Mesoscopic photosystems for the generation of electricity and fuels from sunlight
Event details
| Date | 17.03.2016 |
| Hour | 16:00 › 17:00 |
| Speaker |
Prof. Michael Graetzel, EPFL Bio: Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, he directs there the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces. He pioneered research in the field of energy and electron transfer reactions in mesoscopic systems and their use for the generation of electricity and fuels from sunlight as well as the storage of electric power in lithium ion batteries. Author of several books and some 1200 publications that received some 180’000 citations and with an ISI h-factor of 195 he is one of the 3 most highly cited chemists in the world. His recent awards include the Paracelsus Prize of the Swiss Chemical Society, the King Feisal International Science Prize, the Samson Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels, the First Leigh-Ann Conn Prize in Renewable Energy, the Albert Einstein World Award of Science, the Marcel Benoist Prize, the Paul Karrer Gold Medal, the Gutenberg Research Award, the Millennium Technology Grand Prize, and the Balzan Prize. He graduated as Doctor of natural science from the Technical University of Berlin and received 10 honorary doctors degrees from Asian and European Universities. He is a member of the Swiss Chemical Society and an elected member of the German Academy of Science (Leopoldina) as well as Honorary member of the Israeli Chemical Society, the Bulgarian Academy of Science and the Société Vaudoise de Sciences Naturelles. Recently he was named Fellow of the Max Planck Society and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK). |
| Location |
EPFL Valais Wallis/Zeuzier conference room
|
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Mesoscopic photovoltaics have emerged as credible contenders to conventional p-n junction photovoltaics [1-3]. Mimicking light harvesting and charge carrier generation in natural photosynthesis, dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs) were the first to use three-dimensional nanocrystalline junctions for solar electricity production, reaching currently a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 14% in standard air mass 1.5 sunlight. Meanwhile, large-scale production and commercial sales have been launched on the multi-megawatt scale. Recently, the DSC has engendered the meteoric rise of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) [4,5]. Today’s state of the art devices employ metal halide perovskite of the general composition ABX3 as light harvesters, where A stands for methylammonium, formamidinium or caesium, B denotes lead or tin and X iodide or bromide. Carrier diffusion lengths in the 100 nm - micron range have been measured for solution-processed perovskites.
We have attained a certified conversion efficiency (PCE) of 21 %, which is a new world record for PSCs exceeding the PCE of polycrystalline silicon solar cells. These photovoltaics show intense electro-luminesence matching the external quantum efficiency of silicon solar cells. and Voc values close to 1.2 V for a .55 eV band gap material. This renders perovskite-based photosystem very attractive for applications in tandem cells and for generation of fuels from sunlight mimicking natural photosynthesis [6,7].
We have attained a certified conversion efficiency (PCE) of 21 %, which is a new world record for PSCs exceeding the PCE of polycrystalline silicon solar cells. These photovoltaics show intense electro-luminesence matching the external quantum efficiency of silicon solar cells. and Voc values close to 1.2 V for a .55 eV band gap material. This renders perovskite-based photosystem very attractive for applications in tandem cells and for generation of fuels from sunlight mimicking natural photosynthesis [6,7].
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Prof. Md. K. Nazeeruddin
Contact
- Constance Visser Witman