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Dear colleagues,
It is my pleasure to introduce our IPVF Newsletter, which I hope will reflect the dynamism of the Institute. As new Scientific Director I would like to contribute in making your life and research easier and more efficient.
This started this summer with the elaboration of a new scientific program which will be signed by the IPVF and its partners, and will engage us for the next 3 years towards our 30*30*30 target. We are building up on the previous research projects (merci Daniel Lincot). The construction of the new scientific program is now well engaged, thanks to intense work lead by Christophe Bonelli, with the contribution of the leaders of the six new programs:
- Techno-economic analysis, which will help us to focus on research topics relevant to industry;
- Tandem perovskite/crystalline silicon modules, the working horse of IPVF;
- Tandem III-V/crystalline silicon solar cells, as an alternative to the perovskite approach;
- Characterization, modelling, and reliability, to understand the limits of current devices and their potential of improvement;
- Solar to fuels, where we will benefit from the knowhow of IPVF on solar cells, to move towards photo electrochemical cells in order to address energy storage;
- At the frontiers of PV, aiming to develop exploratory projects which may become a leading topic in coming years.
We now have a more compact and structured research program which will help us to keep focused and reach the targets. So I am sure there will be plenty of exciting results. Of course, science needs support and we have at IPVF a marvelous platform on which we are working with Roch and Pascal’s team, to bring it to a full potential. A new organization is being set up to ensure we have everything working with reliable processes for reproducible deposition of materials, equipment for characterization, etc.
Both research and platform attract visitors to IPVF. They make our institute unique and attractive worldwide. Indeed, quite often you see people visiting IPVF to establish collaborations. Moreover IPVF is also a center for teaching and attracts students and researchers participating in Masters and Executive education programs.
Last but not least, publications, conferences, talks, etc. All start with project meetings, our famous “retour du jeudi”, presentations at workshops, conferences, etc. All of them contribute in making IPVF an internationally recognized Institute. I hope this monthly Newsletter will also contribute to that. It will consist in a four-page edition for a broad audience, and a longer version for internal use and to be distributed to our partners. In the following editions we will ask the point of view of our partners. In the meantime, have good reading and don’t hesitate to contact me for the monthly news or any other scientific topic you would like to discuss.
Sincerely,
Pere Roca i Cabarrocas
Scientific Director, IPVF
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