The ZEUS Challenge to harness photo voltaic power in area with nanowire know-how
by Hugo Ritmico
Madrid, Spain (SPXR) Oct 10, 2024
The College of Malaga (UMA) is collaborating in a world consortium to advance the gathering and transmission of photo voltaic power in area by the ‘ZEUS’ venture, a part of the Horizon EIC Pathfinder Challenges. This European venture, coordinated by Lund College in Sweden, has been awarded practically euro 4 million to develop revolutionary nanowire photo voltaic cells designed to function within the harsh situations of area.
The ZEUS venture, or Zero-loss Vitality harvesting Utilizing nanowire photo voltaic cells in House, focuses on creating radiation-resistant photovoltaic cells that may effectively take in photo voltaic power. Nanowires, that are needle-shaped constructions simply 200 nanometers in diameter-much thinner than a human hair-allow for top resistance to radiation and optimum gentle absorption.
“Masking roughly 10 % of a floor with lively materials is all that’s wanted to soak up as a lot gentle as a skinny layer masking the whole floor of the identical materials would do,” defined Enrique Barrigon, professor of Utilized Physics I at UMA and the venture lead on the college.
At the moment, nanowire photo voltaic cells utilized in area obtain round 15% effectivity. ZEUS goals to spice up this considerably, probably reaching as much as 47% effectivity by using superior III-V semiconductor supplies. The venture additionally explores transferring these photo voltaic cells to versatile, light-weight substrates, which may very well be used to create giant deployable photovoltaic panels for area purposes.
Along with its give attention to technical innovation, the ZEUS venture emphasizes environmental sustainability, together with decarbonization and the environment friendly use of crucial uncooked supplies. Professor Barrigon highlighted that the venture not solely seeks to reveal the business viability of nanowire photo voltaic cells but in addition to evaluate their environmental influence, significantly for space-based energy era techniques. One potential utility is rising the ability output of communications satellites.
The College of Malaga will play a key function in characterizing these superior photo voltaic cells and conducting the exams required to make sure their sturdiness within the area atmosphere.
The Horizon EIC Pathfinder Challenges program helps pioneering applied sciences like ZEUS that might form the longer term by enabling the event of revolutionary applied sciences. The College of Malaga can also be concerned in different tasks below this program, together with ‘BioRobot-MiniHeart’ and ‘SONICOM,’ furthering its contributions to cutting-edge innovation.
Analysis Challenge:Zero-loss Vitality harvesting Utilizing nanowire photo voltaic cells in House (ZEUS)
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