Ned Ekins-Daukes, MSci 1995
After completing my degree in Physics & Electronics at St Andrews, I took a MSc course in Semiconductor Physics at Imperial College London. The MSc course then lead to a PhD and then three years of post-doctoral work on advanced solar cell devices. I subsequently received a fellowship to work at the Toyota Technological Institute in Nagoya, Japan, where I am currently (2004) based, working on both the physics and engineering of advanced solar cell devices.
Nagoya is the home of
Toyota and the Toyota Technological Institute is the centre for
Japan's high-efficiency solar cell programme, one that is responsible
for several world records in solar energy. A collaboration
with Sharp Corporation recently achieved the world's most efficient
solar cell, with a sunlight to electrical power conversion efficiency
in excess of 37%. Working together with scientists from the
Daido Steel company, this highly efficient solar cell is now at
the prototype stage as a commercially viable solar panel for residential
use. Solar energy is a greatly underused energy resource,
so the work aims to lessen the impact that industrialised nations
have on the environment, as well as providing the assistance afforded
by electricity to the 2 billion people who currently live without
it.
These highly efficient solar cells are also used on spacecraft and
satellites, so it is important to study the damage to the solar
cell caused by high energy protons and electrons that are ejected
from the sun. This involves visits to nuclear facilities to
perform the irradiation and is followed by extensive testing and
computer simulation. This work is of interest not just to
the Japanese Space Exploration Agency, JAXA but also to NASA and
other aerospace corporations. A perk of the job is to visit
these places and gain an insight into the extraordinary feats of
engineering required to launch a spacecraft and keep it working
while in orbit.
While much of my work described above could be called electronic
or electrical engineering, my long standing interest in basic physics
is also satisfied by working on the fundamentals of solar energy
power conversion. A solar cell is essentially a heat engine,
constrained by certain processes, but there is nothing fundamental
preventing a solar cell from operating at an efficiency of up to
86%. The thermodynamics of solar energy and indeed optoelectronics
in general is a fascinating area and recent work in this field has
inspired new solar cell concepts that promise remarkably high conversion
efficiencies. The challenge is now to achieve these efficiencies
in practice.
My career has been built on the solid foundation provided by my
degree in Physics & Electronics at St Andrews. It has
allowed me to work both as a physicist and as an engineer on a variety
of problems and with scientists from around the globe. I wish
all prospective students all the very best with their studies.
First posted BDS 2004