Physicist at HI ERN receives prestigious award of the European Research Council and 2 million euros in funding to develop recycling concepts for solar modules.

July 17, 2024 - In his lecture as part of the "FAU Insights" series, Dr. Ian Marius Peters (HI ERN) shows why solar modules are our best option for a sustainable energy system. The lecture is available as a video.

Researchers at HI ERN have developed an efficient and environmentally friendly process for recycling perovskite solar cells. In a paper published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, they present a method with which up to 99.97 percent of the materials used in a solar cell can be recovered and reused - with comparable efficiency, less waste and lower costs. This is the first time that such a high level of efficiency has been achieved in the recycling of perovskite solar cells.

Marinna Pivatto from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Brazil has been awarded a prestigious German Chancellor Fellowship for prospective leaders from Brazil from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. HI ERN supported her application. As part of her scholarship, Marinna will join HI ERN for a one-year research stay later in 2024 to make solar even more sustainable.

Impressions of the visit to the Yangtze Institute for Solar Technology (YIST) in China: Dr. Ian Marius Peters took part in a workshop on the reliability of photovoltaics and visited production facilities of Trina, Tongwei and Longi.

Dr. Ian Marius Peters gave a keynote speech at the 8th International ICARB Conference from September 25 - 26, 2023 Edinburgh.

The rising demand for renewable energy has led to a massive increase in the production of photovoltaic modules. But what happens to the solar cells and the valuable raw materials they contain when they reach the end of their service life? In the article recently published on spektrum.de, Dr. Ian Marius Peters explains his circular approach.

In the coming years, many photovoltaic systems and wind turbines around the world will be thrown away due to their age. But the raw materials they contain are far too valuable for that. They could also be fed into the circular economy. In the current issue of "effzett", HI ERN researcher Dr. Ian Marius Peters and other scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich explain the creative approaches they are taking.

Photovoltaics is an important pillar of the energy transition. However, the expected PV ramp-up will tie up large quantities of resources. Circular recycling strategies are necessary in order to avoid waste streams in the future that are of the order of magnitude of today's global electronic waste. This is the conclusion reached by researchers at HI ERN in a study published in the renowned scientific journal Joule.

With the organization of two symposia and lectures by Albert These, Prof. Christoph Brabec and Zhenni Wu, it was a busy week in Seattle for the HI ERN team. Intensive exchanges with colleagues from near and far, including Tonio Buonassisi from MIT, Kaining Ding from IEK-5 (Forschungszentrum Jülich), Shijing Sun from the University of Washington and Johnson Wong from Wavelabs, made the week complete.

The 52nd edition of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference in Seattle (USA) was a milestone in its long history. Over 800 experienced photovoltaic experts, young professionals and students took the opportunity to discuss the latest developments on site. HI ERN team leader Dr Ian Marius Peters was part of the organizing committee.

Physicist at HI ERN receives prestigious award of the European Research Council and 2 million euros in funding to develop recycling concepts for solar modules.