University to hold workshop on solar fuel generation March 7-8

4:13 p.m., Feb. 19, 2016--The University of Delaware will host a workshop on solar fuel generation on March 7-8 at Clayton Hall Conference Center on UD’s main campus in Newark. 

Speakers from industry, academia and federal agencies will discuss the current status of research and development on renewable fuels. They will stimulate discussions on the merits and challenges of obtaining high production capacities using low-cost photovoltaic and electrolyzer technologies to convert sunlight into liquid fuel. 

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A critical goal of the workshop will be the development of a research team to pursue grant funding to work on identified challenges in large-scale fuel and chemical production. A white paper suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal also is planned, highlighting the potential of the technology, including system designs and research and development needs discussed during the workshop.

“The idea is that down the road, we’ll be positioned to take the carbon dioxide from various places that generate it and use it to make liquid fuel for transportation, or generate chemicals for use in a variety of areas,” says Robert Birkmire, director of UD’s Institute of Energy Conversion, one of the workshop’s organizers. “This is a way of capturing carbon dioxide and putting it to work rather than pumping more of it into the environment. It’s not something that would happen immediately because of the tough cost structure currently, but it’s coming.” 

The workshop will include speakers from several Department of Energy offices and laboratories, including the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Delaware, Delaware Technical Community College, Columbia University, Purdue University, Air Liquide and Proton Onsite.

The agenda will focus specifically on evaluating the current state of photovoltaic/electrolyzer technology and identifying challenges and opportunities in two key areas: 

• Systems optimization, with topics to include techno-economic analysis, minimization of coupling losses, power conditioning and design implications for photovoltaic and electrolyzer components in an optimized system; and 
• Photovoltaic and electrolyzer design, with topics to include identification of low-cost/high-performance components, novel module and electrolyzer designs, membrane technologies and catalyst development. 

Workshop participants also are invited to attend the grand opening of the University of Delaware Nanofabrication Facility, which will be held March 8.

For the full workshop agenda and to register, visit the website. Accommodations are available at discounted rates at Marriott’s Courtyard Newark-University of Delaware. 

The workshop is co-sponsored by the University of Delaware Energy Institute and the Institute of Energy Conversion.

Photo courtesy of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory