Raymond Kostuk research points to new ways to increase photovoltaic panel efficiency

SPIE Fellow Raymond Kostuk (Univ. of Arizona) is a principal contributor to a research team exploring a new way to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic panels that produce electricity from sunlight.

The collaboration inlcudes Kostuk's team as well as reseachers from the University of Washington and the University of Denver, with a grant from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. The study, "Holographic spectrum splitting for multijunction organic ohotovoltaics," introduces ways to make photovoltaic panel more efficient is to use multiple junction. Current devices with stacked junctions run the risk of being expensive which leaves them to high concentration systems.

The team's discovery could lead to solar devices that could be manaufactured using carbon-based materials, making them cheaper and easier to obtain.

Kostuk has authored nearly 60 papers presented at SPIE Photonics West and SPIE Optics + Photonics. He served as conference chair for Practical Holography Photonics West and  other conferences such as "Holography: Advances and Moderns."

He teaches the SPIE short course "Holographic Techniques for Advanced Photonic Systems."

Read the full Tucson Citizen article.