The demand for electrical energy will grow in the future since new electricity-application areas are emerging such as transport and heating. Photovoltaics is a disruptive technology that generates electricity directly from solar energy. The overview of solar cell technologies, PV-module market and price, and installed PV capacity will be presented. The talk will discuss the state-of-the-art of silicon-based solar cells that dominate the current market and challenges to improve their efficiency. The performance of solar modules will be compared to the requirements of energy independent vehicles.

Prof. dr. Miro Zeman received his Ph.D. degree (cum laude) from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava in 1989 for research on amorphous silicon. In 2009 he was appointed Full professor at Delft University of Technology where he leads the Photovoltaic Materials and Devices group and is the head of the Electrical Sustainable Energy department. Miro Zeman is a leading expert in light management, modelling, and development of novel materials and nanostructures in silicon-based solar cells. He is author of more than 350 publications and author/contributor of 5 scientific books.

Delft University of Technology (http://www.tudelft.nl/) is one of the most prominent technical universities in Europe. Delft University of Technology is ranked 23rd in THE World Top 100 Universities for Engineering and Technology (6th in Europe). Delft University of Technology attracts a large number of students from all over the world, encourages science career among women, cooperates with several (inter)national industries and small-medium enterprises and has a successful incubator for spin-off companies.