Abstract
Meeting our future global energy needs in an environmentally responsible way is perhaps the greatest challenge facing the world in the twenty first century. The discovery of new functional materials is critical to developing the needed disruptive technologies for energy conversion, delivery, storage, and use. Remarkable advances in theory and high-throughput materials synthesis and characterization are enabling a new approach to new materials discovery where theory can directly guide experimental materials development. This seminar will focus on materials by design research from the Center for Inverse Design EFRC as well as related programs in solar energy conversion at NREL. Key results from our EFRC will be discussed where we tightly couple theory, experiment and characterization to discover and understand new inorganic semiconductor materials for photovoltaic absorbers and transparent conductors. An overview of NREL’s extensive program in photovoltaics to meet the DOE Sunshot goals will also be presented along with examples from the Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States (SERIIUS), a 31-institution collaborative center funded by DOE and the Government of India.
Biography
Dr. William Tumas is the Associate Laboratory Director for Materials and Chemical Science and Technology at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which carries out fundamental and applied R&D for renewable energy and energy efficiency including solar energy conversion for electricity and fuels, materials discovery and development for renewable energy technologies, energy storage, hydrogen production and storage, and fuel cells. Bill is also the Director of the Center for Inverse Design Energy Frontier Research Center. Prior to joining NREL in 2009, Bill held a number of leadership positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory for 17 years including the Program Director for Applied Energy Programs, program manager and group leader of inorganic chemistry. He started his career at Dupont Central Research after postdoctoral research at Caltech. He received a Ph.D in Organic Chemistry from Stanford University and a B.A in Chemistry from Ithaca College. His research activities have included chemical hydrogen storage, catalysis, supercritical fluids and alternate reaction media, green chemistry, and waste treatment technology development and assessment.