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

该项目集中于激子太阳能电池(ESCs)的材料、器件结构、材料加工和光伏电池板工程的开发。这有可能极大地降低材料和制造成本，在这种情况下，有机半导体、染料和金属氧化物等材料可以通过直接打印技术在常温下加工到低成本的柔性基板上。与传统的高真空、高温半导体加工相比，大型制造厂的资本投资预计将大幅减少，这将大大降低成本。英国和印度都有广泛的研究计划来开发这些设备，目的是通过更好地了解这些光电复合材料中发生的基本过程来提高光伏效率。然而，英国和印度在从这一科学基础上建立一种可扩展的、商业上可行的激子太阳能电池处理方案方面的活动较少。这一英国-印度呼吁的范围使研究和开发能够将一系列活动结合在一起，使制造应用成为可能，这超出了调查人员通常可以获得的资助计划的范围。该项目通过三个部分解决了创造高性价比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)结构的加工和开发；以及向能够复制研究阶段太阳能电池性能的原型的扩展。该团队包括英国和印度致力于激子太阳能电池的顶尖科学家。技能包括材料合成和加工、器件制造和建模、大面积薄膜的湿法加工以及光伏面板的制造和测试。为了匹配和补充英国-印度网络两端的技能，已经进行了仔细的考虑。此外，与英国和印度的工业合作伙伴的接触将允许获得新材料、基板等，并获得现场示范光伏电池板的试验和测试。

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.