The global pandemic saw energy demands fall dramatically as lockdowns were enforced across the world. In the UK, low power prices amid decreased demand due to lockdown measures, made it increasingly unprofitable to run coal plants resulting in no electricity being generated from coal for the first time since the 1800s. Fortunately, during this time Britain was able to generate its power from renewable energy sources. However, in poorer countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the deep inequalities in terms of access to modern, affordable and sustainable energy. Access to reliable energy is a lifeline, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. It is essential not only for preventing and addressing the pandemic but also for accelerating the recovery and building back better by securing a more sustainable and resilient future for all.

This project addresses the need of generating affordable, low carbon energy that guarantees security of supply by developing a key enabling technology to accelerate emerging solar cells, specifically 2nd and 3rd generation thin film photovoltaics (TFPV). These have the greatest potential to reduce cost and carbon emissions from the manufacturing process beyond the current State-of-the-Art (SOTA) first generation silicon-wafer photovoltaics (SPV). The challenge, however, is to vastly improve (1) the efficiency and (2) the stability of TFPV to compete with SPV and (3) replace toxic and scarce earth metals used in the manufacture of TFPV which prevent their contribution to security of supply.

This project will address the challenge by developing a novel carbon nano-structure which has the potential to absorb a broader spectrum of light, to demonstrate an improvement on the state-of-the-art by increasing the efficiency of metallic TFPV beyond 30%. This is intended to overcome the challenge of manufacturing higher efficiency thin film photovoltaics (TFPV), with a higher stability for a longer product life and by using renewable and abundant materials to out-compete 1st generation silicon wafer photovoltaics (SPV). TFPV uses more efficient manufacturing processes than SPV however current State-of-the-art TFPV use unsustainable materials (toxic or scarce) and have poorer stability.This project will look to replace toxic or scarce materials used in TFPV to deliver organic, energy-efficient, printable solar inks that can be used in the active layer of TFPV, providing for flexible and scalable solutions to our energy needs, making the power system more resilient in the face of crisis and presenting the opportunity to develop a truly distributive energy system to generate and store power at or near where it will be used. This will vastly improve on the market penetration of renewable energy, due to the ability to integrate the technology onto an array of surfaces across multiple markets.

This project is the first part of a wider programme to deliver a novel semi-conducting ink that uses the carbon nano-structures to maximise conversion of light to power. The TFPV prototype stages will be developed at CPI's Graphene, Formulation and Printable Electronics Centres to deliver a step change performance in flexible, lightweight solar cells. This promises low cost manufacturing with rapid scale-up.