Page 36 - Science in Africa

Professor Vivian Alberts

Photovoltaic pioneer

rofessor Vivian Alberts was The homogeneous alloys have unique film PV technologies.
responsible for the research semiconductor features (lattice parameters The company has recently entered into
and development of novel and optical band gap values), which have strategic partnerships with various
processing technologies and superior advantages in optical devices such as departments of the South African
semiconductor materials that PV cells. These specific alloys with unique government in order to establish a world-
Pwas initiated in 1993 on an semiconductor properties have leading PV manufacturing and
academic level in the department of physics particular importance in the field demonstration facility at
at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in of semiconductor physics and are Technopark in Stellenbosch.
South Africa. currently utilised in specialised The facility is designed to
Core research laboratories were developed thin-film PV devices. facilitate the development
in the department of physics in the period Device efficiencies above and transfer of commercially
between 1994 and 2003 in order to conduct 16% have been produced with scalable production processes,
fundamental research on a variety of these materials, which ranks products and know-how to
semiconductor materials and photovoltaic among the best in the world. commercial partners under
(PV) devices. The R&D work started by licence.
The research group, under the leadership Professor Alberts resulted in the The plant was financed by UJ,
of Professor Alberts, published more than establishment of a company called as well as the Industrial Development
100 research papers in international journals Photovoltaic Technology Intellectual Corporation and the Technology Innovation
during this period. Property. Agency.
A novel process technology was invented The company was founded in 2005 to The key strategic objective of the company
and patented during the research and facilitate the commercial exploitation of is the development of a highly trained and
development (R&D) phase to produce intellectual property and know-how related professional PV workforce in South Africa
homogeneous quaternary and pentenary to novel and innovative semiconductor that will form a basis for the establishment
chalcopyrite alloys. process technologies in the field of thin- of a competitive local PV industry.
36 SCIENCE IN AFRICA