The newly founded Perovskite Competence Cluster Baden-Württemberg is receiving a total of around €1.4 million from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the state of Baden-Württemberg. This was announced by the University of Stuttgart, which is involved in the project. The cluster’s goal is to accelerate the commercialisation of perovskite technology and develop new production processes. The Institute for Photovoltaics (IPV) at the University of Stuttgart, the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), and the Lighting Technology Institute (LTI) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are also involved in the joint project.
The competence cluster takes a consistently industry-oriented approach. The establishment of a production technology centre is intended to lay the foundation for subsequent series production. Industrial processes will be developed in collaboration with Baden-Württemberg-based mechanical engineers, sensor and substrate manufacturers, and material suppliers across the entire value chain.
»Scaling up perovskite technology from research to production is key to bringing innovative “Made in Germany” solar cells to market. Only with efficient industrial processes and strong partners along the entire value chain can we create the basis for a competitive and resilient PV industry,« says Michael Powalla, ZSW Executive Board member and Head of the Photovoltaics Division. He is responsible for the scientific management of the project alongside Michael Saliba (Head of IPV) and Ulrich Paetzold (KIT).
Research partners ZSW, KIT and IPV believe they are in a position to develop new materials, manufacturing processes, encapsulation concepts, characterisation methods and component architectures for perovskite solar modules on glass, and in the future, on flexible films up to 30 cm x 30 cm. The research project is initially scheduled to run for two years.
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