Solar Energy

Bristol-led research will disrupt solar and expedite efforts toward Net-Zero target

Published

4 years ago

February 12, 2021

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Bristol-led research will disrupt solar and expedite efforts toward Net-Zero target

A team of researchers, led by chemists from the University of Bristol, has received significant funding from the UKRI to revolutionise the fabrication and application of photovoltaic devices, used to produce solar energy.

Imagine a city in the near future where buildings have solar panels integrated into windows, cladding and rooftops – allowing urban areas to generate their own clean and renewable energy. Thanks to a new grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Bristol’s Cabot Institute, that vision is set to become reality.

The Bristol-led team, together with colleagues from Northumbria University and Loughborough University, will focus on developing the formulation and processing of inorganic semiconductor junctions at the centre of thin-film PV devices. In contrast to established technologies, thin-film PV devices have a lower energy payback time (i.e. they emit less carbon during fabrication/installation). They can also be made flexible, semi-transparent and adapted to a variety of systems and infrastructures.

Professor David Fermin, Head of Bristol Electrochemistry and Solar Team at the University of Bristol, said:

“”If we are to achieve a target of Net-Zero by 2050, we need technology that can mitigate our increasing demand for electricity, which is set to at least double in response to energy intensive sectors such as transport, building and manufacturing.

“”Consequently, we need to deploy low-carbon energy systems into every sector of the economy. Out of all renewable energy technologies, solar is the only one with the capacity to be integrated into cities and high population areas. We need technologies that will allow us to integrate solar panels into cladding, windows and every possible infrastructure. Our project aims to develop the adaptable and low-cost PV technology which can meet this huge challenge.

“What’s more, our research can substantially decrease the fabrication costs as well as removing critical (In, Ga, Te) and toxic elements (Cd) present in current commercial technologies.”

The team will investigate complex semiconductor compounds such as Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 with a very precise crystal structure. Their challenge is to formulate precursors and processing methods to ensure that each atom goes in the right place.

Professor Neil Fox from Bristol explains: “If you have the rogue Sn atom occupying a site in which we expect to find Cu or Zn, then we are in trouble. You don’t want to find SnS making a separate crystal either within your device. If the material has little grains of SnS at the surface, electrons will be emitted at lower energies (shunting), decreasing the power output of the solar cells.

“An incredibly exciting aspect of our research is that we can actually ‘see’ those atoms and how they arrange themselves.”

The 3.5 year programme is set to start in early June and the team aims to produce minimodules with power conversion efficiencies above 15 %, fabricated by scalable processes. The Centre for Process Innovation Catapult is a key project partner and will be assessing manufacturability across each innovation step in the research.

Dr Devendra Tiwari is leading the research team at Northumbria University and said: “To me, the highlight and challenge of the proposal are right there in the project title – ‘Solution Processing’. Solution processing is much less capitally intensive and is much readily suited to allow integration of solar cells to scaffoldings and windows than current manufacturing technology prevalent for thin-film solar cells. It therefore offers the opportunity to produce cost-effective integrated PV systems. The challenge is to demonstrate marketable performance and process scalability and solve issues from atomistic to device level. Such multilevel versatility and expertise to realise this lab-to-fab transition is what Northumbria brings to the team.”

Dr Jake Bowers is leading the research carried out at Loughborough University and said “This project is really exciting. Fabricating thin film solar cells with low cost solution processes has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of electricity produced from photovoltaics to the end user. What’s more, the fabrication processes used require significantly less energy than the manufacturing processes used traditional silicon based photovoltaics. This provides an extra added benefit as the UK aims for its net zero targets.”

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Solar Energy

A single molecule elevates solar module output and stability

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2025

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A single molecule elevates solar module output and stability

by Sophie Jenkins

London, UK (SPX) Apr 24, 2025

A new molecule developed through international collaboration has been shown to significantly improve both the performance and durability of perovskite solar cells, according to a recent study published in *Science*. The discovery centers on a synthetic ionic salt named CPMAC, which originates from buckminsterfullerene (C60) and has been shown to outperform traditional C60 in solar applications.

Researchers from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) played a key role in the development of CPMAC. While C60 has long been used in perovskite solar cells due to its favorable electronic properties, it suffers from stability issues caused by weak van der Waals interactions at the interface with the perovskite layer. CPMAC was engineered to address these shortcomings.

“For over a decade, C60 has been an integral component in the development of perovskite solar cells. However, weak interactions at the perovskite/C60 interface lead to mechanical degradation that compromises long-term solar cell stability. To address this limitation, we designed a C60-derived ionic salt, CPMAC, to significantly enhance the stability of the perovskite solar cells,” explained Professor Osman Bakr, Executive Faculty of the KAUST Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CREST).

Unlike C60, CPMAC forms ionic bonds with the perovskite material, strengthening the electron transfer layer and thereby enhancing both structural stability and energy output. Cells incorporating CPMAC demonstrated a 0.6% improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to those using C60.

