Solar Energy:  New Materials and Nanostructured Devices for High Efficiency

June 24–25, 2008

Stanford University
Stanford, California, USA

Postdeadline Submission Deadline: June 16, 2008, 12:00 p.m. EDT (16.00 GMT)
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Agenda Information

General Chair:
Peter Peumans, Stanford Univ., USA

Program Chair:
Shanhui Fan, Stanford Univ., USA
Ali Shakouri, Univ. of California at Santa Cruz, USA

Global energy consumption is inexorably increasing, driven by population growth and the wave of industrialization in developing countries. Plentiful, renewable, and non-polluting sources of energy are needed. One such energy source is based on the efficient conversion of solar radiation into useful energy forms; directly to electrical power as in photovoltaic solar cells, and indirectly by concentration of solar radiation to create high temperatures to drive thermal engines.

This topical meeting, “Solar Energy: New Materials and Nanostructured Devices for High Efficiency”, will bring together researchers active in solar energy conversion with scientists from the materials research and nanotechnology communities. Presentations at the meeting will address leading edge scientific and technical challenges involved in the development of advanced devices for third generation (and beyond) solar cells and for other high-efficient energy conversion devices.

For more information, please go to the SPRC Website.

Topics to be considered include:

New high-efficiency organic and inorganic photovoltaic materials engineered to match the solar emission spectrum

Improved efficiency photovoltaics using metamaterials such as photonic bandgap crystals and metal nanostructures exhibiting plasmon resonances

Flexible, low-cost, active materials and transparent electrodes for low cost roll-to-roll manufacturing of solar cells

Enhancing the efficiency of solar cells by nanostructuring the active interfaces to reduce the distance that the photo-produced charge carriers or energy need to travel before being harvested

Materials and  nanophotonic structures such as photonic band gap crystals and metamaterials for thermophotovoltaics and concentrated solar power

MEMS-based mechanical devices for solar energy conversion into mechanical energy

Metamaterials for thermoelectric energy conversion

Current Invited Speakers

	Harry A. Atwater, Jr. Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, Cal Tech Plasmonic Solar Cells			Mark Brongersma Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University Nanoscale Photonic Materials
	Gang Chen Warren and Towneley Rohsenow Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT Solar Thermoelectrics and Thermophotovoltaics			Shanhui Fan Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University Conference Co-Chair
	Martin Green Executive Research Director, ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, University of New South Wales High Efficiency Silicon Solar Cells			Jean-Jacques Greffet Professor, École Centrale Paris Optical Antennas for Enhanced Efficiency
	James R. Heath Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor of Chemistry, Cal Tech Silicon Nanowire Thermoelectrics			Joseph Heremans Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University Nanostructured Thermoelectric Materials
	Michael McGehee Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University Nanostructured Solar Cells			Peter Peumans Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University Conference Co-Chair
	Ali Shakouri Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, UC Santa Cruz Conference Co-Chair			Peter Würfel Professor, Institut fuer angewandte Physik, Universitaet Karlsruhe Thermodynamic Limits of Solar Cell Efficiency