October 22, 2014
Solar energy research gets boost from federal grant
Photovoltaic inks are used to print solar cells on a bench-top roll-to-roll coater at the UW.Clean Energy Institute
Energy researchers at the UW will expand their work in making high-efficiency, printable solar cells and solar inks with the help of a competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Researchers say these printable solar cells could be twice as efficient as today’s standard solar technologies. This, in turn, could drive down the cost of solar installations and solar power as a clean energy source.
Hugh Hillhouse, a professor of chemical engineering, and Alex Jen, professor and department chair of materials science and engineering, will use the grant to continue developing printable tandem, or “stacked,” solar cells. They also are working on scaling up a printing fabrication facility in Fluke Hall.
The $1.5 million grant is from the Department of Energy SunShot Initiative and was announced Wednesday at the Solar Power international Conference in Las Vegas. The UW team is one of 10 institutions to be awarded the grant.
Read the full story from the Clean Energy Institute.
Tag(s): clean or renewable energy
