Microscale Concentrated Photovoltaics Workshop
ARPA-E held a workshop on "Microscale Concentrated Photovoltaics" from Thursday, May 8 to Friday, May 9, at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington, VA.
The workshop brought together the world's leading experts in concentrated photovoltaics (CPV), microscale optics, and MEMS to develop strategies and performance metrics for future research. Participants lent their expertise to help set performance metrics and cost targets to help define a successful research program. Strategic breakout sessions were planned that operated in parallel.
The primary objective of the workshop was to identify innovative approaches in concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) to enable the expanded deployment of high-efficiency PV in residential and commercial markets.
ARPA-E was interested in approaches that reduce the cost and size of concentrated PV while maintaining or improving CPV performance in a flat-panel form factor. Targeted outcomes included:
- Assessing and exploring technical strategies to allow decreased installation cost and increased deployment in the residential and commercial building rooftop market.
- Understanding fabrication, integration, power conversion, and packaging challenges for microscale CPV.
- Quantifying potential benefits from disruptive innovation in tracking such as self-tracking, MEMS tracking, artificial heilotropis mand other strategies to reduce tracking cost or enable the use of cheap, low precision mechanical tracking.
- Discussion of cost metrics sufficient to make technologies developed through this program economically viable.
- Identification of appropriate performance metrics to govern a potential FOA in this area.
Approximately 40-50 experts from academia, national/federal labs, and industry participated. Information gained from the workshop will assist ARPA-E leadership in the development of potential programs and funding opportunities which target key technological roadblocks relevant to the ARPA-E mission.
Agenda: Thursday, May 8th – Friday, May 9th
Day 1: Morning Session
Dr. Eric Rohfling, ARPA-E
Workshop Background & Objectives
Dr. Michael Haney, ARPA-E
Dr. Jim Rand
Exploiting Scale Effects in Photovoltaic Cells, Modules, and Systems
Dr. Greg Nielson
From Novelty to Ubiquity: Challenges & Strategies of Scaling the LCD Platform
Dr. Pete Bocko
An Overview of DoD Military Energy Needs
Ms. Sharon Beermann-Curtin
Day 1: Afternoon Breakout Sessions
Day 2: Morning Breakout Sessions