, including how they arise and how to deal with their detrimental effects to achieve higher carrier lifetimes. SunPower (USA) may be able to use our knowledge base to create high efficiency cells. Some of the scientific outcomes (e.g. understanding gettering and passivation) in the project will also be directly relevant to the £200bn semiconductor industry. The fundamental knowledge gained will result in higher yield production of more reliable electronic devices.
Organisations
- University of Warwick (Lead Research Organisation)
- Fraunhofer Society (Collaboration)
- Australian National University (ANU) (Collaboration)
- Institute for Solar Energy Research (Collaboration)
- Trina Solar Limited (Collaboration)
- UNSW Sydney (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Crystalox Limited (Project Partner)
- Australian National University (Project Partner)
- University of Aveiro (Project Partner)
- Calisolar GmbH (Project Partner)
- Horiba UK Ltd (Project Partner)
- SunEdison (United States) (Project Partner)
- SunEdison Solar (Project Partner)
- Oxford Instruments (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- SunPower Corporation (Project Partner)
Publications
Kim M
(2016)
Impact of thermal processes on multi-crystalline silicon
in Frontiers in Energy
Lastovskii S
(2017)
Radiation-induced interstitial carbon atom in silicon: Effect of charge state on annealing characteristics
in physica status solidi (a)
Liu A
(2016)
Gettering of interstitial iron in silicon by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposited silicon nitride films
in Journal of Applied Physics
Lotharukpong C
(2017)
Specimen preparation methods for elemental characterisation of grain boundaries and isolated dislocations in multicrystalline silicon using atom probe tomography
in Materials Characterization
Markevich V
(2018)
Electron emission and capture by oxygen-related bistable thermal double donors in silicon studied with junction capacitance techniques
in Journal of Applied Physics
Markevich V
(2019)
Boron-Oxygen Complex Responsible for Light-Induced Degradation in Silicon Photovoltaic Cells: A New Insight into the Problem
in physica status solidi (a)
Mullins J
(2018)
(Invited) Deep-Level Analysis of Passivation of Transition Metal Impurities in Silicon
in ECS Transactions
Mullins J
(2018)
Thermally activated defects in float zone silicon: Effect of nitrogen on the introduction of deep level states
in Journal of Applied Physics
Mullins J
(2018)
Evidence for Molybdenum-Hydrogen Bonding in p-Type Silicon upon Annealing under Illumination
in physica status solidi (a)
Mullins J
(2016)
Interactions of hydrogen with vanadium in crystalline silicon
in physica status solidi (a)
Mullins J
(2017)
Recombination via transition metals in solar silicon: The significance of hydrogen-metal reactions and lattice sites of metal atoms
in physica status solidi (a)
Mullins J
(2017)
Vanadium in silicon: Lattice positions and electronic properties
in Applied Physics Letters
Murin L
(2016)
Local vibrational modes of interstitial boron-interstitial oxygen complex in silicon Local vibrational modes of interstitial boron-interstitial oxygen complex in Si
in physica status solidi (a)
Murin L
(2018)
Interaction of Radiation-Induced Self-Interstitials with Vacancy-Oxygen Related Defects V n O 2 (n from 1 to 3) in Silicon
in physica status solidi (a)
Murphy J
(2019)
Minority carrier lifetime in indium doped silicon for photovoltaics
in Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
Murphy J
(2015)
The effect of oxide precipitates on minority carrier lifetime in n -type silicon
in Journal of Applied Physics
Niewelt T
(2018)
Taking monocrystalline silicon to the ultimate lifetime limit
in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Niewelt T
(2022)
Reassessment of the intrinsic bulk recombination in crystalline silicon
in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Niewelt T
(2017)
Light-induced activation and deactivation of bulk defects in boron-doped float-zone silicon
in Journal of Applied Physics
Peaker A
(2018)
Tutorial: Junction spectroscopy techniques and deep-level defects in semiconductors
in Journal of Applied Physics
Pointon A
(2018)
Superacid-derived surface passivation for measurement of ultra-long lifetimes in silicon photovoltaic materials
in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Pointon A
(2020)
Sub-2 cm/s passivation of silicon surfaces by aprotic solutions
in Applied Physics Letters
Pointon A
(2019)
Exceptional Surface Passivation Arising from Bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)-Based Solutions
in ACS Applied Electronic Materials
Powell D
(2016)
Exceptional gettering response of epitaxially grown kerfless silicon
in Journal of Applied Physics
Rahman T
(2017)
Minimising bulk lifetime degradation during the processing of interdigitated back contact silicon solar cells
in Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
Rahman T
(2017)
Passivation of all-angle black surfaces for silicon solar cells
in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Santos P
(2017)
Theory of a carbon-oxygen-hydrogen recombination center in n-type Si
in physica status solidi (a)
Schon J
(2021)
Experimental and Theoretical Study of Oxygen Precipitation and the Resulting Limitation of Silicon Solar Cell Wafers
in IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
Shaw E
(2017)
