Prof Stuart Irvine, SPARC II Director and Swansea University professor was quoted in a recent article on the current gas crisis. To read more on this, please visit: https://www.iom3.org/resource/gas-price-crisis-pushing-industry-to-the-brink.html

Professor Stuart Irvine, Director of SPARC II Swansea University was recently interviewed by Business News Wales.

In the interview, Stuart discussed how the new two-year EU extension funding will enable the SPARC II team to continue to expand the PV research capacity. He stated it will enable the team  to take on new challenges such as new solar technology to charge electric vehicles, power remote sensors and enable a new generation of more efficient solar conversion devices.

For further information and to listen to the interview, please follow this link:

https://businessnewswales.com/can-wales-become-a-leader-in-solar-technology/ 

We have recently been successful in being awarded a new EPSRC proposal: Doped Emitters to Unlock Lowest Cost Solar Electricity. 

For further information on this exciting project, please visit the Research tab.

Colleagues from CSER will be attending the SuperSolar/PVSAT Conference 2021 conference which is being held from the 8th-10th June 2021.

SuperSolar and PVSAT have combined for their annual conference, online in 2021. Spread over morning and afternoon sessions on three consecutive days, featuring session keynotes from world leading researchers in photovoltaic technologies. Our very own Prof. Stuart Irvine is the keynote speaker for the afternoon session on the 1st day on ‘How to get .25% Efficient CdTe Solar Cells’.

To register for this free event, please visit: https://www.supersolar-hub.org/event/supersolar-pvsat-conference-2021/ 

Dr Dan Lamb was recently contacted by the ‘PV-Magazine’ after they saw his ‘3-years in space’ paper in PiP. To read the article, please follow this link: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/05/11/cadmium-telluride-solar-cells-for-space-applications-bipv-unmanned-aircraft/ 

The CSER Team walked a total of 3,297 kms in 8 weeks, that took us the 1,400 kms around the Wales Coastal Path from Chester to the Severn Estuary….and 1400kms all the way back to Chester again with Kms to spare!

To donate to this worthy cause, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cserwalescoastpath1400km

Our small team from Swansea University’s Centre for Solar Energy Research are endeavouring to “virtually” walk the Wales Coast Path/ Llwybr Arfordir Cymru. The target is to cover the 1400 km over 8-weeks by counting each team members km’s of activity each week. Please help us to support Macmillan during these challenging times for charity fund raising.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cserwalescoastpath1400km

We are pleased to announce that the SPARC II project which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund has been extended until March 2023.

This extension will enable the team to expand this research capability to take on new challenges such as new solar technology to charge electric vehicles, power remote sensors and enable a new generation of more efficient solar conversion devices.

For further information, please visit  https://www.swansea.ac.uk/press-office/news-events/news/2020/10/boost-for-waless-lead-in-green-solar-technology-thanks-to-eu-funding.php

Following government direction with regards to Covid-19, all of the CSER staff are working remotely from home and are still contactable. Please visit the ‘People’ section to find the right contact for your query. If you are unsure, please contact Emma Dawson-Parry on e.l.dawson-parry@swansea.ac.uk who will be able to field your enquiry to the right person.

Stay safe.

Prof. Stuart Irvine was interviewed for the BBC Radio Wales Science Cafe recently to talk about the AlSat Nano. Check out the broadcast at this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000dqng

• OpTIC Centre, N. Wales, 05^th March 2020. SPARC II is partnering with The Welsh Optoelectronics Forum, the Centre for Photonics Expertise and ASTUTE 2020 (Advanced Manufacturing) to bring together an event which will showcase real world applications of photonics and where technologies are impacting businesses today. Please see https://www.eventbrite.com/e/innovative-photonics-in-wales-tickets-84212201963 for more details and free registration.

We are excited to announce that a new book on MOVPE has just been published:

‘Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE): Growth, Materials Properties, and Applications’.

Prof. Stuart Irvine was a co-editor on this and Dr. Giray Kartopu co-authored a chapter ob CdTe.

For more information on this, please visit: https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Metalorganic+Vapor+Phase+Epitaxy+%28MOVPE%29%3A+Growth%2C+Materials+Properties%2C+and+Applications-p-9781119313038

Dr. Giray Kartopu will be attending and presenting at the Enlighten Conference. His talk entitled ‘Advances in CdTe thin film photovoltaics enabled by MOCVD’ will take place on Wednesday 9th October at 11:50am at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry.

For further information, please visit the following links: –

Dr Giray Kartopu

Thin Film & Coating Technologies for Science & Industry

Stuart has reached Everest Base Camp and he even managed to make some measurements on the CdTe solar cell which we look forward to analysing on his return next week.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stuart-irvine11

Stuart is at 3880m and has made the first measurement of our solar cell.  He has sent us a picture, here you can see him pointing at Everest.

