Photovoltaics Engineering Science (M.Sc.)
Department of of Electrical, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Major Fields of study
- Physics of the Solar Cell
- Crystalline and Thin Film Solar Cells
- Solar Modules and Components
- System Design, Monitoring, Yield and Performance Analysis
- Solar Cell and System Reliability
- Storage Systems, Electric Grids and Solar Energy Integration
Degree
Master of Science
Department
of Electrical, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Location
Köthen
Duration
3 semesters
Program Start
winter semester or summer semester
Sem Contribution
96 euros
Application period
International Uni Assist15.03. – 15.07. (winter)
15.09. – 15.01. (summer)
15.03. – 15.07. (winter)
15.09. – 15.01. (summer)
Course content and objectives
Photovoltaics Engineering Science is a 3 semesters Master’s program in English language, which requires a Bachelor’s degree in engineering science or physics. No professional experience is needed. It consists of 2 semesters courses in solar cell physics, technology of crystalline silicon and thin-film solar cells and modules, cell and materials characterization, components of a PV system and their reliability, system design, monitoring, yield and performance analysis, storage systems, power electronics, and electric grids and solar energy integration. The technical subjects will be accompanied by a course in business administration, and voluntary courses in German language for daily life (which are not credited; usually at beginner level). A final research semester under supervision of a professor from the university concludes the program. The courses combine lectures with exercises, seminars or practical laboratory work. The tuition in compact form will build up on a requested solid basis of knowledge in mathematics, physics, chemistry (or materials science), fundamentals of electrical engineering and semiconductor technology, and scientific methodology, which the applicant is expected to have acquired in a previous Bachelor's program. The research for the Master’s thesis can be performed in the PV laboratory of Anhalt University, at the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP (in nearby city of Halle), or in any other PV laboratory or any PV company worldwide.
Requirements
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University degree
An academic degree in engineering science, physics or related fields of study of at least 7 semesters (210 credits) is required.
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Language skills
English language proficiency by appropriate scores of TOEFL min. 90 pts. (ibT) , IELTS min. 6.0 or similar tests (e.g. TOEIC, Cambridge Certificate) with minimum B2 level according to the GER (common european framework of reference for languages). An evidenced graduation from an English-medium college or university is also accepted.
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Aptitude test procedure
1. final grade first academic degree:
- overall grades up to 2.5 (German grading scale) go into the selection process
- overall grades > 2.5 (German grading scale) cannot be admitted
2. other criteria:
- letter of motivation (at most one A4 page)
- pertinence of the Bachelor's degree program
- proficiency in English (at least B2)
- CV (complete and up-to-date)
- summary of the Bachelor's degree thesis (to evaluate the ability of scientic working and writing; one A4 page + list of cited references)
- if necessary, online interview
Career Opportunities
Graduates of the Master’s program Photovoltaics Engineering Science will be qualified to work as engineers in research and development, production of cells and modules, design, construction, operation or management of photovoltaic power plants. Due to the forecast strong increase of photovoltaic power generation, especially in the sun-rich countries around the world, excellent job perspectives are expected.
Therefore, this program is especially well suited for students from countries, in which PV is currently strongly growing, and who want to participate in this process after having graduated. Although Germany is still a leading nation in research and development in PV, most of the production has meanwhile moved to the Far East, and the installation of big new PV power plants to the sun-rich countries all over the world.
But due to Germany´s ambitious plans for the energy transition, the world-wide necessity to fight the climate change, a certain recovery of the German PV manufacturing industry, and increasing lack of qualified engineers in the German job market, opportunities for foreign employees in German companies are expected to improve in the future, especially for those applicants with at least a medium knowledge of the German language.
Program-specific questions
Organizational questions
General Questions
(not program-specific)Notes
- Program in English language
Deadlines
Pre-assessment (strongly recommended for all applicants):
- for winter semester: June 15
- for summer semester: December 15
The pre-assessment period starts 3 months before the deadline.
Uni-assist (for applicants from abroad, especially non-EU countries):
- for winter semester: July 15
- for summer semester: January 15
The application period starts 4 months before the deadline.
To have a realistic chance of getting your visa (if needed) in time, we recommend that you apply as far in advance of these deadlines as possible!
SSC application portal (for applicants with a German bachelor's degree):
- for winter semester: July 15
- for summer semester: January 15
For applicants from Germany later dates can also be made possible in exceptional cases; in this case please contact the Degree Program Coordinator or the Degree Program Advisor by email.
The winter semester starts on the first working day in October, the summer semester starts on the first working day in April.
Preparatory Online Course
Parallel to the summer semester a preparatory online course on basics of mathematics, physics and chemistry is offered for potential applicants free of charge (for contents, please refer to module description under folder "Documents"). The course is intended for perspecitve students who are not sure whether their knowledge in these basic subjects is sufficient for the program.
