The University of Minnesota's Solar Energy Laboratory specializes in development of solar thermal technologies for a wide range of applications. The laboratory includes extensive experimental facilities for both high temperature thermo-chemical cycles that utilize concentrated solar radiation for fuel production and power generation, and distributed solar building technologies for space heating, cooling and hot water. Current research on solar fuels focuses on processes to split H2O, recycle CO2 to fuel, and gasification of biomass. Current research on distributed solar thermal and photovoltaic systems focuses on the development and characterization of compact storage technologies, heat exchangers, polymeric materials and components, and building integrated solar.
2009
Luke Venstrom
is recipient of the
NSF graduate student award
2009 Wojciech Lipiński joined the Solar Energy Laboratory