PV-lab

The laboratory of photovoltaics and thin-films electronics (PV-lab) of IEM, founded in 1984 by Prof. Arvind Shah and headed by Prof. Christophe Ballif since 2004, has pioneered several new processes for the preparation of thin-film silicon, such as the introduction of very high frequency (VHF) plasma deposition and microcrystalline silicon as an efficient photovoltaic material, and simple processing of heterojunction crystalline cells. Current activities of the laboratory cover a broad spectrum, ranging from fundamental research to industrial technology transfer. The lab masters processes of device fabrication for a wide variety of transparent conductive oxides, thin-film solar cells and high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells. It also has expertise for specialty detectors. It has full facilities for packaging of PV products. It has been designated as a center of national importance by the Swiss Federal Office for Energy.

PV-lab is a founding partner of the CSEM PV-center, which started operation in 2013 with a focus on technology transfer, and industrialisation of technologies.

LATEST NEWS

© 2023 CSEM

A busy Media and events week September 4-10 !

— The week 4th to the 10th was a remarkably busy week! It ended with an interview with Prof. Ballif during RTS Forum (09.09.2023) about fire, pollution, and PV systems. Discover the life interview at Avis dexperts. On 08.09.2023, the opening of the largest ground PV plant in Switzerland was inaugurated in Varo (cressier), in presence of the Federal Councilor Albert Rösti, with a demonstration system including Swiss PV technologies. See the short interview on RTS 1930 (19h30 – Play RTS) or the article of Arc info (Le conseiller fédéral Albert Rösti inaugure la centrale solaire la plus puissante de Suisse à Cressier (arcinfo.ch).

© 2023 EPFL

Pilatus Horizon Europe project

— EPFL is proud to be part of the Pilatus Horizon Europe project about developing and demonstrating the production of high-efficiency silicon Heterojunction (SHJ) tunnel-Interdigitated Back Contact (tunnel-IBC) solar cells and modules.

© 2020, Meyer Burger

Becquerel Prize 2023 winner, Dr. Gunter Erfurt !

— Congratulations to Dr. Gunter Erfurt, CEO of Meyer Burger, for winning the prestigious Becquerel Prize 2023! 

© 2023 EPFL / CSEM

EPFL and CSEM Achieve Landmark Photovoltaic Efficiency Milestone

— Breakthrough in renewable energy technology offers promising path to cheaper and more efficient solar electricity with perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells.

© 2023 SiliconPV

Best Poster Award at SiliconPV 2023

— Dr. Franz-Josef Haug (HTPC group leader from EPFL PV-Lab) won the best poster award at the SiliconPV 2023 with his poster named 'Surface Recombination Velocity of the Si/SiOx Interface in Tunnel-Oxide'. Congratulations! 

© 2023, MIW

Metallization and Interconnection Workshop for Crystalline Solar Cell

— The 11th edition of the Metallization and Interconnection Workshop for Crystalline Solar Cells (MIW) will take place on May 8 & 9, 2023 in Neuchatel and is co-organized by EPFL PVlab and CSEM. 

© Ebrar Ozkalay / Swiss Photovoltaic Conference 2023

Best Poster Award in Swiss Photovoltaic Conference 2023

— Ebrar Ozkalay (Ph.D. student from EPFL PV-Lab and SUPSI PVLab) won the best poster award at the Swiss Photovoltaic Conference 2023 with his poster named 'Effect of satellite-derived insolation data on the accuracy of Performance Ration estimates'.

© 2023 EPFL

Paper Alert: Overview of key results of H2020 HighLite project

— Overview of key results achieved in H2020 HighLite project helping to raise the EU PV industries' competitiveness

© 2022 EPFL

Paper Alert: Daniel's big study on lateral ion migration

— Daniel's big study on lateral ion migration is finally out. Huge effort and very important results for all kinds of perovskite-containing optoelectronic devices. 

© 2022 EPFL

Solar is good but wind is also necessary !

— Winner of the Becquerel prize in 2016, Christophe Ballif has devoted a large part of his career to photovoltaic energy. Be careful, he warns, Switzerland must also bet on the wind.

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NEXT EVENTS

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RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Loss Analysis of a 24.4%-Efficient Front-Junction Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cell and Opportunity for Localized Contacts

M. Boccard; L. Antognini; J. Cattin; J. Dreon; W. Lin et al. 

Ieee Journal Of Photovoltaics. 2023-07-13. DOI : 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2023.3291050.

Interface passivation for 31.25%-efficient perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells

X. Y. Chin; D. Turkay; J. A. Steele; S. Tabean; S. Eswara et al. 

Science. 2023-07-07. Vol. 381, num. 6653, p. 59-62. DOI : 10.1126/science.adg0091.

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon high flux x-ray detectors for synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy

M. J. Large; M. Bizzarri; L. Calcagnile; M. Caprai; A. P. Caricato et al. 

Physics In Medicine And Biology. 2023-07-07. Vol. 68, num. 13, p. 135010. DOI : 10.1088/1361-6560/acdb43.

Neutron irradiation of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon p-i-n diodes and charge selective contacts detectors

M. Menichelli; M. Bizzarri; M. Boscardin; L. Calcagnile; M. Caprai et al. 

Nuclear Instruments & Methods In Physics Research Section A-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors And Associated Equipment. 2023-07-01. Vol. 1052, p. 168308. DOI : 10.1016/j.nima.2023.168308.

Distributed flexibility as a cost-effective alternative to grid reinforcement

J. Holweger; A. Pena-Bello; N. Jeannin; C. Ballif; N. Wyrsch 

Sustainable Energy Grids & Networks. 2023-06-01. Vol. 34, p. 101041. DOI : 10.1016/j.segan.2023.101041.

Understanding and Mitigating the Degradation of Perovskite Solar Cells Based on a Nickel Oxide Hole Transport Material during Damp Heat Testing

M. Dussouillez; S-J. Moon; M. Mensi; C. M. Wolff; Y. Liu et al. 

Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces. 2023-05-31. Vol. 15, num. 23, p. 27941-27951. DOI : 10.1021/acsami.3c02709.

Carrier generation and collection in Zn3P2/InP heterojunction solar cells

R. Paul; S. W. Tabernig; J. R. Sapera; J. Hurni; A. Tiede et al. 

Solar Energy Materials And Solar Cells. 2023-04-29. Vol. 256, p. 112349. DOI : 10.1016/j.solmat.2023.112349.

Long-term performance and reliability of silicon heterojunction solar modules

O. Arriaga; A. Virtuani; C. Ballif 

Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications. 2023-03-02. Vol. 31, num. 7, p. 664-677. DOI : 10.1002/pip.3688.

Pre-annealing for improved LPCVD deposited boron-doped poly-Si hole-selective contacts

J. Stuckelberger; D. Yan; S. P. Phang; C. Samundsett; J. Wang et al. 

Solar Energy Materials And Solar Cells. 2023-03-01. Vol. 251, p. 112123. DOI : 10.1016/j.solmat.2022.112123.

ETFE and its Role in the Fabrication of Lightweight c-Si Solar Modules

F. Lisco; F. Bukhari; L. O. Jones; A. M. Law; J. M. Walls et al. 

Ieee Journal Of Photovoltaics. 2023-02-27. DOI : 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2023.3242212.