R2R-3G · Towards Roll-to-Roll Production of Third Generation Solar Cells

Towards Roll-to-Roll Production of Third Generation Solar Cells

The world energetic demand keeps growing and it is expected to be 850 Quadrillion Btu in 2040. The traditional energetic technology based on fossil fuels can solve the actual demand but it cannot assure the future consumption. In addition, the use of these technologies produces harmful effects for the environment affecting the human life quality and other living beings. This energetic demand problem has especial relevance in Europe since it imports more than half of the energy it consumes making it vulnerable to external suppliers. Europe is working to invert this situation with programs like EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation with the challenge “Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy” in Horizon 2020 program. It is accepted that the energy solution will be a combination of technologies based on fossil fuels with a progressive increment in the use of renewable energies. The photovoltaic technology will be an important part of a multi-component solution due to the fact that the solar energy is the biggest renewable source reaching the Earth crust with a total energy amount of 23.000 TW/year. Also, this technology can be implemented in urban areas such as roofs, building surfaces or other areas as fallow land, deserts, etc. This makes photovoltaic technology suitable for the development of smart cities. The photovoltaic technologies have achieved important advances in the efficiency-cost ratio but they still need some more effort to be competitive in the actual energetic market. The scientific community is tackling this challenge with different approaches. Current photovoltaic technologies based on Silicon wafer - also called first generation - require more effort for increasing the efficiency/cost ratio of the solar panel. The actual tendencies value different alternatives. Some of these alternatives are based on: 1) the use of thin films - also called second generation - using Earth crust abundant materials for the active layer; 2) less expensive manufacturing protocols based on Roll-to-Roll processes and/or 3) the use of new solar cell architectures such as nanowires (NWs) (also called third generation), photonic crystals, monolayers, etc. The milestone of the photovoltaic technologies should be related with a mixture of these tendencies. The overall objective of R2R-3G project is to combine two of these approaches based on the use of highly efficient NWs solar technology and vacuum Roll-to-Roll processes.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз