Advancing Photovoltaics for Economical Concentrator Systems (APECS)

A joint project between the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Research in Photonics and Morgan Solar Inc. starts in 2010, targeting cost reduction for both solar cells and concentrator systems. Funded by the Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence from Ontario’s Ministry of Research and Innovation, the project entitled APECS: Advancing Photovoltaics for Economical Concentrator Systems, will deploy a test site on the University of Ottawa campus and a larger demonstrator system off-site, both employing state-of-the-art light-guiding concentrator optics from Morgan Solar and commercial high-efficiency III-V triple-junction solar cells. The project will additionally research the design and growth of III-V multi-junction solar cells on low cost substrate materials. This project is headed by Professors Trevor Hall, Karin Hinzer, Henry Schriemer, and Hanan Anis. Although the project consortium was modified since this original announcement, the main project goals and objectives remain unchanged.