Australian solar scientist joins Natcore advisory board

Dr Gavin Conibeer, an internationally known professor at the School of Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), has joined the science advisory board of Natcore Technology Inc.

Dr Conibeer has lectured at Stanford University and the University of Tokyo, and has participated in symposia in China, the United Kingdom and the United States. He has been a partner in the European-Union-funded LIMA project, an international consortium focused on minimising the costs of manufacturing while maximising efficiency of the photovoltaic devices by using novel concepts.

Dr Conibeer’s research interests encompass a wide range of third-generation and advanced photovoltaic concepts, including silicon quantum dot-based tandem solar cells; hot carrier solar cells; up-conversion and photoelectrochemical cells. Natcore was particularly attracted by his experience with tandem solar cells.

Dr Conibeer earned a BS in Materials Science and Engineering at Queen Mary College, London University. At the London School of Polymer Technology, he received an MS in Polymer Science and Processing Technology. He earned a PhD at the University of Southampton.

He has held research positions at Oxford, Cranfield, Southampton and Monash Universities in which he has worked on most of the materials systems used in photovoltaics. He joined the University of New South Wales in 2002 and was appointed a Deputy Director in the Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence in 2003, in charge of the Third Generation Photovoltaics strand. He is the editor of two books, ‘Advanced Photovoltaic Cells’ (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014) and ‘Solar Cell Materials: Developing Technologies’ (John Wiley & Sons, 2014). He has authored eight book chapters, 110 journal papers, 40 refereed conference papers, and 107 other conference papers. He has received two patents, with another provisional patent. Nearly half of his journal papers deal with quantum dots. Since January 2012, he has been managing editor of Wiley’s Progress in Photovoltaics, a prestigious forum for reporting advances in this rapidly developing technology.

“The UNSW has expertise in the area of nanotechnology applied to solar cells that is unparalleled in the world-wide photovoltaic community,” says Chuck Provini, Natcore’s president and CEO.

“We have been following their research for several years, and our CTO, Dr Dennis Flood, has been professionally acquainted with their PV program since his days at NASA.”

Dr Conibeer joins Dr Daniele Margadonna, Chief Technology Officer of MX Group SpA, and Dr David Carlson, formerly the chief scientist of BP Solar, on the advisory board.