PV-lab

The laboratory of photovoltaics and thin-films electronics (PV-lab) of IEM, founded in 1984 by Prof. Arvind Shah and headed by Prof. Christophe Ballif since 2004, has pioneered several new processes for the preparation of thin-film silicon, such as the introduction of very high frequency (VHF) plasma deposition and microcrystalline silicon as an efficient photovoltaic material, and simple processing of heterojunction crystalline cells. Current activities of the laboratory cover a broad spectrum, ranging from fundamental research to industrial technology transfer. The lab masters processes of device fabrication for a wide variety of transparent conductive oxides, thin-film solar cells and high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells. It also has expertise for specialty detectors. It has full facilities for packaging of PV products. It has been designated as a center of national importance by the Swiss Federal Office for Energy.

PV-lab is a founding partner of the CSEM PV-center, which started operation in 2013 with a focus on technology transfer, and industrialisation of technologies.

LATEST NEWS

© 2024, EUPVSEC

One conference, two awards – EUPVSEC 2024 Vienna!

— Big congratulations to Marie Courtant from EPFL PV-lab for winning a Best Oral Presentation Student Award at #EUPVSEC2024 in Vienna for her work on "Novel Colorimetry Approach for Building Integrated Photovoltaics" as part of the Increase project and Dr. Reyu Sakakibara for winning a Best Poster Award with her poster '' Investigating Interfacial Phenomena in Copper-Covered, n-Type Polysilicon-Based Contacts by Electron Microscopy'' a part of the COMET project supported by the Swiss Federal Office for Energy.

© 2024 BKW

Paru dans la feuille d'avis de Courtelary le 13.09.2024

— Paru dans la feuille d’avis de Courtelary le 13.09.2024 « Je travaille depuis 30 ans dans le photovoltaïque : la Suisse devrait installer de nombreux parcs éoliens ! «

© 2024, Wiley

Paper alert – intrinsic performance loss rate of PV systems!

— Happy to share our new article 'Intrinsic performance loss rate: Decoupling reversible and irreversible losses for an improved assessment of photovoltaic system performance', published in Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications. This study discusses the integration of fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) with performance loss rate (PLR) evaluations of PV systems to filter out reversible losses like shading, snow and downtime, which can bias PLR estimates.

© 2024, ACS AM&I

Paper alert – Blade-Coating of High Crystallinity CsFA perovskites!

— PV-Lab is happy to share that our latest paper "Blade-Coating of High Crystallinity Cesium-Formamidinium Perovskite Formulations" has been published in ACS AM&I! This work has been dedicated to the transfer of the optimized Cs0.15FA0.85PbI3 film deposition from a lab-scale process to a more industrially compatible coating method, i.e., blade-coating on the way to scaling up for perovskite solar cells. 

© 2024, CH

The Swissvacuum Prize for Outstanding Thesis in the Field of Vacuum

— he Swissvacuum Prize for Outstanding Thesis in the Field of Vacuum, awarded almost annually since 2013, has announced its 2023 laureate: Caroline Hain. Caroline was honoured for her research in Plasma-Assisted Hybrid Vapour Deposition Technology for Thin Film Fabrication, which she performed in collaboration between EPFL’s PV-Lab and BFH’s group for Plasma Surface Engineering under the joint supervision of Dr. Aïcha Hessler-Wyser and Dr. Thomas Nelis, respectively.

© 2024, SNEC PV+

Global solar scientist award to Christophe!

— During the conference, the second "Global Solar Leaders" award ceremony was held. The awards were divided into two categories: Global Solar Energy Leader and Global Solar Scientist. Christophe Ballif was recognized as a "Global Solar Scientist," along with other distinguished scientists such as Martin Green, Pierre Verlinden, Shen Hui, and Xu Xixiang…

Presentation of the Soleva campervan at the "PVinMotion2024" conference, organized by CSEM © CSEM

Self-powered solar campervan embarks on Swiss tour

— The Swiss technology innovation center CSEM has announced that Soleva, a campervan powered by 100% self-produced solar energy, has begun a tour of Switzerland. The project of EPFL alumni, the campervan is equipped with lightweight solar panel technology developed by CSEM in collaboration with EPFL's Thin-Film Photovoltaics Lab (PV-Lab).

