Professor Stefaan De Wolf researches high-efficiency solar cell technologies and solutions. On faculty at KAUST since 2016, he currently leads the KAUST Photovoltaic Laboratory, a hub for national and international collaborations with academic researchers and industrial partners, and he has served both as Chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Program and the KAUST Solar Platform. Prior to KAUST, De Wolf led research activities in the area of high-efficiency solar cells with the Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland (2008-2016); and researched silicon heterojunction devices at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan (2005-2008).​

Prof. De Wolf specializes in the science and technology of high-performingphotovoltaics, with specific attention to the fundamental understanding of interfacestructures and electrical contact formation relevant to solar cells and electronic devices.Current research focuses on the fabrication of 1) silicon heterojunction solar cells; 2)high-efficiency perovskite solar cells; and 3) perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells asviable alternatives to conventional crystalline solar cells to improve utilization of the fullsolar spectrum for optimal electricity generation, particularly for environments with hotand sunny climates such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To this end, De Wolf andteam investigate new device architectures and applications, such as novel transparentconductive oxide electrodes, back-contacted solar cells and silicon-based multi-junctionsolar cells, and hybrid material systems.​