Dr Zhu is a Research Associate in the Applied Photovoltaics Research Group at the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) of the School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University. 

Dr Zhu's research focuses on the durability of photovoltaic modules, including ageing mechanisms for different module technologies, effects of environmental stress on module degradation and modelling of long-term/lifetime energy yield of photovoltaic devices or systems. 

Dr Zhu leads the work stream - 'PV Device Ageing' of the STAPP project at CREST. The main research activities are: outdoor exposure and indoor accelerated ageing tests for encapsulation materials and PV devices; investigation of material degradation (mechanical and chemical properties) and device ageing (electrical performance properties) under different operating environments; ageing model development in dependency of the environmental stresses focussing on humidity+temperature and light+temperature.