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01 March 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo SUPPLIED
Dr Lucas Erasmus
Dr Lucas Erasmus, Junior Researcher in the Department of Physics, has just returned from Belgium where he had his public defence of a joint PhD with Ghent University, titled: Luminescent solar concentrators – where Sm2+ doped phosphors shine.

“I like taking what I have learned from literature and going to the laboratory to test it. Sometimes the results surprise me, leading to additional experiments or refining. This process could continue for several months and even years, with me slowly building the puzzle. And finally, one day, all the pieces come together, and everything becomes very clear to me as a physicist. And if I am lucky, I will have the privilege of knowing a secret about nature that nobody else has known up to this point. However, as an innovator, I am tasked with using this new knowledge to develop ways to manipulate nature to deliver a helpful device.”

These are the thoughts of Dr Lucas Erasmus, Junior Researcher in the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State (UFS), who has just returned from Ghent, Belgium, where he had his public defence of a joint PhD with Ghent University, titled: Luminescent solar concentrators – where Sm2+ doped phosphors shine.

The research project is part of a bilateral collaboration between the Department of Physics at the UFS and the Department of Solid State Sciences at Ghent University. In this study, the strengths, experience, and resources of both research groups – experienced in developing luminescent materials for various applications – are used to ensure a stronger final product. To meet the requirements stipulated in the cooperation agreement between the two institutions for the joint supervision and certification of Dr Erasmus’ doctoral studies, research was conducted both at the UFS and at Ghent University.

Dr Erasmus’ research is significant in the light of rising energy prices, energy scarcity, and the pursuit of a carbon-free society, where there are strong incentives to develop new and renewable energy sources.

Combining windows and solar cells increase their relevancy in many applications

He says that although solar panels play an essential role in renewable energy – since they provide a route to directly convert solar radiation into electricity – there are limitations to installing conventional panels, which are bulky, rigid, and opaque. He believes that combining windows and solar cells could increase their relevance in the built environment, agricultural sector, and modern consumer electronics.

Explaining about the luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) in his study, he states that it is a device used as a large-area solar radiation collector that converts and emits radiation. The emitted radiation is directed to photovoltaic cells located in the small side area of the device. According to him, a basic LSC consists of a transparent waveguide with an embedded luminescent material and a strategically placed photovoltaic cell on the edge.

Dr Erasmus continues, “The large area of the waveguide collects a portion of the solar radiation, while the luminescent material absorbs the energy and downshifts it to longer wavelengths. Internal reflection directs the emitted photons towards smaller areas on the sides where the photovoltaic cells are used to convert the concentrated light into electricity.”

In his view, creating a large and efficient LSC is a challenging endeavour that requires an in-depth study of multiple domains. “This includes developing and optimising the luminescent material, studying its behaviour and the characteristics of the waveguide, and finally adding these two components and developing, characterising, and simulating the hybrid device,” he remarks.

“While the current prototype we have developed delivers good results, it is still far from perfect and not commercially viable,” he says, stating that this study could, however, serve as a guide for future researchers interested in developing LCSs. Dr Erasmus believes the underlying science behind the results contributes to a general understanding of the materials, making this study valuable to other fields and contributing to the larger body of science. At the end of the study, he also makes some recommendations for future research in this field. 

Study a reflection of theoretical knowledge and a practical system

The public defence consisted of both an internal and an external defence. The internal defence took place in January at the UFS between Dr Erasmus and the examination committee. The external defence occurred at Ghent University and was also open to the broader public. Also present at this event in Belgium were colleagues from the UFS – Prof David Motaung, an examiner; Prof Koos Terblans, co-supervisor; and Prof Hendrik Swart, supervisor for the PhD thesis.

Dr Erasmus’ experience of the oral examination was that the examiners were primarily positive in their critique but also thorough in their questioning. According to him, some of their remarks pointed out that they were impressed with the meticulous planning, execution, and interpretation of the experimental results and that the researchers involved ensured that any parameter that might have influenced the device was maximised. “Moreover, they liked the fact that I went all the way from theoretical knowledge to a practical system. The examiners also noted that the study compares well with the current state-of-the-art research in the field,” adds Dr Erasmus.

