A team of ASU engineers is looking to develop new ultra-thin silicon solar cells designed to increase the amount of electricity that can be produced through the direct conversion of sunlight.
The project is one of many funded by $60 million in SunShot Initiative grants from the U.S. Department of Energy. These grant recipients aim to help make solar energy economically competitive with other solar energy sources.
Stephen Goodnick, a professor of electrical engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, said making advancements in solar technologies is crucial in the midst of climate change.
“Regarding advancements in technology, converting sunlight to electricity is the greenest form of energy that is available today, and it's critical that we move towards non-polluting, sustainable forms of energy in the face of climate change,” he said.
Goodnick also said advancements in solar technologies would help reduce the costs associated with clean energy.
The team and its partners are working to increase efficiency by developing new structure in the solar cells. The cells will incorporate new design that combines crystalline silicon and carrier-selective contacts.
This will enable the cell design to avoid the limitations of current silicon solar cells and allow low-cost silicon to achieve its full potential.
Team leader Stuart Bowden, an associate research professor, said the project would help the country with clean energy techniques.
"Our work will be a part of helping the U.S. maintain its lead in advanced clean-energy technologies," he said.
Bowden said the team expects significant advancements to occur in solar cell technologies.
"A wave of advances is expected in photovoltaic solar cell technologies that should propel solar-energy industry growth within the next several years, and our efforts stand to make a big contribution to move that forward," he said.
The ASU-led project will be an affiliate project of the Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technology Engineering Research Center at ASU, which focuses on solving challenges to harness solar power in more technologically effective and economically viable ways.
Bowden said QESST has guided the University to take initiative in areas such as those being supported by the SunShot Initiative.
Bowden will work with professors Goodnick and Christiana Honsberg, and assistant professors Mariana Bertoni and Zachary Holman. All of them are faculty of the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering.
The ASU team will collaborate with researchers from the project’s partner institutions: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the California Institute of Technology, the University of New South Wales in Australia and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
Business freshman Axel Rodriguez said he believes the project will benefit the environment.
“I think the project is a great way to raise awareness about new ways of establishing green energy and helping the environment become a healthier place,” he said.
Reach the reporter at mmkallo@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @its_ame_a_mario
