Sun shines on ANU research

The Australian National University continues to be at the forefront of national and international solar research thanks to funding provided by the Commonwealth via the Australian Solar Institute (ASI). The Hon Martin Ferguson, Minister for Resources and Energy, today announced a new project that will contribute significantly to the continued reduction in the cost of solar electricity. Project Manager Klaus Weber from the Research School of Engineering said that the $350,000 project will produce results in less than two years. "By refining laser chemical processing technology we aim to enable solar cell fabrication with increased efficiency and decreased manufacturing costs. "At present the laser technology allows the local modification of the properties of solar cells using a laser beam guided within a chemical jet," said Weber. "In contrast to other processes, it results in no heating of the rest of the solar cell. The process is used to create suitable regions for the electrical of the cell.