PACT Center hosts first workshop in Albuquerque

Sandia National Laboratories’ (Sandia’s) Perovskite PV Accelerator for Commercializing Technologies (PACT) Center held its first workshop Oct. 18, 2022, at CFV Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The event included four sessions of presentations on a variety of topics, as well as a tour and demonstrations of PACT and other relevant testing platforms.

“This project was started during the pandemic and this was the first opportunity for many of the project team to meet face-to-face,” said Joshua Stein, director of the PACT center and a senior scientist at Sandia.

The workshop began with an overview of the PACT program, featuring national laboratory staff from Sandia and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and engineering firm Black & Veatch. Speakers broke down the project into five specific tasks:

• Task 1: Program Management Overview – Joshua Stein (Sandia)
• Task 2: Field Deployment – Laura Schelhas (NREL)
• Task 3: Performance Studies – Bruce King (Sandia)
• Task 4: Reliability Studies – Laura Schelhas (NREL)
• Task 5: Bankability – Ralph Romero and Rob Foree (Black & Veatch)

Technology Manager Robert Meagley, from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office, also spoke during the workshop, sharing the department’s vision and plans for perovskite PV research and development (R&D) and commercialization.

PACT university partners from the University of North Carolina, University of Toledo, University of Washington and Stanford University provided updates on the progress of their work, including perovskite PV module pilot production updates, and progress in scaling perovskite films to multi-cell mini modules using slot-dye applications and open-air spray-plasma manufacturing methods.

Other feature topics comprised:

1. Recycling lead and transparent conductors from perovskite solar modules–University of North Carolina.
2. Quality Systems—Risk and Maturation of Technology – U.S. Department of Energy.
3. The impact of temperature and moisture stability for packaging choices of perovskite solar cells – D2Solar.

“I think everyone left the workshop having learned a lot about the goals and challenges facing the commercialization of this exciting renewable energy technology. We look forward to hosting future PACT workshops to bring the perovskite PV community together to share ideas and solutions,” Stein said.

Learn more about the PACT Center or subscribe to PV PACT updates.

Featured Image: 2022 PACT Workshop at CFV Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 18, 2022.