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Dr. Alexander Uhl
University of British Columbia - Okanagan
Solution-Processed Thin Film Semiconductors for Single-Junction and Tandem Solar Cells
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
SSB 7172 @ 3:30 p.m.
Host: Dr. Loren Kaake
Abstract
Renewable energy technologies, such as photovoltaics (PV), have been identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to play a leading role in the necessary transition away from fossil-combustion-based energy sources. However, hurdles for widespread implementation such as cost competitiveness and the inherent energy intermittency of solar energy must be overcome. Ink-based deposition techniques have the potential to advance renewable energy technologies due to their low capital expenditure, high material utilization, and high throughput, if high device efficiencies and benign reaction mechanisms can be obtained. Thin film solar cells based on chalcogenide and perovskite absorbers are particularly promising as they have achieved efficiencies over 23% and can be fabricated by liquid deposition methods and on rigid or flexible substrates. They also allow for their integration in solution-processed multi-junction (or tandem) solar cells to further boost device efficiencies by over 40%. These technologies are key to support the growth and implementation of light-weight and high-efficiency renewable energy solutions for distributed stationary and mobile applications.
Biography
Dr. Alexander R. Uhl is an Assistant Professor at the School of Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical) at UBC Okanagan, Principal’s Research Chair in Solar Energy Conversion (Tier 2), Lead of the UBC Research Cluster of Solar Energy for Net Zero, and Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Solar Energy and Fuels (LSEF). He received his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), Switzerland and Diploma in Nanoscale Engineering from the University of Würzburg, Germany after graduate stays at the University of British Columbia, Canada and Uppsala University, Sweden. As a three-time fellow of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) he conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Washington, USA with Prof. Hugh Hillhouse, and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland with Prof. Michael Graetzel and Prof. Anders Hagfeldt. With over 16 years of experience in materials and technologies for solar energy conversion, Dr. Uhl’s group develops printed solar cells, tandem devices, and photoelectrochemical devices for clean and renewable electricity and storable fuels.