The MIT Energy Club will be organizing its 3rd "MIT Solar Community Social" of the year on Thurs Dec 13, 6-8PM at the Muddy Charles Pub at MIT.
The last two socials(I and II) brought out an amazing diversity of MIT/Boston area solar technologists, entrepreneurs, and policy makers. The upcoming promises to be even better.
Solar activity in the MIT/Boston/New England sphere has been growing like crazy, with MIT recently receiving ~$2M in PV research grants from the DOE, MIT competing in the Solar Decathlon for the first time, and a number of interesting solar startups being created in the region over the last 1-2 years.
Come meet other people working in solar to chat and share ideas. Food will be provided courtesy of the MIT Energy Club.
MIT Professor Tonio Buonassisi and recent MIT PhD alum and MIT Energy Club founder David Danielson will co-host this event.
Contact David Danielson, dtdaniel, with any inquiries.
Looking forward to seeing everyone!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
MIT wins $1.8M in PV research grants from DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program....
More evidence recently of the nascent stages of the emergence of a PV research community to be reckoned with at MIT.
MIT recently won 2 large research grants from the Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies program totalling $1.8M. GREAT STUFF!! (If you're smart, you should be able to figure out who got them from the press release linked above.)
This was part of $21.7M distributed to 25 research projects in next generation PV by the DOE's Solar America Initiative. It is great to see Craig Cornelius, the new head of the DOE EERE Solar Energy Technologies program, implementing a much more dynamic funding strategy than we have seen in U.S. federal solar funding in the past! Craig had the chance to see all that MIT has to offer when he attended the MIT Energy Club's "MIT EnergyNight" last month.
Let's once again be sure to calibrate ourselves about what this means in terms of research output. For a project with a reasonable experimental/capital expenditure component, I would estimate that a PhD student costs ~$200K-$300K/year (~$100K just to have the student there - stipend/tuition/overhead + $100-$200K more for research costs).
So a rough estimate tells us that these grants will support 6-9 PhD student research-years or 3-4.5 PhD student research-years per project.
A great start to hopefully a lot more PV research funding coming into MIT!
MIT recently won 2 large research grants from the Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies program totalling $1.8M. GREAT STUFF!! (If you're smart, you should be able to figure out who got them from the press release linked above.)
This was part of $21.7M distributed to 25 research projects in next generation PV by the DOE's Solar America Initiative. It is great to see Craig Cornelius, the new head of the DOE EERE Solar Energy Technologies program, implementing a much more dynamic funding strategy than we have seen in U.S. federal solar funding in the past! Craig had the chance to see all that MIT has to offer when he attended the MIT Energy Club's "MIT EnergyNight" last month.
Let's once again be sure to calibrate ourselves about what this means in terms of research output. For a project with a reasonable experimental/capital expenditure component, I would estimate that a PhD student costs ~$200K-$300K/year (~$100K just to have the student there - stipend/tuition/overhead + $100-$200K more for research costs).
So a rough estimate tells us that these grants will support 6-9 PhD student research-years or 3-4.5 PhD student research-years per project.
A great start to hopefully a lot more PV research funding coming into MIT!
Congratulations, Marcie Black and Bandgap Engineering!
Congratulations to Marcie Black and Bandgap Engineering, who received an "Outstanding Presentation Award" at the NREL Industry Growth Forum!
Read the full story here: http://guntherportfolio.blogspot.com/
Read the full story here: http://guntherportfolio.blogspot.com/
Friday, September 28, 2007
Ausra/PG&E/FPL commit to 2GW of solar thermal...
Ausra, previously blogged on here, a CA bay area solar thermal power startup which has raised significant funds from Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, along with PG&E and Florida Power and Light (one of the nation's biggest wind developers) made a splash at the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting when they committed to building 2.0GW of solar thermal.
Using the MIT Energy Club's handy "U.S. Electricity Fact Sheet" one sees that the U.S. peak power capacity is ~1000 GW. One company consortium announcing solar thermal projects that would make up 0.2% of all electric power is nothing to sniff at.
Also, their commitment likely has some weight behind it: if they don't live up to it, Bill Clinton won't invite them back to his Meeting next year. :)
Using the MIT Energy Club's handy "U.S. Electricity Fact Sheet" one sees that the U.S. peak power capacity is ~1000 GW. One company consortium announcing solar thermal projects that would make up 0.2% of all electric power is nothing to sniff at.
Also, their commitment likely has some weight behind it: if they don't live up to it, Bill Clinton won't invite them back to his Meeting next year. :)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
MIT Photovoltaics Social II brings out the MIT PV crowd....
Last Thursday, the MIT Energy Club held its second "MIT/Boston Area Photovoltaics Community Social" of the year. This bimonthly social series is part of a coherent Energy Club program, which includes the social series and the Club's annual January IAP course on Photovoltaics, designed to build up the nascent PV community at MIT and in the Boston Area.
