By Justin Searle, SPECIFIC
The starting Trio of Worsley (Dave), Watson (Trystan) and Philip (Bruce) embarked on the long journey to PV stardom 10 years ago, what is now a large and successful group with an international reputation started off in the relative wilderness that was Dye Sensitised Solar cells. Having spent a few years as maverick upstarts, where, with the input of others, the concept of “buildings as power stations” and the entity we now know as SPECIFIC was hatched, the group has spent the last 10 years chasing electrons and publishing in excess of 70 publications. The group has also spawned a number of independent academics and a host of researchers and professionals for the wider world.
Swansea is becoming a UK centre for solar expertise and with our many links to partner institutions cover a huge array of disciplines and skill sets from fundamental photophysics through to large scale printing and coating. The recent review meeting at Gregynog included new Swansea academics as well as visitors from partner institutions and was a great event and showed the diverse nature of the work. The first results of a large scale trial creating A4 modules was discussed along with studies examining electron lifetimes and cell stability investigations as well as provide an opportunity for more ‘informal discussions’. So congratulations are due to all members of the group both past, present and future. This time next year we’ll have a building with Perovskite on it!
Let’s hear from the team…
“One of the most exciting aspects for me over the last 10 years has been the opportunity to work with so many excellent people from all over the world.” [Trystan Watson, Associate Professor]
“When I see what we have achieved with our partners in ten years I am eager to get into the next decade and see this technology deployed at scale.” [Dave Worsley, Research Director]
“From such humble begins, it is amazing to see the world class research and reputation that the SPECIFIC PV group has achieved.” [Bruce Philip, Technology Transfer Fellow]
