QESST scholar Antony Aguilar was invited to present an extended oral talk at the 2016 IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference (PVSC) in Portland, Oregon. Antony presented the paper, Development of Cu Plating for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells, representing the High Efficiency Silicon Solar Cell (HESSC) team directed by QESST faculty, Stuart Bowden. Co-authors included other QESST scholars and industry partners from Technic (Krystal Munoz, Lynne Michaelson, and Tom Tyson). The presentation described an alternative metallization to the standard low temperature Ag paste for Silicon Heterojunction Cells (SHJ) cells.

The Tecnológico de Monterrey came to the QESST for a two day intensive session on the use and operation of photovoltaic devices.The majority of the students were enrolled in the Architecture schools at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and were exposed to the more engineering side of photovoltaics. The students each fabricated a solar cell module and then used the module in outdoor testing. As photovoltaics is an international technology the Solar Power Labs was pleased to be able to host the Mexican students and looks forward to further collaborations in the future.

Twelve students just finished the latest course on the manufacture of solar cells at ASU. At the completion of the course the students were able to complete the manufacture of high efficiency solar cells on the pilot line at the solar power labs. Half the students came from across the US as part of the QESST engineering research center, and the other half were from the SUN IGERT program at ASU.

Each summer we run a research program for participants to learn about solar cell manufacturing and to conduct research on improving solar cell performance. After going through basic training on how to make a silicon solar cell, the larger group splits into teams to research a special topic on solar cells.

This year the program has significantly expanded from previous years. We now have 24 participants taking the program under the guidance of five graduate student mentors. We have also extended to the time that people work on the projects to eight weeks.

Solar power is booming and we use the summer program to educate on the technology behind the solar cell.  To reflect the broad use and impact of solar power in the community,  the program is a very inclusive environment and participants come from a range of back grounds and varied educational levels. Young Scholars from high schools get their first taste of what it is like to do research in a university cleanroom. The majority of the program consists of undergraduate students from both community colleges and universities. These students get to explore new concepts in solar cells design an fabrications. We also have STEM teachers who take what they learn over the summer back to their classrooms. At the graduate level, students who have been studying the device physics of photovoltaics have the opportunity to make a solar cell on a pilot production line and explore the issues and challenges involved in taking a new technology from a lab and into commercial production.