Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH

With more than 7,000 employees, Forschungszentrum Jülich is one of the largest interdisciplinary research centres in Europe and a member of the Helmholtz Association. As an open, responsible campus with vision, FZJ is an excellent place for inspiring exchanges with people from all over the world. At the Institute of Energy Materials and Devices – Photovoltaics (IMD-3), novel materials as well as innovative device architectures for sustainable photovoltaics based on thin films are investigated. On the one hand, the physical fundamentals of mainly disordered material systems are investigated, such as amorphous and microcrystalline silicon and their alloys, organic and hybrid structures, and various functional oxides. On the other hand, future-oriented technological applications are being developed, e.g. passivation and contact layers for high-efficiency silicon heterostructure (SHJ) solar cells as well as optimized silicon thin-film stack cells on flexible substrates or for applications in the field of solar water splitting.

FZJ is a highly recognized research institute in the field of silicon heterojunction solar cells. The SiLEAN project is strongly supporting our research and development strategy by overcoming upscaling barriers for the SHJ solar technology and bringing our expertise in development of materials for solar cells into application. The successful demonstration of the next generation of silicon-based solar cells will further increase our visibility and foster future collaborations.

Within the SiLEAN project, FZJ will develop hydrogenated silicon carbide layers by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition for passivation of c-Si wafers. Furthermore, we will develop transparent conductive zinc oxide layers by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition to replace indium tin oxide as transparent contact layers. We will contribute to the development of a solar cell and mini-module demonstrator that applies all project innovations.