Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101252
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$321,000.00
Summary
Passivating Cadmium free Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cell by contact engineering. The project aims to develop new solar cells made of low cost abundant elements. The cells are cadmium-free copper zinc tin sulphide (CZTS) cells formed by rear contact passivation and damage-free evaporated front layers. CZTS has the same efficiency potential as current commercial copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) cells, but consists of low cost, abundant elements. Concepts and methods will be developed for passivatio ....Passivating Cadmium free Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cell by contact engineering. The project aims to develop new solar cells made of low cost abundant elements. The cells are cadmium-free copper zinc tin sulphide (CZTS) cells formed by rear contact passivation and damage-free evaporated front layers. CZTS has the same efficiency potential as current commercial copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) cells, but consists of low cost, abundant elements. Concepts and methods will be developed for passivation of CZTS solar cells via both back and front contact engineering. The cadmium- free buffer layer will be investigated and the application of CZTS will be expanded. This work may be applied to CIGS improvement and could give CZTS materials a significant role in the rapidly growing photovoltaic industry.Read moreRead less
Advanced metallisation for III-V Photovoltaic Solar Power Systems. This project aims to augment the overall electrical efficiency of concentrator photovoltaic solar systems that provide large-scale generation of cheap, clean electricity. Existing concentrator solar cells are highly efficient (>40%) but their performance is hampered by thick front-metal contacts that shade the cell. The project is expected to develop a new concentrator solar cell metalisation and insulation technology. The benefi ....Advanced metallisation for III-V Photovoltaic Solar Power Systems. This project aims to augment the overall electrical efficiency of concentrator photovoltaic solar systems that provide large-scale generation of cheap, clean electricity. Existing concentrator solar cells are highly efficient (>40%) but their performance is hampered by thick front-metal contacts that shade the cell. The project is expected to develop a new concentrator solar cell metalisation and insulation technology. The benefit of the project will be a direct increase in the system efficiency and simplified manufacturing of the concentrator solar receiver, which in turn reduces the cost of the concentrator power plant constructed by our Australian project partner RayGen Resources Pty Ltd.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100026
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$480,000.00
Summary
A surface characterisation facility. This surface characterisation facility will provide scientists with an understanding of material's surfaces and interfaces. This will lead to a range of new technologies and innovative solutions required to address the many resource and environmental challenges facing our planet now and in the future.
Defect engineering in molecular beam epitaxy-grown mercury cadmium telluride. This project aims to develop high quality mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) materials with lower defect density and lower background doping levels. This will enable future, high-performance, lower-cost infrared sensors with the unique features of higher yield, larger array size and higher operating temperature. The project will generate new science and technologies on defect engineering in the epitaxial growth of sem ....Defect engineering in molecular beam epitaxy-grown mercury cadmium telluride. This project aims to develop high quality mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) materials with lower defect density and lower background doping levels. This will enable future, high-performance, lower-cost infrared sensors with the unique features of higher yield, larger array size and higher operating temperature. The project will generate new science and technologies on defect engineering in the epitaxial growth of semiconducting HgCdTe on cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) substrates. This will contribute to the development of core Australian industry sectors such as defence, environmental monitoring, medical imaging, earth remote sensing, mining, and oil and gas.Read moreRead less
Cadmium telluride/Germanium (CdTe/Ge) tandem-junction solar cells for efficiency enhancement in thin-film photovoltaics. The purpose of this project is to improve the efficiency of large-area, thin-film CdTe solar cells by using them in a tandem arrangement with thin-film Ge cells. An increase of 25 per cent in efficiency appears possible, which would greatly improve the prospects for cost-competitive photovoltaic power generation.
Bandgap engineered mercury cadmium telluride heterostructures on gallium antimonide alternative substrates. This project aims to develop bandgap engineered mercury cadmium telluride heterostructures on gallium antimonide alternative substrates to enable high performance lower-cost infrared sensors with high yield, large array size, multiband detection and higher operating temperature. High performance infrared sensors and systems are core enabling technologies in civilian and defence application ....Bandgap engineered mercury cadmium telluride heterostructures on gallium antimonide alternative substrates. This project aims to develop bandgap engineered mercury cadmium telluride heterostructures on gallium antimonide alternative substrates to enable high performance lower-cost infrared sensors with high yield, large array size, multiband detection and higher operating temperature. High performance infrared sensors and systems are core enabling technologies in civilian and defence applications such as remote sensing, environmental monitoring, night vision and national security. This project expects to research into defect generation mechanisms in epitaxial growth of semiconducting mercury cadmium telluride on lattice mismatched substrates. This is expected to contribute to Australian industry sectors, thereby benefiting the Australian economy, society, environment, and national security.Read moreRead less
High quality copper-zinc-tin-sulphide absorber by one-stage reactive sputtering technology: a route to high efficiency/low cost thin film solar cells. International studies show that electricity from solar cells is one of the cleanest future energy sources, able to almost completely displace fossil fuels. This project, proposed to fulfil such a key role, targets greatly improved efficiency/cost ratio, by producing high quality CZTS thin film absorbers with a cost-effective fabrication technique.
HgCdSe: A novel II-VI semiconductor material for next generation infrared technologies. High performance infrared sensors and systems represent core technologies in various civilian and defence applications such as remote sensing, environment monitoring, night vision and national security. The goal of this project is to develop new mercury cadmium selenide-based materials on gallium antimonide substrates for future high performance infrared sensors with the unique features of low cost, large arr ....HgCdSe: A novel II-VI semiconductor material for next generation infrared technologies. High performance infrared sensors and systems represent core technologies in various civilian and defence applications such as remote sensing, environment monitoring, night vision and national security. The goal of this project is to develop new mercury cadmium selenide-based materials on gallium antimonide substrates for future high performance infrared sensors with the unique features of low cost, large array size, room temperature operation as well as multiband detection. The outcomes of this project will lead to new science and next generation infrared sensors of benefit to Australian industry and defence technology. Read moreRead less
Copper-zinc-tin-sulphide thin film solar cells: earth-abundant, non-toxic alternative for terawatt photovoltaics. To allow large scale implementation of photovoltaics at multi-terawatt level for a low carbon emission future, technologies are required which are high in efficiency, cheap to produce, use abundant and benign materials. This project is devoted to developing such thin film solar cells by low-cost methods, which are scalable to mass production.
A new defect-control approach for mismatched heteroepitaxy semiconductors. This project aims to develop a new defect-control approach for silicon-germanium heteroepitaxial semiconductor systems to provide a route for high-throughput, low-cost, high-efficiency silicon tandem solar cells. Mismatched heteroepitaxy of semiconductors is of considerable interest for fabricating novel devices. However, the use of highly-mismatched heteroepitaxial semiconductors has been limited due to the high densitie ....A new defect-control approach for mismatched heteroepitaxy semiconductors. This project aims to develop a new defect-control approach for silicon-germanium heteroepitaxial semiconductor systems to provide a route for high-throughput, low-cost, high-efficiency silicon tandem solar cells. Mismatched heteroepitaxy of semiconductors is of considerable interest for fabricating novel devices. However, the use of highly-mismatched heteroepitaxial semiconductors has been limited due to the high densities of crystal defects which degrade the performance of both majority and minority carrier devices. This project aims to develop a new defect-control approach for heteroepitaxial semiconductors by continuous wavelength diode laser processing. With heteroepitaxial silicon-germanium as an example, the project will investigate the mechanism underlying defect-cleaning, optimised designs for best performance, and designs for high-efficiency tandem solar cells.Read moreRead less