SOLAR
The researchers at MATIS, the centre of excellence for research into microphotonics, microelectronics, quantum systems and advanced PV, are focused on innovative materials. Founded in 2004, MATIS is hosted by the University of Catania in the Department of Physics and is a unit of IMM, the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems, which is part of the CNR. MATIS’s vast experience is rooted in materials science serving a world that thirsts for ‘clean’ energy.
M AT I S CNR IMM
Important research is proceeding into nanoparticles and TCO (an oxide which is both conductive like metal and transparent like glass), with the shared goal of finding ways to deflect light from its straight-line path through the photovoltaic cell, which greatly increases the absorption of light itself in its interior and thus increases efficiency. Another material being studied by the MATIS researchers is amorphous hydrogenated silicon, which has ‘untidy’ atoms (distributed according to a non-crystalline structure) that also contains hydrogen. It has a high coefficient of light absorption, and if used in multi-junction cells combines high energy efficiency and low materials cost.
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