Characterisation of Semiconductors and Photovoltaic Devices The Department of Engineering has excellent facilities for the characterisation of semiconductors and photovoltaic devices. There is particular expertise in the measurement and monitoring of minority carrier lifetime and surface recombination processes. Innovative work has been done in the area of photoconductance testing of the minority carrier lifetime and other relevant physical parameters. Testing equipment for spectral response and cell efficiency has been developed for commercial applications. A new simple method for measurement of solar cells under concentrated light using a flash lamp has been developed.	flash tester
Natural Sunlight Calibration of Silicon Solar Cells solar cell calibration system	Solar cells can be calibrated using natural sunlight. The technique is simple, requires little expensive equipment, and yet achieves higher accuracy than almost any simulator calibration technique. Details of the technique are available: Summary, 4 pages (conference paper presented at 17th PVSEC, Munich, 2001) Full detail, 200 pages (PhD thesis of W. Keogh)
Modelling Theoretical modeling of semiconductor devices, in particular solar cells, is an ongoing activity that supports the experimental work. One dimensional (PC1D) and two/three dimensional (DESSIS) computer simulation packages are available. The ANU has an excellent Supercomputer Facility for complex modelling. Our ability to undertake both modelling and device fabrication enhances the usefulness of both activities.	Members of CSES have contributed to modelling of high performance solar cells, Sliver cells, low & high injection devices and the development of analytical models for a physically intuitive, approximate modeling of semiconductor devices. Optical modelling using Opticad supports the semiconductor modelling as well as the development of concentrator systems, including CHAPS and microconcentrators.