The €5m project, known as Cheops, looks to develop the solar cells using perovskite PV technology, which would be low-cost and extremely efficient.
The project will also advance the perovskite PV technology initial trials to industrial and commercial levels.
Salford CHEOPS project principal investigator Dr Heather Yates said: "As researchers, we may get excited when we achieve a new efficiency record with a small cell of about 1cm2 but to prove this technology we need modules of at least 15cm2 and we need them to be stable."
The researchers will employ atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition (APCVD) to produce large-scale thin films which make up the perovskite cell.
The team will also consider ways to produce films using tools, techniques and procedures to implement in an industrial environment.
Additionally, the Cheops project involves the production of tandem cells, which can harvest a broader spectrum of light to increase efficiency, approaching the 30% range. This is achieved by placing a perovskite cell on top of a conventional silicon-based cell.
Co-funded by the European research and innovation program Horizon 2020, the Switzerland’s Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM)-led Cheops project is planned to be completed in January 2019.
The project partners include the University of Oxford, La Universita degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research and Oxford Photovoltaics, among others.
Image: The Cheops project intends to upscale the perovskite PV technology initial trials to industrial and commercial levels. Photo: courtesy of University of Salford.
