IRES: US - Germany: Perovskites - A Solution to Global Energy Conversion Needs

Photovoltaics (PVs) are critical to global climate change mitigation efforts. Robust, reliable, and efficient PV devices have the potential to be transformational for many communities and industries, including healthcare, remote sensing of environmental quality, energy, and security systems. This IRES program will have significant impact on multiple areas, primarily via the energy sector.

The program will network students from across Research 1, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Minority Serving Institutions and Primarily Undergraduate Institutions, with the aim of diversifying this field and science more broadly. Development of more robust and more affordable PV devices could address global energy access and justice needs, expanding clean energy options and driving the transition away from fossil fuels.

The benefits of an international research experience for students are extensive and provide a wonderful mechanism and opportunity to develop new skills in collaboration, communication, and team science expanding the way they think and approach multidisciplinary challenges. Graduates from this program will distinguish themselves through their breadth of knowledge, international and cross-cultural communication and collaboration skills, and a curiosity to learn from multiple perspectives.

While the worldwide PV market continues to grow by ~25% annually, there are significant limitations that need to be addressed in this decade for PV to have increasing impact as a renewable energy source. From a technological perspective due to fundamental physical limitations of silicon, power conversion efficiencies of commercial solar cells will peak at <27%, which will keep land-use and system costs locked at unnecessarily high levels.

In the last decade a class of materials called metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) have emerged as a potential solution thanks to their outstanding properties, the possibility to be used in conjugation with existing silicon technologies to improve efficiencies to well over 34% and their ability to be processed from solutions at low energy and material use levels. The stability of MHP-based solar devices and their upscaling are current key challenges to their commercialization.

Through this IRES Program we will strengthen a nascent relationship between groups with MHP expertise in the United States and Germany, that will accelerate the progress in photovoltaics research, leading the development of this valuable energy resource.

This multidisciplinary IRES program will contribute to developing the understanding that will enable the fabrication of MHP thin-film PV materials. The goals of this collaborative exchange program are to (1) advance the field of MHPs by developing stronger international partnerships through shared student exchanges, and (2) prepare students to collect, curate, study, and effectively disseminate large materials data sets.

Through these goals we will train a cadre of researcher adept at interdisciplinary team science. These relationships will support the development of efforts to increase the reliability and manufacturability of MHP-based technologies, and train students for academic and industrial careers. Access to affordable and sustainable solar technologies is a transformative global need.

This initiative will create opportunities for the integration of research and education into the development of these technologies of societal significance that will hugely benefit the future careers of this program’s graduates. The broad expertise collected in this IRES team will provide an excellent environment to drive this field forward and foster new research directions. The global significance of the transition to clean energy is one that requires the

consideration of multiple perspectives if it is to be done in a just and inclusive fashion. The skills in collaboration, teamwork, and respect of diverse approaches that this international program will impart will enable participants to be significant contributors to the clean energy economy. A diverse set of key personnel for this team include Seth Marder (PI, CU Boulder), Joe Berry (Co-PI, CU Boulder, NREL), Charles Musgrave (Co-PI, CU Boulder), Rebecca Belisle (Co-PI, Wellesley College), and Luis Raúl Castañeda (Co-PI, New Mexico Highlands University).

We will leverage existing federal funding (NSF-STC, NSF-DMREF, DOE-EFRC, DOE-PVRD), and logistical support from the Renewable and Sustainable

Energy Institute (RASEI; PI Marder is the Director), to provide meaningful international exchanges to, in particular, the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, and the Humboldt University-Berlin for a broad cross-section of students.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.