A new collaboration between Cyprus, Germany, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden will take place for the implementation of the new project with the acronym “CIRCULAR-PV” and the title “Towards long-lived and recyclable perovskite photovoltaics”. The project will be coordinated by DegradationLab, a strategic infrastructure unit of the Photovoltaic Technology Laboratory, which is part of the FOS Research Unit, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus.
The project “CIRCULAR-PV” has secured funding from the European Clean Energy Transition Partnership, under the second joint call announced under the Power Technologies thematic area. The total funding of the project amounts to €2.086.628,06 while the funding of the University of Cyprus amounts to €445.660. The University of Cyprus is participating in the project in collaboration with internationally renowned research organisations, namely the University of Freiburg, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the companies Solaronix and Dyenamo AB.
The project focuses on perovskite-based solar photovoltaics, particularly halide metal perovskites, which are a combination of organic and inorganic materials that have shown potential for high efficiency and low production costs. Key activities will include the development of an appropriate circularity strategy, which will form the basis for the manufacturing of perovskite photovoltaic panels, their ageing and recycling. In addition, the possibility of remanufacturing environmentally friendly perovskite panels of similar performance to new perovskite panels using recycled material with different degrees and types of degradation will also be investigated.
In this project:
- The University of Cyprus will participate in the ageing tests of the eco-designed perovskite photovoltaic panels to be developed in the project (in real and laboratory conditions) and in their extensive characterisation before/after ageing in real conditions using advanced optoelectronic techniques.
- The University of Freiburg will focus on the fabrication of encapsulated perovskite eco-frames, as well as on the study of their stability under real and laboratory conditions and detailed characterisation revealing limiting factors and enabling their optimisation.
- The role of Forschungszentrum Jülich will be mainly in the development of an appropriate cyclicity strategy, life cycle analysis (LCA), design of perovskite eco-frames and their recycling.
- Solaronix will focus on the manufacturing of eco-designed perovskite panels as well as stability and characterisation studies under laboratory conditions.
- Dyenamo’s role will be mainly for the development of innovative materials for supply to partner manufacturers, as well as for quality studies on recovered material from degraded perovskite frames.
“CIRCULAR-PV” is expected to lead to the minimisation of critical raw material use and new cyclicity approaches, to the demonstration of the possibility of upscaling forklift frames using sustainable green approaches, to innovative cyclicity and pre-industrial process designs, and to the demonstration of the stability of the eco-technology in different climatic conditions (in Germany and Cyprus).
The “CIRCULAR-PV” project started on 1 January 2025 and will have a duration of 36 months. The first meeting took place online on 20 and 24 January 2025.
For further information please contact the project coordinator Dr. Maria Hadjipanagi (tel. +357 22892287, email: hadjipanayi.maria@ucy.ac.cy) or Professor George H. Georgiou (tel.: +357 22892272, email: geg@ucy.ac.cy).
Source: University of Cyprus | Latest news (https://tinyurl.com/3vp4uyve)