The course takes place every Monday (except public holidays in Germany) from 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. (lecture) and 6:15 - 7:45 p.m. (exercises) Central European Summer Time (CEST = GMT plus 2 hours). Period of summer semester: April, 1st, to July, 12th. Public holidays: Easter Monday (April, 1st), Whit Monday (May, 20th).
You are invited to join via the link: https://hs-anhalt.webex.com/hs-anhalt/j.php?MTID=m604b85ee60355f6f3c17c39516ba58e7
PLEASE NOTE: The Preparatory Course can just start from 27th May!
Alternativey you can send an email to norbert.bernhard(at)hs-anhalt.de Prof. Bernhard will send you a Webex invitation to the whole course (it is not necessary to install Webex at your computer!).
You can, of course, also attend only the lecture, or just parts of the lecture. The first third of the course covers chemistry, the second third mathematics and the last third physics.
Fees
A service fee of €90 is charged per semester for the Students Services Agency (Studentenwerk); plus €6 for the Student Union. The Studentenwerk supports you in social aspects free of further charges (e.g. administration of students' accommodation, cheap meals in the students' refectory, free legal advice and other kind of social support).
No tuition fees are charged.
Uni-assist charges a fee of €75 for its assessment of your documents (€30 for every additional application if you apply for more than one program).
Prerequisites for the program
- Completed bachelor's degree program of at least 7 semesters (equivalent to 210 ECTS points) in:
- Electrical Engineering
- Physics
- Physics Engineering or equivalent
- Materials Science or equivalent
Other bachelor’s degrees in engineering sciences are accepted if the program covers the following subjects to a sufficient extent: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry or Materials Science, Basics of Electrical Engineering and Semiconductor Technology.
- Minimum grade of your bachelor's degree: 2.5 (converted to German system by the Bavarian formula (Bayerische Formel) as shown at the end of the page)
- University rating according to Anabin list: H+
- Proven ability to work scientifically and write scientific texts: Usually shown by the final thesis / final project of the bachelor’s degree program
- Knowledge of oral and written English at least of level B2 (according to the European reference framework for languages)
Equivalent scores by other tests are roughly:
- TOEFL: PBT=600, CBT=250 or iBT=100 points
- IELTS: 6.0
- TOEIC, Cambridge Certificate or any other test equivalent to level B2 (according to the European reference framework for languages)
DUOLINGO tests cannot be accepted.
If the bachelor’s degree was awarded by an English language program, an official confirmation of this fact is sufficient.
No knowledge of German is necessary for the program. (However, it can be helpful in daily life.)
Applicants from India need a valid APS certificate when applying at uni-assist.
Exemption for application for winter semester 2023/2024: You can upload your certificate until September 30. Uni-assist will check your application even with a delayed APS certificate.
Pre-assessment (not compulsory, but strongly recommended):
We offer an informal pre-assessment free of charge before you apply at uni-assist. Pre-assessment starts 3 months before the deadline for the respective semester (see deadlines above). The purpose is to clarify your chances before you spend the money for the uni-assist process. Another advantage is that you will know about your admission earlier than by directly applying at uni-assist.
For this purpose, please send an email to mpv(at)hs-anhalt.de before the deadline (see above), but not more than 3 months before that deadline.
The sender email address should have the format: given_name.surname(at)organisation.xx (if your name is very common in your home country, an additional identifier may be added after your surname). The email should contain a short address in business style, ending with your name, address and phone number and must have attached the following documents in one single pdf-file named "pre-assessment_given_name_surname":
- CV: It must be fully up-to-date, i.e. up to the day of sending; and it must not contain any gaps (if there are periods of unemployment or similar, please add them with start and end date). It should also contain a photograph, your date of birth, your skills level of foreign languages and computer programming languages.
- Motivation letter (at most one A4 page, font size 11, line spacing 1.2, margin 2.5 cm, in a well-structured fashion): It should clearly state why you want to study Photovoltaics Engineering Science and why you have chosen Anhalt University. Please do not write a second narrative CV! Please avoid general formulations, platitudes and anything which is not related to your motivation with respect to the master's degree program in Photovoltaics Engineering (M.Sc.) or the choice of Anhalt University.
- Transcript of your bachelor’s degree certificate including grades: If not available at application, please provide a preliminary document. Please add your total final grade converted to the German grading system in a comprehensible way (by using the Bavarian formula, see at the end of the page).
- Summary (one A4 page, font size 11, line spacing 1.2, margin 2.5 cm) of your final thesis / final project: written in scientific style (as you would write a scientific summary), well-structured, showing your investigation objective, your scientific methodology and your results. Add a second page with the most important references in correct scientific citation (which all must be referred to in your text on the first page). If your final project was done jointly by more than one student, please include an explanation of your part at the bottom of the second page. This summary is very important for the assessment of your abilities of doing research and writing a scientific paper, therefore it is worth to put some effort into it.
