Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100531
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,000.00
Summary
Circular clean energy regulation to solve the PV solar waste crisis. This project aims to design a new analytical framework, circular clean energy regulation, to fundamentally re-orient renewable energy law from the accelerated uptake of new technologies to a lifecycle approach. This re-orientation is urgently needed because while Australia is world leading in its uptake of rooftop solar, 90% of used panels go to landfill as hazardous waste. This project will explore how circular clean energy re ....Circular clean energy regulation to solve the PV solar waste crisis. This project aims to design a new analytical framework, circular clean energy regulation, to fundamentally re-orient renewable energy law from the accelerated uptake of new technologies to a lifecycle approach. This re-orientation is urgently needed because while Australia is world leading in its uptake of rooftop solar, 90% of used panels go to landfill as hazardous waste. This project will explore how circular clean energy regulation can improve the management of solar waste to reap the significant environmental, security and health benefits associated with solar recycling and critical mineral recovery. Expected outcomes include a new circular model of regulating renewable technologies, and better regulation and recovery of solar waste.Read moreRead less
Lightly Loaded Energy Farm Foundations in Cracked Desiccated Soil. This project aims are to understand the effects of seasonal changes in moisture on piles in clayey soils that develop desiccation cracks during dry times of the year. The project is significant because the economics of energy farms requires low cost foundations for their viability, but current methods of foundation design require long piles to overcome uncertainties in capacity and serviceability when soil shrinks in dry periods ....Lightly Loaded Energy Farm Foundations in Cracked Desiccated Soil. This project aims are to understand the effects of seasonal changes in moisture on piles in clayey soils that develop desiccation cracks during dry times of the year. The project is significant because the economics of energy farms requires low cost foundations for their viability, but current methods of foundation design require long piles to overcome uncertainties in capacity and serviceability when soil shrinks in dry periods and swells in wetter periods. The main outcome of the project will be recommendations for the design of lightly loaded pile foundations in soils that shrink and swell significantly. The benefits will be the reduced risk and cost associated with the geotechnical aspects of foundation design.Read moreRead less
Enabling technology unlocking full potential of high bandgap chalcopyrite . This project is aimed at solving the fundamental challenges of high bandgap chalcopyrite light-harvesting material to unlock its full potential as the top cell for photovoltaic tandem cell and the photocathode for photoelectrochemical applications. This will be realised by dynamic optimisation of its performance in photovoltaic solar cell device through understanding of its defects origins, enabling defects controlling t ....Enabling technology unlocking full potential of high bandgap chalcopyrite . This project is aimed at solving the fundamental challenges of high bandgap chalcopyrite light-harvesting material to unlock its full potential as the top cell for photovoltaic tandem cell and the photocathode for photoelectrochemical applications. This will be realised by dynamic optimisation of its performance in photovoltaic solar cell device through understanding of its defects origins, enabling defects controlling technologies, and microscopic carrier loss mechanism analysis via systematic macro-to-micro characterisations combined with 3D device simulation. The project completion will reinforce the next-generation tandem cell and photoelectrochemical technologies with the efficient, stable, RoHS-compliant and thin chalcopyrite devices.Read moreRead less
Luminescence-based imaging system for industrial tandem solar cells. This project aims to develop an Australian-made inspection system for next-generation solar cells. Besides allowing, for the first time, fast measurements of large-size tandem solar cells, the system will also enable the determination of key parameters that cannot be measured by current methods. This capability is expected to generate new knowledge in the areas of perovskite and tandem solar cells.
The expected outcomes include ....Luminescence-based imaging system for industrial tandem solar cells. This project aims to develop an Australian-made inspection system for next-generation solar cells. Besides allowing, for the first time, fast measurements of large-size tandem solar cells, the system will also enable the determination of key parameters that cannot be measured by current methods. This capability is expected to generate new knowledge in the areas of perovskite and tandem solar cells.
