Driven by a fascination for how light interacts with matter, Lars van Turnhout joins CPT as a Scientist, bringing a background built at the intersection of chemistry, physics, and materials science. Lars’s work at CPT focuses on material formulation and the testing of CPT’s novel photon multiplication technology, designed to boost the efficiency of conventional silicon photovoltaics. With his interdisciplinary background, Lars is excited to use his skills to bridge the gap between lab-scale discovery and industrial application at CPT, and to help bring CPT’s photon multiplication technology to the real world.
Tell us a bit about your background – what’s most shaped how you think as a scientist?
The interdisciplinary nature of my scientific education, right from the start. I believe today’s biggest scientific challenges don’t respect traditional disciplinary boundaries, so when I started my Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts and Sciences at Maastricht University (the Netherlands), I built my own curriculum across the natural sciences rather than following one fixed track. That mindset carried through the rest of my path: from Maastricht to the University of Ottawa (Canada) for further undergraduate study in chemistry, then a Master’s in physical chemistry at Uppsala University (Sweden), and a PhD in physics at the University of Cambridge (UK).
All of these had a strong research focus, allowing me to develop a unique ‘dual’ perspective: my background in organic and organometallic chemistry gives me a fundamental intuition for how molecules and materials are constructed, while my work in time-resolved spectroscopy on organic-inorganic nanohybrids in Uppsala and Cambridge gives me the tools to probe exactly how such materials interact with light. Being able to bridge these two worlds is essential for the work we do at CPT; you need to understand the chemical design of a material just as deeply as the physics of its performance to truly optimise a system.
Was there a project, paper, or result that changed your direction?
There were really two shifts in perspective for me, rather than one single moment. The first came from wanting to understand not just how to make materials, but how they actually behave. That curiosity pulled me toward physics and time-resolved spectroscopy – and I’ve stayed hooked on spectroscopy ever since, because it feels like solving a puzzle: each measurement gives you another piece, until the real story of what’s happening inside a material starts to emerge.
The second came from a desire to move beyond fundamental research itself, and to see that understanding put to practical use. At CPT, I can now apply that deep physical insight to a tangible product. It’s one thing to see the physics behind photon multiplication work in a controlled lab setting, but it’s another to use that knowledge to optimise our technology and ensure it performs reliably within a commercial solar module.
Why is improving solar efficiency so important today?
Solar power is no longer a supporting act; it’s now central to our global energy infrastructure. In the past year, solar accounted for the vast majority of all new renewable energy capacity delivered worldwide, and by 2050, it is set to become the largest source of electricity on the planet. There’s just so much opportunity here, but as solar becomes the backbone of our energy security, we have to look closely at the physical limit of silicon solar cells, which dominate the global market.
To keep driving progress, we need a new way to unlock more energy from the same panels – without having to rebuild the entire global industry from scratch. Much of the high-energy UV and blue light hitting a standard cell today isn’t efficiently converted into electricity; instead, it is lost as heat. That is why CPT’s photon multiplication technology is so significant – it can boost the electrical output of conventional silicon PV modules by up to 15% by converting each high-energy photon into two lower-energy infrared photons that silicon can absorb, whilst at the same time being compatible with existing silicon infrastructure.
What was it about CPT’s approach to singlet fission and photon multiplication that stood out to you?
What drew me in was the combination of genuinely exciting science and the enormous impact our product could have. CPT isn’t just proving that singlet fission works at the molecular level in a lab – it’s focused on translating that physics into a durable, industrial product that can meaningfully move the needle on global solar output.
That impact comes down to CPT’s pragmatic approach to deployment. CPT’s photon multiplication technology isn’t trying to replace the existing solar industry; it’s designed to be a ‘drop-in’ upgrade that is fully compatible with existing silicon manufacturing. That approach to science – taking these complex photon multiplying systems and packaging them into a stable layer that can readily be deployed on a global scale – is exactly the kind of challenge I wanted to help tackle.
Beyond the science itself, what also drew me in was the team. It’s a highly collaborative group – an incredible mix of synthetic chemists, materials scientists, and spectroscopists, each a genuine expert in their own domain. The pace is fast, everyone is motivated, and there’s a real sense of building this together.
How does your work at CPT contribute to driving solar’s efficiency progress?
I use steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy alongside modelling to connect material properties with device performance. My work involves the hands-on formulation of multi-component systems and the use of advanced photophysical characterisation to map, in real time, energy transfer dynamics in our photon multiplication systems.
By integrating these spectroscopic results into models, I aim to correlate the fundamental photophysics of our systems directly with the overall efficiency and loss pathways of our technology. This data-driven approach acts as a roadmap for development, allowing us to precisely optimise our system formulations to meet ambitious targets for quantum efficiency and long-term stability.
What does success look like for your role?
In the short term, success is about delivering a working prototype that can be translated into a stable, industrial-grade material that consistently meets performance targets in pilot production. This involves using spectroscopic insights to build a system that is ready for the rigours of the field.
But ultimately, success will be measured by the scale of our impact. I want to see this technology integrated into commercial photovoltaics, knowing that the specific material formulations we optimised are actively increasing global renewable energy output. At that stage, we will have moved beyond proving the physics to seeing it as a standard component in the next generation of solar infrastructure, effectively helping to push solar efficiency forward on a global scale.
As a scientist today, I feel a strong duty to make sure my skills are applied to problems that actually matter, and for me, few things feel more meaningful than knowing this work could genuinely help power a cleaner future.
What excites you most about where solar technology could go?
What excites me most is the opportunity to push solar technology beyond its current theoretical limits without needing to reinvent the entire industry. For a long time, the sector has been constrained by the efficiency ceilings of silicon, but by delivering a drop-in solution that works with existing infrastructure, we can achieve a large shift in global energy output almost immediately. It’s the combination of deep, rigorous science and commercial realism; seeing advanced quantum mechanics translated into a practical tool that has the potential to make solar panels around the world perform better.
At CPT, we’re building the team that will take solar beyond its limits.