Solar energy, which is both abundant and free, is poised to become the world’s leading power source by 2050. © iStock

The bright future of solar energy

— Solar energy, which is both abundant and free, is poised to become the world’s leading power source by 2050. That’s thanks largely to technological advances and the unbridled manufacturing of solar cells, which bodes well for a successful energy transition.

© 2024 Elsevier

Latest Review Paper about colouring technologies for BIPV!

— PV-Lab is happy to share that our latest review paper "Colouring solutions for building integrated photovoltaic modules: A review" has been published in Energy and Buildings! This work gives an overview of the various colouring solutions for BIPV including processes, power losses, costs, reliability and measurement techniques.

© 2024 Joule

Paper alert – over 30%-efficient perovskite-Si(front-flat) tandems!

— PV-Lab is happy to share that our latest paper "Synergetic substrate and additive engineering for over 30%-efficient perovskite-Si tandem solar cells" has been published in Joule! The 30.9% certified solar cell, was also the first worldwide to be certified over 30% using a flat front silicon wafer!

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RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Improving the operational stability of perovskite solar cells with cesium-doped graphene oxide interlayer

M. Almalki; K. Anagnostou; K. Rogdakis; F. T. Eickemeyer; M. Othman et al. 

Journal Of Energy Chemistry. 2024-09-01. Vol. 96, p. 483-490. DOI : 10.1016/j.jechem.2024.04.037.

Correlating long-term performance and aging behaviour of building integrated PV modules

E. Ozkalay; A. Virtuani; G. Eder; Y. Voronko; P. Bonomo et al. 

Energy And Buildings. 2024-08-01. Vol. 316, p. 114252. DOI : 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114252.

From PV to EV: Mapping the Potential for Electric Vehicle Charging with Solar Energy in Europe

N. Jeannin; A. Pena Bello; J. Dumoulin; D. Wannier; C. Ballif et al. 

International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. 2024-06-19. Vol. 41, p. 45-57. DOI : 10.54337/ijsepm.8151.

Intrinsic performance loss rate: Decoupling reversible and irreversible losses for an improved assessment of photovoltaic system performance

H. Quest; C. Ballif; A. Virtuani 

Progress In Photovoltaics. 2024-06-17. DOI : 10.1002/pip.3829.

Alleviating nanostructural phase impurities enhances the optoelectronic properties, device performance and stability of cesium-formamidinium metal-halide perovskites

M. Othman; Q. Jeangros; D. A. Jacobs; M. H. Futscher; S. Zeiske et al. 

Energy & Environmental Science. 2024-05-09. DOI : 10.1039/d4ee00901k.

Stress tolerance of lightweight glass-free PV modules for vehicle integration

U. B. Desai; K. Nicolet; S. Prabhudesai; G. Cattaneo; J. Robin et al. 

Epj Photovoltaics. 2024-04-01. Vol. 15, p. 10. DOI : 10.1051/epjpv/2024003.

Nanostructure and Optical Property Tailoring of Zinc Tin Nitride Thin Films through Phenomenological Decoupling: A Pathway to Enhanced Control

C. Hain; K. Wieczerzak; D. Casari; A. Sharma; A. Xomalis et al. 

Acs Applied Nano Materials. 2024-03-11. Vol. 7, num. 6, p. 6242–6252. DOI : 10.1021/acsanm.3c06178.

Characterization of a flexible a-Si:H detector for in vivo dosimetry in therapeutic x-ray beams

M. J. Large; A. Bashiri; Y. Dookie; J. McNamara; L. Antognini et al. 

Medical Physics. 2024-03-03. DOI : 10.1002/mp.17013.

The effect of partial shading on the reliability of photovoltaic modules in the built-environment

E. Ozkalay; F. Valoti; M. Caccivio; A. Virtuani; G. Friesen et al. 

Epj Photovoltaics. 2024-02-28. Vol. 15, p. 7. DOI : 10.1051/epjpv/2024001.

A Universal Perovskite/C60 Interface Modification via Atomic Layer Deposited Aluminum Oxide for Perovskite Solar Cells and Perovskite-Silicon Tandems

K. Artuk; D. Turkay; M. D. Mensi; J. A. Steele; D. A. Jacobs et al. 

Advanced Materials. 2024-02-19. DOI : 10.1002/adma.202311745.