Please don't add any further documents! Please send one single mail with one single attachment. Check the mail and the attachment whether it complies with above requirements before sending. Please avoid to send multiple mails with varying content or attachments!
Every applicant who submits the requested documents to the required standard will be invited for an online interview, in which we check his/her motivation and basic knowledge in math, physics, chemistry and electrical engineering. For those who perform well in this interview we will give a recommendation to apply at uni-assist afterwards. Everybody who passes the formal uni-assist check will then be accepted automatically as a new student.
Application via uni-assist
We recommend submitting your application as early as possible, but not before you have the results of your pre-assessment. According to uni-assist the evaluation process usually takes 28 to 42 days, in exceptional cases up to 56 days.
The application must contain the same documents as for the pre-assessment (see above) plus the language certificate (and possibly further documents, if requested by the uni-assist portal). The process is fully online by uploading your documents. The transcript of your university certificate (and possibly further documents – check the uni-assist portal) must be officially notarized. No reference letters or similar are necessary.
Check the uni-assist portal as early as possible for your country-specific requirements!
Uni-assist will perform a formal check of your documents. For students from most universities of some countries (especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, but also others) usually an 8-semester bachelor’s degree program is assessed to be equivalent to only 6 German semesters. Since our program requires at least 7 semesters (according to German standard), an admission is then only possible with one additional bridging semester. For electrical engineers we can offer such a bridging semester in English, for other applicants only in German. Only in this case is knowledge of German at level B2 necessary.
You can also apply at uni-assist without pre-assessment, but we do not recommend doing so.
Application via SSC portal
Applicants with a bachelor’s degree from a German university do not have to apply at uni-assist, they can directly apply via the SSC portal free of charge (online upload of documents).
The same might be the case for EU applicants (or applicants from other European countries such as Switzerland, Norway or the UK) with a bachelor’s degree from their home university or another EU university if it is clear that their bachelor's degree is equivalent to a German bachelor’s degree. In such a case, please contact the Degree Program Advisor or the Degree Program Coordinator.
The same documents as for the pre-assessment have to be provided (plus further documents if requested in the portal). The bachelor’s transcript must be officially notarized. Participation in the pre-assessment process is also recommended for such applicants.
#SolarWorks
Degree Program Advisor
Degree Program Coordinator
Bavarian formula (Bayerische Formel)
A grading in letters A, B, C, ... must be converted to numbers: A=1, B=2, C=3, ...
If the total worst passing grade is different from the worst passing grades of individual subjects, the total worst pass grade has to be used.
General information
Curriculum (valid from winter semester 2021/2022)
Module Manual
Preparatory Online Course
Program and Examination Regulations (in German)
Degree Program Advisor
Degree Program Coordinator
Research projects in the field of PV technologies
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StrukturSolar
Project structure of StrukturSolar
Cooperative Research Center – StrukturSolar – Innovative structuring concepts for next generation solar cells (grant No. 03SF0417A)
... is one of seven pilot projects funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Technology (BMBF), in which the competencies of universities of applied sciences and universities in basic research are to be used in a joint research project in a complementary manner. The project focuses on research projects by young scientists who are jointly supervised by both universities and who wish to gain further qualifications with their research by completing a doctorate.
Various structuring methods (plasma-chemical, wet-chemical, electrochemical, mechanical, by laser) – with which Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and Martin Luther University have application and basic research and development experience – are to be used in innovative concepts to optimize light and charge carrier management in solar cells. The idea is to keep an eye on cost-effective technological feasibility from the outset, so that the research work can lead to an increase in the efficiency of solar cells with a relatively lower increase in manufacturing costs. Both crystalline silicon solar cells (targeting thinner wafers than is common today) and thin film solar cells (copper indium/gallium diselenide (CIGS) and organic solar cells) are being studied.
Eight research assistants are working as doctoral students under the supervision of 13 university professors and researchers from both universities on various complementary research tasks of the project. The 13 university professors and researchers involved possess material science and technology-oriented expertise in photovoltaics as well as methodological skills in the aforementioned structuring processes or in relevant scientific analysis methods for material or solar cell characterization.
After the successful completion of StrukturSolar on September 30, 2015, the funding for the follow-up project StrukturSolar II was granted from October 1, 2015 until September 30, 2018. Research content will be the continuation of particularly successful topics from the first phase, partly with a new focus, but also some new topics, such as PERC (Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact) cells or perovskite/silicon tandem cells.
