Solar Power World

  • Home
  • Top Solar Contractors
  • Solar+Storage
  • Articles
    • Most Recent Posts
    • News
      • Latest News Items
      • Solar tariffs
      • COVID-19 News
    • Featured
      • Latest Feature Stories
      • Contractors Corner
      • Installation Practices
      • Trends in Solar
      • Folsom Labs Solar Boot-Up
      • The Solar Explorer
  • Products
    • 2020 Top Products
    • Batteries and Storage
    • Inverters
      • Manufacturing Locations
    • Racking and Mounting
    • Software
    • Solar Panels
      • Manufacturing Locations
  • Leadership
    • 2020 Winners
    • 2019 Winners
    • 2018 Winners
  • Subscribe
  • Resources
    • About SPW
    • Digital Issues
    • Event Coverage
    • Podcasts
    • Product Databases
      • Solar Inverter Models
      • Solar Panel Models
      • Solar Racking Models
      • Battery Storage Models
    • Product Manufacturing Locations
      • Global Inverter Manufacturing Locations
      • Global Solar Panel Manufacturing Locations
    • Suppliers
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • Whitepapers
  • COVID-19 NEWS

Rochester Institute of Technology professor receives DOE grant to develop low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells

By Kelsey Misbrener | December 9, 2020

Share

A Rochester Institute of Technology professor received a grant from the Department of Energy to research ways to develop low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells. Professor Seth Hubbard received nearly $400,000 from the DOE to attempt to dramatically reduce the cost of high-efficiency solar cells by using a process called spalling to make the substrates solar cells are grown on reusable.

“One of the issues with solar cells is you can make them cheaply but they’re not as efficient and thus they don’t produce as much power. Or you can spend more money to create solar cells that are more efficient,” said Hubbard. “The most efficient type of solar cells, and unfortunately the most expensive, are used in space for satellites because the cost is less important in that environment. In this project, we’d like to bring these cells down to earth at a reasonable cost.”

Hubbard is an expert in designing, growing and fabricating solar cells and said that if the cost of these highly efficient solar cells can be reduced enough, they could be used to help devices ranging from smartphones to drones to cars. Hubbard is a faculty member in the School of Physics and Astronomy, director of the NanoPower Research Laboratories, and a member of the Future Photon Initiative.

Over the next three years, he will partner with Arizona State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and a company called Crystal Sonic to conduct the research. The funding RIT received will help support an RIT research scientist as well as students from RIT’s master’s in physics and Ph.D. in microsystems engineering programs to work on the project. Hubbard said he hopes to bring in undergraduate students to help with the research starting next summer as well. The work is expected to be completed in 2023.

News item from the Rochester Institute of Technology

About The Author

Kelsey Misbrener

Kelsey is senior editor of Solar Power World.

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

Related Articles Read More >

Freedom Forever becomes “Platinum Elite” solar + storage partner of Sunrun
Racking manufacturers evolve their systems for increasing panel sizes
2021 Trends in Solar
More solar panels are switching to bigger wafers
2021 Trends in Solar
Tesla releases standalone solar inverter

Stay Informed With Great Solar Power Content

Videos Podcasts Webinars Whitepapers

SPW Digital Editions

Solar Power World Digital EditionBrowse the current issue and archived issues of Solar Power World in an easy-to-use, high-quality format. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading solar construction magazine today.

Solar Policy Snapshot

Solar policy differs across state lines and regions. Click to see our monthly roundup of recent legislation and research throughout the country.

Read More >

Popular Posts See More >

Solar investment tax credit extended at 26% for two additional years
The changing state of retiring solar panels
Think before trashing: The second-hand solar market is booming
The winners and losers in U.S. solar manufacturing in 2020
Tweets by @SolarPowerWorld
Solar Power World
  • Top Solar Contractors
  • Solar Articles
  • Top Products
  • Leadership
  • WTWH Media
  • About/Contact Us
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Windpower Engineering & Development

Copyright © 2021 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Solar Power World

  • Home
  • Top Solar Contractors
  • Solar+Storage
  • Articles
    • Most Recent Posts
    • News
      • Latest News Items
      • Solar tariffs
      • COVID-19 News
    • Featured
      • Latest Feature Stories
      • Contractors Corner
      • Installation Practices
      • Trends in Solar
      • Folsom Labs Solar Boot-Up
      • The Solar Explorer
  • Products
    • 2020 Top Products
    • Batteries and Storage
    • Inverters
      • Manufacturing Locations
    • Racking and Mounting
    • Software
    • Solar Panels
      • Manufacturing Locations
  • Leadership
    • 2020 Winners
    • 2019 Winners
    • 2018 Winners
  • Subscribe
  • Resources
    • About SPW
    • Digital Issues
    • Event Coverage
    • Podcasts
    • Product Databases
      • Solar Inverter Models
      • Solar Panel Models
      • Solar Racking Models
      • Battery Storage Models
    • Product Manufacturing Locations
      • Global Inverter Manufacturing Locations
      • Global Solar Panel Manufacturing Locations
    • Suppliers
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • Whitepapers
  • COVID-19 NEWS