A national team of scientists led by experts at Durham University are embarking on one of the UK's largest ever research into photovoltaic (PV) solar energy.

The £6.3m PV-21 programme will focus on making thin-film light absorbing cells for solar panels from sustainable and affordable materials.

The four-year project, which begins in April, is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under the SUPERGEN initiative.

Eight UK universities, led by Durham and including Bangor, Bath, Cranfield, Edinburgh, Imperial College London, Northumbria and Southampton, are involved in the project.

They will work together with nine industrial partners towards a "medium to long-term goal" of making solar energy more competitive and sustainable, particularly in light of the recent rise in fossil fuel prices.

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At present solar cells - used to convert light energy into electricity - are made from key components such as the rare and expensive metal indium which costs approximately £320 per kilogram.

To cut costs in solar cell production the research team will work to reduce the thickness of the cells.

Researchers will also experiment with sustainable low-cost materials which could be used in the manufacturing of solar cells and on the use of nanotechnology and dyes on ultra-thin silicon to capture increased amounts of energy from the sun's rays.

Principal investigator Professor Ken Durose, in the Department of Physics, at Durham University, said: "With the rapid increase in fossil fuel prices and the recent Government announcement about investment in nuclear power it is even more important that we look at long-term future energy generation from solar power."

He concluded: "Our medium to long-term goal is to make a major contribution to achieving competitive photovoltaic solar energy, which we hope will lead to an uptake in the use of solar power."

The latest funding follows an initial four-year research project by PV-21 focusing on the development of thin-layer PV cells using compound semiconductors based on the cadmium telluride and chalcopyrite systems.

This work will form the basis for testing new ideas over the next four years.

(JM)