Great Interest in the HySPRINT Industry Day: Joining forces to advance perovskite solar cells
No fewer than 70 participants attended the first Industry Day of the Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT devoted to the topic of perovskite solar cells at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) on 13 October 2017. This far exceeded the expectations of the event hosts. The knowledge shared on Industry Day will serve as the basis for deepening the collaboration even further with strategically important companies in the scope of HySPRINT.
“Seeing the industry partners’ active participation was very gratifying. We could feel in the lively discussions how there is great interest on both sides to collaborate even more closely on technology transfer,” says Dr. Stefan Gall, project manager of the Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT (“Hybrid Silicon Perovskite Research, Integration & Novel Technologies”). On the Industry Day, eight companies presented those topics that especially interest them. “From this, certain problems emerged that we are now going to work on targetedly with our industrial partners.”
The focus of this Industry Day was perovskite solar cells, an especially promising class of materials. Since 2009, their efficiency has been increased from just under 4 percent to more than 20 percent. In the scope of HySPRINT, several HZB institutes and young investigator groups are working on improving the efficiency and longevity of perovskite solar cells. Yet another important aim of HySPRINT is to upscale the process technology, given that perovskite solar cells have only ever been produced on a laboratory scale over small surface areas so far.
The Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT was founded in 2017 under the management of HZB. It is one of seven Helmholtz Innovation Labs with which the Helmholtz Association intends to boost technology transfer. HySPRINT is essentially financed from the President’s Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association.
For Dr. Martin Kamprath, a programme manager of the Helmholtz Association, this concept was validated on the first HySPRINT Industry Day. “The event was an exciting prelude to the HySPRINT LAB, during which industrial partners and scientists got together as equals. HySPRINT could become THE germ cell in which perovskite solar cells are developed to market maturity.”
Given the positive feedback, the HySPRINT Industry Day will from now on continue to be held once a year.
Companies with short presentations on the HySPRINT Industry Day:
Aleo Solar, Fluxim, FOM Technologies, JCM Wave, Kurt. J. Lesker Company, LIMO Lissotschenko Mikrooptik, Oxford PV, PI Berlin
- The twisted nanotubes that tell a storyIn collaboration with scientists in Germany, EPFL researchers have demonstrated that the spiral geometry of tiny, twisted magnetic tubes can be leveraged to transmit data based on quasiparticles called magnons, rather than electrons.
- Bright prospects for tin perovskite solar cellsPerovskite solar cells are widely regarded as the next generation photovoltaic technology. However, they are not yet stable enough in the long term for widespread commercial use. One reason for this is migrating ions, which cause degradation of the semiconducting material over time. A team from HZB and the University of Potsdam has now investigated the ion density in four different, widely used perovskite compounds and discovered significant differences. Tin perovskite semiconductors produced with an alternative solvent had a particular low ion density — only one tenth that of lead perovskite semiconductors. This suggests that tin-based perovskites could be used to make solar cells that are not only really environmentally friendly but also very stable.
- Synchrotron radiation sources: toolboxes for quantum technologiesSynchrotron radiation sources generate highly brilliant light pulses, ranging from infrared to hard X-rays, which can be used to gain deep insights into complex materials. An international team has now published an overview on synchrotron methods for the further development of quantum materials and technologies in the journal Advanced Functional Materials: Using concrete examples, they show how these unique tools can help to unlock the potential of quantum technologies such as quantum computing, overcome production barriers and pave the way for future breakthroughs.