Dr. Phil Ahrenkiel of the South Dakota
School of Mines & Technology’s Nanoscience and Nanoengineering Program is
researching next-generation solar cells thanks to a $179,000 U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) grant.
Ahrenkiel is developing a novel approach for
using earth-abundant
and widely available metal aluminum to improve commercializable photovoltaic
solar cells. The new cells could help lower the cost of renewable energy.
These emerging
nanoengineering approaches could produce enhanced efficiencies and reduced
manufacturing costs and lead to increased production of next-generation solar
cells in the United States.
Ahrenkiel’s
goal is to convert sunlight into electricity by depositing thin layers of solar
cells onto inexpensive aluminum substrates.
If the
research is successful, it will lead to the fabrication of solar cells on thin,
flexible, and lightweight aluminum ribbons or sheets, which could be
transferred to glass and integrated with residential or commercial buildings. This
technology would be adaptable to a roll-to-roll semiconductor deposition
process for mass production of inexpensive solar cells.
The research will be performed using
existing device-processing, electron-microscopy, and optoelectronic-characterization
capabilities available at South Dakota Mines, which is partnering with
Rochester Institute of Technology and Lakewood Semiconductors on this project
funded by the DOE’s SunShot Initiative.