Though the gain in efficiency appears modest, the impact scales up dramatically in real-world energy production. “When we deal with the scale of a typical power station, the additional electricity generated even from a fraction of a percentage point is quite significant,” said Hongwei Zhu, a research scientist at KAUST.

Beyond efficiency gains, CPMAC also enhanced device longevity. Under accelerated aging tests involving high heat and humidity over 2,000 hours, solar cells containing CPMAC retained a significantly higher portion of their efficiency. Specifically, their degradation was one third that observed in cells using conventional C60.

Further performance evaluation involved assembling the cells into four-cell modules, offering a closer approximation to commercial-scale solar panels. These tests reinforced the molecule’s advantage in both durability and output.

The key to CPMAC’s success lies in its capacity to reduce defects within the electron transfer layer, thanks to the formation of robust ionic bonds. This approach circumvents the limitations posed by van der Waals forces typical of unmodified C60 structures.

Research Report:C60-based ionic salt electron shuttle for high-performance inverted perovskite solar modules

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Solar Energy

Indonesia says China’s Huayou to replace LGES in EV battery project

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2025

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Indonesia says China’s Huayou to replace LGES in EV battery project

by AFP Staff Writers

Jakarta (AFP) April 23, 2025

China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt is replacing South Korea’s LG Energy Solution as a strategic investor in a multibillion-dollar project to build an electric vehicle battery joint venture in Indonesia, officials said on Wednesday.

The South Korean company, which was part of a consortium that signed a 142 trillion rupiah ($8.4 billion) “Grand Project” in 2020, announced its withdrawal from the project this week, citing factors including market conditions and the investment environment.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said LG Energy Solution’s decision would not significantly affect the project, which aims to establish a local electric vehicle battery value chain in Indonesia.

“Changes only occur at the investor level, where LG no longer continue its involvement… and has been replaced by a strategic partner from China, namely Huayou,” Bahlil said in a statement.

“Nothing has changed from the initial goal, namely making Indonesia as the center of the world’s electric vehicle industry.”

Indonesia, home to the world’s largest nickel reserve, has been seeking to position itself as a key player in the global electric vehicle supply chain by leveraging its vast reserve of the critical mineral to attract investments.

The government decided not to move forward with the South Korean company in the project due to the long negotiation process with the firm to realise its investment, Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani said.

Rosan cited Huayou’s familiarity with Indonesia as one of the reasons why the government chose the company to succeed LG Energy Solution.

“Huayou had invested in Indonesia,” Rosan said.

“They have sources to develop the industry going forward.”

LG Energy Solution said in a statement on Tuesday that it will continue to explore “various avenues of collaboration” with the Indonesian government, including in its battery joint venture.

HLI Green Power, a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group, operates Indonesia’s first electric vehicle battery plant, which was launched in 2024 with a production capacity of up to 10 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of cells annually.

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Solar Energy

Politecnico di Milano explores global potential of agrivoltaics for land use harmony

Published

3 days ago

April 23, 2025

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Politecnico di Milano explores global potential of agrivoltaics for land use harmony

by Erica Marchand

Paris, France (SPX) Apr 23, 2025

A research team from the Politecnico di Milano has presented new insights into how agrivoltaic systems could resolve growing tensions over land use between agricultural production and solar energy development. Led by Maddalena Curioni, Nikolas Galli, Giampaolo Manzolini, and Maria Cristina Rulli, the study demonstrates that integrating photovoltaic panels with crop cultivation can significantly mitigate land-use conflict while maintaining food output.

Published in the journal Earth’s Future, the study highlights that between 13% and 16% of existing ground-mounted solar installations have displaced former farmland, underscoring the competition for arable land. In contrast, the researchers propose that deploying agrivoltaic systems on between 22% and 35% of non-irrigated agricultural land could enable dual use without substantially affecting crop yields.

Using a spatial agro-hydrological model, the researchers simulated how 22 crop types respond to varying degrees of solar shading from photovoltaic panels. Their simulations covered a broad range of climates and geographies, generating a global suitability map for agrivoltaic deployment. The results underscore the feasibility of this approach in many regions, especially those with compatible crops and moderate solar intensity.

“Agrivoltaics cannot be applied everywhere, but according to our results, it would be possible to combine cultivation and energy production in many areas of the world without significant reductions in yield,” said Nikolas Galli, researcher at the Glob3Science Lab and co-author of the study.

Giampaolo Manzolini, professor in the Department of Energy, noted additional benefits: “Using the land for both cultivation and photovoltaic systems increases overall output per occupied surface area while reducing production costs. In addition, installing crops underneath the photovoltaic panels reduces the panel operating temperature and increases their efficiency.”

“This technology could help reduce land competition while improving the sustainability of agricultural and energy systems,” added Maria Cristina Rulli, who coordinated the research.

The team emphasizes that their findings could inform strategic policy decisions and investment strategies aimed at maximizing land productivity while supporting both food security and renewable energy goals.

Research Report:Global Land-Water Competition and Synergy Between Solar Energy and Agriculture