35% Is This Possible? ... UNIST Challenges to Develop Ultra-High Efficiency 'Super Solar Cell'

Final Completion of Alchemist Project, 10 Billion Won Support Over 5 Years

Accelerating Carbon Neutrality and Securing Competitiveness in the Solar Power Market

The UNIST research team was selected as the final executing institution for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Alchemist Project on the 8th. (From left: Professor Yang Changdeok, Department of Energy Chemical Engineering; Professor Choi Kyungjin, Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Professor Seok Sangil, Department of Energy Chemical Engineering; Professor Song Myunghoon, Department of Materials Science and Engineering)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Trainee Reporter Lee Seryeong] A collaborative research team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in the fields of solar cells, new materials, and energy chemistry has taken on the challenge of developing a super solar cell, an industrial sector's difficult problem.

On the 22nd, the UNIST research team announced that it was recently selected as the final executing institution for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 'Alchemist' project.

The name 'Alchemist' was given to embody the challenging spirit of alchemists who tried to turn iron into gold. The project began in 2019.

Selected over prestigious universities such as Seoul National University, the team was chosen as the project execution team in the renewable energy field and will receive 10 billion KRW in support over the next five years.

The project is conducted in a tournament-style technology development task execution method, where the final task executor is selected by comprehensively evaluating the performance of the preliminary executing institutions selected in the first round.

Among the 10 research teams that applied in the renewable energy sector, teams from UNIST, Seoul National University, and Korea University were selected as preliminary executing institutions and have conducted preliminary research over the past two years.

In this project, the research team aims to develop a super solar cell with an efficiency of 35%.

The development of this cell, which far exceeds the theoretical efficiency limit of 30% for commercial silicon solar cells, will utilize the '1+1' tandem technology that combines a perovskite thin-film solar cell on top of a silicon solar cell.

The team brings together expertise from Professor Choi Kyungjin, a silicon solar cell expert; Professor Seok Sangil, a world-renowned scholar in the field of perovskite solar cells; Professor Song Myunghoon from the Department of New Materials Engineering; and Professor Yang Changdeok from the Department of Energy Chemical Engineering at UNIST.

Research institutes and companies such as KETI, KIST, Jusung Engineering, and ENF Technology will also contribute their efforts.

The research team plans to simultaneously conduct studies on material technology, large-area process, modular element technology, and integrated equipment development to improve long-term stability and cost competitiveness, which are called the three major conditions for the commercialization of solar cells.

Professor Seok Sangil of the Department of Energy Chemical Engineering said, “Our research team has established itself as a world-leading group in the field of perovskite solar cells over the past 10 years,” adding, “If we make good use of the knowledge accumulated so far, it is definitely worth challenging.”

Professor Choi Kyungjin of the Department of New Materials Engineering, who is in charge of the project team, said, “Ultra-high-efficiency super solar cells are an effective strategy to respond to climate change and accelerate the carbon-neutral era,” adding, “It will also greatly help the leap and development of the domestic solar industry, which has lost market leadership to China's low-price offensive.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.