Solar Cell Efficiency Breakthrough At UNSW

Those clever folks at the University of New South Wales have done it again - this time with a solar breakthrough that wasn't expected for another decade.

Those clever folks at the University of New South Wales have done it again – this time with a solar breakthrough that wasn’t expected for another decade.
 
According to the The Sydney Morning Herald, researchers have used hydrogen atoms to address defects in silicon cells, meaning lower quality silicon can achieve the same performance as high quality materials – and even better according to Professor Stuart Wenham, head of the university’s ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence.
 
The Centre’s mission is to advance silicon photovoltaic research and apply these advances to the related field of silicon photonics.
 
UNSW’s technique should produce conversion efficiencies of between 21 per cent and 23 per cent and companies have lined up to partner in developing the technology. The key to the breakthrough was cracking the secret that made the use of hydrogen to counter defects unpredictable.
  
As a result of this development, perhaps recently forecasted price rises for solar panels may make a hasty retreat; depending on how long it takes to get this technology to market.
  
Professor Wenham has made a significant number of contributions to the PV industry during his three-decade career; including  development of the buried contact solar cell and thin-film Crystalline Silicon On Glass technology.
 
In other UNSW solar news, Scientia Professor Martin Green has been elected into the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society. The Fellowship includes some of the world’s most brilliant scientists and engineers, including more than 80 Nobel Laureates. 
 
Dr. Green is often referred to as the ‘father of photovoltaics’ for his pioneering work in the solar sector; which began in earnest in 1974 when he formed the Solar Photovoltaics Group at the University of New South Wales. Last year he was made a Member of the Order of Australia.
 

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