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LASER-PV
Principle representation of the TLS process
BMBF Funding Program “IngenieurNachwuchs – Kooperative Promotionen” – LASER-PV – Application of laser separation processes in photovoltaics
Funding period: October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2017
Cooperation partners: Fraunhofer IISB, ISE and CSP, Hanwha Q-Cells, 3D-Micromac
The content of the project is basic investigations and process optimization for the novel process of thermal laser separation (TLS) in the separation of silicon, germanium and gallium arsenide wafers for the application in (concentrating) photovoltaics. In addition, comparative investigations are carried out with the reference processes: ablative laser cutting (possibly in combination with mechanical breaking) and mechanical sawing.
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Solar-TLS
Bifacial solar cell divided by TLS method
Joint project – Solar-TLS – Development of novel and production-suitable solar cell separation processes based on thermal laser separation
Project duration: May 1, 2016 – April 30, 2018; extended until October 31, 2018 (cost-neutral)
Project partners: 3D-Micromac Chemnitz, Fraunhofer CSP Halle (Saale)
In a joint project, research and development work was carried out on the thermal laser separation process with the aim of developing TLS processes suitable for production for the manufacturing of silicon half-cells for high-performance modules (or sub-cells for special modules). The main focus was on replacing the aerosol cooling which is normally used with a dry cooling process. For this purpose, a vortex tube nozzle was installed at the TLS facility of Anhalt University and a corresponding dry cooling process was developed. Multi- and mono-crystalline silicon solar cells based on PERC technology were equally investigated. In a final work phase, separation experiments were successfully performed on bifacial cells.
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Black-SiN
Photography of a plasma-textured silicon nitride layer
Joint project – Black SiN – Maskless plasma texturing of silicon nitride
Duration period: The ERDF project funded by the state of Saxony-Anhalt was approved for the period from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020.
As of March 12, 2020, the duration of the project could be extended until May 31, 2020 with no impact on expenditure or costs.
Project partners: Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP, Halle (Saale)
In the current Black SiN research project, Prof. Bernhard and his team of scientific assistants are conducting research on reducing the reflectance – and thus improving the light absorption – of industrial silicon solar cells. In cooperation with the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP in Halle (Saale), the project is conducting research on maskless plasma texturing of silicon nitride layers without damaging the underlying silicon wafer. From the increased light absorption follows an improvement in solar cell efficiency. The patent-pending process will eventually be transferred to industrial production.
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MILLEFEUILLE
SEM image of multiple ultrathin silicon wafers
Joint project – MILLEFEUILLE – Materials and technologies for the direct production of multiple ultra-thin silicon wafers
Duration period: August 1, 2017 – October 31, 2020
Project partners: Smartmembranes, Halle (Saale)
The MILLEFEUILLE project aims to provide the scientific and technological basis for the cost-efficient and scalable (i.e. transferable to industry) production of ultra-thin monocrystalline silicon wafers using the empty space in silicon (ESS) process as well as the demonstration of their texturability by a maskless plasma etching method.
The focus of the project is on the development and evaluation of new processes and technologies for the production of ultra-thin monocrystalline silicon wafers (10 µm - 50 µm) from 3D macroporous silicon in one process step ("millefeuille") by depth modulation of the photo-electrochemical etching process with subsequent tempering as well as their effective plasma texturing to achieve sufficient light absorption by reducing reflection and effective light trap structures for photovoltaic applications.
The funding by the Investitionsbank Sachsen-Anhalt and the European Union within the framework of the ERDF program is acknowledged gratefully.
Extended abstract submitted to EUPVSEC: Abstract
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LeTID-Norm
LeTID Consortium Logo
Joint project – LeTID-Norm – Development of a test standard for light- and temperature-induced degradation (LeTID) of high-efficiency solar cells and modules
Project duration: January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2020 (extended until June 30, 2021)
Project partners: Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP, Anhalt University of Applied Science, centrotherm international AG, DKE German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies of DIN and VDE, Hanwha Q Cells, Wavelabs GmbH
Associated partners: Mayer Burger AG, LayTec AG, IBC Solar AG
The project LeTID-Norm receives funding within the WIPANO program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
In recent years a new type of degradation called LeTID which can lead to significant power losses in solar cells has become a focus of discussion. LeTID stands for Light and elevated Temperature Induced Degradation. Cells with innovative designs like PERC technology show an even stronger effect than cells with a standard setup.
At the moment, however, there is no standardized testing method to quantify the LeTID phenomenon. Currently available tests differ vastly regarding their parameters like the type of charge carrier injection and operating mode. The effects of enhanced temperature are often not considered.
The project LeTID-Norm aims at providing a harmonized approach to LeTID testing along the value chain of solar modules and establishing an integrated quality management system to avoid LeTID/LID losses. This approach will be proposed for standardization nationally and to IEC after the end of the project.
There are currently no documents available in this area.