Research Projects

Electricity is a crucial part of modern life, with India's per capita electrical energy consumption of 1255 kWh in 2021-22. However, over 50% of these energies are wasted as heat and transmission losses. Rising global temperatures and increasing energy costs call for affordable green energy production and better waste heat management. Photovoltaics and thermoelectrics have been at the forefront of green energy production for decades, but their high manufacturing costs and limited applications hinder widespread adoption. This proposal aims to realize next-generation energy materials and devices using additive manufacturing, enabling low-cost and scalable device preparation and facilitating the manufacturing of energy harvesting devices on-demand, particularly relevant for Internet-of-Things (IoTs). The proposed work will focus on two broad classes of materials: photovoltaics and thermoelectrics, to solve immediate problems and achieve benchmark energy harvesting performances competitive with traditional fabrication methods. Key performance indicators include energy density above 0.02 W/cm² and Figure-of-merit (zT) above 1.5 for photovoltaics and thermoelectrics, respectively. An integrated photovoltaic-thermoelectric (PV-TE) device will be developed to improve light-harvesting efficiency and prevent excessive waste heat. A recent theoretical study indicates that with proper thermal interface material, the energy harvesting efficiency of such integrated PV-TE devices can be increased by up to 60%. The success of this proposal will pave the way for the easy preparation of low-cost, on-demand energy harvesting devices for various applications.