Check back soon for more updates.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stuart-irvine11

Researchers from CSER will be attending the next PVSAT-15 conference to be held in University of Warwick on the 10th-12th April 2019.

On the first day, Dr. Giray Kartopu will deliver a talk on ‘All laser processed CdTe monolithic mini-modules deposited by MOCVD’.

On day two, Dr. Andrew Clayton will be talking about ‘Development of chemical vapour deposition fabrication of perovskites for photovoltaics’.

On the last day, Ralph Hall will be telling us about his research into ‘Near-IR Transparent Back Contact for CdTe Thin Film Photovoltaics’.

We will also have some posters to view in the Poster Sessions:

‘Developing an effective activation process for ZnTe:As back contact for CdTe solar cells’ Ochai Oklobia, Giray Kartopu, and Stuart J.C. Irvine.

‘CdTe solar cells on flexible ultra-thin glass substrates produced by MOCVD: bending test, residual stress and PV performance’ A.C. Teloeken, D.A. Lamb, M.A. Baker, R. Grilli and S.J.C. Irvine

For more information or to register to attend this conference please visit https://www.pvsat.org.uk/

Professor Stuart Irvine will make the trek to Everest Base Camp at the beginning of March 2019 as part of a Brick Children School charity awareness and fundraising expedition. Not content with a 17 day round trek reaching an altitude of 5150 metres, Stuart will also be conducting some SPARC II experimental research. He’ll be measuring one of the Centre for Solar Energy Research groups thin-film cadmium telluride solar cells on ultrathin glass with the electronics and software provided by the University of Surrey. This data will complement that of the CubeSat mission https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5AFwxnNxAU  currently orbiting the earth with an analogous solar cell on board.

This February, Dr Giray Kartopu has started his new British Council Newton Fund project: Solar Energy Enabled Electricity Generation via High-Performance CZT/Si Tandem Cells. This project is in collaboration with Middle East Technical University, Turkey and will help to revolutionize the PV industry in Turkey by developing a new high efficiency, low-cost tandem photovoltaic (PV) solar cell structure.

Professor Irvine will present at the 35th European Photovoltaic conference in Brussels 24th- 28th September. Giving a talk entitled “In-Line MOCVD of Al doped ZnS: A Path to High Performance CdTe Solar Cells”.

https://www.photovoltaic-conference.com/ 

Dr. Giray Kartopu will be editing a special issue on CdTe solar cells for the MDPI Materials journal

For further information, please visit: Advances in Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) Thin Film Photovoltaic Solar Cells

http://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/special_issues/CdTe

Researchers from CSER will present their work at the 14^th Photovoltaic Science, Applications and Technology conference, 18^th – 20^th April, 2018, Imperial College, London

The SPARC II research team’s from Swansea, Bangor and Aberystwyth Universities will attend a project meeting 25^th Jan, 2018 at the Swansea Bay Campus.

Dr Andy Clayton has been selected to make an oral presentation at the MRS conference in Boston, November. His talk will be presented in symposium ES03 and will cover his research in the MOCVD of Tin Sulphide (SnS) for use as a photovoltaic absorber layer.

An upcoming IOM3 EMG Annual Lecture is taking place on the evening of the 13th July. This lecture will be given by Dame Sue Ion DBE, FRS, FREng – Chair of the Nuclear Innovation Research Advisory Board (NIRAB).

To register for the event or for more information, please follow this link: http://www.iom3.org/energy-materials-group

This weeks BBC Science Cafe sees Adam Walton exploring the latest technology to harvest the power of the sun, including the search for more sustainable materials to be used in the manufacture of solar cells.

Adam visited the OpTIC Centre in St Asaph, home to Swansea University’s Centre for Solar Energy Research, where he chats to Professor Stuart Irvine about the SPARC II project –  a collaboration between Swansea, Bangor and Aberystwyth universities, which provides five years funding aimed at addressing the key challenges of developing next generation solar photovoltaic technology. To listen to the interview, please follow this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08mp2kc

CSER was well presented at this years PVSAT-13 which took place in Bangor during the 5th – 7th April 2017. The conference gave the SPARC II team an excellent opportunity to disseminate results from the SPARC II Project to a wider audience where the latest advances in UK research and development are presented and discussed.

The SPARC II Operation director, Professor Stuart Irvine gave a well received oral presentation on ‘New Mechanism in proton irradiated CdTe solar cells revealed by SCAPS modelling.’

Dr. Dan Lamb also gave an oral presentation discussing the ‘First flight test of a Thin Film Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) Solar cell on cover glass in space’.

On the final day, Dr. Giray Kartopu presented his findings on ‘Development of ZnO/CdS/CdTe core-shell nanorod-based solar cells with an extremely thin absorber’.

