Next Generation Photovoltaics

Tenure-Track-Prof. Dr. Ulrich W. Paetzold [Contact]

Welcome… Willkommen… Bonjour… 欢迎
to the homepage of the division Next Generation Photovoltaics and the cross-institutional "Taskforce Perovskite Photovoltaics at KIT" led by Tenure-Track-Prof. Dr. Ulrich W. Paetzold. If you look for us in person, you will find us at both the Institute of Microstructure Technology and the Light Technology Institute at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Enjoy reading about our work and always feel invited to contact us. Do not forget to check out our latest updates and news ∂PeroTaskforce.


To learn more about our research, visit our cross-institutional webpage of the Taskforce Perovskite Photovoltaics at KIT.

Labs & Equipment www.kit.edu
Labs and Equipment
Research www.kit.edu
Research
Funding, Projects and Partners www.kit.edu
Funding, Projects and Partners

We are looking for highly motivated students interested in the areas of optics/photonics and thin-film photovoltaics. Three categories of positions are offered:

  • Ph.D. thesis
  • Bachelor/Master thesis
  • Internships (min. 4 months)

If you are interested, contact us via mail. Please describe your interests and background. A CV, transcript of records and list of recommendations are highly appreciated.

Tenure-Track-Professor Dr. Ulrich W. Paetzold

PaetzoldM. Breig, KIT
Ulrich W. Paetzold Receives ERC Consolidator Grant

T.T. Prof. Ulrich W. Paetzold has been awarded a highly endowed ERC Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). He leads an international and highly interdisciplinary research group on new materials and processes for next generation photovoltaics. The ERC award will further strengthen his research on perovskite (tandem) photovoltaics. The proposed project aims to develop a radically new manufacturing process for high quality perovskite semiconductor that has the potential to overcome key challenges of perovskite thin film processing.

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Nachricht PaetzoldPhoto: B. A. Nejand, KIT
On a Way To The Market; Fully Scalable Perovskite/Perovskite Tandem Solar Modules

Light management, high-throughput laser interconnections and industrial coationg methods pave the way to the world’s first all perovskite tandem solar module - The team of T.T.Prof. U. Paetzold reports in Nature Energy

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01059-w

More (in German)...
(Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)Photo: Bramsiepe, KIT
All-evaporated Perovskite Solar Modules

Upscaling perovskite photovoltaics from cell to module level with scalable processes is a key challenge. Researchers at IMT and LTI have now produced perovskite solar modules with almost no loss of scaling. They combine laser-scribed interconnection lines with the ease of co-evaporated perovskites.
(Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)

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Excellent Poster award at the 2020 Material Research Society (MRS) Virtual Spring/Fall Meeting

Dr. Paul Fassl received the Excellent Poster award at the 2020 Material Research Society (MRS) Virtual Spring/Fall Meeting for his contributed poster “Revealing the internal luminescence quantum efficiency of perovskite films via accurate quantification of photon recycling”. The results of this important contribution in perovskite research have recently been published in the journal Matter (https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(21)00019-9).

Perovskite Layers Closely Examined (Photo: Markus Breig, KIT)Photo: Breig, KIT
Perovskite Layers Precisely Examined

Efficient materials for solar cells of the future - New model for determining photoluminescence quantum yields
(Photo: Markus Breig, KIT)

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Dr. Tobias Abzieher, Source: Gips-Schüle-Stiftung, 2020 Gips-Schüle-Stiftung, 2020
Dr. Tobias Abzieher Receives Award for an Outstanding Dissertation

Dr. Tobias Abzieher receives one of the renowned Young Scientist Awards 2020 of the Gips-Schüle-Stiftung for his dissertation. Due to its high relevance for the sustainable and responsible use of resources, the foundation chose the work of Dr. Abzieher as one of the three best technical and scientific dissertations in Baden-Württemberg in 2019/20. (Photo: Gips-Schüle-Stiftung, 2020)

More about the Young Scientist Awards 2020 of the Gips-Schüle-Stiftung (in German)

Figure: Demonstration of freedom of choice of printing patterns on millimeter scale by inkjet printing: Digital image files (a) of portraits of some of the researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (from left to right: Helge Eggers, Fabian Schack
The Optical Society (OSA) features the work of Helge Eggers

The Optical Society (OSA) features the work of Helge Eggers presented on Inkjet-Printed Perovskite Photovoltaics at the Optical Society (OSA) 2020 Advanced Photonics Congress with a press release. Helge Eggers, doctoral student in the research group of Dr. Ulrich W. Paetzold from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, presented his latest achievements of a perovskite solar cells with inkjet-printed absorber and extraction layers, reaching power conversion efficiencies above 17%. He received the Best Student Paper 1st Prize.

