My students may wish to explore materials complimentary to the course, Design of Solar Energy Conversion Systems.
General definition:
Photovoltaic Action
The generation of electronic charges (e.g. electrons) by absorbed photons, followed by separation of those charges to their respective electrical (ohmic) contacts. Fundamental to the design of a photovoltaic device is the application of electric current to do work.
Past, Present and Future
Theses Graduates: Follow the links to download!
Ms. Mesude Bayrakci (MS EME; Summer 2011): Temperature Dependent Power Modeling of Photovoltaics
Mr. Charith Tammineedi (MS EME; Spring 2011): Matlab Modeling of Battery-Ultracapacitor Systems for Solar and Wind
Mr. Luke Witmer (MS EME; Fall 2010): TRNSYS: Quantification of the Passive Cooling of Photovoltaics Using a Green Roof
Mr. Jonathan Perez-Blanco (BS Honors ME; Spring 2010): Conventional and Green Roof Albedo Measurement and Analysis for Roof-Mounted Photovoltaic Applications
Natural Fusion Solar Decathlon
The Natural Fusion project at Penn State has seen a very successful experience on the National Mall in in Washington D.C. this October 2009! Congratulations to the team for taking 3rd place in both Engineering and Lighting Design! What an amazing design-build process for all of us.
Contact Information if you would like to contact our group for outreach, consulting, or otherwise.
Photovoltaic (PV) Materials and
System Integrative PV (SIPV):
My research addresses disruptive new system designs and new materials for inorganic
PV cells (solar-electricity conversion). The photovoltaics industry has seen exponential growth in the past decade, and the demand for high purity silicon now
outweighs that of the microchip industry. Advances in thin film photovoltaics offer new alternatives for high-efficiency, reduced-cost solar electricity. New tin-suite materials fulfill commodity requirements for materials sustainability and the long-term stability in a growing and diversifying PV market.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA):
Our team has also begun work to compare the sustainability impact of choosing one material over another in the processing of solar materials. LCA is an evaluation technique for measuring the impact to the environment and society of selected materials, processing techniques, and complimentary services over the life cycle of the evaluated products. Our methodology follows the current international standard for LCA: ISO 14040:2006. Our LCA framework is implemented structurally using the OpCat programming language developed by Dov Dori of Technion, IIT.
Progress in Solar Research:
As of 2005, the US has emerged from +20 year gap in the lineage of training solar energy scientists and solar engineers in the USA. Our team is recharging a field that has atrophied. Particularly in the US, core knowledge of the solar research field has devolved into crude estimations that stunt our ability to design and deploy important changes across the nation. The absence of outreach in solar energy awareness and scientific literacy has permitted a social malaise for solar deployment. Despite the fact that Pennsylvania has the solar resource of Spain, and that the solar stronghold of Germany is further north than Maine (with worse quality of clear skies), occupants of the mid-atlantic region tend to claim their local solar resource is not useful for providing modern conveniences. Our team spans the void of training, developing useful information with core information-transfer and accessible texts for the new generation of researchers, planners, and designers.
Candidate students (new undergrads, high school students and parents included) should feel free to contact me by email or phone with questions, or to discuss the exciting and diverse undergraduate opportunities within EME.