If you wish to know more about our current research, please contact us via our contacts page.

We are pleased to report that the funding (£5m) for SPARC II (Solar Photovoltaic Academic Research Consortium) has been approved by the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) and provides underpinning funding for a collaboration of 6 research teams across the Universities of Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor. Please see below the links for the official WEFO SPARC II project funding announcement along with the Swansea University announcement.

http://gov.wales/newsroom/environmentandcountryside/2017/170322-5m-eu-funding-boost-for-welsh-universities/?lang=en

http://www.swansea.ac.uk/media-centre/latest-news/5meufundingboostforwelshuniversities.php

CSER have two RA post available. Please see http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AXQ146/research-officer-sparc-ii/

Please find link below for the latest BBC news article on the AlSat nano satellite mission!

For further information, please contact Dr. Dan Lamb at: d.a.lamb@swansea.ac.uk

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38302609

CSER’s thin film solar cell is orbiting the Earth as you read this. Take a look at the promo video for the AlSat Nano launch   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5AFwxnNxAU

Dan will present a talk entitled “Lightweight Solar Cells for Space and UAV’s Applications” at the Advanced Engineering 2016 expo, November 3rd at the Birmingham NEC.

This weeks BBC Radio Wales Science Cafe episode featured Adam Walton interviewing CSER’s own Dr Dan Lamb. Dan discussed some of the challenges the CSER team faced building a space worthy experiment and announced the first data transmitted back from solar cell experiment showed it to be performing well. BBC Radio Wales Science Cafe

BBC Radio Wales Adam Walton with CSER’s Dan Lamb

For further information on the British Science Festival, please visit: www.britishsciencefestival.org

The Centre for Solar Energy Research (CSER) has recently joined the College of Engineering in Swansea University. CSER will still be based at the OpTIC Centre on the St Asaph Business Park.

Prof. Stuart Irvine said ‘this is a very exciting opportunity for CSER to link with major projects at Swansea University and to provide a greater range of expertise to the PV Industry.’

CSER made an excellent representation at this years premier UK photovoltaics conference PVSAT-12 which took place between April 6th and April 8th at the University of Liverpool.

Dr. Dan Lamb delivered a talk on ‘Preparation of CdTe PV on ultra-thin space cover glass for flight testing on the AlSat-Nano satellite mission’.  For further information, please contact d.a.lamb@swansea.ac.uk

Dr. Andrew Clayton delivered a talk on ‘Investigation of Cl treatment for MOCVD-SnS thin film solar cells’. For further information, please contact andrew.j.clayton@swansea.ac.uk

Dr. Giray Kartopu delivered a talk on ‘Improvement of CdZnS/CdTe Solar cells via use of a highly-resistive ZnO transparent buffer layer’.  For further information, please contact giray.kartopu@swansea.ac.uk

Professor Stuart Irvine and Dr Andrew Clayton attended the  2015 E-MRS Fall Meeting and Exhibit held in Warsaw University of Technology.  Stuart gave a very well received invited talk entitled  “Ultra-thin glass: the ideal superstrate for thin film PV”. The main theme of Stuart’s talk was that reducing cost of PV can be achieved through: improved module efficiency, manufacturing volume, yield and materials reduction.  This is an area that the team at CSER are busy researching.

Dr Dan Lamb will represent CSER at the UK Space Conference July 14th.  Held every two years, the UK Space Conference is the unmissable gathering for the entire UK space community; bringing together the space industry, users of space-based services, entrepreneurs, academia and government.  CSER will be in attendance as part of the Wales country stand (B32, D29, D30) the Arena & Convention Centre, Liverpool.

Professor Stuart Irvine is the Symposium organiser for Symposium E1.1 “Materials for Energy” of EUROMAT 2015, Warsaw, Poland 20-24 September 2015. He will attend the EUROMAT conference which has been held every two years since 1989, and which have an increased record of bringing together up to 2000 researchers, scientists, trainees, and students from both academia and industry to discuss critical developments and perspectives in the field of materials science and technology and their applications.

Professor Stuart Irvine will attend the E-MRS Fall Conference in Warsaw, Poland 15-18 September 2015, invited talk entitled: “Ultra-thin glass: the ideal superstrate for thin film PV?”. The E-MRS Fall Meeting draws an audience from around 50 countries each year. Representing quality and quantity, this audience comprises key decision-makers involved in the field of materials research.

Dr Dan Lamb will attend the UK Space Conference, July 13-15th, Arena & convention centre Liverpool.  Held every two years, the UK Space Conference is the unmissable gathering for the entire UK space community; bringing together the space industry, users of space-based services, entrepreneurs, academia and government.  CSER will present a poster based on the Thin Film Solar Cell payload currently being developed for the UK Space Agency’s next satellite mission.  CSER’s work will be presented alongside other Wales Academic Space Partnership (WASP) work.

