Ray Cooling, London Press Service

THE vital development of cost-effective, efficient and stable solar-energy systems has been advanced by United Kingdom expertise that is helping to drive joint research by India and the UK.

The partnership has been described as an "exciting collaboration between some of the leading photovoltaics researchers in the UK and India".

Funded by Research Councils UK and India's Department of Science & Technology, each organisation has committed up to five million pounds over a three-year period.

Solar energy has been identified by India and the UK as an area of significance in providing solutions to the problem of meeting future energy needs.

It was highlighted in the UK's 2007 government proposals as one of the technologies that will help the country meet its 20-per-cent renewable targets by 2020.

The project (called, Advancing the Efficiency and Production Potential of Excitonic Solar Cells) will focus on the development of materials, device structures, materials processing and photovoltaic-panel engineering of excitonic solar cells (ESCs).

ESCs are a class of non-conventional solar cells based on organic and nanostructured materials. The project will build on existing research in India and the UK to develop cheaper and scalable solar-cell manufacture.

The project has been awarded 2.5 million pounds by Research Councils UK (RCUK) that is matched by India's Department of Science & Technology (DST).

A second project (called, Stability and Performance of Photovoltaics) aims to remove known bottlenecks in materials supply, and develop novel device designs that are significantly cheaper and more efficient than present solar cells.

"These projects represent a new and exciting collaboration between some of the leading photovoltaics researchers in the UK and India," said Dr Neil Bateman, energy portfolio manager at the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). "The research is targeted at pushing the science of solar energy towards cheaper, more reliable and sustainable electricity production in a wide variety of settings."

The EPSRC is the main UK agency for funding research and training in its title's fields, investing more than 850 million pounds a year in a range of subjects - from mathematics to materials science, and from information technology to structural engineering.

The projects form part of the RCUK Energy Programme led by the EPSRC and the Solar Energy Research Initiative of India's Department of Science & Technology, and are set to continue to strengthen collaboration between UK and Indian research institutions.

Research Councils UK is the strategic partnership of the UK's seven research councils. It invests annually about three billion pounds in research. It nurtures the highest quality research, as judged by international peer review.

Global research requires it to sustain a diversity of funding approaches, fostering international collaborations, and providing access to the best facilities and infrastructure, and locating skilled researchers in stimulating environments.