Solar Energy:  New Materials and Nanostructured Devices for High Efficiency

June 24–25, 2008

Stanford University
Stanford, California, USA

Submission Deadline (for consideration of oral or poster presentation): May 20, 2008, 12:00 p.m. EDT (16.00 GMT)
Postdeadline Submission Deadline (for poster presentation only): 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

Plasmonic Solar Cells, Harry Atwater; Caltech, USA
Nanoscale Photonic Materials, Mark Brongersma; Stanford Univ., USA
Thermal Photovoltaics and Thermoelectrics, Gang Chen; MIT, USA
High Efficiency Silicon Solar Cells, Martin Green; Univ of New South Wales, Australia
Metallic Nanoparticles for Enhanced Efficiency, Jean-Jacques Greffet; Ecole Centrale Paris, France
Silicon Nanowire Thermoelectrics, Jim Heath; Caltech, USA
Nanostructured Thermoelectric Materials, Joseph Heremans; Ohio State, USA
Nanostructured Solar Cells, Michael McGehee; Stanford Univ., USA