The two advanced concepts, tandem and micro solar cells will be investigated by eight doctoral candidates. The candidates are expected to collaborate closely together since their individual projects will inter-link, and there will be many cross cutting issues. Secondments to international partners and industry is foreseen and arranged.

Tandem Solar Cells

Tandem solar cells are more efficient than single junction solar cells since they can use more wavelengths of the solar spectrum and have reduced thermilization losses. The three positions relating to tandem solar cells are:

– Wide band gap top cell (Torsten Granzow)
– Transparent conductive material (Renaud Leturcq)
– Narrow band gap Cu(In,Ga)Se2 bottom cell (Susanne Siebentritt)

Micro Solar Cells

Micro solar cells are single junction solar cells suitable for receiving concentrated light to boost their power conversion efficency. They may also be suitable for low power applications. The two positions relating to micro solar cells are:

A. Electrodeposition and annealing of Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 for micro structured solar cells (Phillip Dale)

B. Low temperature inkjet deposited transparent conductive material for micro structured solar cells (Emmanuel Defay and Sebastjan Glinsek)

Advanced Characterization of Solar Cell Materials

– KPFM and spatially resolved photoluminesence (Alex Redinger)
– Correlative nano-scale microscopy and mass spectrometry (Tom Wirtz)

Defect Physics of
Semiconductors

Theoretical defect spectroscopy of Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 (Ludger Wirtz)