About group
With a strong emphasis on international collaboration, the current activities in the Centre are organized around the following topics: crystalline silicon and perovskite photovoltaics, surfaces, contacts and two dimensional materials, organic photovoltaics and nanostructures, photonics and light harvesting to improve the capture of sunlight, integration of photovoltaics into utility networks, and solar architecture.
Current research activities in the Centre include research into perovskite solar cells and novel technologies for crystalline silicon solar cells optimized for operating conditions rather than at STC, aiming for a reduced wafer thickness to below 100 mm. Potential new hybrid OPV materials are being combined with inorganic materials acting as charge transport/blocking layers for enhancing stability, charge separation and transport. Two dimensional materials, including graphene, graphene oxide and transition metal dichalcogenides, are being investigated as contact layers for crystalline silicon PV or for surface passivation. Light harvesting structures based on organic dye molecules attached to a silicon surface are being used to optimize the operation of solar cells from low absorbing materials such as crystalline silicon.
At the system level, our work aims to expand and generalize the concept of microgrids to the energy community level and include changes in lifestyle, integrating energy flexibility into the smart grids concept where the building system acts as part of a larger grid. The elements of the research programme based on optics, material science and electrical engineering provide a platform for work by architects to project energy related questions onto urban and strategic planning, allowing an analysis in general terms, as a multi-faceted topic ranging from architectural theory, through architectural practice to technological aspects.
