I-Corps: Solution-Processing of Earth-Abundant Solar Thin-Films

该项目旨在进一步开发一种制备薄膜太阳能电池材料的化学方法的原型。该团队开发了一种沉积工艺，使用由高度丰富的无毒元素组成的原材料来生产环保和低成本的太阳能电池。原型开发将涉及几个过程同时发生和协同作用的流动反应器。该团队将寻求进一步了解该方法的热流、化学扩散、反应动力学、表面成核、粘度效应和反应副产品。如果开发成功，这项技术将通过显著降低太阳能电池的生产成本来促进太阳能生产的采用。广泛采用太阳能是减少气候变化负面影响的全球努力的一个关键因素，这项技术可以在利用太阳能减少对化石燃料来源的依赖方面发挥突出作用。

This project is designed to further develop a prototype for a chemical method for making a thin film solar cell material. The team has developed a deposition process using raw materials composed of highly abundant and non-toxic elements to produce an environmentally-friendly and low-cost solar cell. Prototype development will involve flow-through reactors where several processes happen simultaneously and synergistically. The team will be looking to further understand the heat flow, chemical diffusion, reaction kinetics, surface nucleation, viscosity effects and reaction byproducts of the method.If successfully developed, this technology could facilitate adoption of solar energy production by significantly reducing solar cell production costs. Broad adoption of solar is a key element in the global effort to reduce the negative effects of climate change and this technology could play a prominent role in leveraging solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuel sources.