Uwe Rau
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Uwe Rau is a German physicist who made important contributions to the physics of the
photovoltaic device A photovoltaic system, also called a PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to abso ...
, notably on explaining energy losses in thin-film solar cells and on the use of the reciprocity principle to characterize solar cells by
electroluminescence Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical phenomenon, optical and electrical phenomenon, in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field. This is distinct from black body light emission ...
techniques. This led to the development of this technique as a standard in research and industry.


Career

Rau studied physics at the
University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...
, Germany and the
Université Claude Bernard Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 (, UCBL) is one of the three public universities of Lyon, France. It is named after the French physiologist Claude Bernard and specialises in science and technology, medicine, and sports science. It was establis ...
, Lyon. Both his diploma thesis (1987) and his doctoral thesis (1991) were obtained for work performed in the group of Huebener, at the University of Tübingen, on the breakdown of
Germanium Germanium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white and similar in appearance to silicon. It is a metalloid or a nonmetal in the carbon group that is chemically ...
under high magnetic fields, and for non-linear charge transport in semiconductors. He worked at the
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research The Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung'') was founded in 1969 and is one of the 84 institutes of the Max Planck Society. It is located on a campus in Stuttgart, together with th ...
in Stuttgart, where he worked on crystalline silicon solar cells. In 1995, he moved to Bayreuth where he predominantly worked on the device physics of solar cells. In 1997, he moved back to Stuttgart to work at the
University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart () is a research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with programs in civil, mechanical, ind ...
, Institute of Physical Electronics, which was led by Jürgen Werner. In Stuttgart, he continued his work on Si and , and started work on
dye-sensitized solar cell A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC, DSC, DYSC or Grätzel cell) is a low-cost solar cell belonging to the group of thin film solar cells. It is based on a semiconductor formed between a photo-sensitized anode and an electrolyte, a '' photoelectr ...
s,
organic solar cell An organic solar cell (OSC) or plastic solar cell is a type of photovoltaic that uses organic electronics, a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic molecules, for light absorption and charge transport t ...
s, and the fundamental aspects of luminescence in solar cells. In 2002, he obtained his
habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
from the
University of Oldenburg The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg () is a university located in Oldenburg, Germany. History The first teachers training was held in Oldenburg as early as 1793, launched by Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig. A garden seminar for te ...
, Germany, for his work on the electrical transport properties of semiconductors and interfaces for
photovoltaics Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commerciall ...
. Since 2007, Rau is a full professor at
RWTH Aachen RWTH Aachen University (), in German ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen'', is a German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study prog ...
and Director of the Institute for Energy and Climate Research at the
Forschungszentrum Jülich Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ; “Jülich Research Centre”) is a German national research institution that pursues interdisciplinary research in the fields of energy, information, and bioeconomy. It operates a broad range of research infrast ...
. Since 2011, he is also the scientific director of the HITEC graduate school at the Forschungszentrum Jülich. Currently, he is the director of the JARA-Energy, (JARA = Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance) which coordinates research at Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen in the field of renewable energy.


Achievements

Rau is well known for his various contributions to the basic principles of photovoltaic energy conversion and to improving the understanding of solar cell device physics. Most notable, perhaps, is his publication in 2007 of a paper on a "reciprocity relation between photovoltaic quantum efficiency and electroluminescent emission of solar cells". This work uses the principle of detailed balance to derive basic relationships between the photovoltaic and the light-emitting mode of a semiconductor diode. This work had substantial influence on the field of characterizing solar cells or modules using luminescence-based techniques. In addition, it has provided a framework for analyzing voltage losses at the open circuit in solar cells. Uwe Rau also contributed towards the analysis of thin film solar cells, with seminal papers on the
ideality factor In electronics, diode modelling refers to the mathematical models used to approximate the actual behaviour of real diodes to enable calculations and circuit analysis. A diode's Electrical current, I-Voltage, V curve is nonlinear. A very accurate, ...
, on metastability of the electronic conduction in , on photovoltaic device stability and self-healing, and on the passivation of grain boundaries in polycrystalline thin film solar cells. He also contributed to several important papers to understand the conversion efficiency limitations of solar cells, among which the role of disorder and potential fluctuations, and on the impact of light trapping on the Voc of solar cells.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rau, Uwe Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century German physicists German male writers University of Tübingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Stuttgart Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century German physicists Academic staff of RWTH Aachen University