Wim C. Sinke

POSITION: PROFESSOR | PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY CONVERSION (SOLAR ENERGY) TNO UNIT: ENERGY TRANSITION UNIVERSITY: UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM (FACULTY OF SCIENCE/ INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS)   TNO LOCATION: PETTEN EMAIL: [email protected] TEL: +31653745759

RESEARCH AREA

The research area ‘Photovoltaic energy conversion’ covers efficient, low-cost, sustainable and widely applicable conversion of sunlight into electricity using solar cells, modules, foils and systems. It is carried out in a joint effort with other academic partners in the Netherlands and abroad, under the umbrellas of SOLARLab (lead: AMOLF) and Solliance (lead: TNO, imec (BE) and TU/e).

Within this broad area, my ambitions are to contribute to research and development of novel (i.e. beyond today’s technologies) conversion principles and devices for ultra-high efficiency, to do inspiring and insightful teaching in the field of photovoltaic solar energy, to supervise master and PhD students working with and at TNO, to communicate about the numerous possibilities and huge potential of solar energy in the Netherlands and worldwide, and, last but not least, to create active links between academic research and TNO’s applied research and technology development, especially at low Technology Readiness Levels, in the TNO Roadmap Solar Energy.

The work in the Chair also contributes to embedding TNO’s Roadmap Solar Energy in the national en EU research programs and community, for instance in the framework of the National Research Agenda (NWA), for which I act as ‘boegbeeld’ of the Route Energy Transition, the Mission-driven Innovation Programs (MMIP’s) in support of the National Climate Agreement (Klimaatakkoord), where I chair the Program Advisory Committee for MMIP2 (Renewable Electricity Generation on Land), and the European Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan, for which I serve as co-chair of its Implementation Working Group on Photovoltaics (IWG PV).

RECENT RESULTS

In the second corona-dominated year 2021 my work in the frame of the (0.1 fte) chair has focused on online teaching (in the Master Course Photovoltaics), student support and supervision (with an increasing focus and energy system related topics rather than materials and devices) and further development of national research programs for, or including photovoltaic solar energy (such as the Nationale WetenschapsAgenda NWA/ National Science Agenda).

One example is a student research project between UvA and transmission grid operator TenneT on the relation between the increasing share of intermittent renewables (solar and wind) in the electricity mix and price dynamics on the Amsterdam Power Exchange APEX). This also related the emergence of technological options and corresponding business cases for storage (batteries) and conversion (green hydrogen).

Another example is the rapidly increasing importance and urgency of ‘sustainability’ in the broadest sense of the word (including carbon footprint, circularity, ecology, resource availability and societal support) and its implementation in existing and new energy research programs and instruments, for instance concerning ecological effects of floating solar energy systems and (design for) recycling of solar energy modules.

In anticipation of my retirement in 2022, professor Arthur Weeber (TNO and TU Delft) was appointed Coordinator of the Roadmap Solar Energy at TNO and has also taken over most of the related interactions with academic partners. In 2021 a new joint AMOLF-TNO PhD-project on advanced contacts for perovskite-based photovoltaic devices was started.

PHD SUPERVISION

• Currently none

TOP PUBLICATIONS

• Nancy M. Haegel, Harry Atwater Jr., Teresa Barnes, Christian Breyer, Anthony, Burrell, Yet-Ming Chiang, Stefaan De Wolf, Bernhard Dimmler, David Feldman, Stefan Glunz, Jan Christoph Goldschmidt, David Hochschild, Ruben Inzunza, Izumi Kaizuka, Ben Kroposki, Sarah Kurtz, Sylvere Leu, Robert Margolis, Koji Matsubara, Axel Metz, Wyatt K. Metzger, Mahesh Morjaria, Shigeru Niki, Stefan Nowak, Ian Marius Peters, Simon Philipps, Thomas Reindl, Andre Richter, Doug Rose, Keiichiro Sakurai, Rutger Schlatmann, Masahiro Shikano, Wim Sinke, Ron Sinton, B.J. Stanbery, Marko Topic, William Tumas, Yuzuru Ueda, Jao van de Lagemaat, Pierre Verlinden, Matthias Vetter, Emily Warren, Mary Werner, Masafumi Yamaguchi, Andreas W. Bett, Terawatt-scale photovoltaics: Transform global energy. Improving costs and scale reflect looming opportunities, Science, Vol. 364 (6443), pp. 836-838, 2019.
• Wim C. Sinke, Development of photovoltaic technologies for global impact, Renewable Energy, Vol. 138, pp. 911-914, 2019.
• Albert Polman, Mark Knight, Erik C. Garnett, Bruno Ehrler, Wim C. Sinke, Photovoltaic materials: Present efficiencies and future challenges, Science, Vol. 352 (6283), AD4424.1-10, 2016. 

LINKS

• Personal page University of Amsterdam
• Website of the European Technology and Innovation Platform for Photovoltaics (for which I serve as co-chair)
• Website of the SET Plan Implementation Group on Photovoltaics (IWG PV, for which I served as co-chair)
• LinkedIn profile