Page 37 - fall2017

Road addresses this question. The work, directed The UA has
by Kelly Simmons-Potter at the Arizona Research
Institute for Solar Energy, or AzRISE, has been been a solar
underway for nearly a decade.
“We look at PV systems, like PV panels, pacesetter
or better or worse, Arizonans know batteries, inverters and electronics, to see
Fthe sun. It’s no surprise here that its how they hold up in a harsh climate like ours,” for decades.
rays could deliver all the world’s energy needs. Simmons-Potter says.
University of Arizona experts are helping The lab uses a degradation chamber to As the solar
increase the use of solar energy through precisely control the environment. Conditions
improvements in photovoltaic, or PV, technologies. inside the test chamber mimic the worst features market picks
The effort is marked by increasingly complex of an Arizona summer and winter as well as the
cross-disciplinary work involving UA teams from large swings between Arizona days and nights. up momentum,
engineering to chemistry to optical sciences. “The work we are doing there is unique,”
The materials, devices and systems being Simmons-Potter says. “We were one of the first UA research
developed cross all the old boundaries of science, ever to look at regional impact of climate on
illustrating what some, like UA President Robert aging of materials.” is tackling
C. Robbins, call a fourth industrial revolution, a The team monitors the effects of ultraviolet
synthesis of thinking akin to the revolutions in exposure, heat, corrosion and rust on the key issues to
steam, automation and computers. systems. The damage is not visible to the eye, but
The stakes are high. As Kimberly Ogden, it causes parts of a solar panel to fail and makes a help spur the
director of the UA’s new Institute of Energy system run at less than peak efficiency.
Solutions, says, “We are working on integrating AzRISE works with Tucson Electric Power advance.
technology to ensure a stable global energy Company at a solar test yard on Irvington Road
supply as the population increases — the ‘10 where they are studying how to create sturdier
billion people problem.’” PV solar panels. Monitoring these PV devices
The demand, too, is great. A typical large can help utilities figure out what makes a design
nuclear or coal-fired power plant produces a more resilient against aging and weather and
gigawatt of energy. The U.S. runs on roughly 20 plan their investments accordingly.
to 25 terawatts (a terawatt is 1,000 gigawatts).
Current solar capacity is about 40 gigawatts, or Solving the Day/Night Problem
0.04 terawatts; solar backers have a goal of 3 to
5 terawatts by 2030 — a steep challenge, but one A key limitation of solar energy is that it is
that will make a significant difference in the only collected during daylight hours. Robert
nation’s reliance on fossil fuels. Some predict a Norwood, at the UA College of Optical Sciences, is
U.S. PV market approaching 1 terawatt by 2021. using a novel hybrid approach to saving daytime
The UA has been a solar pacesetter energy that could make solar more appealing to
for decades. As the solar market picks up energy companies.
momentum, UA research is tackling key issues With a $4.4 million share of a $30 million
to help spur the advance. Two areas of focus are project from the U.S. Department of Energy,
improving PV panels and creating ways to store Norwood has set up a prototype system at a
energy beyond batteries. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences site near
West Miracle Mile that uses mirror-concentrated
solar power and high-efficiency gallium
Testing the Hardware
arsenide-based photovoltaics.
In addition to driving new technologies, A 25-foot-long parabolic mirror reflects and
the UA is involved in assessing the strengths of concentrates the sun’s light particles, called
existing ones. photons, toward a secondary mirror that sends
Power companies need to know how resilient the photons in the visible region of the light
current PV systems are before they invest spectrum to a high-efficiency photovoltaic
millions in arrays intended to last for decades. surface, producing energy directly. Meanwhile,
A UA laboratory near Fort Lowell Road and Swan the rest of the photons — those outside the visible

FALL 2017 35