Saw Damage Gettering for industrially relevant mc-Si feedstock
in physica status solidi (a)
Shi Y
(2022)
Towards accurate atom scale characterisation of hydrogen passivation of interfaces in TOPCon architectures
in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Tweddle D
(2019)
Direct observation of hydrogen at defects in multicrystalline silicon
in Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
Tweddle D
(2020)
Atom Probe Tomography Study of Gettering in High-Performance Multicrystalline Silicon
in IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
Tweddle D
(2019)
Identification of colloidal silica polishing induced contamination in silicon
in Materials Characterization
Vaqueiro-Contreras M
(2018)
Lifetime degradation of n-type Czochralski silicon after hydrogenation
in Journal of Applied Physics
Vaqueiro-Contreras M
(2019)
Identification of the mechanism responsible for the boron oxygen light induced degradation in silicon photovoltaic cells
in Journal of Applied Physics
Vaqueiro-Contreras M
(2019)
The surface passivation mechanism of graphene oxide for crystalline silicon
Vaqueiro-Contreras M
(2017)
Powerful recombination centers resulting from reactions of hydrogen with carbon-oxygen defects in n-type Czochralski-grown silicon
in physica status solidi (RRL) - Rapid Research Letters
Vaqueiro-Contreras M
(2018)
Graphene oxide films for field effect surface passivation of silicon for solar cells
in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Wenham A
(2018)
Hydrogen-Induced Degradation
Wu M
(2018)
Microstructural Evolution of Mechanically Deformed Polycrystalline Silicon for Kerfless Photovoltaics
in physica status solidi (a)
Zhu Y
(2021)
Electrical Characterization of Thermally Activated Defects in n -Type Float-Zone Silicon
in IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
| Description | The EPSRC SuperSilicon PV Supergen Solar Challenge project (EP/M024911/1) started in September 2015 with the aim of unifying UK silicon PV research activity and extending the limit performance of silicon wafers used in >90% of today's solar cells. The project has been a huge success. Major breakthroughs have been made in surface passivation and bulk carrier lifetime, with a new process from the Oxford group achieving a record low surface recombination velocity of 0.1 cm/s, and the Warwick group achieving a record reported lifetime for Czochralski silicon in excess of 65 ms. Advances have been made in the area of impurity gettering and bulk passivation, with new processes demonstrated which could enable the production of multicrystalline silicon solar cells from more contaminated (hence cheaper) feedstocks. Recent defect annihilation results from Warwick and Manchester have been used in the production of test interdigitated back contact solar cells (with Southampton and the University of New South Wales) and have shown a 4% cell efficiency enhancement. Oxford (and Southampton) have developed a new process to improve light absorption at the silicon surface, which has recently been funded as a new EPSRC project (EP/R005303/1). In just over two years, the SuperSilicon PV project has resulted in 89 published papers, 69 presentations at international conferences (15 invited, with three PhD students also receiving prizes), and £6.3m (at 100% FEC) of further funding. Collaborations have been maintained and/or developed with some of the world's best PV research institutions, as evidenced by joint publications with the Australian National University, Fraunhofer ISE, ISFH, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UC Berkeley, the University of New South Wales. |
| Exploitation Route | Our findings will be taken forward by the considerable worldwide industry for photovoltaics. We regularly collaborate with some of the world's leading silicon manufacturers and solar cell producers. They will use our findings and processes in the development of higher efficiency and lower cost silicon photovoltaics. |
| Sectors | Energy |
| Description | The EPSRC SuperSilicon PV Supergen Solar Challenge project (EP/M024911/1) started in September 2015 with the aim of unifying UK silicon photovoltaics (PV) research activity and extending the limit performance of silicon wafers used for the vast majority of solar cells. The funded project finished in November 2018 and was a huge success with academic work started during the project still ongoing over three years later funding my a series of new awards. The academic impact of the project was substantial with at least 93 papers published, 69 presentations at international conferences (15 invited, with three PhD students also receiving prizes), and £16.3m (at 100% FEC) of further funding. Collaborations have been maintained and/or developed with some of the world's best PV research institutions, as evidenced by joint publications with the Australian National University, Fraunhofer ISE, ISFH, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UC Berkeley, the University of New South Wales. Work done as part of the project helped to redefine the intrinsic charge carrier lifetime of silicon (e.g. