University to receive US$53 million to double efficiency of solar PV

NEWARK, Delaware, US, November 9, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)

A consortium led by the University of Delaware could receive US$53 million to double the efficiency of terrestrial solar cells within 50 months.

The consortium consisting of 15 universities, companies and laboratories could receive $33.6 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) if all options are awarded, and another $19.3 million from the University of Delaware and corporate team members that may include DuPont, BP Solar, Corning, LightSpin Technologies and Blue Square Energy.

“Solar energy inquiry has long been an important part of the University of Delaware research mission, and we are pleased to participate in this significant work,” says provost Dan Rich. “This project is of vital importance, given the need for alternative sources of energy.”

The DARPA program expects the consortium to develop and produce 1,000 very high efficiency solar cell prototypes that are affordable and which operate at efficiencies of at least 50%. Currently, the peak efficiency of high-end solar cells is 24.7% and solar cells off a production line operate at 15% to 20% efficiency.

The goal is to create solar cells that operate at 54% efficiency in the laboratory and 50% in production, says Allen Barnett, principal investigator and research professor in the department of engineering: “This project requires the consortium to invent, develop and transfer to production this breakthrough solar cell.”

The award is the largest in the history of solar energy research, says Rhone Resch of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “I applaud DARPA for recognizing the tremendous potential of solar energy to provide reliable electricity to our troops in the field and to improve our energy security here at home.”

“The creation of affordable, high-efficiency solar cells is a challenge in that it presents not a single problem but a complex set of interrelated problems,” explains co-principal investigator Christiana Honsberg, also a professor of engineering. “We believe that with the support provided by DARPA, and with the large pool of knowledge and creativity within the consortium, we will be able to achieve that goal.”

The solar cells would have immediate application in the high-technology military, which increasingly relies on a variety of electronics for soldiers and their support equipment. The solar cells would have a large number of commercial applications.

To achieve high efficiency in less than five years at low cost, Barnett and Honsberg will use a new high-performance crystalline silicon solar cell platform and then add multiple innovations. A new feature is based on novel approaches to the integration of the optical, interconnect and solar cell design to provide for affordability and flexibility in the choice of materials and the integration of new technologies as they are developed.

Another key part of the project is to make a transition for solar cells from the laboratory to production and the marketplace.

In addition to the University of Delaware and the corporate members, the consortium includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, University of Rochester, Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University, University of California Santa Barbara, University of New South Wales, Yale University and Carnegie Mellon University.


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