SUNLAB News
Recent graduations from SUNLAB
The SUNLAB sends congratulations Ross Cheriton for the successful thesis defense and completion of his postgraduate studies:Ross Cheriton, Ph.D., Phys., "Design and Characterization of InGaN/GaN Dot-in-Nanowire Heterostructures for High Efficiency Solar Cells", July 2018 This follows three other PhD students who successful defended their theses and completed their postgraduate studies in 2017:Matthew Wilkins, Ph.D., Elec. Eng., "Multi-Junction Solar Cells and Photovoltaic Power Converters: High-Efficiency Designs and Effects of Luminescent Coupling", May 2017Pratibha Sharma, Ph.D., Elec. Eng., "Modeling, Optimization, and Characterization of High Concentration Photovoltaic Systems Using Multijunction Solar Cells", March 2017Mark Yandt, Ph.D., Elec. Eng., "Characterization Techniques and Optimization Principles for Multi-Junction Solar Cells and Maximum Long Term Performance of CPV Systems", February 2017
Amanda Lewis, MSc candidate at SUNLAB, interviewed by On Your Wavelength blog on Nature.com
Following her award of a poster prize at Photonics North this year in Montréal, Amanda Lewis (MSc candidate studying bifacial solar power energy yield and photonic power devices at SUNLAB), was interviewed by the Nature.com blog entitled On Your Wavelength. The full interview can be found here.
NSERC CREATE TOP-SET Summer School a Success
Thank you to all the presenters and participants who made the first summer school of the NSERC CREATE TOP-SET project such a success! The three-day event over May 29-31, 2018, included speakers from across Canada (Université de Sherbrooke, McMaster University, University of Ottawa, Natural Resources Canada, National Research Council), the United States (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory/George Washington University), and industry (Morgan Solar, Azastra Opto/Broadcom, Spectrafy, iBIONICS, J. L. Richards). Check this website regularly for details regarding next year's summer school.
SUNLAB Students Awarded Scholarships
Congratulations to SUNLAB students Meghan Beattie, Sanmeet Chahal, Amanda Lewis and Viktar Tatsiankou on receiving scholarships for 2018-2019.Meghan Beattie, a doctoral student at the SUNLAB, has been awarded a scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postgraduate Scholarships-Doctoral Program. This program provide financial support to high calibre scholars who are engaged in a doctoral program in the natural sciences or engineering.Both Sanmeet Chahal and Amanda Lewis, master’s students at the SUNLAB, have been awarded scholarships from the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Program. The program’s objective is to help develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students who demonstrate a high standard of achievement in undergraduate and early graduate studies.Viktar Tatsiankou, a doctoral student at the SUNLAB, has been awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. This award is a merit-based scholarship available to students in all disciplines of academic study. The OGS program is jointly funded by the Province of Ontario and Ontario universities.
SUNLAB Student Wins Poster Competition at Photonics North Conference
Congratulations to Amanda Lewis, a master's student at the SUNLAB, on winning first place at the poster competition of the 20th Photonics North conference. Amanda's poster focused on bifacial solar panel energy yield in northern Canada. Photonics North was held in Montréal June 5 to 7, 2018.
SUNLAB Students Win PEO and IEEE Prizes
Congratulations to fourth year undergraduate students Rachel Belcher, Danielle Marchand, Isa Murray, Annie Russell and Mohammed Shanti who were awarded the Innovation & Creativity Award at the Professional Engineers of Ontario Ottawa Chapter 2018 Student Papers Night, held April 11, 2018 in Ottawa, and adjudicated by a panel of professional engineers. The team was also awarded 3rd place at the IEEE Eastern Ontario Paper Competition, held April 3, 2018 in Ottawa. The team’s presentation focused on a data transmission system to support retinal implant technologies. This fourth year project was a collaboration between iBIONICS and the SUNLAB.
