Welcome to our News and Blog page where you can read the latest stories from the team. If you are interested in a particular topic – you can filter the stories via the tags below:
The £7million Sêr Solar project was launched in 2013, led by Professor James Durrant (Imperial College London). Professor Durrant was appointed as Sêr Cymru Research chair in photovoltaics as part…
Perovskite solar cells are a relatively new breakthrough in photovoltaics, bursting onto the scene and rapidly advancing from lab scale all the way through to building demonstration size. We join…
Ten years ago this month, we brought together academic and industry partners with expertise in printed photovoltaics, electrical storage, thermal storage and industrial coatings; they were united under a shared…
Dr Cécile Charbonneau is the lead researcher of our Photovoltaic Nanomaterials Team. Cécile has been with the SPECIFIC team since the outset and her passion and enthusiasm for her work…
In November 2020, we launched the first version of our Active Building Toolkit. The main purpose of the toolkit was to share our experiences of designing, delivering and operating Active…
“We talk about our successes, but nobody wants to admit when there’s been a problem. We need a climate of honesty where people can say: we tried this, it didn’t…
Due to Government legislation and a ‘greener’ way of thinking amongst consumers, the electric car market is growing quickly. When comparing year-on-year data, September 2020 saw an increase of 184%…
SPECIFIC researcher Suzanne Thomas is working on integrating perovskite solar cells, which are cheap and easy to process, with the Internet of Things (IoT) for use in indoor settings. The…
In this blog Data Systems Technician, Luke Ardolino, looks at the Active Office energy data at a high level to see what changes have made to our energy usage profile.
We have recently completed a collaborative project with Safehouse Technology – whose smart sensors not only keep loved ones safe, but can also be used to monitor low-carbon tech used…
This week we threw a spotlight on one of the toughest challenges society faces in reducing carbon emissions. Thanks to everyone who took part in Heat Week! Here’s a review…
We are thrilled to announce that the Active Office has been ‘highly commended’ in its category, ‘Climate Resilience Project of the Year,’ at the British Construction Industry Awards (BCIA). Congratulations…
A new project involving Swansea University researchers and Tata Steel will investigate the potential for recovering waste heat from industry so it can be re-used. Heavy industries can release up…
FLEXISApp has just announced funding for MESH (Mobile Energy Storage as Heat), a partnership project between FLEXISApp, SPECIFIC and Tata Steel UK. MESH is a 24 month thermal energy storage…
Sharon Bishop, SPECIFIC’s communications manager and heating novice, calls for a joined-up collaborative approach. Many years ago, I sat next to a member of one of the government’s energy advisory…
The ‘Active Buildings Toolkit’ has been developed by Design Manager, Joanna Clarke, to share the principles and learnings from the Active Buildings, with the aim of encouraging others to adopt…
We’re throwing a spotlight on one of the toughest challenges society faces in reducing carbon emissions. Heating with fossil fuels accounts for about a quarter of global carbon emissions. Here…
Swansea University has achieved the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) sustainability award for many of its laboratories across campus including SPECIFIC‘s. The LEAF tool, devised by UCL (University College London)…
In our first ever vlog, we chat to one of SPECIFIC’s Business Development Managers about how we work with businesses across the UK, and some of the projects were currently…
Children returning to lessons at 12 local schools this week are the latest people to be protected by hand sanitiser made at Swansea University
Naked Energy is a British design, innovation and engineering business with a global outlook, redefining solar energy solutions. As a technology supplier for the Active Office, we caught up with…
In June this year, the UK Prime Minister delivered a “Build, Build, Build” speech that preceded the announcement of radical reforms to the current planning system in England. This has…
EPSRC Programme Grants are mechanisms to provide flexible funding to world-leading research groups to address significant major research challenges. This represented a great opportunity for Swansea University to strengthen links…
A £6 million award will drive next-generation solar technology into new applications. We’ve teamed up with Imperial College London and Oxford University for a new programme grant, ATIP, which will…
Professor Trystan Watson has won a student-nominated award for excellence in teaching and learning. The Excellence in Learning and Teaching Awards are celebrated annually to members of staff who have made an outstanding contribution…
In 2011, SPECIFIC was one of six UK Innovation and Knowledge Centres (IKCs) created by the UK Government. Nine years on, and countless projects and collaborations later, SPECIFIC is celebrating…
The national St David Awards scheme recognises and celebrates the exceptional achievements of people from all walks of life in Wales. Dave’s contribution to Wales in this category has been…
Here at SPECIFIC, our PV team are looking at scaling up perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A recent paper published by the team notes that use of XPS in perovskite can…
Dr Matt Burton is part of our Thermoelectrics Group and is working on research to allow the widespread use of thermoelectric materials to harness waste heat. Here, he explains why…
The team at SPECIFIC have long been advocates of using electric vehicles (EVs), from adopting the first generation Nissan Leaf to now operating a “fleet” of electric cars and vans.…
Developing sustainable renewable energy technologies is vital in the move to decarbonise industry. Renewable energy technologies, including solar, have enormous socio-economic benefits and are significantly better for the environment than fossil-fuels, which continue to…
Frontline housing workers, homelessness support services and the people they look after, many of whom are vulnerable, are the latest groups to be using hand sanitiser made at Swansea University,…
Here, SPECIFIC researcher and one of the paper’s authors, Rahul Patidar, discusses the processes and research that led to the paper being published. A newcomer to the photovoltaic industry, PSCs have gathered…
At SPECIFIC, we are often asked: “What differentiates an Active Building from other “green” buildings?” This blog defines what we mean by an Active Building and also explores other environmentally-conscious…
Swansea University has successfully won funding to reduce the time it takes to sanitise ambulances after carrying a suspected Covid-19 positive patient. Students from the university are helping slash the…
Four sessions have been designed with a Sustainable Engineering theme in order to motivate young people to get involved with designing tomorrow’s solutions. The topics covered are similar to those…
SPECIFIC’s most recent Active Building demonstration is a rail-approved platform waiting shelter. The shelter has been installed at the Solar Heat Energy Demonstrator (SHED) site and is being used for testing and…
A solar tech lab at Swansea University has temporarily switched to producing 5000 litres of hand sanitiser a week, to help the NHS fight the Coronavirus outbreak.
