Solar cells based on the perovskite-structured light absorber CH3NH3PbI3 have recently emerged at the forefront of solution-processable photovoltaic devices, with power conversion efficiencies as high as 20.1% having now been certified. In this presentation, I will discuss our research group’s work in the area of perovskite solar cells. Our early work demonstrated that room temperature solution-processing techniques can be used to prepare devices on flexible substrates while retaining excellent power conversion efficiencies.

The answer is: Relieve driver developers from doing power management. Non-CPU devices on a modern system-on-a-chip, ranging from accelerators to I/O controllers, account for a significant portion of the chip area. It is therefore vital for system energy efficiency that idle devices can enter a low-power state while still meeting the performance expectation. This is called device runtime power management for which individual device drivers in commodity OSes are held responsible today.

Federal programs are subsidizing deployments of smart grid elements to promote renewable energy. But for these initial deployments to grow, the smart grid needs to become self sustaining. This will require modifications in system operations that create a level field for both reliable and renewable power. Two such modifications are proposed, founded on the concept of risk-limiting dispatch, and realized in a way that permits incremental deployment. The current practice of worst-case dispatch assumes reliable power sources and limited information.

This conference will bring influential members of the climate-change debate to UCSB in order to provoke critical thought about the dilemma at hand. This full-day event, featuring 3 panels addressing grassroots, business, and legislative solutions, respectively, comes in the wake of the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event has been organized by students, and was conceived by a group of 23 undergraduates who were inspired to bring change to their campus community after attending the UN summit in December 2009.

2010 Annual Energy Information Administration Energy Conference
April 6-7
Washington, DC.

The field of photovoltaic cells has been dominated so far by solid state p-n junction devices made of crystalline or amorphous silicon, CdTe and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) profiting from the experience and material availability of the semiconductor industry. However, there is an increasing awareness of the possible advantages of devices based on mesoscopic inorganic or organic semiconductors commonly referred to as “bulk“ junctions due to their interconnected three-dimensional structure.

Amory Lovins is widely considered among the world’s leading authorities on energy—especially its efficient use and sustainable supply—and a fertile innovator in integrative design. As Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Lovins pioneered the concept of “soft energy paths” involving efficient energy use, diverse and renewable energy sources, and special reliance on “soft energy technologies” based on solar, wind, biofuels, geothermal, etc., matched in scale and quality to their task, and widely accessible across society.

Nanocrystal Solids: A Modular Approach to Materials Design

Computing today operates in distributed, dynamic and sensor rich environments. Consequently, designing computer systems for low power entails not only the use of the best design practices in various components from processors, memories to radios but also awareness of power-related decision making across subsystems and functional abstractions. What then are the engineering principles that can be applied to guide system designer with low power consumption as a key design criterion?