I/UCRC for Next Generation Photovoltaics

I/UCRC下一代光伏1134849德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校（UT-A）；德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校（UT-A）将成为现有的下一代光伏产业/大学合作研究中心（I/UCRC）的新基地。下一代光伏I/UCRC于2010年3月1日正式启动，科罗拉多州立大学（CSU）是该中心唯一的站点（和领导）。下一代光伏中心通过开发新的前体、材料和配方，专注于创造低成本光伏设备的创新策略。光伏产业面临的最大长期挑战是开发一种低成本、可扩展和可靠的制造方法来生产与化石燃料相比成本具有竞争力的太阳能电池。这就要求新的光伏效率高于20%，适合在现场使用20年，并且可以以非常低的成本制造。这个I/UCRC站点的目标是开发多结薄膜pv，制造成本非常低，但可以实现非常高的效率。将开发新的材料、前体、配方和工艺。本研究处于材料科学与工程、化学、化学工程、物理和电气工程的前沿。一个显著降低光伏成本的解决方案将导致太阳能电池技术的广泛采用，并减少世界对不可再生能源的依赖。研究问题也是培养未来科学家和工程师的绝佳场所，因为它是高度跨学科的，为学生提供了一个训练的环境。I/UCRC的努力还将与科罗拉多州立大学和德克萨斯大学的绿色技术教育项目相结合。I/UCRC的工业伙伴关系对项目的成功也至关重要，并有可能促进显著的经济增长。拟议中的网站将拥有一支由不同性别、种族和民族的教师和学生组成的团队，并将始终努力增加项目参与者的多样性。

I/UCRC for Next Generation Photovoltaics 1134849 University of Texas at Austin (UT-A); Brian Korgel The University of Texas, Austin (UT-A) will become a new site in the existing Industry/ University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for Next Generation Photovoltaics. The I/UCRC for Next Generation Photovoltaics began officially on March 1, 2010, with Colorado State University (CSU) as the only site (and the lead) in the Center. The Center for Next Generation Photovoltaics focuses on the creation of innovative new strategies to low-cost photovoltaic devices by developing novel precursors, materials, and formulations. The biggest long-term challenge facing the photovoltaics (PVs) industry is the development of a low-cost, scalable and reliable manufacturing approach to produce solar cells that are cost competitive with fossil fuels. This requires new PVs with efficiencies higher than 20% that are suitable for use for 20 years in the field and can be manufactured at very low cost. This I/UCRC site will target the development of multijunction thin film PVs that are very cheap to make but can achieve very high efficiencies. New materials, precursors, formulations and processes will be developed. This research is at the frontier of materials science and engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, physics and electrical engineering. A solution to decrease PV costs significantly would lead to widespread adoption of solar cell technology and a decrease in the world's reliance on non-renewable energy resources. The research problem is also an excellent training arena for future scientists and engineers, as it is highly interdisciplinary and provides a training environment for students. The I/UCRC efforts will also be interfaced with educational programs at CSU and UT-A focused on green technology. The industrial partnerships in the I/UCRC are also vital to the success of the program, and have the potential to catalyze significant economic growth. The proposed site will have a team of faculty and students that is diverse in gender, race and ethnicity and will always strive to increase the diversity of participants in the program.