Biography
Dr Kaiwen Sun is an ARC DECRA Fellow & Senior Lecturer at the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW. He completed his PhD in investigating interface engineering in CZTS thin film solar cells at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2018. After completion of his PhD, he was awarded Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) research fellowship in 2017 and ARC DECRA Fellow in 2022.His research focuses on view more
Dr Kaiwen Sun is an ARC DECRA Fellow & Senior Lecturer at the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW. He completed his PhD in investigating interface engineering in CZTS thin film solar cells at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2018. After completion of his PhD, he was awarded Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) research fellowship in 2017 and ARC DECRA Fellow in 2022.His research focuses on developing high-efficiency earth-abundant and non-toxic Cu based chalcogenide thin film solar cells, which enables broadening the application of PV technologies into niche market and exploring high bandgap top cell alternative for Si-based tandem cell.
His main research interests are currently:
- Cu based chalcogenide thin film solar cells (CZTS, CIGS)
- New PV materials (Sb2SSe3, Adamantine materials)
- Photoelectrocatalysis, Solar fuels
My Grants
2025:
- Co-Lead CI， BA25004, Baosteel-Australia Joint Research and Development Fund, $250,000, 2026-2028, “Systematic Investigation and Enhancement of Substrate Compatibility for thin film Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and Perovskite Solar Cells on Baosteel Stainless Steel”.
- Lead CI, CSIRO Industry PhD Program, $ 257,811, 2026-2030, “Exploring solar-powered EV charging networks - enhancing coverage, energy security, and privacy”.
- Lead CI (UNSW side), 2025 ACAP Collaborative Project Round, 2026-2027, $ 140,909, “van der Waals (vdW) Materials for Top Cells in Tandem Configuration”.
- CI, 2025 ACAP Collaborative Project Round, 2026-2027, $ 134,668, 2026-2027, “Unveiling Performance Loss and Degradation in Perovskite and Kesterite Solar Cells via Advanced Cryogenic Characterisation”.
- CI, RIS26010295, UNSW Research Infrastructure Scheme, 2026-2027, $150,000, “LuQY Pro measurement system- Quasi-Fermin Level Splitting (QFLS) measurement tool specially designed for top cells (Eg>1.5eV)”.
- Co-Lead CI, UKRI1491, EPSRC (UK), EPSRC overseas travel grant, £55,355, 2025-2026, “International collaboration towards dual-functional photovoltaics enabling power transfer and optical signal transmission”.
- Co-Lead CI, IES\R1\251127, Royal Society (UK), International Exchanges 2025 Global Round 1, £11,983, 2025-2027, “International collaboration towards dual-functional photoreceiver enabling simultaneously lightwave information and power transfer”.
2024:
- Lead CI (UNSW side), 2024 ACAP Collaborative Project Round, 2025-2026, $ 196,680 “Developing monolithic Perovskite/CZTSSe tandem cells”.
2023:
- Lead CI, GA396723, DCCEEW Australia – UK Renewable Hydrogen Innovation Partnerships, 2024-2026, (Total fund of $1,396,416 with $700,269 going to UNSW).
2022:
- Lead CI, DE230100021, Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA), $ 440,154, 2023-2026, “Kesterite/Si Tandem Structure for Unassisted Overall Solar Fuel Production”.
- CI, DP230102463, ARC Discovery Project, $574,254, 2023-2026, “Enabling technology unlocking full potential of high bandgap chalcopyrite”.
- CI & Project Manager, 2022/TRAC006, Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) Transformative Research Accelerating Commercialisation (TRAC) Program, $3,082,000, 2023-2027, “Efficient and Stable Chalcogenide-Si tandem cells: integrating commercialised PV technologies”.
2021:
- CI, CSEOI00010, NSW ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY (EPA), CIRCULAR SOLAR TRIALS GRANTS PROGRAM, $ 1,000,000, 2022-2026, “Highly efficient and flexible recycling technology for end-of-life silicon photovoltaic panels towards NSW circular economy: from reactors design to system optimisation”.
2020:
- Co-Lead CI, 2022/RND014, ARENA R&D Project, $ 693,388, 2020-2023, “Earth-abundant, RoHS-compliant antimony chalcogenide: top cell alternative for Si tandem cells”.
- CI, 2022/RND015, ARENA R&D Project, $ 1,320,000, 2020-2023, “Highly efficient, low-cost and eco-friendly recycling technology for silicon photovoltaic panels”.
- CI, LP200301593, ARC Linkage Project, $ 589,137, 2021-2024, “Efficient, durable and green chalcopyrite solar powered building steel”.
2019:
- CI, BA19010, Baosteel-Australia Joint Research and Development Fund, $ 300,000, 2020-2022, “Chalcopyrite CIGS Powered BIPV Building Steel”.
2018:
My Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy Sep.2014-Mar 2018
School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Australia
Master Degree of Engineering Sep.2011-Jun.2014
School of Metallurgy and Environment, Central South University, China
Bachelor Degree of Engineering Sep.2007-Jun.2011
School of Metallurgical Science and Engineering, Central South University, China
My Awards
2024 The Energy & Environmental Science Oral Presentation Prize, International Conference on Advanced Materials for Energy, Environment, and Health (ICAMEEH) 2024, 24-27 September 2024, Adelaide, Australia
2023 UNSW Faculty of Engineering Research Excellence Award (ECA).
2023 Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) ($ 440,154, 2023-2026).
2022 Student Awards, The 33rd International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference (PVSEC-33).
2021 UNSW Capital Expenditure Award, UNSW (Total $ 40,000)
2018 UNSW Research Staff Excellence Award (Faculty of Engineering).
2018 Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) Research Fellowship.
My Research Supervision
Areas of supervision
Thin film solar cells
Tandem solar cells
Solar to fuel
Solar-storage integration
My Engagement
School of Photovoltaic & Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE) Seminar Coordinator
My Teaching
SOLA9101 Advanced Photovoltaics (Course coordinator from 2026)
Vertically Integrated Projects
Location
School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW,2052, Australia.
Publications
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5589-226X