University of Delaware receives $3.75 million DOE grant for solar research

March 25, 2008, Newark, DE--The University of Delaware's (UD) Institute of Energy Conversion (IEC) will receive $3.75 million from the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar America Initiative over the next three years to continue leading-edge research on photovoltaic-based solar cells.

Of the nine universities selected by DOE to receive the competitive funding, which is matched in part by industry collaborators, UD is the largest grant recipient and one of only two universities to be awarded two research projects, which will be conducted in collaboration with Dow Corning and SunPower, respectively.

The latest two grants follow on the heels of UD's $1.2 million award in November from the Solar America Initiative's Future Generation Photovoltaic Devices and Processes program to develop advanced thin film-tandem junction solar cells. UD also is a subcontractor on four industry-led Solar America Initiative programs awarded to Dow Chemical, GE, Konarka, and SoloPower.

With Dow Corning, researchers at IEC will expand their pioneering research on flexible, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) solar cells, which are created by depositing a semiconductor material composed of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium onto a thin, film-like substrate. Last year, IEC scientists reported on advancements in a new roll-to-roll technology for manufacturing flexible CIGS solar cells in long sheets, much like newsprint from a printing press, which opens the door to the manufacture of lightweight solar panels for roofs, spacecraft, and many other applications.

For more information, visit www.udel.edu.