MIT Photovoltaics Social II turned out ~50 folks and was more internally/student focused than MIT Photovoltaics Social I. However, the MIT enthusiasm for PV is definitely on the rise.
MIT Prof. Tonio Buonassisi kicked off the event with a shot gun overview of his thoughts after having attended the EU Photovoltaics Conference recently. Interestingly, Prof. Buonassisi has just hired his first graduate student, the first critical piece of his up and coming PV research empire.... :)
The Sachs/Buonassisi MIT solar nexus was present in force, with Tonio Buonassisi and his first graduate student present. From the Sachs group long time PV researchers Jim Bredt (of Z Corp fame) and Jim Serdy were present, along with Eerik Hantsoo and the Sachs group's newest PV grad student Anjuli (whose last name I did not catch!). Jon Mapel, MIT PhD student, was present representing the great organic PV work going on in Prof. Marc Baldo's group as well.
Nol Browne, MIT Sloan alum currently with Evergreen Solar, headed the industry contingent, while Eric Emmons, Principal at everyone's favorite energy venture firm, the Massachusetts Green Energy Fund, and David Pelly, MIT alum/EIR at Matrix Partners/co-instructor of MIT's newest energy ventures course entitled "Energy Ventures", represented the investor side with aplomb.
The MIT PV Social also welcomed alum and former Club Secretary Libby Wayman back from her long stint working in Lesotho, Africa to get developing world solar thermal startup Promethean Power off the ground.
Club co-presidents, Daniel Enderton and James Schwartz, were present to field many new ideas for the Energy Club, including the possibility of creating a "Biofuels" sub community similar to the PV one that has already been formed. This is a wide open opportunity for someone who wants to get more involved with the Club!
Representatives from Green Mountain Engineering, and stealthy Harvard tech based PV-related startup SiOnyx were also present.
Looking forward to the next social in November and hope to see everyone there!
MIT Photovoltaics Social II turned out ~50 folks and was more internally/student focused than MIT Photovoltaics Social I. However, the MIT enthusiasm for PV is definitely on the rise.
MIT Prof. Tonio Buonassisi kicked off the event with a shot gun overview of his thoughts after having attended the EU Photovoltaics Conference recently. Interestingly, Prof. Buonassisi has just hired his first graduate student, the first critical piece of his up and coming PV research empire.... :)
The Sachs/Buonassisi MIT solar nexus was present in force, with Tonio Buonassisi and his first graduate student present. From the Sachs group long time PV researchers Jim Bredt (of Z Corp fame) and Jim Serdy were present, along with Eerik Hantsoo and the Sachs group's newest PV grad student Anjuli (whose last name I did not catch!). Jon Mapel, MIT PhD student, was present representing the great organic PV work going on in Prof. Marc Baldo's group as well.
Nol Browne, MIT Sloan alum currently with Evergreen Solar, headed the industry contingent, while Eric Emmons, Principal at everyone's favorite energy venture firm, the Massachusetts Green Energy Fund, and David Pelly, MIT alum/EIR at Matrix Partners/co-instructor of MIT's newest energy ventures course entitled "Energy Ventures", represented the investor side with aplomb.
The MIT PV Social also welcomed alum and former Club Secretary Libby Wayman back from her long stint working in Lesotho, Africa to get developing world solar thermal startup Promethean Power off the ground.
Club co-presidents, Daniel Enderton and James Schwartz, were present to field many new ideas for the Energy Club, including the possibility of creating a "Biofuels" sub community similar to the PV one that has already been formed. This is a wide open opportunity for someone who wants to get more involved with the Club!
Representatives from Green Mountain Engineering, and stealthy Harvard tech based PV-related startup SiOnyx were also present.
Looking forward to the next social in November and hope to see everyone there!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
MIT Energy Club - Hidden Solar Resources
Over the years, the MIT Energy Club has accumulated a few great solar info resources. Please find a list below for your perusal:
MIT Energy Club IAP Course 2007: "Photovoltaics in 2012: What's Next in Photovoltaics Technology, Policy, and Economics" (Amazing overview slides primarily courtesy of MIT Prof. Tonio Buonassisi)
MIT Prof. Tonio Buonassisi's Solar Homepage (Excellent resource for people wanting to get into the field
MIT Energy Club Discussion 2007: "Solar: Thick vs Thin Film"
MIT Energy Club Discussion 2004: "Solar Power Overview"
MIT Energy Conference 2007: "Solar Power: A Path to Grid Parity"
- Slides
- Streaming Video
MIT Energy Conference 2006: "The Solar Panel: From a $10B Industry to a $100B Industry - How Will We Get There?"