Figure: Adapted from Eggers et al., Adv. Energy Mater. 2020, 10, 1903184.

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Doctoral student Saba Gharibzadeh and Prof. M. Graetzel
Best poster award at the International Conference on Perovskite Solar Cells and Optoelectronics

02.10.2019 - Doctoral student Saba Gharibzadeh from the Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT) received the best poster award at the International Conference on Perovskite Solar Cells and Optoelectronics in Lausanne (Switzerland). The award was given for her poster on “Record Open Circuit Voltage in High Efficiency Wide-Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cells” by Prof. M. Graetzel.

Logo European Perovskite Initiative (EPKI)
Release of European Perovskite Photovoltaics White Paper.

The Perovskite-Photovoltaics White Paper by the European Perovskite Initiative (EPKI) aims to raise the awareness of perovskite-based photovoltaics with governments, politicians, investors, industries, to support and initiate new generation Perovskite-PV industrial initiatives, and to facilitate joint-research programs and synergies amongst its members. Dr. Ulrich W. Paetzold, coordinator of the Taskforce Perovskite Photovoltaics at KIT, is one of the authors of this endeavour.

For more information: https://epki.eu/

Doctoral student Raphael Schmager
Best student presentation at the OSA Advanced Photonics Congress

01.08.2019 - Doctoral student Raphael Schmager from the Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT) received an award for the best student presentation at the OSA Advanced Photonics Congress in San Francisco. The award was given for his oral presentation on “Nanophotonic Perovskite Thin-Film Solar Cells by Thermal Nano-imprint Lithography” in the topical meeting on “Optical Devices and Materials for Solid Energy and Solid-state Lightning”.

Photo: Tobias Abzieher, KIT
High Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells

A team at KIT has developed an innovative hole conductor layer that can be deposited over a large area and leads to record efficiencies (Photo: Tobias Abzieher, KIT).
doi:10.1002/aenm.201802995

German television contribution

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Back Cover, Advanced Energy Materials / Volume 9, Issue 21
Cover Advanced Energy Materials

Our recent work on 2D/3D perovskite heterostructures for photovoltaics was highlighted with a cover in Advanced Energy materials.
doi:10.1002/aenm.201803699

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Inside Front Cover, Advanced Energy Materials / Volume 9, Issue 12
Cover Advanced Energy Materials

In a recent publication, we reported on high‐quality inorganic charge extraction layers which are of key importance for efficient and stable perovskite‐based photovoltaics. The work was published in Advanced Energy Materials and highlighted with a cover.

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The cover image is based on the Research Article Energy yield of all thin‐film perovskite/CIGS tandem solar modules by Malte Langenhorst et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3091. Image Credit: Malte Langenhorst.
Cover Progress in PV

Our recent article “Energy yield of all thin‐film perovskite/CIGS tandem solar modules” by Malte Langenhorst et al. (doi:10.1002/pip.3091) was highlighted as a cover. Have fun reading it!”

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Printed colored perovskite solar cells in the form of the KIT logo (Photo: IMT/KIT).
Photovoltaics – Versatile in Form and Color

Researchers and industrial partners develop printed perovskite solar modules for flexible use in buildings (Photo: IMT/KIT).

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Das Stiefmütterchen Viola wittrockiana (Foto: Raphael Schmager)
Viola Flower Helps to Advance Light Harvesting in Solar Cells

Scientists at KIT copy microstructures from the viola petal and improve performance of solar cells.
doi:10.1021/acsphotonics.7b01153

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Doctoral student Tobias Abzieher
Best Oral Presentation at EMRS meeting.

06.10.2017 - Doctoral student Tobias Abzieher from the Light Technology Institute received an award for the best student oral presentation in the Fall Meeting of the European Materials Research Society (EMRS) in Warsaw.

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IMT’s Solar Race Car at the KIT Open Day 2017
IMT’s Solar Race at the KIT Open Day 2017.

At the KIT Open Day 2017 the photovoltaics experts at IMT organized a Solar Car Race. The event attracted a lot of visitors, who got the chance constructing their own solar-powered electric cars.

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Prototype tandem solar module made up of a semitransparent perovskite solar module (on top) and a CIGS solar module (below). (Picture: imec/ZSW/KIT)
Record for Perovskite/CIGS Tandem Solar Module

A prototype of a Perovskite/CIGS  thin-film solar module achieves an efficiency of 17.8 percent and surpasses for the first time the efficiency of separate perovskite and CIGS solar modules (Picture: imec/ZSW/KIT). Article in optics.org.

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