SUNLAB Presents NSERC CREATE TOP-SET Website
We are pleased to announce the launch of the NSERC CREATE TOP-SET website. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program titled “Training in Optoelectronics for Power: from Science and Engineering to Technology” (NSERC CREATE TOP-SET) is a training program that aims to form a cohort of highly qualified personnel with comprehensive understanding of optoelectronics including high-efficiency photovoltaics and systems for solar cells, energy systems, communication and control systems for the power grid, as well as cost-modeling and business analysis. The program, led by associate professor Karin Hinzer from the University of Ottawa in collaboration with the Université de Sherbrooke and McMaster University, provides students with regular seminars, advanced summer school classes, hands-on interdisciplinary activities at other partner universities, as well as internships at leading national and international academic, government and industry institutions.Browse our new website and direct any questions to sunlabadmin@uottawa.ca.
SUNLAB Presents an NSERC CREATE TOP-SET Seminar on Organic Solar Cells
Friday, December 15, 2017, 3:30 p.m.Refreshments to be served starting at 3 p.mAdvanced Research Complex, room 233University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton Street
Non-Fullerene Electron Accepting Materials in Organic Photovoltaics:Synthesis, Device Engineering and Lifetime AssessmentsTimothy P. Bender, University of Toronto
Abstract: For some time, our group has been focused on the design and synthesis of derivatives of boron subphthalocyanine (BsubPc). Our focal point is equally between the basic chemistry of BsubPcs and their application in organic electronics. We do focus on two specific device applications, organic photovoltaics (OPVs) solar cells and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).I will begin by presenting our efforts with regards to synthetic variants of BsubPcs and their application in planar heterojunction (PHJ) OPVs. I will then outline our very recent results where we took BsubPc based PHJ OPVs for real time roof testing. What we found was that when BsubPcs are applied as electron accepting materials they are remarkably stable and maintain 4-6% PCE over time. On the flipside, when applied as electron donating materials the stability of the paired material, C60, fullerene, dictates the overall stability of the devices. Moreover, we have used a novel method to map out the degradation pathway of the OPVs which will be described. We were able to ultimately form a structure property relationship to their stability in the ambient environment. These results and past data on the harvesting of triplet from pentacene via BsubPcs, has led us towards additional BsubPc derivatives with peripheral halogenation which will be outlined. In addition, we recently began the exploration of the bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) OPV space utilizing BsubPcs as an electron accepting fullerene alternatives.In parallel we have also been exploring the concept of complementary absorption engineering by either the chemical modification of BsubPcs or by pairing BsubPcs with alternative materials having complementary absorption profiles. For example, we have recently shown that after firming up the chemical structure of phosphorus oxy tetrabenzotriazacorrole [POTbc, a phthalocyanine analogue] that the pairing of a BsubPc with POTbc yields a unique gray organic photovoltaic cell absorbing broadly across the visible spectrum.We have also recently shown that structural analogs to BsubPcs, boron subnaphthalocyanines (BsubNcs) are actually a mixed alloy composition of chlorinated materials designated as Cl-ClnBsubNcs. After establishing the correlation of electrochemical characteristics and OPV performance for Cl-ClnBsubNc we have described how phenoxylated versions of ClnBsubNc are as well applicable in BHJ OPVs as electron accepting materials. Furthermore, we have explored the potential of chemistry variations to yield pure examples of BsubNcs. Time permitting this will be outlined along with electrochemical characterization and the exploration of alternative synthetic pathways to BsubNcs that do not yield mixed alloyed materials.The final topic that I will present is the exploration of additional p-block metal phthalocyanines (Pcs); we came to conclusion that silicon phthalocyanines (SiPcs) can also be applied as fullerene alternatives/acceptors in organic photovoltaic cells. Over the past year we have formed an initial structure property relationship that gives a road map to synthetic alternatives of SiPcs that have the potential to yield higher performing OPVs (in both PHJ and BHJ structures). Finally I will show how a SiPc is actually equivalent to the most studied fullerene (PC61BM) in many metrics including power conversion efficiency in OPVs.Bio: Since his appointment at the University of Toronto in 2006, Timothy P. Bender’s laboratory has focused on the design, synthesis and engineering of new