Researchers at the University of Bristol have begun work into the development of new active minerals for use in thin film Solar photovoltaic cells. Aiming to make the most use of abundant and low cost elements to bring Solar PV into a new stage of affordability and efficiency, the teams work must surely be on the watch list for anyone involved in the Solar PV industry or for those looking at PV in the future.

The “Photo-Voltaic Technology based on Earth Abundant Materials (PVTEAM)” has recently been awarded £2million ($3.3million) by the Engineering and Physical Sciences and Research Council (EPSRC). The team is one of four groups to have recently been awarded research funding by the EPRSC totally over £10million. Each of the projects is aiming to find more sustainable replacements for some of the raw materials that are used by the manufacturing industries.

The Bristol-led team aims to replace key elements- such as tellurium, cadmium and gallium- often used in the manufacture of Solar PV Cells, whilst pioneering research into a process compatible with large scale manufacturing. As many of these elements have a low abundance they naturally come with a high cost, and finding cheaper alternatives to them represents a huge breakthrough in the Solar PV and sustainable energy world.

The implications of this research not only includes the dramatic lowering of Solar PV module production costs leading to a reduction in unit costs but also the potential for elimination of the requirements to mine such minerals which can often prove dangerous.

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