U-M wins $19.5 million solar power research center

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 | Source: Concentrate

Most people think wind when they start to talking about investment in alternative energy in Michigan. President Barack Obama's administration doesn't necessarily adhere to that train of thought. It named the University of Michigan and Michigan State University as two of the 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers being established across the U.S. Over 260 applications were recieved.

What does that mean? Well, U-M and MSU will each get funding at a level up to $19.5 million to research how to improve the conversion of solar energy into electricity. Think the advanced scientific research that the U.S. Dept of Energy funds.

This funding will pay for five years of research at the Solar Energy Conversion in Complex Materials. There, top U-M scientists will be studying complex material structures on the nanoscale to identify their potential use to convert solar energy and heat to electricity. They'll also work on developing materials to facilitate this conversion. The hope, of course, is that this research will be capable of producing spin-off businesses.

"There are a number of experts across the campus with worldwide expertise that could be pulled together to take on a large problem like this," says Peter Green, professor of materials science and engineering at U-M and the project director for the center.

Twenty-two U-M faculty researchers will be part of the center, specializing in a variety of areas, ranging from electrical engineering to physics. Six of these are faculty fellows in the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute.

Of the 46 EFRCs selected, 31 will be led by universities.

Source: Peter Green, professor of materials science and engineering at University of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke