30 August 2012 (Solar Industry)
“As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SunShot Initiative, which aims to drive solar energy to be cost-competitive with other energy sources by 2020, Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced several new investments focusing on PV and concentrating solar power (CSP) research. “The CSP investments total $10 million over five years for two university-led projects [involving UCLA, Yale and UC Berkeley]…[designed to] increase efficiencies of CSP systems and lower their costs…[by developing liquid metal] heat-transfer fluids that can operate at temperatures up to 2,350 degrees F, while simultaneously maintaining high levels of performance…”
click to enlarge“…[Five other] new research projects…will enable research teams from industry, universities and national laboratories to work together at the DOE's Scientific User Facilities, a national network of facilities that provide open access to instruments and tools…[With $900,000,] PLANT PV, based in Berkeley, Calif., will partner with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Molecular Foundry to develop three-dimensional mapping tools for higher-performing thin-film solar material…[and] the University of Colorado will use tools at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to research high-temperature, inexpensive materials for CSP technologies. “The three other projects, totaling a $2.6 million investment, have been selected to establish full research programs…Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories will partner with the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies in New Mexico to improve the efficiency of thin-film photovoltaic materials…Arizona State University will use X-ray technologies at Argonne National Laboratory to address solar cell material performance…[and] Stanford University will partner with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to research inexpensive ways to print solar cells.”
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