{"id":2015,"date":"2022-04-08T14:19:33","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T13:19:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/?page_id=2015"},"modified":"2022-04-08T14:19:34","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T13:19:34","slug":"photovoltaics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/","title":{"rendered":"Photovoltaics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Major environmental issues due to the effects of climate change have intensified the search for more efficient and cleaner sources of energy. These include solar cells, hydrogen fuel cells and the development of greener methods of hydrogen production.\u00a0 The commercial application of these hinges on their efficiency in producing energy combined with ease and cost of manufacture.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"351\" src=\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/161\/2022\/04\/Solar-Cell-schematics-\u2013-Deposition-at-Salford-1024x351.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/161\/2022\/04\/Solar-Cell-schematics-\u2013-Deposition-at-Salford-1024x351.png 1024w, https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/161\/2022\/04\/Solar-Cell-schematics-\u2013-Deposition-at-Salford-300x103.png 300w, https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/161\/2022\/04\/Solar-Cell-schematics-\u2013-Deposition-at-Salford-768x263.png 768w, https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/161\/2022\/04\/Solar-Cell-schematics-\u2013-Deposition-at-Salford.png 1155w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Schematics of solar cell designs fabricated at Salford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The type of thin film layers and how deposited within PV devices massively affects its performance.\u00a0 Here at Salford, though a range of collaborations (<a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/653296\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CHEOPS<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/309530\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">PLIANT<\/a>), we have studied this behaviour for electrodes (doped SnO<sub>2<\/sub>, ZnO), charge carriers (NiO, TiO<sub>2<\/sub>), absorber layers (perovskite) and anti-reflection layers (SiO<sub>2<\/sub>).\u00a0 The properties of these films and resulting PV efficiency are tailored via CVD deposition conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This innovative research work has been included in both UG (undergraduate) lectures and within UG final year Physics projects. Recent UG projects include studying the effects on <a href=\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/optical-spectroscopy-facilities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">optical <\/a>and morphological properties of perovskite with different halide compositions, characterisation of PV electrodes, Plasma Enhanced <a href=\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/cvd-facilities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CVD deposition<\/a> of PV transport layers, formation of high optical haze films for light trapping and the effects of weathering on a variety of films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you found this subject interesting and would like to discuss consultancy work or potential new academic collaborations, please <a href=\"mailto:h.m.yates@salford.ac.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contact us<\/a>.\u00a0 Photovoltaics also forms a key part of many Ph.D. and M.Res. research projects undertaken in the group.\u00a0 Please visit the postgraduate study section of our <a href=\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">homepage <\/a>if you are interested in postgraduate research projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Major environmental issues due to the effects of climate change have intensified the search for more efficient and cleaner sources of energy. These include solar cells, hydrogen fuel cells and the development of greener methods of hydrogen production.\u00a0 The commercial application of these hinges on their efficiency in producing energy combined with ease and cost [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2015","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Photovoltaics | Materials and Physics | University of Salford<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Photovoltaics | Materials and Physics | University of Salford\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Major environmental issues due to the effects of climate change have intensified the search for more efficient and cleaner sources of energy. These include solar cells, hydrogen fuel cells and the development of greener methods of hydrogen production.\u00a0 The commercial application of these hinges on their efficiency in producing energy combined with ease and cost [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Materials and Physics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-08T13:19:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/\",\"name\":\"Photovoltaics | Materials and Physics | University of Salford\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-08T13:19:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-08T13:19:34+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/\",\"name\":\"Materials and Physics\",\"description\":\"Salford Innovation Research Centre (SIRC)\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Materials and Physics\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/161\/2025\/02\/university-salford-logo-400x250-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/161\/2025\/02\/university-salford-logo-400x250-1.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Materials and Physics\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Photovoltaics | Materials and Physics | University of Salford","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Photovoltaics | Materials and Physics | University of Salford","og_description":"Major environmental issues due to the effects of climate change have intensified the search for more efficient and cleaner sources of energy. These include solar cells, hydrogen fuel cells and the development of greener methods of hydrogen production.\u00a0 The commercial application of these hinges on their efficiency in producing energy combined with ease and cost [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/","og_site_name":"Materials and Physics","article_modified_time":"2022-04-08T13:19:34+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/","url":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/","name":"Photovoltaics | Materials and Physics | University of Salford","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-04-08T13:19:33+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-08T13:19:34+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/photovoltaics\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/","name":"Materials and Physics","description":"Salford Innovation Research Centre (SIRC)","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#organization","name":"Materials and Physics","url":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/161\/2025\/02\/university-salford-logo-400x250-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/161\/2025\/02\/university-salford-logo-400x250-1.png","width":400,"height":250,"caption":"Materials and Physics"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/240"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2018,"href":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2015\/revisions\/2018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.salford.ac.uk\/sirc-materials-and-physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}