Dr Jake Bowers is a Reader in Photovoltaics in the PV Materials and Devices group at the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) based within the Wolfson School. He received his B.Sc degree in Physics at 色狗导航 in 2005. He then received his PhD in 2011 working on transparent conducting oxides and photovoltaic materials, then from the Department of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, at 色狗导航. He worked as a post-doctoral research associate in CREST on a variety of different photovoltaic projects funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK and the European Commission (FP7) from 2010-2012 before securing his first academic role as a Lecturer in Photovoltaics in 2012. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2018 and then became Reader in 2021. His research interests include photovoltaic and solar energy materials development and advanced opto-electronic characterisation.
Jake’s research interests lie in the development of high-performance thin film photovoltaic materials and devices which are low cost, low carbon footprint, and have high durability. Specifically, he works on thin film chalcogenide solar energy materials, including cadmium telluride (CdTe), cadmium selenide (CdSe), copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) and copper zinc tin selenide (CZTS). He also has a long-standing interest in thin film oxide materials for use in opto-electronics as well as solar PV applications, including transparent conducting oxides (TCOs).
To support his materials research, Jake also has an interest in a variety of opto-electronic characterisation techniques for solar and semi-conductor applications including parallel dipole line Hall effect, admittance spectroscopy and photoluminescence, as well as materials characterisation including various electron microscopy techniques and cathodoluminescence. Recently, he has started working on multi-junction solar cells, as well as solar cells for space applications.
For an up-to-date list of past research grants Jake has been involved in, see the website.
During his 20 years working in solar energy, Jake has worked in many different areas of photovoltaic materials development and applied photovoltaics. If you are interested in his research areas, or you have your own ideas in mind, please feel free to contact him directly to discuss potential collaboration opportunities.
- WSC620 – Renewable Energy Systems
- WSP033 – Solar Photovoltaics
- WSB013 – Project Design and Management
- Advanced Individual Projects (B.Eng, M.Eng and M.Sc)