materials for application in organic electronic devices including organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). His focus has been on two distinctly different classes of materials. The first is the development of the chemistry, crystal engineering and application of boron subphthalocyanines (BsubPcs) and related phthalocyanines (Pcs). The second is the design and application of soft or liquid triarylamines. Permeating through each research stream is an interest in developing and studying polymeric versions of each class of material. Professor Bender’s research contributions span from fundamental aspects of chemistry, to applied chemistry to physical chemistry and to the study of basic optoelectronic properties of organic electronic materials within organic electronic devices. Since 2006, he has published over 60 papers largely in peer reviewed high impact journals. He has active collaborations with a 
number of academic and industrial partners from the U.K. and the U.S. Professor Bender is a full professor cross-appointed to the Departments of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto and in 2016 was appointed as Associate Chair of his department in charge of the accredited undergraduate Chemical Engineering program. His research program at the University of Toronto is in part an extension of his independent research carried out while being a member of the research staff of Xerox Research Centre of Canada (2000 – 2006). During that time he was issued 60 US patents and published 5 peer reviewed articles primarily in the field of organic electronic materials with a focus on OLEDs and organic photoreceptors – the heart of a modern xerographic print engine. His inventions include novel blue-wavelength photoresponsive materials and a sol-gel based hole-transporting material the latter of which was taken to commercial production an enabled the photoreceptor to be a so called ‘life of machine’ part.NSERC CREATE Training in Optoelectronics for Power:from Science and Engineering to Technology (TOP-SET) is a training program that aims to form a cohort of highly qualified personnel with comprehensive understanding of optoelectronic systems, capable of joining advanced R&D teams. For further details regarding TOP-SET, please contact Christine Couture, sunlabadmin@uottawa.ca.TOP-SET is funded in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.This seminar is funded by the University of Ottawa.
SUNLAB Presents an NSERC CREATE TOP-SET Seminar: Trends in the U.S. Solar Sector
Friday, December 1, 2017, 3:30 p.m.Refreshments to be served starting at 3 p.mAdvanced Research Complex, room 233University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton StreetTrends in the U.S. Solar SectorValerie Hannah, Chief Operating Officer, TerraForm PowerGeoff Wright, Vice President, Market Research, Brookfield RenewableAbstract forthcomingValerie Hannah is the Chief Operating Officer of TerraForm Power and is responsible for all operations, power marketing and regulatory affairs of the company. She also oversees human resources and information technology. Ms. Hannah brings deep operating expertise to her role having held a number of leadership positions at Brookfield Renewable, where she helped the company achieve a track record of driving value through growth initiatives, increasing cash flows and mitigating risks. Prior to her current role, Ms. Hannah served as Senior Vice President, Acquisitions & Integrations at Brookfield Renewable with a focus on TerraForm Power. She also served as the Chief Financial Officer, North America at Brookfield Renewable where she was responsible for all capital markets activities including accounting, financial reporting, treasury, and taxation in North America. Ms. Hannah holds a Graduate Diploma from McGill University and is a Chartered Accountant .Geoff Wright is the Vice President of Brookfield Renewable and is responsible for power market research for North America. Mr. Wright and his team monitor commercial, fuel and technology trends in the power sector and support organic and acquisitive growth opportunities. Since joining Brookfield in 2013, Mr. Wright has been involved in a number of significant transactions across a range of industries, including commodities, transport, real estate and renewables. Prior to joining Brookfield, he was an officer of Canada’s central bank where he was responsible for regional economic analysis and outreach. Mr. Wright completed his MA (Economics) at McMaster University and graduated with a BA (Economics) from the University of Manitoba.NSERC CREATE Training in Optoelectronics for Power:from Science and Engineering to Technology (TOP-SET) is a training program to form a cohort of highly qualified personnel with comprehensive understanding of optoelectronic systems, capable of joining advanced R&D teams. For further details regarding TOP-SET, please contact Christine Couture, sunlabadmin@uottawa.ca.TOP-SET is funded in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.This seminar is funded by the University of Ottawa.
SUNLAB thanks Electro Loh plating for supporting our research
The SUNLAB would like to extend our thanks to Electro Loh Plating of Montreal for gold-coating our custom sample stage for solar cell characterization at no cost. It is great to have industrial partners supporting Canadian research!
SUNLAB Welcomes Dr. Raphael St-Gelais for Its First NSERC CREATE TOP-SET Seminar
Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 3:30 p.m.Refreshments to be served starting at 3 p.mAdvanced Research Complex, room 233University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton StreetHeat transfer and energy conversion using near-field thermal radiationDr. Raphael St-Gelais, McGill UniversityABSTRACT: Thermal radiation between objects separated by sub-micron distances can overcome classical blackbody radiation by orders of magnitude, while being concentrated on a narrow frequency distribution. These unique characteristics could enable breakthrough energy conversion technologies. For example, modules in which a heat source evanescently radiates energy towards a specially tailored (i.e., low bandgap) photovoltaic cell are predicted to greatly outperform existing solid-state heat-to-electricity converters (e.g., thermoelectrics). I will review the physical principles behind heat transfer in this regime and discuss the exciting opportunity it allows for near-field thermophotovoltaic (NFTPV) electricity generation. I will present our recent work [1, 2] in which we used MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) to achieve the first experimental demonstration of heat transfer in the regime required for NFTPV (i.e. sub-100 nm separation and large thermal gradient between parallel surfaces). I will also discuss the possibility of using hot-carrier internal photoemission effect to create silicon-based low-bandgap (0.5 eV) photovoltaic cells for NFTPV [3].[1] Raphael St-Gelais, Linxiao Zhu, Shanhui Fan, and Michal Lipson, “Near-field radiative heat transfer between parallel structures in the deep sub-wavelength regime” Nature Nanotechnology 11, pp. 515–519 (2016)[2] Raphael St-Gelais, Biswajeet Guha, Linxiao Zhu, Shanhui Fan, and Michal Lipson, “Demonstration of Strong Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer between Integrated Nanostructures”, Nano Letters 14 (12), pp. 6971-6975 (2014)[3] Raphael St-Gelais, Gaurang. R. Bhatt, Linxiao Zhu, Shanhui Fan, and Michal Lipson, “Hot Carrier-Based Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion,” ACS Nano 11, no. 3, pp. 3001–3009 (2017)BIO: Raphael St-Gelais will be joining the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ottawa in January 2018. His research program will focus on novel Opto-Thermo-Mechanical Microsystems for applications such as energy conversion, long wavelength photo-detection, and high precision force sensing. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher with Jack Sankey’s Optomechanics lab in McGill University, where he studies the interplay of mechanics and near-field thermal radiation in high-Q mechanical resonators. From 2013 to 2016 he was a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Michal Lipson’s Nanophotonics Group at Cornell and Columbia Universities, where he worked on MEMS for near-field heat transfer control. He received the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship in 2009 for his Ph.D. work on Optical Sensors and MEMS-tunable optical components, as well as postdoctoral fellowships from FRQNT and NSERC for his work at Cornell & Columbia.NSERC CREATE Training in Optoelectronics for Power:from Science and Engineering to Technology (TOP-SET) is a training program to form a cohort of highly qualified personnel with comprehensive understanding of optoelectronic systems, capable of joining advanced R&D teams. For further details regarding TOP-SET, please contact Christine Couture, sunlabadmin@uottawa.caTOP-SET is funded in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.This seminar is funded by the University of Ottawa.
SUNLAB Receives NSERC CREATE Grant
Professor Karin Hinzer has received a six-year grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program. The NSERC CREATE Training in Optoelectronics for Power:from Science and Engineering to Technology (TOP-SET) is a training program to form a cohort of highly qualified personnel with comprehensive understanding of optoelectronic systems, capable of joining advanced R&D teams. This is a collaboration between the University of Ottawa, the Université de Sherbrooke and McMaster University. For further details regarding TOP-SET, please contact sunlabadmin@uottawa.ca.
