The ASI provided substantial funding to refurbish and extend the ANU solar laboratories, and to purchase a wide range of advanced process and characterisation equipment.

The objective was to establish a world-class process and characterisation solar research facility to support the Australian and international solar research and development and commercial community. The new facilities complement and substantially extend the current sophisticated solar research facilities at ANU.

The emphasis was on the procurement and installation of advanced process and characterisation equipment that is not currently available in Australia. The facilities are fully compatible with the needs of industry for advanced prototyping, and are capable of accommodating full sized solar cells and solar concentrator receivers and systems.

New process equipment includes:

• Advanced laser workstations for drilling, dicing, grooving and doping solar materials
• Deposition machines for the application for surface coatings
• Etching machines for precise removal of material
• Equipment for precise and repeatable diffusion of dopants
• Equipment for cutting, shaping and processing solar materials.

The new characterisation facilities are capable of sensitively detecting surface and bulk defects, measuring thermal, electrical and optical performance, and accelerated life testing. An outdoor solar test facility has also been established on the roof.

Fact sheet: Process and Characterisation Solar Research Facility (PDF 294KB)