Solar News

Monday 15 February 2010

Excitonic solar cells are made from organic compounds, dyes, gels or liquids rather than silicon

UK and Indian ministers have unveiled plans for two multi-million pound research programmes to help develop more efficient and cheaper solar cells.

Research Councils UK (RCUK), a partnership of the UK's seven Research Councils, and the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST), have each committed up to £5 million over a three-year period for the two projects. The research is part of the RCUK Energy Programme led by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The first project aims to increase the efficiency and production of excitonic solar cells, which are made from organic compounds, dyes, gels or liquids rather than the conventional silicon.

Building on existing research in both the UK and India to advance cheaper and higher volume solar cell manufacture, RCUK and DST have each awarded £2.5 million to focus on the development of materials, structures, processing and photovoltaic panel engineering for the cells.

The second project concerns the stability and performance of photovoltaics, focusing on improving materials supply and developing better designs to create cheaper and more efficient devices than current solar cells. RCUK and DST have awarded £2.4 million each for this project.

UK minister for Business, Innovation and Skills Pat McFadden and Indian Minister for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which affirms their mutual interest in promoting long-term research, development and innovation cooperation.

This included funding from both departments to establish a networking scheme to enable UK-based scientists and Indian researchers to continue and consolidate collaborations. The scheme is set to start later this year.

Mr McFadden said that historic ties meant that the UK and India were "natural partners" for such projects, which he claimed would assist Indian plans to deploy 20 million solar lighting systems to 10,000 villages and hamlets currently without access to grid electricity.

"This major collaboration plays to our strengths, and will maximise our potential to lead the world in high-quality, low-cost solar cell technology," he said.

"As well as helping the UK to meet its 2020 goals, it will complement India's ambitious plans. This will spur advances in healthcare, education and productivity through the creation of new jobs."

Collaboration

Dr Neil Bateman, energy portfolio manager at the EPSRC, a Government-backed agency that funds research and training in engineering and the physical sciences, said: "These projects represent a new and exciting collaboration between some of the leading photovoltaics researchers in the UK and India.

"The research is targeted to push the science of solar energy towards cheaper, more reliable and sustainable electricity production in a wide variety of settings."