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UNIMIB-Milano-Bicocca Solar Energy Research Center

[Cheetah Partner]

Realization and characterization of Materials and devices related to solar energy in its various forms
Sputtering, Joule and hybdrid co-evaporation techniques to deposit CIGS thin film on several substrates( Flexible , PI , Glass)
Solution deposition system (via Sol- gel and drop) of Kesterite (CZTS and CFTS)

Technical Info

MAIN FEATURES:

In 2010 the University of Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB) founded the MIB-SOLAR Center to enhance and promote the already well established UNIMIB research activities in the field of PV technologies. The distinctive feature of MIB-SOLAR is the ability to offer research and development all the way, from the computational design of the material to the preparation and characterization of the device at pre-competitive level, with a close interaction between academia and industry, working from crystalline silicon to inorganic, organic and hybrid thin film devices

The laboratory offers the following equipments:

fully equipped laboratories for synthesis (including glove-box reactions, microwave, etc.) and characterization (including multinuclear NMR, absorption and emission spectroscopy, ATR-IR, TGA, DSC, GC-MS, etc.) of organic, inorganic, and polymeric materials;
fully equipped laboratories for electrochemical synthesis and investigation;
study of chemical, thermal, and photochemical short- and long-term stability;
fabrication of thin film CIGS solar cells by a technique hybrid between sputtering and evaporation
fabrication of DSCs and organic/polymeric cells (glove-boxes);
solar simulators for small cells (2×2”) and modules (6×6″) and Keithley digital source meters for current/voltage measurements
fully integrated system for EQE and IQE measurements;
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) equipped with EDX and EBIC; 77-300 K;
large variety of spectroscopic tehniques for characterization of materials in solution, solid-state and in devices;
Light Beam Induced Current (LBIC);
sputter, evaporator, plasma and ozone cleaning;
resistivity and Hall measurements
Quasi Steady-State Photoconductance Decay (QSSPC) for lifetime testing;
ageing of solar cells under thermal stress and light soaking

LIMITATIONS OR CONSTRAINTS :

The access will be allowed with technical and scientific assistance from UNIMIB

TYPICAL SERVICES OR RESULTS

The research team have been studied the electronic and optical properties of defects in silicon for PV application for more than 20 years.
An innovative hybrid sputtering-evaporation system to develop on different substrates CIGS solar cells has been developed. It is able to control the metal quantity deposition on large dimension and it can perform the 3 stages deposition process
Deposition of inorganic thin film (CIGS, CZTS) on glass and flexible substrates
Full characterization of many PV materials.
Fabrication and characterization of DSSC devices
Fabrication and characterization of OPV devices
Fabrication and characterization of CIGS and CZTS devices
Fabrication and characterization of perovskite-based solar cells
Fabrication and characterization of hybrid DSSC-CIGS-Si-perovskite solar cells

Participation to Research Projects:

Partecipation to several national/international projects
Analysis of solar cells or materials by technical and scientific staff
All projects that need organic molecules synthesis and testing
All projects that need electrical and optical characterization of Si and CIGS materials and cells
Realization and testing of DSSC, OPV, and perovskite-based solar devices: performance and reliability
Realization and testing of CZTS and CIGS solar cells : performance and characterization