As the global demand for energy continues to rise and fossil fuel resources grow increasingly constrained, the need for sustainable, scalable energy alternatives has become critical. Among the available options, many scientists and engineers remain drawn to a rather remarkable fact: the Earth receives more energy from the Sun in one hour than all of humanity consumes in an entire year.
Despite this enormous potential, the pace of renewable energy deployment has been insufficient, largely due to the lack of long-term and cost-effective energy storage. At the Solar Energy Engineering Laboratory, we believe this challenge is best addressed through the efficient conversion of sunlight into chemical fuels that are easily transportable and compatible with existing infrastructure. Such an approach would allow solar energy to be dispatched on demand, regardless of the time of day or geographic location.
In pursuit of this mission, we carefully evaluate novel physical and chemical transformations using sophisticated experimental and computational techniques, the combination of which allows us to deepen our understanding of underlying phenomena, as well as guide further materials and process optimization. When promising results emerge, we scale up our work by developing prototype systems, then demonstrate them under real-world conditions using one of our concentrating solar platforms. Throughout the development process, we seek engagement with industry to help guide our technologies toward commercial viability.
Our ongoing research focuses on three key areas:
- Concentrated solar power
- Thermal energy storage
- Green hydrogen and sustainable fuels