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UT lands $2.6 million for solar energy research from U.S. Department of Energy |
| By
Matt Lockwood |
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Mar 24, 2008 |
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The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $13.7 million in funding for 11 university-led projects focused on developing advanced solar photovoltaic technology manufacturing processes and products.
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| Dr. Robert Collins, professor of physics and astronomy and holder of the Nippon Electric Glass Chair in Silicate and Materials Science, shown here adjusting optical instrumentation for the plasma reactor used to facilitate amorphous silicon solar cell growth, is principal and co-principal investigator for two UT projects that received $2.6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. |
The University of Toledo has been selected to receive a total of more than $2.6 million for two of the projects. UT was one of only two universities to be selected for two projects. Other schools receiving funding include the Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Florida.
Universities selected for these projects will leverage fundamental understanding of materials and photovoltaic devices to help industry partners advance manufacturing processes and products. These projects have the potential to significantly reduce the cost of electricity produced by photovoltaics. Each university will work closely with an industry partner to ensure the projects retain a commercialization focus and results are quickly transitioned into market-ready products and manufacturing processes.
On each of the projects, the DOE’s funding will be combined with a minimum university and industry investment of 20 percent of the project’s total.
The University has received $1.44 million to work with Xunlight, a recent graduate of UT’s Clean and Renewable Energy Incubator, to develop a high-speed coating technology to put thin-film silicon on flexible stainless steel foil, therefore reducing the costs of flexible solar modules. Xunlight was founded by Dr. Xunming Deng, UT professor of physics. With the University and industry contribution, the project’s total cost is approximately $1.9 million.
The University also will use $1.16 million in DOE funding on a project in collaboration with industry partners Calyxo USA, formerly Solar Fields, and Pilkington, and with academic partners from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the University of Michigan. The universities will assist the industrial partners in optimizing a high-speed coating process for a cadmium telluride coating on glass. The total project cost is approximately $1.7 million.
Projects were selected in response to DOE’s June 2007 Funding Opportunity Announcement — University Photovoltaic Process and Product Development Support — which seeks to strengthen university involvement in the rapidly growing photovoltaic industry. Funding is subject to appropriations from Congress.
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