DOE Office of Science Funded Basic Research at NREL that Impacts Photovoltaic Technologies

The DOE Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, supports a number of basic research projects in materials, chemicals, and biosciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that impact several renewable energy technologies, including photovoltaics (PV). The goal of the Material Sciences projects is to study the structural, optical, electrical, and defect properties of semiconductors and related materials using state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical techniques. Specific projects involving PV include: ordering in III-V semiconductors, isoelectronic co-doping, doping bottlenecks in semiconductors, solid-state theory, and computational science. The goal of the Chemical Sciences projects is to advance the fundamental understanding of the relevant science involving materials, photochemistry, photoelectrochemistry, nanoscale chemistry, and catalysis that support solar photochemical conversion technologies. Specific projects relating to PV include: dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cells, semiconductor nanostructures, and molecular semiconductors. This presentation will give an overview of some of the major accomplishments of these projects