Events Calendar

Center for Energy Nanoscience and Technology Distinguished Speaker Series

Speaker: Joseph Ford, Professor, University of California, San Diego

Talk Title: Planar Micro-Optic Waveguide Solar Concentrators

Abstract: Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) systems focus sunlight onto high-efficiency photovoltaic cells, using gross mechanical tracking to keep the lenses aligned to the sun's position as it moves across the sky, with optics whose basic structure has been used since the 1930s. This talk will describe research at UCSD's Photonic Systems Integration Lab on a very different approach to CPV, using micro-optics and a planar waveguide to couple light into the PV cell, where all the optics are designed to be fabricated with inexpensive roll processing. The presentation will show the optical system design and early experimental results for the planar concentrator, as well as some complex planar structures that allow high-concentraton and spectrally-banded systems, which show promise for lowering the costs for mechanically tracked CPV systems. However, the physical structure of this concentrator also allows some unconventional approaches to tracking. The talk will show preliminary research results for two new directions in CPV, where the large-scale and precise mechanical motion in conventional tracking systems may be replaced with either a micro-mechanical translation of the lenses relative to the waveguide (micro-tracking), or using special materials which react to incident sunlight to cause the effect of tracking without any physical motion (reactive tracking).

Biography: Joseph Ford is a Professor of ECE at the University of California San Diego and a fellow of the Optical Society of America. At UCSD, he leads the Photonics Systems Integration Lab, a research group doing advanced free-space optical system design, prototyping and characterization for a range of applications. Current research projects involve gigapixel imaging systems, telephoto vision systems, and efficient concentrator-based photovoltaic systems. Dr. Ford received a M.S. in Optical Engineering from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the University of California San Diego. Dr. Ford was a member of Bell Labs Advanced Photonics Research Department from 1994 to 2000, where he developed MEMS and optoelectronic components including the first MEMS spectral equalizer and wavelength add/drop switch, technologies now in widespread use worldwide. In 2000 he joined Optical Micro-Machines, becoming Chief Scientist in 2001 before joining UCSD in 2002. Dr. Ford was General Co-Chair of the first IEEE Conference on Optical MEMS in 2000, and General Co-Chair for the 2008 Optical Fiber Communications Conference. Dr. Ford is co-author of over 100 journal articles and conference proceedings and inventor on more than 45 United States patents in communications, imaging, and solar energy.

Host: P. Daniel Dapkus, Center Director

Location: Hedco Neurosciences Building (HNB) - 100

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Eliza Aceves