SOBONA · Solar Cells Based on Nanowire Arrays

The area of photovoltaic devices is a very promising field for technological developments, with a very strong ecological and economic impact. The purpose of this exchange program is to create novel photovoltaic devices with record efficiencies using interdisciplinary expertise of the partners, and thereby to propose new concepts for solar cells. Joint experiments and training of researchers and PhD students will be carried out during the program. We plan to design and produce state-of-the-art prototypes of hybrid solar cells, which could include the best features from both thin-film and nanowire technologies.In particular, new promising routes for controlled engineering of CdTe/CdS junction interface in thin-film solar cells will be explored by growing CdTe nanowires at high temperature and under controlled ambient conditions. Other material interchanges will be performed using as platform recent advances in the growth of a wide range of III-V and II-VI nanowire arrays.To achieve the research goals of the project it is planned to carry out intensive exchange of research staff and PhD students. Five high rank international research groups will participate in the program, three of which are represented by the EU universities:•University of Durham, Department of Physics, Durham – UK (UDUR)•University Jaume I, Departament de Física, Castelló de la Plana - Spain (UJ-I)•University of Würzburg, Experimental Physics VI, Germany (UW)And the two third country groups are represented by the following Russian institutions:• Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Ioffe PTI)• St. Petersburg Academic University of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SPb-AU)This project will allow the essential knowledge and material transfer between the partners, strengthening the collaborations and helping to establish a long-term research co-operation.