Page 31 - UD Research Magazine Vol5-No2

Among the resources available at IEC are over 12 systems for depositing a wide range of semiconducting, transpar-
ent or metallic thin-film layers on glass or flexible foils up to
a foot wide; a digital scanning electron microscope; spectro- photometers; X-ray diffractometers, high power laser scanner, solar simulators, quantum efficiency and luminescence measurements, and an accelerated exposure facility.
he vast majority of the sun’s extraordinary power remains out of reach—absorbed, deflected or otherwise inaccessible to today’s power-hungry masses—but University of Delaware researchers continue their quest to capture more, store more and deploy it more efficiently.
The University has been a center of pioneering solar research since before it was fashionable— before the oil embargo of 1973, before long lines formed to get rations of gasoline, before the nation had a Department of Energy or the word “green” became a badge of good stewardship.
And this is a great time to be in the middle of that work. Solar-generated energy, now representing a small fraction of the nation’s electricity supply, is a burgeoning industry, representing almost a third of the new capacity installed in 2014.
A time-lapse map on the Department of Energy’s website shows the surge from the utility perspective across the United States, starting in 1983 with zero solar plants online.
Ten years later, 10 plants were online with enough juice to power about 100,000 homes. By 2003, there were only 15 plants and enough power for about 103,000 homes. By 2013, though, there were 682 plants able to deliver power to 1.7 million homes. And when you include the hundreds of thousands of residential and commercial rooftops covered with solar panels, their installation is growing at over
50 percent per year, doubling every few years.
Solar is expected to remain a growth industry as prices continue to drop—they have fallen 40–50 percent in the past five years in the U.S.—and the nation demonstrates a growing commitment to renewable energy sources as a way to address environmental concerns, political concerns and energy security.
The speed of that growth turns on resources and advances in technology, the kind that have been underway at the University of Delaware’s Institute of Energy Conversion (IEC) since 1972.
Karl Böer, Distinguished Pro- fessor Emeritus of Physics and Solar Energy, was at the forefront then, working on thin- film photovoltaics as the founder of the IEC, which has produced more than 45 patents in its 43 years.
Karl Böer, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of
Physics and Solar Energy, founded IEC in 1972. A biennial Solar Energy Medal of Merit is awarded in Böer’s name to rec- ognize significant contributions to solar energy conversion. The first winner was former Presi- dent Jimmy Carter in 1993.
Böer had come
to Delaware in 1962
from Humboldt
University of Berlin,
Germany, which
counted among its
luminaries and
lecturers such names
as Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a total of 40 Nobel laureates.
Böer’s work in physics took a sharp turn to- ward solar energy as he saw what was happening on the planet.
“If you are awake in the morning and know what’s going on, you know we can no longer
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KATHY F. ATKINSON