University Affiliate Sheds Light on Photovoltaics
Published Apr 16, 2006
It was perhaps the most significant milestone for the University of Delaware’s Institute of Energy Conversion.
Even today, IEC benefits from its designation in 1992 as a University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
“That was a big deal,” says Bob Birkmire, the IEC’s director since 1996. “There’s only one other university that has that (distinction), and that’s Georgia Tech. They do (research) in crystalline, and we do it in thin film.
“We have five-year contracts (with the DOE and NREL) and do a broad spectrum of research. It essentially gives us a sense of stability.”
This designation came 20 years after the IEC was established at the university. It is a laboratory for research and development of thin-film photovoltaic solar cells and other photonic devices.
“The institute is sort of a multidiscipline laboratory,” Birkmire says, “and we work in a whole range of technologies.”
Solar-cell technology may not yet have the economic impact in Delaware as it does in, say, California, but there is certainly more awareness because of today’s emphasis on alternative forms of energy. Birkmire points to the federal government’s Solar America Initiative, announced in early 2006.
“The goal is to really push the development of manufacturing capabilities,” Birkmire says of the initiative, “and by 2015 to make solar cost-competitive with other forms of electricity.”
The IEC has a staff of 15 full-time employees, as well as graduate and undergraduate students and visiting scholars from around the world.
Story by John McBryde
Current Weather Conditions In Newark, DE (19702)
Cloudy, and 39 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
