Project: Metrology for III-V materials based high efficiency multi-junction solar cells
Energy policies are based on three requirements: security, affordability and sustainability. Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells generate electricity from solar radiation and have grown rapidly as a viable energy source over the past decade. However, the rapid growth, mainly as a result of government subsidies and a reduction in the cost of silicon-based solar cells, is unsustainable both financially and in terms of power requirement. Concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) use relatively cheap optical elements to concentrate sunlight onto efficient multi-junction solar cells (MJSC). The materials that make up these MJSC structures enable solar energy conversion efficiency of 44 %. However, if this technology is to compete with traditional energy sources, the efficiency needs to reach at least 50 %. This project will reduce the costs of generating electricity from PV by developing the metrological tools required to increase the efficiency of current devices, while improving manufacturing processes and materials. This will enable the production of the next generation of solar cells.
| Acronym | ENG51 SolCell (Reference Number: ENG51) |
| Duration | 01/07/2014 - 30/06/2017 |
| Project Topic | Metrology |
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Project Results (after finalisation) |
See Website |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | EMRP |
| Call | EMRP Call 2013 - Energy and Environment |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laboratoire national de métrologie et d'essais | Coordinator | France |
| 2 | Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial Esteban Terradas | Partner | Spain |
| 3 | Eidgenössisches Institut für Metrologie METAS | Partner | Switzerland |
| 4 | Central Office of Measures | Partner | Poland |
| 5 | Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy | Partner | Finland |
| 6 | NPL Management Limited | Partner | United Kingdom |
| 7 | Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt | Partner | Germany |
| 8 | Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu | Partner | Türkiye |
| 9 | Keysight Technologies GmbH | Observer | Austria |
| 10 | AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH | Observer | Germany |
| 11 | Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. | Observer | Germany |
| 12 | Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives | France | |
| 13 | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | France |