Solar Cell Research

Photovoltaic cells are a promising candidate for the production of 'green' electricity, producing no emissions, and relying on a practically unlimited fuel source, the sun. Moreover, when manufactured in the form of solar panels, they require very little maintainence.

Funded by the EPSRC, EU and industry, our current research is focussed on:

Rapid screening of PV materials as part of the EPSRC funded Supergen consortium Photovoltaic Materials for the 21st Century
Thin film solar cells made from CdS/CdTe heterojunctions. These benefit from the n type CdS layer being transparent to light, whilst the p type CdTe layer is the optical absorber.
Extremely Thin Absorber (ETA) layer solar cells, where low cost, environmentally friendly processes are being used to make cells based on thin CuInS₂ layers.
CuInS₂ based solar cells grown by electrostatic spray pyrolysis.

Research Areas