The Centre for Solar Energy Research (CSER) is making excellent progress towards delivery of its Thin Film Solar Cell demonstrator to the UK Space Agency.  CSER’s Dr Dan Lamb attended a critical design review meeting at the Surrey Space Centre where some of the finer details of the Thin Film Solar Cell payload where worked through.  The UK Space Agency’s Satellite programme is committed to a tight time schedule with delivery of CSER’s payload to the CubeSat manufactures by September 2015 and launch to take place spring 2016.  Once the Thin Film Solar Cell is in orbit its performance will be systematically measured and the data beamed down to mission control at the Surrey Space Centre.  The CubeSat is expected to generate data for at least one year which will be invaluable for producing high quality publications, securing further funding for the research and promoting Glyndŵr University’s contribution to space science.

Dr Dan Lamb (3^rd from right) representing Glyndŵr University along with members of the satellite build team from the Surrey Space Centre.

Professor Stuart Irvine and Dr Vincent Barrioz will represent CSER at the 2015 European MOVPE conference workshop in Lund, Sweden, June 07-10th .  The workshop will consist of eight invited plenary talks and contributed poster presentations. All aspects of MOVPE are of relevance, with a special emphasis on the science of MOVPE.  Dr Barrioz will give an invited talk entitled “A route to inline MOCVD of flexible, high specific power CdTe solar cells”.

http://www.nano.lu.se/ewmovpe2015

Tuesday 16^th June, 2015, 09.00 – 16.00, The OpTIC Centre, St Asaph LL17 0JD

The KTN, the Engineering and Science Group North Wales, OpTIC Glyndŵr University and the Welsh Opto-electronics Forum will show in this event how light is used in engineering applications as well as showcase innovations in Wales where light is used in manufacturing. 

Delegates are invited from industry academic and professional institutions as well as the graduates, students and the general public. 

There will be a display area for pull ups, tabletops, demonstrations, please contact susan.sheridan@wof.org.uk if you would like to book a place.

CSER’s Dr Dan Lamb will present a talk on “Space Application Thin Film Solar Arrays” at 2.pm.

This event is free of charge however pre-booking is essential on: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bright-lights-and-engineering-tickets-16560767702.

CSER will make an excellent representation at this years premier UK photovoltaics conference PVSAT-11 April 15-17 th.  Professor Stuart Irvine will deliver a talk “The potential for further reduction in the embodied carbon in PV solar energy systems”.  Dr Andy Clayton will talk on “A new approach to  SnS thin film PV using MOCVD” and Dr Giray Kartopu will speak on “Comparative study of  conventional vs. one-step-interconnected (OSI) monolithic CdTe modules”.  Dr Dan Lamb will present a poster “Preparation of a Thin Film CdTe Solar Cell for Flight Testing on a Satellite”.

The Centre for Solar Energy Research (CSER) has been selected to take part in the UK Space Agency’s next CubeSat mission.  The AlSat Nano is a joint space mission between the UK Space Agency and Algerian Space Agency (ASAL).  CSER’s successful selection, following a presentation to the UK Space Agency in Swindon by Dr Dan Lamb (project leader), offers a fantastic opportunity to “flight test” their innovative Thin Film Solar Cell.  The programme is committed to a tight time schedule with delivery of CSER’s payload to the CubeSat manufactures by September 2015 and launch to take place spring 2016.  Once the Thin Film Solar Cell is in orbit its performance will be systematically measured and the data beamed down to mission control at the Surrey Space Centre.  The CubeSat is expected to generate data for at least one year which will be invaluable for producing high quality publications, securing further funding for the research and promoting Glyndŵr University’s contribution to space science.

Professor Stuart Irvine, CSER has edited a new book, “Materials Challenges: Inorganic Photovoltaic Solar Energy” published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. The idea for the book came from the Photovoltaic (PV) SUPERGEN project which was a collaboration of UK Universities to carry out ground breaking research in thin films for PV solar energy. PV SUPERGEN was a £10m funded project which was led by Professor Irvine from 2004 to 2012. It was felt that a book would provide a legacy to capture some of the exciting research and new developments, providing a stimulus for future research. Many of the chapters have been authored by members of the PV SUPERGEN team and also contributors from CSER, Dr Vincent Barrioz and Dr Andrew Clayton. International contributions came from the world leading National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the USA and from Universidad Politecnica de Valencia in Spain. “This has been a rewarding experience and provides an authoritative work on the many research challenges in thin film PV that is very much at the core of research in CSER at Glyndwr University” said Professor Irvine.

The next LCRI Annual Conference will be held on the 18th and 19th November 2014 at the SWALEC stadium in Cardiff. To register for this event, please follow this link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lcri-conference-2014-low-carbon-policy-to-practice-tickets-10099723545