Steve Albrecht is Junior Professor at the Technical University of Berlin
Steve Albrecht is heading the junior investigator group "Perovskit Tandem Solar Cells" at the HZB. © A. Kubatzki/HZB
The Technische Universität Berlin (TU) and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have appointed Prof. Dr. Steve Albrecht to the joint junior professorship "perovskite solar cells" as of December 15, 2018. Since 2016, Albrecht has headed the junior investigator group "Perovskit Tandem Solar Cells" at the HZB, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
With his team of 11, Albrecht researches and develops tandem solar cells that combine the advantages of silicon and perovskite solar cells. If both materials are combined to tandem solar cells, a larger part of the light spectrum can be converted. This increases efficiency. The junior research group recently succeeded in increasing the efficiency of perovskite silicon tandem solar cells to 25.5 percent.
Steve Albrecht will also take on teaching responsibilities at the TU Berlin as part of his junior professorship, including supervising a perovskite internship for students at the HZB.
Albrecht studied and completed his PhD in physics at the University of Potsdam. For his dissertation on organic solar cells he was awarded the Carl Ramsauer Prize of the German Physical Society and the Young Investigators Prize of the Leibniz-Kolleg Potsdam.
At the end of 2014, Albrecht joined the HZB as a postdoctoral researcher and established the research field perovskite solar cells at the center. In 2017, together with Eva Unger, he was in charge of setting up the infrastructure for the HySPRINT Perwoskit Laboratory at the HZB. Today, 40 users work here, producing and characterizing perovskite layers for solar cells using various techniques and methods.
- 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.
- 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.