EMPA, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials

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2014

Antimony nanocrystals for batteries

The hunt is on - for new materials to be used in the next generation of batteries that may one day replace current lithium ion batteries.

2013

Understanding what makes a thin film solar cell efficient

Scientists have developed a new technique for manufacturing high-efficiency, flexible, thin film solar cells from CIGS (copper indium gallium di-selenide) semiconductors.

Cobalt replacements make solar cells more sustainable

Researchers have successfully replaced the rare element iodine in copper-based dye-sensitized solar cells by the more abundant element cobalt, taking a step forward in the development of environmentally friendly energy production.

Tin nanocrystals for the battery of the future

Scientists have now developed a nanomaterial which enables considerably more power to be stored in lithium ion batteries.

Flisom raises funding to ramp up 15 MW flexible CIGS production plant

Flisom has raised a substantially large investment to further develop its technology and build a production plant with an annual capacity of 15MW in Switzerland.

Flisom raises funding to ramp up 15 MW flexible CIGS production plant

Flisom has raised a substantially large investment to further develop its technology and build a production plant with an annual capacity of 15MW in Switzerland.

Optotune AG

Found in 2008 as a spin-off from ETH Zurich, where Manuel Aschwanden, the CEO, developed this technology together with the Nanotechnology Group. Optotune are a material manufacturer and component or device manufacturer. The core competence lies in the optoelectromechanical design of optical systems, in the understanding of materials and in the control of accurate and clean manufacturing processes. They produce the dielectric in-house and have own formulations for the electrodes.

A new world record for solar cell efficiency

In a remarkable feat, scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have developed thin film solar cells on flexible polymer foils with a new record efficiency of 20.4% for converting sunlight into electricity.

2012

Beneq joins EU project to develop roll-to-roll solar panels

Beneq has joined R2R-CIGS to scale-up innovative laboratory processes to meet production requirements of flexible solar modules. In short, these processes need to be adapted to roll-to-roll production while ensuring reliability, high throughput and low cost.

PostBus Switzerland launches first Swiss hydrogen filling station

PostBus Switzerland has launched the first Swiss hydrogen filling station in Brugg (Aargau). It supplies fuel for the vehicles that PostBus has been using since December 2011 to test fuel cell technology for public transport.

EU funded project to advance CIGS technology

Initially, the project will exploit the potential of non vacuum processes based in nanostructured materials as electrochemical synthesis of nanocrystalline precursors and printing of nanoparticle based inks, as well as novel chemical based deposition processes for the development of modules on large area substrates with improved uniformity and at lower production costs.

Interview with the developers of an energy harvesting cooking sensor

IDTechEx technology analyst Dr Harry Zervos recently interviewed Mr Burkhard Habbe, VP of Business Development at Micropelt, and Albin Smrke, scientific advisor with MSX Technology and inventor of a cooking sensor, to find out more about the development of this multi-sensory cooking technology.

2011

Winners of the IDTechEx Energy Harvesting and WSN Awards

At the Energy Harvesting & Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) awards dinner on November 15 in Boston, USA companies were recognized for making significant technical or commercial progress with these technologies.

New world record for solar cell conversion efficiency

New superstrate material poised to enable flexible, lightweight and efficient thin film solar modules.

Swiss researchers flexible solar cells new world record

Record efficiency of 18.7% for flexible CIGS solar cells on plastics

Energy harvesting for automotive applications

Energy harvesters do not necessarily make sense in all potential applications where a battery is replaced.

2010

Global progress with electric taxis

Taxis are an excellent proving ground for electric vehicle technologies because they are professionally managed, intensively used, standardised in fleets and can have depots dedicated to their needs. That is why they are being used to trial fuel cells and/or lithium ion batteries in, China, Japan, the USA, the UK and elsewhere. Battery swapping is more feasible with standardised, centrally managed taxis than with the confusion of design and management of electric cars.

Nanoribbons for graphene transistors

Scientists from Empa and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research report how they have managed for the first time to grow graphene ribbons that are just a few nanometres wide using a simple surface-based chemical method.

Materials for tomorrow's nano-electronics

In the recent issue of Nature, scientists from Empa and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research report how they have managed for the first time to grow graphene ribbons that are just a few nanometres wide using a simple surface-based chemical method.

High Efficiency Flexible Solar Cells Based on CIGS and CdTe Thin Films

EMPA, Switzerland, Switzerland