PV-lab

The laboratory of photovoltaics and thin-films electronics (PV-lab) of IEM, founded in 1984 by Prof. Arvind Shah and headed by Prof. Christophe Ballif since 2004, has pioneered several new processes for the preparation of thin-film silicon, such as the introduction of very high frequency (VHF) plasma deposition and microcrystalline silicon as an efficient photovoltaic material, and simple processing of heterojunction crystalline cells. Current activities of the laboratory cover a broad spectrum, ranging from fundamental research to industrial technology transfer. The lab masters processes of device fabrication for a wide variety of transparent conductive oxides, thin-film solar cells and high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells. It also has expertise for specialty detectors. It has full facilities for packaging of PV products. It has been designated as a center of national importance by the Swiss Federal Office for Energy.

PV-lab is a founding partner of the CSEM PV-center, which started operation in 2013 with a focus on technology transfer, and industrialisation of technologies.

LATEST NEWS

© 2024, Antonin Faes

PVinMotion Conference 2024 in Neuchâtel

— Successful start of PV in motion conference in Neuchâtel, co-organised by EPFL and CSEM. More than 100 specialists of PV related mobility, from solar vehicle to bi-directional charging, discuss the future of PV-related mobility. The conference is chaired by Dr. Antonin Faes, team leader for PV modules at the PV-lab, and focus area manager for lightweight and integrated products at CSEM.

© 2024 EPFL

Congratulations to all new Doctors of the PV-lab!

— 5 PhD students from PV-Lab successfully defended their thesis recently. Congratulations to all new Doctors of PV-Lab and good luck in their future adventures!

© 2024 AEM

Paper alert – Pizza Oven Processing of Organohalide Perovskites !

— PV-Lab is happy to share that our latest paper "Pizza Oven Processing of Organohalide Perovskites (POPOP): A Simple, Versatile and Efficient Vapor Deposition Method " has been published in Advanced Energy Materials !

© 2023 EPFL

Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. (ABB) Award – 2023 – Laurie-Lou Senaud

— Electrical Losses Mitigation in Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells EPFL thesis n°8648 Thesis director: Prof. Ch. Ballif

© 2023 Microcity

Podcast – All you need to know about solar and energy transition !

— Everything you need to know about solar and energy transition: check the podcast of Christophe Ballif interviewed A la pointe du solaire photovoltaïque – Exergie | Podcast on Spotify by Francesco Contino of UC Louvain… All on its Exergie Podcast series on Exergie | Podcast on Spotify 

© 2023 Elsevier

Paper alert – Our work on high temperature passivating contacts !

— PV-Lab is happy to share that our latest paper "Understanding and mitigating resistive losses in fired passivating contacts: Role of the interfaces and optimization of the thermal budget" has been published in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

© 2023 EPFL

The carbon intensity of integrated photovoltaics

— “Building (and Infrastructure) Integrated Photovoltaics: a positive carbon balance for most situations of solar architecture! Nearly everywhere in Europe!”

© 2023 IEEE

News from Sensors group

— N. Wyrsch gave an invited lecture at the Summer School “Marko Moscovitch” (13-16.9.2023) of the 20thInternational Conference on Solid State Dosimetry (SSD20.org) in Pisa on “Amorphous silicon-based detectors for high-energy physics and dosimetry “. Moreover, a new status update on the development of amorphous silicon-based microchannel plates is finally published: “New Developments in Amorphous Silicon Based Microchannel Plates”. 

© 2023 CSEM

A busy Media and events week September 4-10 !

— The week 4th to the 10th was a remarkably busy week! It ended with an interview with Prof. Ballif during RTS Forum (09.09.2023) about fire, pollution, and PV systems. Discover the life interview at Avis dexperts. On 08.09.2023, the opening of the largest ground PV plant in Switzerland was inaugurated in Varo (cressier), in presence of the Federal Councilor Albert Rösti, with a demonstration system including Swiss PV technologies. See the short interview on RTS 1930 (19h30 – Play RTS) or the article of Arc info (Le conseiller fédéral Albert Rösti inaugure la centrale solaire la plus puissante de Suisse à Cressier (arcinfo.ch).

© 2023 EPFL

Pilatus Horizon Europe project

— EPFL is proud to be part of the Pilatus Horizon Europe project about developing and demonstrating the production of high-efficiency silicon Heterojunction (SHJ) tunnel-Interdigitated Back Contact (tunnel-IBC) solar cells and modules.

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RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Pizza Oven Processing of Organohalide Perovskites (POPOP): A Simple, Versatile and Efficient Vapor Deposition Method

Q. J-M. A. Guesnay; F. Sahli; K. Artuk; D. Turkay; A. G. Kuba et al. 

Advanced Energy Materials. 2024-02-02. DOI : 10.1002/aenm.202303423.

Font Side Solutions for c-Si Solar Cells with High-Temperature Passivating Contacts

E. Genç / F-J. Haug; C. Ballif (Dir.)  

Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. 

Microstructural and electrical characterization of high temperature passivating contacts for silicon solar cells

S. Libraro / A. Hessler-Wyser; F-J. Haug (Dir.)  

Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. 

Identification and Mitigation of Degradation Mechanisms Induced by Heat and Light in NiOx-based Perovskite Solar Cells

M. S. M. Dussouillez / C. Ballif; A. Paracchino (Dir.)  

Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. 

Advanced Manufacturing and Characterization of Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Modules

A. Borja Block / C. Ballif; A. Faes (Dir.)  

Lausanne, EPFL, 2024. 

Potential-induced degradation in bifacial silicon heterojunction solar modules: Insights and mitigation strategies

O. Arriaga Arruti; L. Gnocchi; Q. Jeangros; C. Ballif; A. Virtuani 

Progress In Photovoltaics. 2023-12-25. DOI : 10.1002/pip.3765.

Accurate color characterization of solar photovoltaic modules for building integration

A. B. Block; J. E. Palou; A. Faes; A. Virtuani; C. Ballif 

Solar Energy. 2023-12-02. Vol. 267, p. 112227. DOI : 10.1016/j.solener.2023.112227.

Operando analysis of a solid oxide fuel cell by environmental transmission electron microscopy

Q. Jeangros; M. Bugnet; T. Epicier; C. Frantz; S. Diethelm et al. 

Nature Communications. 2023-12-02. Vol. 14, num. 1, p. 7959. DOI : 10.1038/s41467-023-43683-4.

Rear textured p-type high temperature passivating contacts and their implementation in perovskite/silicon tandem cells

A. Walter; B. A. Kamino; S-J. Moon; P. Wyss; J. J. D. Leon et al. 

Energy Advances. 2023-11-09. Vol. 2, num. 11, p. 1818-1822. DOI : 10.1039/d3ya00048f.

Mapping the Charging Demand for Electric Vehicles in 2050 from Mobility Habits

N. Jeannin; A. Pena-Bello; C. Ballif; N. Wyrsch 

Sustainable Energy, Grid and Network. 2023-10-17. DOI : 10.2139/ssrn.4604192.