Funding from the European Commission is making it possible to put 48 pieces of high-performance photovoltaic research infrastructure at the disposal of visiting researchers free of charge. “We are very pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to the PV community,” said Philippe Malbranche co-ordinator of the project through which funding will be provided (“SOPHIA”). “The EC is going to cover the costs of a team from one country using facilities based in one or more other countries providing that results are shared with the owner of the facility/ies and, if interesting, published.” Team members can come from different European countries. In this case, the team leader and a majority of the team members should not be from the country where the research facility they wish to use is located. Costs related to transport, accommodation and help in using the equipment will also be covered by the EC through the project.

Philippe Malbranche continued, “A typical project might be a team of one SME and one local research organisation using a specific cell processing facility and the associated characterisation equipment over a period of 10 days. Other examples might be to conduct a long-term comparison of the performance of PV modules, BIPV or CPV systems or to use a supercomputing facility for advanced modelling. We are open to all kinds of relevant proposals.”

How to apply

• Potential applicants must apply online via the SOPHIA website by 25 January 2012, presenting their idea in 5 to 6 pages.
• A ‘User Selection Committee’ made up of members of the SOPHIA consortium will review proposals and announce the winners six to eight weeks later, specifying or confirming dates on when the facilities will be available.
• The first call for proposals has opened. Several further calls are planned, each to be announced on the website.

Further details (including descriptions of the facilities available and their contact persons) are on the SOPHIA website, www.sophia-ri.eu.

Contact

General enquiries: contact@sophia-ri.eu

Greg Arrowsmith (concerning access by teams from public research centres)
arrowsmith@eurec.be
+32 2 546 1932

 

Manoël Rekinger (concerning access by teams from industry)
m.rekinger@epia.org
+32 2 400 1783

Notes to Editors

SOPHIA is a project co-financed by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission with a grant of 9 M EUR. It runs for 4 years and involves 20 partners from 11 Member States.