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Science at the Edge
Engineering Seminar
February 20th,
2015
11:30 a.m., Room1400
Biomedical and Physical
Sciences Building
Refreshments served at 11:15
a.m.
Sue Carter
Physics Department
University of California Santa Cruz
The Future of Solar
Energy after the Big
Crash
Abstract
The precipitous crash of photovoltaic (PV) module
prices over the last
5 years has made the dream of generating renewable electricity
at a cost
comparable to coal a potential reality, while also bankrupting
much of the US
solar industry. While PV module prices are close to meeting
the
goals set by the DOE’s Sunshot program nearly 5 years
early, the costs
related to the balance of systems, namely the costs associated
with the land,
mounting hardware, grid electronics, installation labor and
permitting have
remained stubbornly high. This dramatic shift of costs has
transitioned the solar energy field from one focused on
reducing module costs
to one focused on increasing power efficiency beyond the
Shockley-Queisser
Limit (established over 40 years ago) and developing
PV modules that can
be directly into existing building infrastructure.
In this talk, I will provide an overview of the
approaches we, and
others, are pursing to both increase power efficiency and
reduce balance of
systems costs in order to make solar energy cost competitive
with energy
generated from fossil fuels. For example, by
utilizing quantum
confinement effects, more then one electron can be collected
for each incident
photon (i.e. over 100% quantum efficiency), thereby exceeding
the long standing
Shockley-Queisser limit. In addition, the discovery of
perovskite
materials has opened up a cost effective route to tandem cells
with
efficiencies exceeding 30%. Finally,
wavelength-selectivity
can be used to install PV modules directly into building
windows or over agriculture crops or greenhouses to
simultaneously grow food,
generate electricity, and harness thermal energy. I will
conclude by
discussing the importance of developing models that accurately
include thermal
modeling with electrical and optical modeling to develop solar
energy
technologies that can efficiently utilize the entire solar
energy
spectrum.
Bio
Carter earned her BA from Kalamazoo College in
Physics, Chemistry and
Mathematics and her PhD from the University of Chicago in
Physical
Chemistry. She worked
at AT&T Bell
Laboratories as a postdoctoral fellow and IBM Almaden Research
Center as a
visiting researcher before joining the faculty at University
of California
Santa Cruz in 1995. As
a Professor of
Physics, Carter’s research has focused on thin film
optoelectronic devices,
biophysics, and technologies for sustainability. She is
the Chair of the American Physical Society Group for Energy
Research, and has served on the boards of the UC Energy
Institute and the
California Solar Collaborative. At UCSC, she has served as
Chair of
Graduate Council, the Vice Chair of the Committee of Planning
and Budget and is
currently the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. Carter has
also been
actively involved with entrepreneurship, launching 3 start-up
companies ranging
from photovoltaic technologies to K-12 science education.
For further
information
please contact Prof. Richard Lunt, Department of Chemical
Engineering and
Materials Science at [log in to unmask]
Persons with disabilities have the right
to request and
receive reasonable accommodation. Please call the Department of
Chemical
Engineering and Materials Science at 355-5135 at least one day
prior to the
seminar; requests received after this date will be met when
possible.