"Large-scale solar: TomKat Center seed grant research"
Mischael McGehee, professor of materials science & engineering
Ram Rajagopal, assistant professor of civil & environmental
engineering
David Lobell, associate professor of Earth system science
Thomas Jaramillo. associate professor of materials science & engineering
Moderator Stacey Bent, director, TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy
Stanford University
Energy Seminar - March 2, 2015
The TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy funds research in science, technology and policy that will lead to a transformation of the world's energy systems for a sustainable future. The seed grants fund faculty research with the potential for high impact. At the Energy Seminar we will discuss the results of some of our Large-Scale Solar funded projects. Solar power generating stations could help us get to an energy system that supports a sustainable future, but very complex, very important barriers must be overcome. Most of the research results in the TomKat Center’s Large-Scale Solar set of research grants could apply to large arrays of photovoltaic cells, which get their energy from sunlight, and to concentrating solar power installations, which convert the sun’s heat into electricity usually via a turbine. Additionally, some of the research could also help with other intermittent renewable sources, like wind. The projects being presented are:
• Upconverter-Enhanced Molecular Photovoltaics: Towards Cost-Effective, Broadband Solar Energy Conversion PI: Jennifer Dionne and Michael McGehee
• Consuming Renewable Power: Information and Reliability as a Resource PI: Ram Rajagopal
• Storing Electricity in the Form of Chemical Bonds: An Alkaline Exchange Membrane Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell PI: Thomas Jaramillo and Curtis Frank
• Effects of Large-Scale Solar Energy on Land and Water Resources in the Southwest United States PI: Chris Field, Noah Diffenbaugh and David Lobell