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111467). This is important as it determines the ultimate efficiency limit of silicon solar cells. Such cells account for c. 95% of those used worldwide today, with annual installations now exceeding 135 GW peak. Out findings are used by a large number of companies internationally in order to quantify the performance of their products. We also made major breakthroughs in surface passivation, defect detection diagnostics, and impurity gettering. We have shown how to improve silicon's carrier lifetime by annihilating bulk recombination centres, and this knowledge is used by the worldwide silicon PV community. Most recently we have supported the worldwide silicon PV community in its transition to more stable gallium doped substrates. We have worked with industrial partners to conduct pioneering studies into the stability of cells made from gallium doped silicon (e.g. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110299), identifying considerations for stability which have informed the worldwide industrial community. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2016 |
| Sector | Electronics,Energy |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | C.R. Barber Trust Fund |
| Amount | £300 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Institute of Physics (IOP) |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2017 |
| End | 07/2017 |
| Description | Computational spectral imaging in the THz band |
| Amount | £234,310 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/S036261/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2019 |
| End | 02/2023 |
| Description | Dark matter and the ultimate performance limit of semiconductor silicon |
| Amount | £222,147 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RPG-2020-377 |
| Organisation | The Leverhulme Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2021 |
| End | 03/2024 |
| Description | EPSRC Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) |
| Amount | £342,394 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/P511079/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Description | EPSRC Supergen Solar Hub: International and Industrial Engagement Fund |
| Amount | £8,320 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Department | SuperSolar Hub |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2015 |
| Description | EPSRC Supergen Solar Hub: International and Industrial Engagement Fund |
| Amount | £7,840 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Department | SuperSolar Hub |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | EPSRC Supergen Solar Hub: International and Industrial Engagement Fund |
| Amount | £5,360 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Department | SuperSolar Hub |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | EPSRC Supergen Solar Hub: Supersolar International Conference Fund |
| Amount | £500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Department | SuperSolar Hub |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | EPSRC Supergen Solar Network+ |
| Amount | £1,020,414 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/S000763/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2018 |
| End | 06/2022 |
| Description | ISIS Facility Development and Utilisation Studentship |
| Amount | £33,501 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2022 |
| End | 09/2026 |
| Description | Impact Acceleration Account |
| Amount | £26,368 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2018 |
| End | 05/2019 |
| Description | Innovate UK Energy Catalyst (Round 4) |
| Amount | £104,933 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 71959-494188 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2017 |
| End | 09/2018 |
| Description | Light and Elevated Temperature Induced Degradation of Silicon Solar Cells |
| Amount | £626,469 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/T025131/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2020 |
| End | 04/2023 |
| Description | Platform for Nanoscale Advanced Materials Engineering (P-NAME) |
| Amount | £702,172 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/R025576/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 09/2020 |
| Description | Prosperity Partnership |
| Amount | £14,935 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Exeter |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2019 |
| End | 07/2019 |
| Description | Research Student Conference Fund |
| Amount | £300 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Institute of Physics (IOP) |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2017 |
| End | 07/2017 |
| Description | Standard Research |
| Amount | £949,877 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/R005303/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2018 |
| End | 01/2021 |
| Description | Standard Research |
| Amount | £791,022 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/P015581/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2017 |
| End | 02/2020 |
| Description | SuperSolar Hub: - Supergen Solar Hub: International and Industrial Engagement Fund |
| Amount | £7,100 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2020 |
| End | 09/2020 |
| Description | Supergen Solar Hub: International and Industrial Engagement Fund |
| Amount | £5,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Department | SuperSolar Hub |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2017 |
| End | 10/2017 |
| Description | Supergen Solar Hub: International and Industrial Engagement Fund |
| Amount | £500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Department | SuperSolar Hub |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2017 |
