By Francesca De Rossi (from the PV team at SPECIFIC, Swansea University)
I spent one week in Rome at CHOSE (Centre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy) – University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, on this Short Term Scientific Mission funded by StableNextSol COST Action, which aims to create a highly interdisciplinary network of academic and industry researchers to study the degradation mechanisms occurring in state-of-the-art OPVs and Perovskite solar cells.
My project focused on the characterisation of our triple mesoscopic stack for perovskite solar cells by using a nice setup they have in Rome. It was also a way to strengthen bonds with my former research group and hopefully start a fruitful collaboration with them.
From Rome, I then flew to Malta to attend the 10th International Summit on Stability of Organic and Perovskite Solar Cells (ISOS-10), hosted by the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), from October 18 – 20, 2017.
ISOS conferences have usually a limited number of participants, making easier to network with researchers and industry and creating a very unique atmosphere for scientific and technological exchange. The program includes not only talks and poster sessions but also round table discussions, focused this year on possible indoors applications of OPV and perovskite solar cells and on standardised protocols for encapsulation.
Both myself and Katherine (Hooper) presented our works in flash talks and posters and had interesting conversations with the other participants. We also enjoyed the social event: a ride on vintage buses from the conference site to La Valletta, Malta’s capital, a walk around its streets down to the harbour where small traditional boats were waiting to carry us to the other side of the bay, to this refurbished British hospital, which now hosts a science museum, where a delicious dinner was served on the terrace looking at the sea while a small orchestra was playing for us.
