New Project does Research on Organic Solar Cells
NanoSYD heads a new international project that focuses on the development of organic energy technologies that can be used for new smart solar cells. The project has just received 29 million kroner.
More and more houses and buildings have solar cells installed on the roof for the benefit of both the purse and the environment. The green technology which today is based on silicon, may become cheaper and more efficient, which is something that the new international network led by NanoSYD at the Mads Clausen Institute is currently working on.
Reduces the consumption of fossil fuels
The researchers in the network will be investigating different types of energy solutions based on organic materials. They will also be developing a new type of solar cells based on organic thin-film which in the future will help to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.
The new solar cells have several advantages as they are both extremely thin and light, mechanically flexible and potentially cheap compared to the silicon solar cells that are on the market today.
State-of-the-art technology
In total the project funding covers 14 PhD scholarships that will examine various aspects of the organic materials in order to improve the current state-of-the-art technology.
Two of the PhD projects started at NanoSYD focus on improving the efficiency and lifetime of organic solar cells. The cooperation includes, among others, Danfoss with a particular focus on lifetime tests of larger solar cell systems.
Educating tomorrows’ developers
Part of the project is to put together a unique training programme for young researchers in the network, who will have the opportunity to attend courses at partner universities and with industrial partners. Thus the researchers will strengthen their competences in relation to what the industry will demand of the developers of green energy solutions in the future.
Info about the project
The new collaborative network consists of five universities, a research organisation plus two companies. Participants come from respectively Denmark, Italy, Austria, France and Spain. Concession to the network of approximately 29 million kroner comes from FP7 the Marie Curie programme Initial Training Network (ITN).
The project is led by NanoSYD at the Mads Clausen Institute.
For more information contact
Assistant Professor Morten Madsen, phone: 65550 1621 /e-mail madsen@mci.sdu.dk
Professor Horst-Günter Rubahn e-mail: rubhan@mci.sdu.dk