International summer school Quantsol conveys basics of photovoltaics and solar energy conversion
For the sixth year in a row, future solar researchers are invited to attend the HZB’s International Summer School on Photovoltaics and New Concepts of Quantum Solar Energy Conversion – Quantsol. The summer school program is scheduled for September 8th through the 15th in Hirschegg, Austria, and has been organized jointly by the Helmholtz Centre Berlin and Ilmenau Technical University. All interested parties are welcome to apply before May 26, 2013.
“Over the last few years, Quantsol has established itself as a definite must for future solar researchers,” says HZB’s Prof. Dr. Klaus Lips. “The program’s intended audi-ence includes master's students in their last year of study, Ph.D. students, and post-docs and is an excellent introduction to pertinent photovoltaic topics.”
Experts from leading international research institutes and universities will be presenting the processes underlying the conversion of solar energy into chemical and electrical energy. At the same time, they are also addressing their technical application potential. Yet another focus is on different types of materials for photovoltaics. The researchers will also be presenting special analytic tools for characterizing solar cells and discuss them in-depth with participants.
All who are interested are encouraged to register for the Quantsol summer school program no later than May 26, 2013. Additional information about the program and the registration process can be found on the school's homepage.
- Electrocatalysts: New model for charge separation at the solid-liquid interfaceHydrogen is at the heart of the transition to carbon neutrality, as both an energy carrier and a reagent for green chemistry. However, large-scale production of hydrogen via electrolysis, as well as the production of many other chemical products, requires significantly cheaper and more efficient catalysts. A precise understanding of the electrochemical processes that take place at the interface between the solid catalyst and the liquid medium is highly useful for developing better electrocatalysts. In the journal Nature Communications, an European team has now presented a powerful model that determines charge separation at the interface, the formation of the electric double layer and local electric potential variations, and the resulting influence on the catalytic activity.
- Theory meets practice – We’re heading back to HTW Berlin!The HZB’s BIPV consultancy office (BAIP) is once again coordinating and delivering the lecture series “Building-Integrated Photovoltaics”.
- AI-driven Catalyst Discovery: €30 million funding for German consortiumSix partners from research and industry, including Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), the Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max Planck Society (FHI), BASF, Dunia Innovations, Siemens Energy, and the Technical University Berlin are launching a joint project to accelerate the catalyst discovery. The German Federal Ministry for Science, Technology and Space (BMFTR) is providing €30 million in funding for ASCEND (Accelerated Solutions for Catalysis using Emerging Nanotechnology and Digital Innovation). The research initiative targets the defossilisation of energy-intensive industries while safeguarding industrial competitiveness, with a focus on the chemical sector. The five-year project will start on 1st April 2026.