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Adélio Mendes, professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP), has been distinguished with an Advanced Research Grant worth EUR 2 million awarded by the European Research Council (ERC). The project consists in the creation and development of innovative technology for the production of electricity through photovoltaic cells sensitized with dyes that could revolutionize the electricity market.
Some compare these awards ]to Nobel Prizes, because the amounts allocated are of the same order of magnitude. For researchers, to receive an Advanced Grant signifies admittance to the restricted group of people who witness their work - sometimes a lifetime’s work recognized by the scientific community. At 48, Adélio Mendes has just joined “the group.” He considers this prize “a re-start of my professional life” and “a tool to help achieve a greater goal, which is to be able to contribute to revolutionizing the electricity market in Portugal, especially because” - he says - “my dream was that our country, with so many resources in terms of solar energy, could become a world leader in this technology.” The idea of commencing research into photovoltaic technologies resulted from a challenge laid down in 2005 by Carlos Costa, director of FEUP at the time. On the pretext of compiling a report on the most promising technology in the field of photovoltaic energy, Adélio Mendes came to an important conclusion: the solution resided in the development of dye-sensitized solar cells. The first steps taken in this research began in 2006, after Adélio Mendes had taken on the supervision of a student who had finished his PhD and was preparing to undertake study financed by a research grant. A year later, in conversation with one of the EFACEC directors, the FEUP professor realized there was considerable interest on the part of the leading company in the technology and electrical systems market in supporting this project. The die was cast, and it was time to invest everything in research into photovoltaic cells. Adélio Mendes wasted no time. In 2008 he had a meeting with Michael Grätzel, a professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) and inventor of dye-sensitized cells. He told him of an innovative process for sealing the cells with glass, by means of a laser assisted process. “He encouraged me to pursue the idea, and following this conversation I submitted a patent describing this whole new process of sealing the cells,” explains Adélio Mendes. During the next two years some difficulties were encountered, resulting in deadlock. The outcome of the results was delayed, and
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH WHICH HAS GAINED AN AWARD COMPRISE? Mimicking the operation of plant chlorophyll (pigments that allow photosynthesis), the technology in question, known as dye-sensitized cells (DSC - Dyesensitized Solar Cells), uses dyes to absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity . The technological solution developed by the research team led by Adélio Mendes is presented as an alternative that is cheaper, safer and even more aesthetic than the traditional silicon solar cells, and in building applications they are also more efficient. The ultimate goal is to build photovoltaic modules capable of operating as facings for buildings (similar to glazed tiles) or even as replacement facades, allowing sunlight to be transformed into electricity and thus significantly reducing the energy bill. Until recently, this technology had no commercial viability. Nevertheless, with the collaboration of EFACEC, the FEUP researcher developed a sealing process of DCS cells using glass paste, thus ensuring the stability of photovoltaic modules over the long term. Therefore, the financing of € 2 million will be used in the scientific and technological development of these photovoltaic cells with the ultimate aim of producing cells with at least 13% energy efficiency and a stability of 25 years’ duration. Besides the development of sealing with laser–assisted glass, transparent substrates will be developed with an electrical conductivity much higher than at present, a counter electrode of nanostructured carbon replacing the current platinum film, and a photo electrode optimized to receive a nanostructured carbon pigment. The challenge now is to put this technology on the market by the beginning of 2014, with the assistance of EFACEC.
FEUP HIGHLIGHTS 2012 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING - UNIVERSITY OF PORTO