Register now: Smart City - Interdisciplinary conference on solar energy and architecture
"INNOVATION IN SOLAR BUILDING SKINS & ENERGY EFFICIENCY TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE CITIES" will take place in Berlin March 19th-20th.
Experts from the construction industry, photovoltaic research field, and the financial sector will discuss innovative solutions for solar facades in combination with energy efficiency in buildings and cities in Berlin, March 19th-20th, 2018. Photovoltaics integrated into buildings represent an important component for energy-efficient cities of the future.
Online registration is open until wednesday 14th March. Students are admitted for a reduced fee.
About 75 percent of the population in Europe already lives in cities. Buildings, facades, and streets offer large surfaces that can be used to produce climate-friendly energy through photovoltaics. At the same time, buildings can also house various kinds of storage media for renewable energy and thus help stabilise the power grid.
Experts from the fields of architecture and photovoltaic research will discuss what kind of innovations are particularly promising and where there is a need for further research at this joint conference in Berlin. Economic, legal, and political aspects will also be addressed. Lecturers include renowned international experts from the fields of architecture, urban planning, and research as well as representatives from the financial sector and politics.
The European SETA network (Sustainability, Energy, Technology, Architecture) and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) invite you to the conference from March 19th-20th, 2018. The HZB is one of the leading European research institutions in the field of photovoltaics. SETA Network is active in the fields of innovation strategies for energy efficiency in buildings and cities, in solar building envelopes, renewable energies – in particular photovoltaics – and in the construction sector. The European Technology & Innovation Platform Photovoltaics (ETIP PV) is supporting the conference.
Register here
More information about the conference and the speakers
Contact: bipv@helmholtz-berlin.de
- 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.
- Joint Kyiv Energy and Climate Lab goes liveHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy established on 27 November a Joint Energy and Climate Lab.
- Long-term stability for perovskite solar cells: a big step forwardPerovskite solar cells are inexpensive to produce and generate a high amount of electric power per surface area. However, they are not yet stable enough, losing efficiency more rapidly than the silicon market standard. Now, an international team led by Prof. Dr. Antonio Abate has dramatically increased their stability by applying a novel coating to the interface between the surface of the perovskite and the top contact layer. This has even boosted efficiency to almost 27%, which represents the state-of-the-art. After 1,200 hours of continuous operation under standard illumination, no decrease in efficiency was observed. The study involved research teams from China, Italy, Switzerland and Germany and has been published in Nature Photonics.