The next generation of solar technology: an interview with Lee Da-seul

With a continued emphasis on the role that solar cells play in a wider range of energy and climate solutions, researchers are exploring how these technologies can be applied beyond traditional systems and adapted in more innovative ways. Lee Da-seul is a researcher at Gyeongnam Aerospace Defense Industry Science and Technology Institute, who recently started exploring how solar cells can be applied to outer space. Through this interview, she provided the perspective of a solar cell researcher investigating next-generation photovoltaic materials that promotes a sustainable future on Earth and beyond.

First, could you explain your current research field?

My current research field is solar cells, and among solar cells I am doing research on solar cells, but among solar cells there are many kinds, and inside that, have you mainly seen perovskite solar cells? I conducted research on perovskite cell cylinders from small sizes to large module sizes, and right now I am doing research that is aiming to apply them to space solar cells. When I was young, I once went with my parents to watch racing mini cars using solar panels from a research institute. Seeing that even a small minicars could move just with sunlight and solar power was so amazing to my younger self, so from then I became interested and that’s how I began this research.

How likely do you think it is that the technology you are researching will actually be applied to satellites or spacecraft?

What I just started is ultra-lightweight solar cell research as one of the power sources used in small satellites in low orbit. We are doing reliability tests for the space environment and conducting research to increase stability, and the hardest thing seems to be making it stable against thermal shock. Because it is something applied to small artificial satellites for low orbit, I think the possibility is quite high.

While conducting this research, were there difficulties due to financial problems, lack of interest from companies, or a lack of policy support?

I received my PhD at another institution, but in Korea, energy research often does not directly connect with everyday, practical issues. Because of that, if the government’s policy direction shifts—for example, if it decides to give stronger support to nuclear energy instead of renewable alternatives like solar cells, then securing funding for demonstration facilities becomes extremely difficult.

And not long ago, before the presidential administration changed, there was indeed a large cut to the national R&D budget. As a result, many researchers suddenly lost their jobs, so that's one example of a policy-related problem.

How are research directions influenced when doing research together with companies or the government?

I think companies naturally move together with the government’s policy direction. So if the government says the solar-cell energy side is important, then a lot of funding comes in and the scope of the research becomes wider, whereas if it is said that it is not very important, and that investment will be made elsewhere, then the range of the research becomes drastically narrower and it becomes difficult in many cases.

Then in what way do you think you would like to see more policy support?

Regarding the energy sector, whenever the president changes or the policy intention changes, the fluctuation in budget for different areas becomes extremely large and unstable, so if that fluctuation becomes smaller and steady investment is made, I think there will be much more progress.

While researching solar cells, do you also keep in mind how to make the process more eco-friendly?

At first I don’t think I kept that in mind. First of all, for user certification, a certain level of efficiency needs to come out for people to use it for their homes without problems. But these days the efficiency of the next-generation solar cells I am researching has come up quite a lot, so there are efforts to use eco-friendly materials, and I also know that research on recycling solar cells currently in use is being carried out a lot.

As solar cells are further researched and developed, how do you think they can provide some solution to the environmental crisis?

In the case of Korea, the weather used to fluctuate a lot and it was a country with clear four seasons, but as I feel it, these days it’s hard to even feel the seasons because the weather variation is so severe, and I think this is because we emitted so much carbon, or because the temperature is rising now. So I think the field of research I am working on is important. So if solar cells can replace even a bit of coal or fossil fuel, then I think climate change could be slowed down a little more.

If there is something you hope for in the future as solar cell development progresses, what is it?

What I hope for, although it is really idealistic, would be to almost completely replace fossil fuels and significantly reduce carbon emissions—that would be a very ideal and impressive thing, but I think that is what I hope for the most.