• Energy Research
• 2026 close

This project studentship involves close collaboration with a team of researchers working on the development of perovskite solar-cell devices by spray-coating. Our research vision is to develop solar cells that are inherently non-planar and are continuously coated over 3-dimensional surfaces. As an exemplar, we will use composite materials such as carbon-fibre and other thermo-plastic polymers as the device substrate, as such materials can be easily formed into non-planar structures and can have very high strength-to-weight ratios. The systems we will develop will find potential applications as decentralized, mobile power sources for use in low-energy vehicles and aerospace-technology. Key to this integration is the development of spray-based techniques that permit PV to be coated over 3D surfaces in a seamless and unobtrusive fashion. The student will be charged with the development of techniques that will allow non-planar (curved) surfaces to be coated with various semiconductor materials by spray-coating. This will require a careful control of spray-based deposition techniques and control over drying rates. The student will explore techniques to control film drying-rates, and will also control the properties of the material solutions (inks) to be spray-cast using various viscosity modifiers. The student will then characterise the spray-cast films using a variety of microscopy and analytical techniques. Finally, the student will help fabricate and test the performance of the 3D photovoltaic devices created.

The future PV market will rely on a variety of innovative PV solutions and products in order to meet the market growth potential and address the grand environmental challenges faced by EU to achieve and sustain a green electricity market. Development of non-toxic, earth abundant, long-term stable PV materials, along with implementation of cost-effective, robust and industrially scalable, rapid, resource saving technologies for fabrication of low weight low-cost thin film PV devices with flexibility in design, such as BIPV, PV powered IoT – the basis for zero energy buildings, smart cities and smart villages. The 5GSOLAR aims to recruit a Knowledge Developer and Manager to bring complementary knowledge to the existing core team, and thereby enhance scientific excellence, to increase visibility and attractiveness, and to bridge the gap between research and technology transfer. This will positively contribute to achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, European targets for Clean Energy for all Europeans, the Smart Specialisation Strategy of Estonia, and to the contribution to the European Research Area. The short term aim is to create a functional ERA Chair team that is capable of implementing the strategies (EMPOWER, STAND OUT, STABLE) formed in the scope of the ERA Chair, and to progress toward the vision of ensuring a sustainable ERA Chair. The long-term goal of the ERA Chair 5GSOLAR is to build a stakeholders’ network, after the ERA Chair project to participate in establishing of a renewable energy demo/briefing centre in Estonia, and finally, to establish a EU joint graduate school on photovoltaics. Completion of these tasks will unleash European’s potential to become the climate neutrality pioneer. The main task of the ERA Chair is to converge R&D&I, stakeholders, policy makers, and society.

M-ERA.NET 3 aims at coordinating the research efforts in the participating EU Member States, Regions, and Associated States in materials research and innovation, including materials for future batteries, to support the circular economy and Sustainable Development Goals. A large network of national and regional funding organisations from 25 EU Members States, 4 Associated States and 6 countries outside Europe will implement a series of annual joint calls to fund excellent innovative transnational RTD cooperation, including one call for proposals with EU co-funding and additional non-cofunded calls. Continuing the activities started under the predecessor project M-ERA.NET 2 (3/2016-2/2021), the M-ERA.NET 3 consortium will address emerging technologies and related applications areas, such as - for example- surfaces, coatings, composites, additive manufacturing or integrated materials modelling. Research on materials supporting the large scale research initiative on future battery technologies will be particularly highlighted as a main target of the cofunded call (Call 2021) with a view to supporting in particular SDG 7 (“Affordable and clean energy”) by enabling electro mobility through sustainable energy storage technology and SDG 9 (“Industrial innovation and infrastructure”) by enhancing scientific research and upgrading the technological capabilities of industrial sectors. Several relevant action plans and initiatives will serve as programmatic guides for M-ERA.NET 3 when defining the joint activities, such as the Circular Economy Action Plan, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the EC communication “A clean planet for all”, and the “European Green Deal”. The total mobilised public call budget is expected to reach 150 million € with additional private investment of 50 million €. Thus, the leverage effect of the EU contribution will reach a factor of 13, exceeding by far the minimum required factor of 5.

A central focus of leading investigations, the bulk photovoltaic effect is a nonlinear absorption process that converts light into electrical current intrinsically. The last few years have brought groundbreaking discoveries to the field, including an unprecedented enhancement of the photoresponse driven by a combination of topology and third-order electric-field effects, as well as the first material realization of solar-cell efficiency exceeding the upper-limit of current devices. The nonlinear mechanism is thus in an excellent position to revolutionize the field of solar-cell technologies by opening a fundamentally new route towards highly efficient third-generation photovoltaics. Reaching this landmark requires both a fundamental understanding and a systematic search of materials. In this scenario, first-principles calculations based on density functional theory must play a central role in coming years due to their innate ability to deliver microscopic and material-specific predictions. A first-principles description of nonlinear responses, however, is very complex and contemporary methods need to go far beyond the state-of-the-art for modelling central effects such as third-order contributions. PhotoNow aims at filling this critical gap by developing a first-principles method that correctly incorporates these effects, giving unprecedented access to crucial properties like the energy conversion efficiency. Our methodology will rest upon a Wannier-function technique adaptable to any material, crystallizing in a free software interdisciplinary tool aimed for physicists, chemists and engineers. This major development will allow us to achieve our central goal, namely discovering and characterizing outstanding materials for nonlinear photovoltaics. PhotoNow will carry out a systematic analysis of a wide variety of materials including Weyl semimetals, ferroelectrics and distorted semiconductors, delivering key microscopic understanding and guiding future discoveries.