The expected outcomes include the development of new characterisation methods for advanced solar cells and improvement of their quality, as well as enhancing Australian capabilities in building sophisticated characterisation instruments. This should provide benefits such as cheaper solar energy and the development of local inspection industry.Read moreRead less
High performance durable perovskite solar cells for space applications . There has been a rapid growth in space exploration and experimentation fuelled by global support. Space hardware needs to be powered by a sustainable source of energy. The use of solar photovoltaics is the preferred choice. As we move into the era of 'commercial space', cost will become paramount necessitating the development of new cost effective photovoltaic technologies. Metal halide perovskite solar cells show the great ....High performance durable perovskite solar cells for space applications . There has been a rapid growth in space exploration and experimentation fuelled by global support. Space hardware needs to be powered by a sustainable source of energy. The use of solar photovoltaics is the preferred choice. As we move into the era of 'commercial space', cost will become paramount necessitating the development of new cost effective photovoltaic technologies. Metal halide perovskite solar cells show the greatest potential. They have a higher power to weight ratio and are significantly cheaper to be manufactured compared to incumbent space cells. This project aims to develop and demonstrate perovskite solar cells to achieve high areal power conversion efficiencies and long operating lifetimes withstanding space environment. Read moreRead less
Anodisation methods and materials for solar water splitting. This project aims to convert and chemically store solar energy as hydrogen. Photoactive materials could harness solar energy. With fabrication methods, these thin films often suffer from poor charge transport and stability, hindering their wider application. Fabrication by anodization could potentially overcome these problems. This project will develop thin film fabrication methods based on anodization that synthesise robust, nanostruc ....Anodisation methods and materials for solar water splitting. This project aims to convert and chemically store solar energy as hydrogen. Photoactive materials could harness solar energy. With fabrication methods, these thin films often suffer from poor charge transport and stability, hindering their wider application. Fabrication by anodization could potentially overcome these problems. This project will develop thin film fabrication methods based on anodization that synthesise robust, nanostructured films with efficient compositions and structures. This will lead to photoelectrodes for efficient solar hydrogen generation, crucial for a sustainable energy future. It will also develop general design principles for photoelectrodes for devices.Read moreRead less
Overcoming the inherent instability of photocatalyst to produce solar fuels. This project aims to develop innovative materials engineering methods to suppress the intrinsic instability of novel photoactive semiconductor materials that are promising candidates for harnessing solar energy from water or industrial waste water. A number of potentially impactful photoactive materials are currently suffering from chemical- and photo-dissolution, thus hindering their practical applications. Attaining f ....Overcoming the inherent instability of photocatalyst to produce solar fuels. This project aims to develop innovative materials engineering methods to suppress the intrinsic instability of novel photoactive semiconductor materials that are promising candidates for harnessing solar energy from water or industrial waste water. A number of potentially impactful photoactive materials are currently suffering from chemical- and photo-dissolution, thus hindering their practical applications. Attaining fundamental knowledge on charge interaction at electrolyte-semiconductor interfaces will be crucial in developing the next generation of highly efficient photochemical systems in solar fuels applications.Read moreRead less
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
Stable perovskite-unlocking the full potential of low-cost solar cells. Despite impressive conversion efficiency, the perovskites' poor stability impedes their commercialization. This project aims to develop strategies for stable perovskite solar cells. This will be realized by a thorough understanding of the degradation origins with stimuli, and development of degradation mitigation strategies including materials and interfaces engineering, defect control and passivation, synergized by a system ....Stable perovskite-unlocking the full potential of low-cost solar cells. Despite impressive conversion efficiency, the perovskites' poor stability impedes their commercialization. This project aims to develop strategies for stable perovskite solar cells. This will be realized by a thorough understanding of the degradation origins with stimuli, and development of degradation mitigation strategies including materials and interfaces engineering, defect control and passivation, synergized by a systematic degradation evaluation, state-of-art multi-scale material and device characterizations and device modeling providing feedback for optimization. The project will bring new scientific findings, key technological step-change solutions, unlocking the full potential of perovskites for cheaper photovoltaic technologies.
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Harmonic suppression and delay compensation for inverters. The aim of this project is to use variable prediction horizon nonlinear model predictive control to achieve near perfect harmonic suppression for inverters in the face of realistic and unavoidable switching delays. Other aims include further performance improvement based on the application of Kalman observer, and extension of the ideas to a variety of switching topologies and validation of the results by simulation and experiments. The i ....Harmonic suppression and delay compensation for inverters. The aim of this project is to use variable prediction horizon nonlinear model predictive control to achieve near perfect harmonic suppression for inverters in the face of realistic and unavoidable switching delays. Other aims include further performance improvement based on the application of Kalman observer, and extension of the ideas to a variety of switching topologies and validation of the results by simulation and experiments. The intended main outcome of the project is the development of a methodology for non-interfering operation of inverters, particularly, in grid connected applications. This is expected to facilitate a further integration of renewable energy and highly efficient power utilisation. Both factors are crucial in the sustainable clean energy future.Read moreRead less