Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Clean, renewable and inexpensive energy is not only this century's most important challenge, but also it is most likely one of the largest financial opportunities for developed countries. Contrary to the current fossil fuel economy, the winners of the upcoming clean energy market will not be the ones possessing the resource, however it would be rather the ones controlling the technology. Photovoltaic generation of electricity is expected to play a major role in this emerging market, but several hurdles must be overcome if this technology is to reach the characteristics that will enable massive adoption, such as improved energy conversion efficiency, production and installation costs. This project aims to address a technology challenge that lies at the heart of these hurdles - the cost of the materials for high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. PV cells based on silicon have been maturing for a number of years and their cost is falling, but their maximum efficiency remains at about 20%. Fortunately, the Canadian researchers in this team have achieved cell efficiencies of 42% or more using advanced III-V semiconductor structures that emerged from their recent leadership in telecommunications component technology. Even though the multi-junction cells made from these materials are more expensive than silicon cells, they are able to function at very high levels of illumination and produce more kWh of energy for the same illumination as a silicon cell. Taking advantage of this property, solar system developers have engineered movable lensing systems to track and focus the sun's rays onto small areas of the highly-efficient cells, so that less of the material is needed. To further reduce the material cost burden this project will demonstrate how specially-prepared germanium (Ge) substrates can be used to grow the necessary solar cell layers, which are then removed from the substrate and mounted on a low-cost heat-sink, thereby freeing the Ge substrate to be used again. The net cost savings and increased electrical output of these cells create a winning combination that will further motivate the deployment of solar power for homes and businesses in Canada and globally, and in so doing will help to preserve the environment. _x000d_La production d'énergie propre, renouvelable à faible coût ne constitue pas seulement l'un des défis les plus importants du siècle à venir, mais aussi une opportunité d'affaire unique pour les pays développés. En effet, contrairement à l'économie basée