- Slides & Streaming Video
MIT Energy Club IAP Course 2007: "Photovoltaics in 2012: What's Next in Photovoltaics Technology, Policy, and Economics" (Amazing overview slides primarily courtesy of MIT Prof. Tonio Buonassisi)
MIT Prof. Tonio Buonassisi's Solar Homepage (Excellent resource for people wanting to get into the field
MIT Energy Club Discussion 2007: "Solar: Thick vs Thin Film"
MIT Energy Club Discussion 2004: "Solar Power Overview"
MIT Energy Conference 2007: "Solar Power: A Path to Grid Parity"
- Slides
- Streaming Video
MIT Energy Conference 2006: "The Solar Panel: From a $10B Industry to a $100B Industry - How Will We Get There?"
- Slides & Streaming Video
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Ausra, concentrating solar-thermal startup with new tech approach, raises $40M; Plans biggest plant in CA.... Cost: Solar Thermal vs PV??
Ausra, a new solar thermal startup backed by the illustrious venture firms Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, just announced the closing of a $40M+ financing round from these backers.
The company, originated in Australia and now in the Bay Area, has a novel technology approach that ideally will make parabolic trough concentrator solar thermal technology obsolete. The technology is essentially the same as traditional parabolic trough technology, with mirrors focusing incoming sunlight onto a linear pipe containing a high heat capacity fluid. The fluid is then pumped to a central boiler where the heat is used to make steam and run a steam turbine to provide electric power.
The novel part is that they have taken the "parabolic trough" part out and replaced it with compact linear fresnel reflector technology. Fresnel basically means that it achieves the same focusing onto a line as a parabolic trough, but using a flat reflector with features on it designed to mimic the focusing effect of a 3D trough reflector in 2D. See this pic for a feel.
The company claims it can deliver 10.4 cents/kWh electric power now and projects that it will be able to do 7.9 cents/kWh in three years. (Are these costs or long term contract sale prices? Somebody help me here.)
Interesting question:
Centralized solar thermal is being sold in many corners as a superior option to distributed photovoltaics, mainly in terms of cost.
However, in any given electric power market, photovoltaics, in that they deliver power on the retail side, should be given a cost "advantage" equal to the delivery (non-generation) costs of power. According to my latest NStar Electric bill, I was charged 10.8 cents/kWh for generation and 7.4 cents/kWh for delivery. So lets give PV an 8 cent/kWh advantage in discussions comparing it to solar thermal, at least in NE, for the sake of argument.
I typically hear PV levelized cost numbers of 20-50 cents/kWh, depending on the resource, interest rate, etc.
If we take Ausra at their word then, PV should be at or below 18 cents/kWh to compete with Ausra now and at or below 15 cents/kWh three years from now.
What are truly reasonable PV cost numbers these days? What are projections (given expected growth rates and learning curve behavior) 3 years, 5 years, 10 years out?
Solar thermal or PV. Weigh in!!
The company, originated in Australia and now in the Bay Area, has a novel technology approach that ideally will make parabolic trough concentrator solar thermal technology obsolete. The technology is essentially the same as traditional parabolic trough technology, with mirrors focusing incoming sunlight onto a linear pipe containing a high heat capacity fluid. The fluid is then pumped to a central boiler where the heat is used to make steam and run a steam turbine to provide electric power.
The novel part is that they have taken the "parabolic trough" part out and replaced it with compact linear fresnel reflector technology. Fresnel basically means that it achieves the same focusing onto a line as a parabolic trough, but using a flat reflector with features on it designed to mimic the focusing effect of a 3D trough reflector in 2D. See this pic for a feel.
The company claims it can deliver 10.4 cents/kWh electric power now and projects that it will be able to do 7.9 cents/kWh in three years. (Are these costs or long term contract sale prices? Somebody help me here.)
Interesting question:
Centralized solar thermal is being sold in many corners as a superior option to distributed photovoltaics, mainly in terms of cost.
However, in any given electric power market, photovoltaics, in that they deliver power on the retail side, should be given a cost "advantage" equal to the delivery (non-generation) costs of power. According to my latest NStar Electric bill, I was charged 10.8 cents/kWh for generation and 7.4 cents/kWh for delivery. So lets give PV an 8 cent/kWh advantage in discussions comparing it to solar thermal, at least in NE, for the sake of argument.
I typically hear PV levelized cost numbers of 20-50 cents/kWh, depending on the resource, interest rate, etc.
If we take Ausra at their word then, PV should be at or below 18 cents/kWh to compete with Ausra now and at or below 15 cents/kWh three years from now.
What are truly reasonable PV cost numbers these days? What are projections (given expected growth rates and learning curve behavior) 3 years, 5 years, 10 years out?
Solar thermal or PV. Weigh in!!
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