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McMaster home to new solar photovoltaic research network |
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 A new research network to advance Canada’s standing in the development
of solar photovoltaics will be based at McMaster University.
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
announced $5M in funding today for the establishment of the NSERC
Photovoltaic Innovation Network. The Network is comprised of 29 top
scientists and engineers working in the field of advanced solar cell
research at 13 universities across Canada. Eleven private sector
companies are also part of the network.
The Network aims to
raise the status of solar photovoltaics as a renewable energy option in
Canada by accelerating research and development and commercializing the
outcomes.
“In particular, the network will develop new
intellectual property in PV for adoption by Canadian industry to supply
strong domestic demand currently met by foreign companies,” explained
Rafael Kleiman, Scientific Director of the Network and a Professor of
Engineering Physics at McMaster. “It will help Canada compete globally
in this rapidly growing sector.”
The Network anticipates
training 88 research personnel over five years to provide highly
skilled and creative employees for positions in industry and academia.
“Our government’s investments in science and technology are creating
jobs, stimulating the economy and improving Canadians’ quality of
life,” noted the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry. “We are
investing more in innovation than ever before in Canada’s history. By
supporting the research being done by these networks, we are building
the economy of tomorrow and helping our universities blaze the way to
greater long-term prosperity and innovation that will benefit Canadians
for years to come.”
The NSERC Photovoltaic Network is one of
11 research networks announced today, which will receive $56 million in
NSERC grants over five years.
Mo Elbestawi, vice-president,
research & international affairs, said the establishment of the
NSERC Photovoltaic Innovation Network at McMaster speaks volumes of the
University’s reputation and leadership in green, sustainable and
renewable energy. “This new network epitomizes what we’re about,” he
said. “We’re building on our strengths to create a critical mass of
expertise in energy research and, in turn, helping Canadian companies
remain competitive.”
PV cells convert light from the broad
solar spectrum directly to electricity, with the energy conversion
efficiency and cost (in $/W) being the most important device metrics.
The proposed collaborative and multi-disciplinary research program has
the specific objectives of increasing the device conversion efficiency
and/or reducing the device cost to make large scale PV deployment more
competitive against electricity generation from fossil fuels.
Four central research themes have been identified with promising new approaches:
- organic devices with inherently low costs of materials and manufacturing;
- inorganic devices which to date are the mostly widely deployed (the most common of which are silicon-based);
- hybrid organic/inorganic devices that have the potential to combine
the lower costs of organic devices with the higher efficiencies of
inorganic devices; and
- new PV devices and architectures which take advantage of the unique properties of nano-structured materials.
Transparent solar cells optimized for integration into house or
building windows and socioeconomic factors related to adoption of PV
technology will also be considered.
www.eng.mcmaster.ca
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