Prof. Yves Gnanou, Dean of PSE Division & Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Prof. Iain McCulloch, Director of KAUST Solar Center (KSC) Prof. Stefaan De Wolf, Associate Professor of Material Science & Engineering, KAUST Solar Center (KSC)

Semiconducting metal-halide perovskites present various types of chemical interactions which give them a characteristic fluctuating structure sensitive to the operating conditions of the device, to which they adjust. This makes the control of structure-properties relationship, especially at interfaces where the device realizes its function, the crucial step in order to control devices operation. In particular, given their simple processability at relatively low temperature, one can expect an intrinsic level of structural/chemical disorder of the semiconductor which results in the formation of defects.

The silicon heterojunction [SHJ] structure adopted in Panasonic’s photovoltaic module HIT® is recognized as one of the highest efficiency solar cells that has following advantages over a conventional c-Si solar cell, (1) a high efficiency over 22% with high open circuit voltage [Voc] of more than 720 mV, (2) higher power generation in practical use due to the world's leading output temperature coefficient of -0.258%/°C, (3) a symmetrical cell structure essentially suitable for bifacial module.

It is well understood and commonly cited that the solar energy resource significantly exceeds the world’s total energy consumption. However, despite dramatic advances in deployment and cost reduction, the vision of photovoltaics (PV) providing a significant fraction of global electricity generation—and ultimately, total energy demand— remains to be realized. In the near term, PV has a clear path for substantial growth. Longer term, the question remains whether PV will be able to provide a moderate (e.g., 20%, ~ 4 TW in 2030) or a large (e.g., 50%, ~ 10 TW in 2030) fraction of world electricity needs.

With the advent of the exciting new material class of inorganic/organic perovskite absorbers, a realistic option has emerged for multi-junction solar cells combining high efficiency with industrial manufacturability. In order to enable future solar-cell efficiencies to exceed the theoretical efficiency limit for single junction devices, we have realigned our research activities over the past years to focus on these absorber material class with a view to applications in multi-junction devices. In collaboration with international partners we have demonstrated the feasibility and pushed the performance of such structures.

Solar-driven conversion processes yielding fuels and commodity chemicals could provide an alternative to mankind’s currently unsustainable use of fossil fuels [1]. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) Achieving a viable solar-driven EC CO2 reduction energy conversion efficiency requires minimizing potential losses in all aspects of the device including the cathode, anode, electrolyte, and membrane.

Campus Diner

There is currently an immense demand for novel p- and n-type semiconductors that can function as hole & electron transport layers (HTL, ETL respectively) in the emerging field of 3rd generation solar cells.

New high efficiency photovoltaic technologies, such as silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells and perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cells, have set critical requirements for the design of their transparent electrodes, mainly new transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) simultaneously featuring high lateral conductivity and exceptionally low optical absorption over a broad spectral region (UV-IR).

With commercial silicon solar cells approaching both practical and theoretical efficiency limits, there is growing research effort to develop new low-cost technologies capable of reaching efficiencies of 30% and beyond.

A vacuum deposition process has been developed to fabricate high efficiency perovskite solar cells with high stability using alternating layer-by-layer vacuum deposition.

The rapid rise in performance of organic solar cells over the last decade derived in large part from advances in materials chemistry and processing morphology control of the donor–acceptor photoactive active layers.

Renewable energy share of global electricity production in 2016 was 24.5% and PV share was 1.5 % (1.2% in 2015). The global capacity of PV has increased at a growth rate around 30% in the last decade and reached 303 GW at the end of 2016 (probably approaching 400 GW at the end of 2017). The cost of PV electricity has continuously come down to 2~3 US cents/kWh in MENA regions thanks to high solar irradiance.

Seaside atrium of University Library Sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry's Energy & Environmental Science and Sustainable Energy & Fuels

The young speaker awards are kindly sponsored by KAUST Industry Collaboration Program (KICP), Industry Partnerships Office and Nature Energy

Auditorium between Building 4 and 5

Crystalline silicon solar cells have been the mainstream in global production due to an international community of researchers, dedicated development efforts of standardized production, and huge factories in China and South-East Asia.

Low dimensional materials such as 1D and 2D materials have been under extensive investigations for optoelectronic and energy generation applications.

Given the vast abundance and inexhaustibility of sunlight, tapping into solar energy to produce clean water seems a viable solution to current global challenges of water scarcity and clean energy shortage. Solar driven water evaporation, which uses photothermal materials to capture and convert sunlight to heat so to generate water vapor, is an ancient technology for solar powered clean water production.

Dr. Omid Shojaei CEO INDEOtec SA

In recent years Organic Photovoltaics have shown a tremendous growth, achieving efficiencies surpassing 13%. However, the road to commercialization and large-scale deployment for this technology is still paved with challenges, leading to substantial losses in up-scaled modules.

Campus Diner

Great papers start with great science. In this talk, we will talk about how to frame scientific results for your target audience, how to present them in a clear way, including tips on structuring papers to maximize impact. I’ll discuss the landscape of scientific publishing and the ethics of publishing.

The young speaker awards are kindly sponsored by KAUST Industry Collaboration Program (KICP), Industry Partnerships Office and Nature Energy

The field of organic solar cells (OSCs) continues to grow rapidly as new non-fullerene small molecule acceptors are created to boost device efficiencies above 13% and with 15% in sight. The commercialization of nonfullerene OSCs relies critically on the response and lifetime under typical operating conditions (for instance, temperature, humidity) and the ability of scale-up fabrication in the cheapest and most benign way possible. Realizing high efficiency in printed nonfullerene OSCs via scalable materials and less toxic solvents remains a grand challenge, a challenge that is now timely to address as OSC efficiency in research devices has improved so much.

Dr. Nicolas Calvet will present the R&D activity developed at the Masdar Institute Solar Platform (MISP) mainly on CSP and TES.

A solar cell is horribly inefficient. Had the sunlight not been free, no one would care about an “engine” that wastes two-thirds of the input energy at the cell level and five-sixths of the incident energy at the farm level.

Al Marsa Yacht Club Sponsored by the KAUST Industry Collaboration Program (KICP)