National consortium for low-cost photovoltaic materials
LOWCOST PV-consortium

Savin Hele, Aalto University (School of Science and Technology), Korppi-Tommola Jouko, JyU, Lemmetyinen Helge, TUT, Lund Peter, Aalto University (School of Science and Technology), Vuorinen Tommi, VTT, Österbacka Ronald, ÅA

This project joins the Finnish research groups on different photoactive materials for cost-effective and competitive solar cell development. Through intensified co-operation and a joint research agenda, the consortium aims to i) clearly improve the solar cell lifetime, in particular with materials, ii) increase cell efficiencies, iii) develop more cost-efficient materials and preparation methods that are suitable for high throughput industrial scale manufacturing, and iv) generate deep understanding of these materials where molecular - surface/boundary - charge interactions in nanodomains form the underlying function. The research covers characterization, modeling and tailoring of various range of photoactive materials starting from the first generation cells (silicon based materials) extending to third generation cells (organics and semiconductor oxides). The silicon based material studies include novel materials such as metallurgical grade silicon, black silicon and silicon quantum dots while non-silicon materials cover e.g. conductive polymers, organic electron donor-acceptor pairs, dye-sensitized nanosized semiconductor oxide materials and electron and/or hole transporting materials. Impurities, defects and matching chemical compositions are crucial for the solar cell operation both in inorganic, organic and hybrid materials, therefore, a special attention is given to characterization of the materials with the state of the art equipment available within the consortium. The fabrication technologies to be used in the project cover both micro and nanotechnology as well as spraying, pressing and ALD. The individual groups can draw major benefits from a joint equipment and knowledge pool created here besides several common research tasks such as degradation, characterization