WA Branch | Photovoltaic materials demystified
13 November 2023
Time: Finger food and refreshments start at 6.00pm, presentation commences at 6.30pm
Address: Building D, North Metropolitan TAFE 140 Royal St (cnr Fielder St), East Perth
BOOK HERE: www.trybooking.com/CMSYK
Do not use the "register interest" button on this page to register - use the link above
The presentation will focus on the materials used to manufacture solar panel, or more precisely photovoltaic cells and their materials. We will start with the famous NREL chart of photovoltaic efficiencies and highlight the number of materials used for solar cells and some aspects of the technologies.
The most common material remains silicon, which could be monocrystalline or multicrystalline. The mode of fabrication, productivity and cost, could vary dramatically as well as the performance. We will explore what make silicon a good or less good photovoltaic material. For there we will look at the different steps of a production from the ore (silica sand or quartz), purification, solidification and up to the solar cell and the assembly in solar panels. We will see how the architecture of the solar cell can influence some of the properties of the solar panel and its efficiency in real life situation.
Finally we will look, more briefly, at other materials also known as thin film cell materials, including Copper- Indium-Selenium (CIS), amorphous silicon (aSi-H), polymers, Perovskites.
About the Presenter:
Gilles Dour
Gilles is a multidisciplinary engineer with a strong research background in materials and process engineering, materials science and mechanical engineering After a PhD in the solidification of silicon for solar cells and much work for foundries and hot manufacturing processes, he has specialised in integrity engineering for oil & gas applications, with an incursion in the OHS Regulatory discipline and process safety.