Precourt Institute for Energy Seed Grants
Launched in 2010, the Precourt Institute seed grant program funds faculty research with potential for high impact on energy supply and use. These “proof of concept” awards, which encourage interdisciplinary research, bridge theory to early experiments and analysis. Positive results allow researchers to proceed to large-scale studies. The grants are supported by the Precourt Energy Fund, the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Stinehart/Reed Donor Advised Fund.
Precourt Institute for Energy Seed Grants
| Funding Year | Research Topic | Description | Principal Investigtors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | A novel technique for producing high-efficiency photovoltaic devices | Solar cells made of gallium arsenide hold the record for photovoltaic efficiency but are extremely expensive to produce. This project proposes using... |
Bruce Clemens, Materials Science and Engineering |
| 2014 | A new approach to understand and control energy conversion processes at the nanoscale | Phonons, quantized collective vibrations of atoms in solids, are the main carriers of heat in non-metallic materials. In this project, researchers... |
David Reis, Applied Physics and Photon Science (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory); Arun Majumdar, Mechanical Engineering |
| 2014 | Revolutionizing power electronics with 3D-printed, high-frequency power converters | Power electronics involves the transformation and control of electrical energy. The research team will focus on developing power supplies that... |
Juan Rivas-Davila, Electrical Engineering |
| 2013 | Functionalized Graphene-Platinum Composites for Fuel Cells | The investigators plan to use a new material system they have recently developed to reduce dramatically the amount of expensive platinum needed in... |
David Goldhaber-Gordon, physics; Fritz Prinz, mechanical engineering and materials science and engineering |
| 2013 | Self-Regenerating Fuel Cells Running on Natural Gas | Certain types of fuel cells can convert natural gas into electricity and back again with very high efficiency, eliminating the traditional fuel cell... |
Robert Sinclair, materials science and engineering; William Chueh, materials science and engineering and the Precourt Institute. |
| 2013 | An Electricity/CO2 Market Simulation Incorporating Renewables | Research using games often reveals effects of human actors in economic outcomes that standard economic models do not foresee. In a Graduate School of... |
Mark C. Thurber, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development; Frank A. Wolak, Economics |
| 2013 | Making Large Wind Farms More Productive, Less Expensive | Power output by large wind farms is typically 25 percent less than what it should be due to rear windmills operating in the turbulent wakes of those... |
Sanjiva K. Lele, aeronautics and astronautics, and mechanical engineering; John Weyant, management science and engineering Funded by the TomKat Center with support from PIE |
| 2012 | Polymer Gels for High-Performance Batteries | This project explores the use of polymer gels to make high-energy, low-cost, flexible and stretchable batteries. With support from a 2010 PIE seed... |
Zhenan Bao, chemical engineering; Yi Cui, materials science and engineering (Stanford)/photon science (SLAC) |
| 2012 | Ultrathin Light Absorbers for Solar Cells | One way to lower the cost of solar power is to dramatically reduce the thickness of light-absorbing layers in solar cells. The goal of this... |
Stacey Bent, chemical engineering; Mark Brongersma, materials science and engineering |
| 2012 | Hybrid Minerals for Reversible Capture of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide | The project goal is to develop a low-cost technique for capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) with the mineral perovskite, or calcium titanium... |
Hemamala Karunadasa, chemistry |
| 2012 | Water Splitting Using an Inorganic Proton-Conducting Membrane | Researchers have long sought effective ways of using sunlight to split water (H2O) into oxygen and clean-burning hydrogen fuel. Most solar-driven... |
William Chueh, materials science and engineering/PIE; Nick Melosh, materials science and engineering |
| 2011 | Novel Hybrid Materials of Carbon for Lithium-Air Batteries | This project is developing multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside to replace platinum and palladium... |
Hongjie Dai, chemistry |
| 2011 | Designing Micro-Combined Cooling, Heating and Power | This project is developing a novel, highly efficient and economical energy system combining heating, cooling and electricity in a small unit for... |
Lambertus Hesselink, Electrical Engineering |
| 2011 | Raising Efficiency in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells At Electrode-Electrolyte Interface | Dye-sensitized solar cells use a special dye sandwiched between two semiconductors to convert sunlight into electricity. The technology is promising... |
Daniel Stack, chemistry; Michael McGehee, materials science and engineering |
| 2011 | Market-Based Valuation of Ecosystem Services for Competitive Large-Scale Solar | One of the largest benefits of renewable energy generation is reduced degradation of natural ecosystems as compared to fossil-based energy generation... |
Michael Lepech and David Freyberg, civil and environment engineering; John Weyant, management science and engineering; Stefan Reichelstein, Graduate School of Business Funded by the TomKat Center with support from PIE |
| 2011 | Effects of Large-Scale Solar Energy on Land and Water Resources in The Southwest U.S. | Some of the world’s highest agricultural yields come from irrigated systems in deserts, which are also attractive sites for large solar power... |
Chris Field, Noah Diffenbaugh and David Lobell, environmental Earth system science Funded by the TomKat Center with support from PIE |
| 2010 | Turning Paper and Textile Into Supercapacitors for Grid-Scale Energy Storage | The researchers are coating the fibers in paper and textiles with nano-scale conductive materials to turn low-cost materials into high-performance... |
Yi Cui, materials science and engineering; and Zhenan Bao, chemical engineering |
| 2010 | Potentially Low-Cost Crystalline III-V Thin Film High Efficiency Solar Cells | Current solar photovoltaic cells can be comparatively efficient but expensive, like those using single-crystal silicon, or inefficient and... |
Jim Plummer, electrical engineering
|
| 2010 | Better Models for Applying Hydraulic Fracturing to Geothermal Systems | This project developed modeling software that simulates hydraulic fracturing of geothermal energy sites more realistically than had previously been... |
Roland Horne, energy resources engineering |
| 2010 | Solar Fuels: Using Composite Metal/Oxide/Semiconductor Anodes to Split Water | Using solar power to produce hydrogen could be a big part of a clean energy future, but the idea has been stymied for decades. This work found a... |
Paul McIntyre, materials science and engineering; Christopher Chidsey, chemistry |
| 2010 | Surface-Modified Conductive Metal Oxides for Carbon Dioxide Reduction Catalysis | The global population currently uses energy at a rate of nearly 16 terawatts, of which more than 80 percent is supplied by fossil fuel combustion. We... |
Matthew Kanan, chemistry |
| 2010 | Development of a New High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrance for Fuel Cells | This project began the development of a low-cost, high-performance alkaline exchange membrane to replace the conventional water-based membrane for... |
Curtis Frank, chemical engineering; Michael Toney, SLAC |
