Solar power is arguably the cleanest, most reliable form of renewable energy available. Here in Baran’s OMEGA Lab we develop photovoltaic materials and devices to achieve higher performance and reliability at a lower cost and to enhance understanding of the chemistry behind the material growth and the physics behind the device operation. We also aim to understand the stability and degradation processes that occur in the solar cells.
In our Omegalab, we are developing p- and n-type organic and hybrid organic/inorganic thermoelectric materials that are compatible with low-cost scalable processes such as printing and coating methods. We aim to realize high performance and low-temperature processed thermoelectric organic and perovskite materials by comprehensively understanding the material characteristics and materials design.
Printing technologies are emerging in the field of photovoltaics, as they are compatible with solution-processable materials. Printing offers endless possibilities in terms of customization, freedom of design, ability to use flexible substrates for large-scale processes. Our research focuses on the optimization of the printing processes to develop low-cost and highly efficient solar cells by using high throughput techniques, such as inkjet printing, 3-D printing and slot-die coating.