The DuraMAT—or Durable Module Materials—Consortium brings together the national lab and university research infrastructure with the photovoltaic (PV) and supply-chain industries for a grand goal: to discover, develop, de-risk, and enable the commercialization of new materials and designs for PV modules—with the potential for a levelized cost of electricity of less than 3 cents per kilowatt-hour.
We envision doubling the rate at which companies can implement new materials in PV modules by coupling an Energy Materials Network architecture with PV durability science and state-of-the-art analysis. This means the interaction of 1) rapid discovery, characterization, and testing; 2) theory, modeling, and simulation; and 3) data management and mining, with rapid durability testing, degradation mechanism identification, and lifetime prediction.
Our research strategy integrates the following critical objectives in an innovation engine that accelerates material development, ensures industry engagement, and meets the long- and short-term module materials research needs of the PV industry: