Horizon Europe

ULiège is taking part in three European study projects on photovoltaics and improvements in this sector



The University of Liège, and more particularly the PEPs laboratory (Chemical Engineering Research Unit / School of Engineering), headed by Angélique Léonard, is involved in three large research projects of the "Horizon Europe" programme devoted to photovoltaics and issues related to sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply.

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he PEPs Laboratory (Products, Environment and Processes) at ULiège has been selected to participate in three major research projects of the European Horizon Europe programme (Sustainable, Secure and Competitive energy supply). These projects are concerned with photovoltaics (PV) and for which the laboratory headed by Angélique Léonard will deal with aspects related to the eco-design and life cycle analysis of materials used in this field with the aim of developing a sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply and alternative and innovative photovoltaic technologies.

PILATUS : digitised pilot lines for silicon interdigitated back contact tunnel heterojunction solar cells and modules

PILATUS is a three-year project to demonstrate, by 2025, three digitised pilot lines for the production of silicon wafers, cells and modules in Europe. The project will rely on the patented and already proven back-contact silicon heterojunction "tunnelIBC" technology to achieve its ambitious goals. PLIATUS aims to increase the production capacity of photovoltaic cells in Europe by 30%.  PILATUS will contribute to the rebuilding of a "made in Europe", cutting-edge and competitive photovoltaic industry, with the entire value chain kept in Europe and complying with the latest environmental standards, thus promoting affordability, security of supply and sustainability of the future low-carbon European energy system.

PEPPERONI: Pilot line for the European production of PEROvskite-Silicon tandem modules on an industrial scale

The PEPPERONI project was set up to ensure the rapid implementation of new solar panel production capacity in Europe. A new technology, spearheaded by Europe, is selected here: perovskite/silicon tandems. These alloys promise a better ratio between performance and manufacturing costs. PEPPERONI aims to "spice up" industrial silicon cells with a superior perovskite cell.

VALHALLA: perovskite solar cells with improved stability and applicability

The VALHALLA project aims to develop perovskite solar cells and modules with power conversion efficiencies above 26% (23% for modules) and an extrapolated lifetime of more than 25 years, guided by eco-design principles that reduce the environmental impact of perovskite photovoltaic cells: scalable production processes, absence of harmful solvents, optimised use of materials, circularity and recycling aspects. This project will also involve the skills of the GeMMe laboratory, headed by Éric Pirard.

This project will be financed to the tune of €944,400 for the ULiège part, which will allow the hiring of two researchers for three years and one researcher for one year.

Contact

Angélique Léonard


Photo : Shutterstock

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