2017-18 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships nominations are now open
According to the Government of Canada, the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship is "Canada’s most prestigious and highest valued award for doctoral researchers today", and "is designed to support world-class students pursuing doctoral degrees at Canadian universities. The scholarship awards $50,000 per year for three years. The program is open to both Canadian and international students. Students must be nominated by the Canadian university at which they plan to study. The 2017-2018 competition was launched in June 15, 2017 and the nomination deadline will be in November 1, 2017 at 20:00 ET. Please note that institutions may have internal deadlines."We would be pleased to nominate exceptional students for study at the SUNLAB, and encourage those to apply.For more information, please visit http://www.vanier.gc.ca.For more information about becoming a member of the SUNLAB research team, please contact sunlabadmin@uottawa.ca.
SUNLAB Students Win Professional Engineers of Ontario Ottawa Chapter Prize
Congratulations to fourth year undergraduate students Lianne de la Salle, Sam Lukasik, Wesley Mok, Dapo Oyenubi and Maxwell Welyhorsky who were awarded the prize in the Social, Environmental and Humanitarian Implication category at the Professional Engineers of Ontario Ottawa Chapter 2017 Student Papers Night, held April 5, 2017 in Ottawa, and adjudicated by a panel of professional engineers. Their win helped the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Engineering secure the trophy for this competition for the third year in a row. The team's presentation focused on a Rentable Solar Charging System, a prototype intended for the sub-Saharan African market and designed for reliable and scalable applications with varying energy needs. This fourth year project is a collaboration between Radius Power and the SUNLAB.
Federal Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan Announces NSERC SPG Awards at ARC
CPV-13 Early Bird Registration Now Open
The online registration is now open for the 13th International Conference on Concentrator Photovoltaic Systems (CPV-13), held between May 1-3, 2017, at the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The discounted Early Bird rates are available until March 17.
SUNLAB Graduates 3 Students in 2016
The SUNLAB sends congratulations to three students for the successful thesis defense and completion of their postgraduate studies in 2016:Ahmed Gabr, Ph.D., Elec. Eng., "Modelling and Characterization of Down-Conversion and Down-Shifting Processes for Photovoltaic Applications", June 2016Robert Chu Tu Li, M.A.Sc., Elec. Eng., "Development of Field Scenario Ray Tracing Software for the Analysis of Bifacial Photovoltaic Solar Panel Performance", October 2016Patrick McVey, M.A.Sc., Elec. Eng., "A New Characterization Technique to Analyze Concentrator Photovoltaic Optical and System Performance", December 2016
Science Co-Op Student of the Year: Sanmeet Chahal
We wish to extend congratulations to Sanmeet Chahal, recipient of the Faculty of Science Co-Op Student of the Year Award 2016, for his research at the SUNLAB over the summer. His project focused on the development of a fully-parameterized three-dimensional distributed circuit model for electrical simulation of multi-junction photovoltaic devices, including solar cells and photonic power converters, composed of N junctions connected electrical in-series in a vertical stack. These results have been accepted for oral presentation at Photonics West on 30 January 2016 ("20-junction photonic power converter performance under non-uniform illumination calculated by 3D distributed circuit model", paper 10099-7) and further developments will be submitted to another leading international photovoltaic conference later this year.
SUNLAB student's research featured in the Ottawa Citizen
Congratulations to Ross Cheriton,a Ph.D. student in physics at the SUNLAB who has been working alongside Ottawa-Gatineau company iBionics on powering chips in new wire-free retinal implants for retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. This research was recently featured in the Ottawa Citizen as well as a fundraising campaign for the University of Ottawa.
SUNLAB student awarded IEEE PES scholarship for a second year
Congratulations to Lianne de la Salle, undergraduate student at the SUNLAB, for being selected as a 2016-2017 IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative recipient for a second year! The Initiative provides multi-year scholarships and career experience opportunities to electrical engineering undergraduate students specializing in power and energy engineering.Lianne de la Salle has contributed to various SUNLAB research projects such as the study of CPV module acceptance angle, tracker precision and solar resource. As well, she has assisted in the maintenance of SUNLAB’s outdoor solar test facility, ensuring tracker functionality and proper data collection.