A Cost and Technical Analysis of the Ability of Incumbent and Developing Solar Energy Technologies to Address the World's Energy Demands

Dr Mike Woodhouse, Solar Energy Materials Scientist

NREL

United States

This presentation was given at Printed Electronics & Photovoltaics USA 2010 on Dec 01, 2010.

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Presentation Summary

The concept of 'grid parity' between solar and fossil fuels will be defined and illustrated by giving an overview of which markets appear to currently satisfy the condition. An examination of factors for how the number of those markets might increase over time will then be discussed.
Estimates of the manufacturing and installation costs will be presented for the incumbent technologies; specifically wafer-based silicon and some selected thin film systems. Historical and current cost breakdowns will be shown. Some selected technical improvement opportunities for these technologies will be identified and modeled projections of their ability to continue to bring down costs will be discussed.
Some opportunities available for new solar technologies will be identified and shown against the backdrop of the incumbents. The economic, performance, and reliability requirements that they must meet in order to be competitive will be outlined.

Speaker Biography (Mike Woodhouse)

Dr. Michael Woodhouse received a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Physical Chemistry under the guidance of Professor Bruce Parkinson at Colorado State University. For his dissertation he first developed a methodology to rapidly deposit novel metal oxide semiconductors on transparent conducting substrates using inkjet printing. Combinatorial libraries of these materials were then screened for their ability to function as light-driven catalysts for hydrogen production in a custom-made scanning laser system. The method uncovered a couple of novel materials for the solar production of hydrogen and was also extended to optimize their composition and processing conditions.

After graduate school he began his career at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as a postdoc under Dr. Brian Gregg and Dr. Teresa Barnes. During that time he was focused on the development of new materials and architectures for organic-based solar cells. After nearly three years as a postdoc, he transitioned to a position that is focused on the technical and economic analysis of incumbent and developing solar technologies.

Company Profile (National Renewable Energy Laboratory NREL)

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the nation's primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development (R&D).

NREL's mission and strategy is focused on advancing the U.S. Department of Energy's and our nation's energy goals. The laboratory's scientists and researchers support critical market objectives to accelerate research from scientific innovations to market-viable alternative energy solutions. At the core of this strategic direction are NREL's research and technology development competencies. These areas span from understanding renewable resources for energy, to the conversion of these resources to renewable electricity and fuels, and ultimately to the use of renewable electricity and fuels in homes, commercial buildings, and vehicles. The laboratory thereby directly contributes to our nation's goal for finding new renewable ways to power our homes, businesses, and cars.