Bea Jaquet's paper matched all the criteria for the award "Dr. Hans-Riegel-Fachpreis" and won her the first price in physics.

Scientists at the ZIK SiLi-nano^® and the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics are working in close collaboration while researching new possibilities to augment the availability and lifespan of solar panels. Their aim is to both minimize the cost of production of silicon solar cells and to enhance their efficiency. To this end, they perform quantitative comparisons of different solar cells. One aspect hereof is the test procedure on electroluminescence.

Bea Jaquet of the Pforta school in Naumburg, Saxony-Anhalt, researched the electroluminescence of solar cells during her internship from October 2008 to December 2009. For the test of electroluminescence, a voltage is applied to the solar so that it emits light, effectively visualizing weak spots in the material. Bea Jaquet's work addresses specifically the question, whether this test procedure can be applied as a serial quality check. She had to experimentally determine the optimal conditions for the electroluminescence test in connection with the technical parameters of the solar cell. If a dependence of these two features can be found, the electroluminescence test can be used as a damage-free quality check of solar cells with spacial resolution. This in turn enables an optimization of the production process of solar cells and finally their efficiency.