Advancing the efficiency and production potential of Excitonic Solar Cells (APEX)

该项目的重点是激子太阳能电池（ESC）的材料，器件结构，材料加工和PV板工程的开发。这些都有可能大大降低材料和制造成本，其中材料，如有机半导体，染料和金属氧化物，可以通过直接印刷技术在环境温度下加工到低成本的柔性基板上。与传统的高真空、高温半导体处理相比，主要的成本降低预期在于大规模制造工厂中的资本投资大大减少。在英国和印度有大量的研究项目开发这些设备，目的是通过提高对这些光电复合材料中发生的基本过程的理解来提高光伏效率。然而，在英国和印度，从这一科学基础上建立一个可扩展的、商业上可行的激子太阳能电池加工协议的活动较少。英国-印度呼吁的范围使研究和开发能够进行，这些研究和开发可以将一系列活动结合在一起，以实现制造应用，这超出了研究人员可以获得的资助计划的通常范围。该项目通过三个组成部分解决了创造具有成本效益的激子太阳能电池的挑战：低成本材料的新材料合成;与低工艺成本兼容的器件（纳米）架构的加工和开发;以及可以复制研究阶段实现的太阳能电池性能的原型的规模。该团队包括英国和印度研究激子太阳能电池的领先科学家。技能范围包括材料合成和加工、设备制造和建模、大面积薄膜的湿法加工以及光伏电池板的制造和测试。已经仔细考虑匹配和补充英国-印度网络两边的技能。此外，与英国和印度的工业合作伙伴的合作将允许获得新材料，基材等，并在现场进行示范光伏板的试验和测试。

This project is centred on the development of the materials, device structures, materials processing and PV-panel engineering of excitonic solar cells (ESCs). These have the potential to greatly reduce both materials and also manufacturing costs where the materials, such as organic semiconductors, dyes and metal oxides, can be processed onto low-cost flexible substrates at ambient temperature through direct printing techniques. A major cost reduction is expected to lie in much-reduced capital investment in large scale manufacturing plant in comparison with conventional high vacuum, high temperatures semiconductor processing. There are extensive research programs in the UK and India developing these devices with the objective of the increase in PV efficiency through improved understanding of the fundamental processes occurring in these optoelectronic composites. However, there has been less activity in the UK and India on establishing from this science base a scalable, commercially viable processing protocol for excitonic solar cells. The scope of this UK-India call enables research and development to be undertaken which can pull together the set of activities to enable manufacturing application, and this extends beyond the usual scope of funding schemes accessible to the investigators. This project tackles the challenge to create cost-effective excitonic solar cells through three components: new material synthesis of lower cost materials; processing and development of device (nano)architectures compatible with low process costs; and the scale up towards prototypes which can replicate solar cell performance achieved in the research phase. The team includes leading scientists in the UK and India working on excitonic solar cells. Skills range from material synthesis and processing, device fabrication and modelling, wet processing of large area thin films, and PV panel manufacture and testing. Careful consideration has been made to match and complement the skills on both sides of the UK-India network. Further to this, engagement with industrial partners in both the UK and India will allow access to new materials, substrates etc., and access to trials and testing of demonstration PV panels in the field.