2011 Awards
LARGE-SCALE SOLAR POWER
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 second 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 TomKat Center’s second set of research grants fund the following seed projects, starting in late 2011:
- Upconverter-Enhanced Molecular Photovoltaics: Towards Cost-Effective, Broadband Solar Energy Conversion
- Consuming Renewable Power: Information and Reliability as a Resource
- Storing Electricity in the Form of Chemical Bonds: An Alkaline Exchange Membrane Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell
- Market-Based Valuation of Ecosystem Services for Competitive Large-Scale Solar Power Generation
- Effects of Large-Scale Solar Energy on Land and Water Resources in the Southwest United States