PFI-TT: Next-generation hybrid solar cells enabling lower cost, safe, and environmentally friendly floating photovoltaic installations

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to enable solar cell use on water rather than just on land. The growth of solar photovoltaic energy has highlighted the increasing problem of competing land use, scarcity, and cost. Floating photovoltaics have emerged as a solution to this problem; deploying solar modules on existing bodies of water lessens the need for land-based installations. However, the high cost has inhibited growth of this renewable energy source. This project advances a new system that is lighter and cheaper. Furthermore, the modules are fabricated with non-toxic and environmentally friendly materials, mitigating the risk posed by other novel photovoltaic technologies of contaminating the bodies of water. The proposed project advances lower cost lightweight alternatives for solar photovoltaic generation. This hybrid photovoltaic technology combines innovative polymer science with silicon, the most abundant and significant photovoltaic material in use today, to provide cheaper, lighter, and more efficient flexible modules. Recent computer model simulations indicate that the proposed polymer deposition method (oxidative chemical vapor deposition) generates high conductivity and when coupled with an optimized surface treatment of silicon, the power efficiencies can exceed 20%. Furthermore, this hybrid approach allows the polymer to mechanically support the brittle silicon substrate, enabling the fabrication of flexible modules (to address wind load) encapsulated by plastic films rather than glass panels. This project validates the high efficiency, mechanical robustness, and durability under accelerated degradation conditions of the hybrid photovoltaic technology and creates a prototype for testing in a relevant environment.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.