Professor Joe Briscoe was recently invited to present his research at two German institutes - Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI-ERN) at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg. Joe discussed his research into developing the next generations of solar energy devices, including perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and ferroelectric-photovoltaics.

HZB and HI-ERN are both leaders in Europe and globally in emerging solar energy devices, including PSCs and organic photovoltaics. In particular, they lead the way in developing and studying scale-up methods for these technologies, including printing, in-situ analysis, high-efficiency 'tandem' photovoltaics and advanced materials screening using combinations of automated, robotic processes and machine-learning-driven optimisation. Joe met with world-leaders in these areas at both institutes, including Prof Dr Eva Unger and Prof Dr Steve Albrecht at HZB, and Prof Dr Christoph J. Brabec and Prof Dr Kyle G. Webber at HI-ERN/FAU.

Joe presented his research at both institutes, including his developments of aerosol-treatment for improved PSC efficiency, stability and scalability, driven to commercialisation through his spin-out, AeroSolar. He also presented the latest results of his ERC Consolidator Project 'FENCES', where he is looking beyond current PV technologies to develop ferroelectric-photovoltaic nanocomposites to exceed current solar energy device efficiencies.