Scientist – Recycling of Degraded Perovskite Photovoltaic Modules

Area of research:

Scientific / postdoctoral posts

Job description:

Your Job:

You will be a member of the newly formed "Sustainable-PV" team, led by Dr. Ian Marius Peters within the “High Throughput Processing for PV” department. Our overarching vision is to transition photovoltaic technology from the status of a renewable energy technology to true sustainability. This ambitious goal encompasses two key aspects: the advancement of module technologies with enhanced recyclability and the refinement of recycling processes. In your role, you will work on the project Circular-PV, which aims to develop methods for circular recycling of aged perovskite solar cells and modules. Your task will be to work with project partners in Germany, Switzerland and Cyprus who will deliver aged and degraded perovskite photovoltaic modules to us, which you will disassemble, recover materials and treat them in order to generate components that can be used for new modules. You will also work closely with experimental and theoretical initiatives to improve the sustainability of photovoltaics at both Forschungszentrum Jülich and Friedrich Alexander University. Your responsibilities will include:

• Characterize degraded perovskite PV-modules received from partners (university and industry)
• Disassemble modules and retrieve materials from them
• Develop processes to restore recovered materials to a form where they can be used for new modules
• Dissemination of results in scientific publications and at conferences
• Supervision of Master student research projects on this topic

A position as PhD student within this project is also possible.

Your Profile:

• Masters degree in materials science, chemistry, physics, manufacturing engineering, power engineering, or a related field
• Experience in manufacturing efficient and stable perovskite solar cells
• Prior experience in photovoltaic module fabrication and characterization
• Experience in dissemination of scientific results, demonstrated by publications and presentations at conferences
• Willingness and ability to participate in international meetings
• Experience with conducting and documenting scientific experiments and processing and analyzing data (Python, Origin, Excel)
• Good communication in English; knowledge of German is advantageous

Our Offer:

We work on the very latest issues that impact our society and are offering you the chance to actively help in shaping the change! We support you in your work with:

• Flexible working hours in a full-time position with the option of slightly reduced working hours
• 30 days of annual leave and provision for days off between public holidays and weekends (e.g. between Christmas and New Year)
• Flexible work (location) arrangements, e.g. remote work
• Targeted services for international employees, e.g. through our International Advisory Service
• Comprehensive training courses and individual opportunities for personal and professional further development
• Extensive company health management
• Ideal conditions for balancing work and private life, as well as a family-friendly corporate policy

In addition to exciting tasks and a collaborative working atmosphere at Jülich, we have a lot more to offer:

We offer you an exciting and varied role in an international and interdisciplinary working environment. The position is for a fixed term of 3 years. Salary and social benefits will conform to the provisions of the Collective Agreement for the Public Service (TVöD-Bund) depending on the applicant’s qualifications and the precise nature of the tasks assigned to them.

Place of employment: Erlangen

We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds, e.g. in terms of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation / identity, and social, ethnic and religious origin. A diverse and inclusive working environment with equal opportunities in which everyone can realize their potential is important to us.

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.