Large grant to improve quality of organic solar panels
Thanks to a large grant from The Danish Council for Independent Research, a nanotechnology researcher from SDU is to investigate possible solutions to how organic solar panels can be improved.
Organic solar panels have the potential to become an integrated part of buildings, cars and mobile phones. They are a cheap, flexible, translucent and ultra-light alternative to conventional non-organic solar panels.
Over the last 10 years organic solar panels have become more effective but there are still a range of problems to be solved before they can realistically be commercialised.
These problems are to be tackled by nanotechnology researcher Vida Engmann from the NanoSYD centre at the Mads Clausen Institute in Sønderborg after being awarded a substantial postdoc grant from The Danish Council for Independent Research - Technology and Production Sciences.
Panels worn down by weather
One of the big problems is for solar panels to be able to withstand the weather including heat, oxygen and water, the combined effects of which lead to an erosive oxidation.
With backing of just over 2.4 million kroner, Vida Engmann will find solutions which stabilise organic solar panels. She will do this by blending carefully selected chemical compounds in the so-called light active layer within each panel.
The Danish Council for Independent Research - Technology and Production Sciences awards 18 postdoc grants to research talents in Denmark for a total sum of approximately 43 million kroner. The aim of the grants is to give young researchers the best conditions in which to deliver significant research results of a high international standard.
For more information, contact:
Postdoc Vida Engmann