Project description
New strategies to strengthen organic photovoltaic stability
Photovoltaics play a crucial role in the battle against climate change. Organic photovoltaics (OPV) stand out for their cost-effectiveness and high power-conversion efficiencies, but their long-term stability needs to be improved. The EU-funded OPVStability project aims to comprehend the degradation mechanisms and factors contributing to stability in organic photovoltaic materials and solar cells. It will develop tools for estimating the lifespan of organic solar cells, for the identification of stable structural motifs and device architectures, and for exploration of innovative strategies to enhance the stability of the next-generation efficient OPVs. In collaboration with academic and industrial partners and while delivering training to 10 PhD students, OPVStability will employ advanced methods such as machine learning to strengthen the stability of OPVs.
Objective
Photovoltaics is a major pillar in tackling climate change, one of the biggest current threats to humankind. Organic photovoltaics (OPV) could significantly contribute to this, as organic solar cells can be manufactured in efficient and low-cost roll-to-roll processes and are already reaching power conversion efficiencies above 19%. However, in order to have a large impact, the long-term stability OPV has to be improved to obtain lifetimes of many years.
Therefore, OPVStability aims to develop (i) an in-depth understanding of the degradation mechanisms and stability-promoting factors of organic photovoltaic materials and solar cells, (ii) tools to predict the lifetime of organic solar cells and to identify stable structural motifs as well as device architectures and (iii) innovative strategies to significantly enhance the stability of efficient OPV of the next generation.
OPVStability combines partners from academia and industry with a strong background in OPV and/or specialized scientific methods including theoretical calculations and simulations, experimental degradation studies on single materials, materials combinations and interfaces, accelerated aging and outdoor stability measurements, advanced synchrotron-based analytics, high-throughput experiments and machine learning approaches.
Within OPVStability, ten PhD-students work on this timely and interdisciplinary research project accompanied with an excellent training program comprising scientific skills as well as a comprehensive set of soft and transferable skills.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencemachine learning
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energyphotovoltaic
- natural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN - HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral NetworksCoordinator
8010 Graz
Austria
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Participants (10)
4040 Linz
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28006 Madrid
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84105 Beer Sheva
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Participation ended
14469 Potsdam
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651 88 Karlstad
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34149 Trieste
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95447 Bayreuth
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91054 Erlangen
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5230 Odense M
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12489 Berlin
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Partners (8)
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
Participation ended
97318 Kitzingen
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
4040 Jyllinge
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
8010 Graz
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
08193 Cerdanyola Del Valles
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
8045 Graz
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
Participation ended
12489 Berlin
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
14469 Potsdam
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Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement.
97318 Kitzingen
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