| End | 07/2017 |
| Description | Supergen Solar Hub: International and Industrial Engagement Fund |
| Amount | £10,167 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Department | SuperSolar Hub |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2017 |
| End | 10/2017 |
| Description | Supergen Solar Hub: Supersolar International Conference Fund |
| Amount | £500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Department | SuperSolar Hub |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2017 |
| End | 08/2017 |
| Description | Terabotics - terahertz robotics for surgery and medicine |
| Amount | £8,000,773 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V047914/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2021 |
| End | 08/2026 |
| Description | ANU |
| Organisation | Australian National University (ANU) |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have several joint research projects into silicon materials for photovoltaics. We regularly exchange samples and perform specialist characterisation for each other. Dr John Murphy has visited ANU and has given a seminar there. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have several joint research projects into silicon materials for photovoltaics. We regularly exchange samples and perform specialist characterisation for each other. |
| Impact | Various publications. DOIs: 10.1002/pssr.201600080, 10.1002/pssa.201600360, 10.1063/1.4967914, 10.1016/j.solmat.2017.06.022. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Fraunhofer ISE |
| Organisation | Fraunhofer Society |
| Department | Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Research |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have performed lifetime measurements in silicon materials from Fraunhofer ISE using a superacid passivation scheme developed in Warwick. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have provided us with samples. We have written a joint publication. A member of their research team has visited Warwick and Oxford. |
| Impact | Joint publications (x2 so far): DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2751511; DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2751511. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | ISFH |
| Organisation | Institute for Solar Energy Research |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Scientific studies of the influence of defects on silicon materials for photovoltaics. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Access to surface passivation facilities, and intellectual input into scientific studies. |
| Impact | Many scientific papers, including some of those returned with this submission. |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | Trina Solar |
| Organisation | Trina Solar Limited |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We perform materials characterisation and analysis. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have provided specialist samples to the University of Warwick (estimated value: £10,000). Pietro Altermatt from Trina Solar visited the UK in 2017/2018. |
| Impact | Publication. DOI: 10.1063/1.5016854. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | UNSW |
| Organisation | University of New South Wales |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Phill Hamer (Research Fellow, Oxford) was made an Adjunct Lecturer at UNSW (effective 26/02/2016). Several joint research projects with Oxford and Warwick. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Visits to the UK by leading academics. Several joint research projects with Oxford and Warwick. |
| Impact | Phill Hamer (PDRA in Oxford) has been made an Adjunct Lecturer at UNSW (effective 26/02/2016). Many publications: DOIs: 10.1016/j.egypro.2016.07.070, 10.1007/s11708-016-0427-5, 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2731778, 10.1002/solr.201700129, 10.3390/app8010010, 10.1063/1.5016854, 10.1002/pssa.201700293, 10.1002/pip.2928. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Title | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING ATOMIC HYDROGEN TO AN OBJECT |
| Description | Methods and apparatus for applying atomic hydrogen to an object are disclosed. In one arrangement, the method comprises passing atomic hydrogen through a membrane and onto a portion of an object that is spaced apart from the membrane. The membrane comprises a solid material and the atomic hydrogen passes through the solid material. |
| IP Reference | WO2018091888 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | None as yet. |
| Title | SILICON PASSIVATION WITH THIN FILM OXIDE |
| Description | A thin film passivation method comprises obtaining silicon comprising a silicon surface with an oxide layer (3a, 3b) thereon; and wetting the silicon surface with the oxide layer thereon in a solution containing trifluoromethanesulfonyl (CF3SO2) groups so as to allow the trifluoromethanesulfonyl groups to interact with the oxide layer. An oxide layer of a wafer formed by such a method may comprise at least 0.1 atom% of each of fluorine, nitrogen and sulphur. The wafer may be used in a photovoltaic cell. |
| IP Reference | WO2020193970 |
| Protection | Patent application published |
| Year Protection Granted | 2020 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | None yet. |