Nov 30 2010
Glyndwr University in Wales is into a new project to ameliorate the working efficiency of photovoltaic solar cells in moderate climates to improve the solar power production and make it more affordable.
The project started with an investment of over £4.4 million will create more than 50 local jobs and is anticipated to make an important breakthrough in making renewable energy more cost-effective. The project is also aimed at helping Wales to achieve its 20% of total energy usage from renewable energy by 2050.
The university’s Centre for Solar Energy Research (CSER) as a part of the Solar Photovoltaic Academic Research Consortium Cymru (SPARC Cymru) is planning to introduce a new type of photovoltaic solar cells that can improve solar energy collection during all the weather conditions in Wales. The research conducted by CSER is also anticipated to reduce the costs of solar installation that hampers the growth of solar clean energy use in Wales. The researchers from CSER will work together with the scientists from Swansea and Bangor universities in the three year project, which receives its part funding from European Unions Convergence European Regional Development Fund.
Professor Stuart Irvine, CSER’s Director, said that the team presently performs the research utilizing 5 cm square cells and planning to construct 30 cm square cell modules, which will assist the researchers to utilize cells that are more or less the size of cells that are use in commercial operations. He added that project mixes the thin film know-how of CSER with the novel dye sensitized solar cells along with the electronics technology proficiency of Swansea University, to augment the power conversion efficiency of the solar cells to convert solar power into electricity and to connect it to the national grid. The research is performed at the research facility of CSER in St Asaph, which is fully equipped to manufacture small sized thin film solar cell modules.
Source: http://www.glyndwr.ac.uk/