He says that having the public defence in Belgium was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, allowing him to interact and deliberate directly with the examiners and communicate their findings and conclusions to the broader public. Dr Erasmus hopes that this will lead to stronger collaboration and better public sentiment toward spending funding for scientific projects.

For future steps, he states, the research group involved in the project plans to continue this research by further increasing the device's efficiency. “To this end, we have already developed another luminescent material that can address some of the challenges we encountered while developing the first prototype device. This forms part of the work that Johané Odendaal is doing in her master’s degree, of which I am a co-supervisor. We also plan to enlarge the scope of our research to consider the challenges that are currently hampering the next generation of photovoltaic cells and to find ways in which we could address these issues,” comments Dr Erasmus.

News Archive

UFS breakthrough on SRC
2005-06-10

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) today unanimously approved the establishment of a Central Student Representative Council (CSRC)  to ensure the democratic participation of students at its three campuses in the governance of the university.

In a major breakthrough and transformation step for student governance, the Central SRC will include representatives of the main campus in Bloemfontein, the Vista campus and the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS.

The establishment of the Central SRC follows the incorporation of the Qwaqwa campus into the UFS in January 2003 and the incorporation of the Vista campus in Bloemfontein into the UFS in January 2004.

According to Dr Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: Student Affairs, today’s decision of Council is the result of a lengthy, negotiated agreement between the three campuses. Independent experts facilitated part of the process.

With the establishment of a Central SRC, the UFS has adopted a federal student governance model whereby the CSRC is the highest representative student body on matters of common concern for all students.

However, the three campuses of the UFS will retain autonomous SRC structures for each campus with powers and responsibilities for matters affecting the particular campus.

This arrangement will be reviewed after a year to make allowance for the phasing out of students at the Vista campus, as was agreed in the negotiations preceding the incorporation of that campus into the UFS.

The central SRC will have a maximum of 12 members made up of members of the campus SRCs, including the presidents of these three SRCs. In total, the main campus will have 5 representatives, the Qwaqwa campus will have 4 representatives and the Vista campus will have 3 representatives.

From these 12 members a central SRC president will be chosen on a quarterly basis to represent the general student body at Executive Management, Senate and Council.

In another key decision and significant step forward affecting student governance, the Council also approved amendments the constitution of the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the main campus.  These amendments were the results of deliberations of student organizations, the SRC and the Student Parliament of the UFS main campus.

The amendments to the constitution of the main campus SRC determines that nine of the 18 SRC members must be elected by means of proportional representation and nine on the basis of an individual, first-past-the-post election.

This decision comes in the wake of calls by certain student organizations on main campus for proportional representation to be included as a means of electing student representatives.

The following portfolios of the main campus SRC will be contested by individual candidates on the basis of first past the post:

  • president
  • secretary
  • academic affairs
  • legal and constitutional affairs
  • student development
  • arts and culture
  • men’s internal liaison
  • ladies internal liaison
  • media, marketing and liaison

The following nine portfolios will be contested by affiliated organizations on a proportional representation basis.

  • two vice-presidents
  • treasurerdialogue and associations
  • transformation
  • campus affairs and recreation
  • sport
  • international affairs
  • community service

It also is a breakthrough to have all constitutional changes processed and approved at the June meeting of the Council, with all relevant student organizations having been part of the process and accepting the outcome of the process.

According to the chairperson of the UFS Council, Judge Faan Hancke, today’s unanimous decisions on student governance are an indication of how all UFS stakeholders represented in Council are committed to finding win-win solutions in the interest of the university.

“Once again the UFS has reached another milestone in its transformation and has shown the rest of the country that we are pioneers in the field of reaching intelligent solutions to complex situations,” Judge Hancke said.

According to Dr Moraka, the central SRC constitution will come into effect from the start of the second semester this year.

 MEDIA RELEASE

Issued by: Lacea Loader
    Media Representative
    Tel:  (051) 401-2584
    Cell:  083 645 2454
     E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

10 June 2005
 

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