Making solar modules is not like making single solar cells. When working on single cells, the main parameters that should be optimised include the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the…
SPECIFIC is committed to caring for the health and well-being of our staff and partners. Following guidance from Swansea University / UK Government, and to ensure the safety of our…
Having been running for 3 years, the Energy Storage System (ESS) in The Active Classroom is now being renewed to meet fresh challenges such as new electric vehicle charging ports,…
At Knowledge Transfer Network UK and Innovate UK‘s Materials Research Exchange in London last month, we brought 11 other Materials Engineering projects from Swansea University to exhibit as a group…
The UK has made significant progress in decarbonising the economy – overall emissions have fallen by 40% since 1990 and almost half our electricity came from renewable or low carbon…
The national St David Awards scheme recognises and celebrates the exceptional achievements of people from all walks of life in Wales. Dave’s contribution to Wales in this category has been…
Steel is the core product in manufacturing, national infrastructure and high-tech 21st century industries such as electric vehicles and Active Buildings. It is the most widely used material in the…
The Research & Innovation Awards celebrate the outstanding research and collaborations that are undertaken at Swansea University, and the enormous impact these are having across the world. The ceremony guests…
What type of research is being undertaken by SPECIFIC’s Industrial Coatings group? In basic terms, our work has two primary strands:– Developing ways of putting a liquid on a substrate–…
SUNRISE is an international project to address global energy poverty with partners from India, Mexico, South Africa, and Kazakhstan. Twice-yearly conferences have been essential to building collaborations and growing capabilities,…
There are existing protocols to evaluate emerging photovoltaic devices, but they are not appropriate for halide perovskite solar cells – a new generation of solar cells designed to overcome the…
The aim of the award is to recognise a woman who has made an outstanding contribution to engineering in the built environment and is a fitting role model for women…
Professor Watson has been a part of the SPECIFIC team for 12 years and is passionate about his work. Trystan and the group have gained a reputation within the PV community,…
This series of articles is a partnership between SPECIFIC, SUNRISE and the Active Building Centre. Our projects work with academic, industry and community partners in the UK and the Global South to research…
Blog by Simone Meroni Yucatan is a Mexican state, surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, where the Mayan civilization flourished. Here, the sun shines all year. The winter, as most Europeans known, never makes an…
This series of articles is a partnership between SPECIFIC, SUNRISE and the Active Building Centre. Our projects work with academic, industry and community partners in the UK and the Global…
[Written by Peter Bullock, Evergreen Smart Power] National Grid’s need to keep the electricity network balanced rarely makes for a stimulating topic of conversation, but the recent once-in-a-decade power outages…
Congratulations to Jenny Baker on being awarded a £1.3M, 5-year Early Career Research Fellowship by EPSRC to pursue her research in sustainable manufacturing of solid state batteries for fixed storage…
This Summer, we hosted the first ever UK-China Workshop on Organic and Perovskites Solar cells at Swansea University Bay Campus. The main objective of the 3-day event was to bring…
A Q&A with SPECIFIC’s Technology Director, Dr Justin Searle, on how the Active Office has performed, and what’s next… How has the Active Office run over the last year? It…
Airbus works with researchers at Swansea University to investigate the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells in a simulated stratospheric environment. Following a successful application to Airbus Endeavr, researchers at Swansea…
Innovative design and pioneering technology helped Swansea University scoop for a top award for one of its highest-profile new buildings. The Active Office, which demonstrates the Active Building concept developed…