Recent Media Mentions

"I found the project very promising for both interior lighting and solar power generation. Clearly, when you can make use the sunlight in its original form first you gain efficiency, and by using the rest of the spectrum of light for power generation, you increase efficiency again. I think this is very promising because as the technology is perfected, the costs should fall dramatically. I was just thinking about how computer driven telescopes have come down in price - well below $1000 complete -- and the hardware of both systems are remarkably similar. I wish I had one myself." Sam DeLay, TVA Lighting Services 

Perhaps the best part of the ORNL system is the quality of light.  Natural light is much whiter than light from fluorescent bulbs, and the difference is obvious when seen side by side at the test facility. "I don't think people realize the quality of light difference until they see something like this," Muhs said. "We see that as a bonus." 

Article written by Frank Munger, News-Sentinel senior writer
October 22, 2002

For more information, contact Melissa Lapsa or the News-Sentinel.

Adaptive Full-Spectrum Solar Energy Systems Project Team Meeting was held November 13, 2002, at the NTRC facility.  Adaptive, full-spectrum solar energy systems represent a new, systems-level approach to solar energy that holds the promise of dramatically improving its end-use efficiency and affordability in two ways.  First, it more efficiently uses different portions of the solar spectrum simultaneously for multiple end-use applications such as solar lighting and distributed power generation, e.g., combined solar light and power.  Second, it continually optimizes solar energy end-use efficiency by adapting to real-time changes in end-use needs and external factors such as real-time electricity prices, solar availability, and ancillary services.  The project team consists of members from:

• University of Nevada

• Ohio University 

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 

• University of Arizona

• University of Wisconsin

• Tennessee Valley Authority

• Oak Ridge National Laboratory

• Deposition Sciences Inc.

• Honeywell International Inc.

• JX Crystals Inc.

• Science Applications International Corporation

• 3M Company
  

ORNL's Engineering S&T Division completed the development of a one square meter hybrid solar collector and light distribution system for the DOE-Office of Fossil Energy, that illuminates cyanobacteria in an engineered photobioreactor being developed by Ohio University.  The system more than quadruples the algae-growing surface area that can be effectively illuminated by direct nondiffuse, sunlight and virtually eliminates the common problem of photosynthetic saturation that occurs in surface-based raceway cultivators.  In the future, the ORNL system will also provide needed electrical power to operate portions of the harvesting system in the engineered photobioreactor by separating and converting the infrared portion of the solar spectrum into electricity using thermophotovoltaics.  The researcher team including Jeff Muhs, Duncan Earl, Curt Maxey, Dave Beshears, Supriya Jaiswal, and Mike Cates, will be delivering and testing the light collection and delivery system at Ohio University (Athens, OH) in the coming weeks.  Several industrial partners contributed to the system design including 3M, Array Technologies, Enhancement Electronics, and ROC Glassworks.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and ORNL was awarded a contract by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to install a first generation hybrid lighting system in an office building in Sacramento in 2003.

For more information contact Melissa Lapsa or:
Bruce Vincent, (916) 732-5397
SMUD
P.O.Box 15830
Sacramento, CA 95852-1830

Public Power Institute (PPI)

PPI is an organization that has a multi purpose, including using the Tennessee Valley Authority as a living laboratory, and showcasing new technologies.

The on-line resource for lighting professionals. Visit their web site at http://www.lighting.com to see what is new in the lighting community.

DOE This Month - a newsletter that covers current activities to improve the quality of the environment, the stability of the nation's fuel supplies, and cutting edge research in science and technology, has featured artwork of the Adaptive Full-Spectrum Solar Energy System in its August issue. The newsletter can be downloaded as a pdf file from here.