Achieving higher solar cell performance through international collaboration

I have recently developed two new solar cells based on semiconductor nanotechnologies that offer the potential for higher efficiency and lower cost. In order to progress these technologies, specialist facilities are now required to gain a deeper scientific understanding of their advantages and to develop new implementations which will make renewable energy generation more competitive.

In this Overseas Travel Grant, I will access the required specialist facilities and related expertise by taking my solar cells to laboratories in Singapore (Nanyang Technical University) and Germany (Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy) and performing three novel experiments. These experiments involve state-of-the-art equipment which are not readily available in the UK for example, at Nanyang Technical University, I will study the current pathways in my solar cells at the atomic scale as well as combining them with other solar cell technology to assess the potential for new low-cost, high efficiency solar cells that can be scaled up sustainably. Similarly, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy, I will expose my solar cells to high optical concentration (more than 500 times the power of the sun at the Earth's surface) to maximise the contribution from nanometre sized quantum dots which capture more of the incident sunlight.

Importantly, this research programme will also enable me to initiate new collaborations with world-leading experts. Through the exchange of knowledge and skills, it offers a unique professional development opportunity that I will exploit to benefit scientific research and innovation in the UK. This will be achieved by generating essential feasibility data for a deeper major programme of collaborative research that will involve industrial partners. The programme also contains several important opportunities for dissemination with the wider energy materials scientific community but also with young people and school teachers that are engaged with science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects.

The programme has two major areas of impact: academic and societal.

Academic impact includes the achievement of transformative device results which will be communicated through prestigious scientific journals and attendance at a major international conference. By addressing key issues in solar energy materials research (such as efficiency and cost), the programme will benefit researchers worldwide and naturally attract industrial attention. The programme is a critical element in the development of my research activities as it will enable me to increase my international profile; identify new areas of energy materials research; establish and join international research efforts; and transfer new techniques to my home institution. Furthermore the programme will result in scientific discoveries which will form the basis of broader and deeper programmes of research. These programmes will benefit UK research and innovation through the potential creation of intellectual property and training of PhD students and post-doctoral research associates.

Societal impact includes the development of renewable energy technology that will reduce carbon emissions and potentially help contribute to the UK's ambitious 2050 targets. In addition, the programme will engage directly with young people and school teachers through two workshops aimed at increasing engagement with science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects. These workshops will draw on content derived from experiments performed in the programme using state-of-the-art experimental equipment to obtain fundamental scientific insight into renewable energy and nanotechnologies.