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you are here: Research
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| Federal Grant Set to Expand Solar
Cell Research |
| By
Kimyette Finley and Vicki L. Kroll |
Email this article |
| Dec 4,
2001 |
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| From left, Dr. Alvin
Compaan and Dr. Xunming Deng show off some solar
shingles in their
lab. |
The
University of Toledo is in line for $1.5 million
from the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced
Research Program to provide a major expansion for
UT’s photovoltaic energy initiative.
Dr.
Alvin Compaan, professor of physics and astronomy
and director of the Center of Materials Science
and Engineering, and Dr. Xunming Deng, associate
professor of physics and astronomy — along with UT
faculty Dr. Victor Karpov, Dr. Dean Giolando and
Dr. Randy Bohn and postdoctoral and graduate
students — are working toward further innovation
in thin-films and coatings. Photovoltaics, also
known as solar cells, are semiconductor devices
that convert the energy of sunlight directly into
electricity.
The award will allow them to
explore defense-related applications for solar
cells. According to the researchers, photovoltaic
power, along with other conservation measures, has
the potential to lead to energy independence.
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur helped secure
the funding for UT’s high-tech energy initiative,
which is one of 10 major defense-related projects
in the country set to receive research money.
“Many other good ideas around the country were
rejected, so The University of Toledo should be
very gratified. It should build on this national
recognition,” Kaptur said.
She said the
Department of Defense reviews all of the projects
nationally and makes decisions based on the
technology the country needs. “This is a
high-priority area for energy independence that
was selected. The work that’s being done here …
can really make a contribution to the nation and
the world,” Kaptur said last week after a press
conference announcing the funding.
The
defense spending bill — passed by the U.S. House —
is expected to be sent for President Bush’s
approval early this month.
Many uses have
been identified for thin-film coatings and solar
cells, including electrical power generation,
clean transportation and medical technology.
The technology being developed at UT also
could result in economic benefits for the Toledo
area. “We know that jobs are created off research,
and the good jobs that can come from technologies
related to renewable energies are being moved up
on the time horizon,” Kaptur said. “There’s a good
chance, whether it’s building materials or
industrial materials that need to use renewable
energy, to the extent that production capabilities
can be tested here and products developed here,
this could be a big job creator for our region. If
you can get solar panels that are sold globally
manufactured in Toledo, that’s a whole new
industry.”
Since 1988, UT has been awarded
more than $5.8 million to pursue photovoltaic
research. Once approved, the federal grant would
make that more than $7.3 million.
“One of
the things that Xunming and I are quite proud of
is all our major funding awards that we’ve gotten
this year have been competitively awarded research
money,” Compaan said.
For several years,
Deng and Compaan have been funded together on a
major award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s
National Renewal Energy Laboratory (NREL), but
last March the two researchers submitted separate
proposals. The split paid off — NREL awarded
Compaan $770,000 and Deng $660,000 in September.
Both awards are from NREL’s Thin-Film
Photovoltaics Program, which is geared toward
producing solar modules with 15 percent
efficiency. “We still have a lot of interactions
and we share a lot of equipment, but it’s two
separate streams of money,” Compaan
said.
With federal and industrial financial
support, the two toil to improve the efficiency of
solar cells. Each specializes in a specific method
to capture the energy of the sun. Compaan is
studying thin-film solar cells based on cadmium
telluride, and Deng is examining photovoltaics
based on amorphous silicon.
Cadmium
telluride films tend to be thicker than amorphous
silicon films. Also, different plasma processes
are used to apply the films on different surfaces.
Compaan uses radio-frequency sputtering to deposit
semiconductor films mainly on glass substrates;
Deng employs a glow discharge deposition process
to apply films to very thin stainless steel.
Last April, Compaan received another award
from NREL’s new High-Performance Photovoltaic
Program, which aims to create thin-film solar
cells with a 25 percent efficiency rating. He is
working closely with First Solar, LLC, in
Perrysburg, Ohio, on this project.
The new
Department of Defense support will open a new
direction of research. “A lot of the Department of
Defense interest is for very lightweight
materials. That’s why there’s so much interest in
Xunming’s work,” Compaan said.
To put this
in perspective, Compaan’s solar cells measure 3
microns thick; Deng’s solar cells are .1 microns
thick. One inch equals 25,000 microns.
“We’ve taken the first steps to make a
very light photovoltaic device using cadmium
telluride on molybdenum foil,” Compaan said. “It
could be used in space because of its power, and
it’s very rugged and could be used by the
military.” Deng said, “Military special forces now
use batteries for power sources. They need to
carry many of these with them.” Ultimately, the
two would like to see solar cells used to make
military clothing, tents and backpacks. Once
energy is collected from the sun, it could be
stored in a reusable battery. Compaan said, “We’ve
actually built photovoltaic devices on a polymer.
I think the Department of Defense was excited
about this and that’s another reason we received
the award.”
The federal money also would
further enhance UT’s already strong and well-known
program on thin-film solar cell research.
Deng’s amorphous-silicon based solar cells
with triple-junction structure were tested
recently by NREL and received the highest
government-confirmed efficiency achieved by an
academic group for this type of device. “UT
clearly bested other universities in this area,”
Deng said. “We really have a niche.”
That
niche is built in the lab by placing three solar
cells stacked on top of each other on one
4-inch-by-4-inch foil-like substrate. “The three
solar cells absorb different colors of sunlight —
one absorbs blue, one absorbs green, and one
absorbs red,” Deng said. “In this way, they make
the best use of the whole spectrum of sunlight,
and the efficiency is higher.”
There are
several applications for this type of solar cell.
In addition to military interest, Deng also has
received considerable attention from the auto
industry. He is working with the University of
Hawaii to fabricate solar cells with enough
voltage to split water under sunlight to generate
hydrogen, a possible future fuel. “This is one of
the cleanest ways to produce hydrogen,” Deng
explained. “There’s no pollution in the entire
process.”
Both General Motors and Ford
have expressed an interest in this work. In fact,
General Motors gave UT $40,000 toward the project
and sent research representatives to visit Deng’s
labs twice.
Meanwhile, Deng also is
developing a method to make amorphous-silicon
solar cells faster with the hot wire deposition
process. “Our goal is to make high-efficiency
solar cells at a higher rate,” he said.
“Once
we accomplish that, we hope to transfer that
technology to industry for mass production of
amorphous-silicon solar panels at low
cost.”
Both Deng’s and Compaan’s solar
cells have limitless potential. For example, solar
panels could be used as building roofs and
exteriors to generate electricity.
“The
market for solar panels is growing by 30 percent a
year,” Compaan said. “It’s one of the
fastest-growing
industries.”
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