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?

Organic semiconductors represent an opportunity to revolutionize the manufacture of large area electronics. Applications for these materials range from low-cost displays and e-readers to solar cells. Our understanding of the connection between materials and device characteristics for organic semiconducting polymers are still in the early stages. The role of interfaces on transport is of particular importance. Recent work on understanding polymeric dielectrics in transistors and the influence of nanostructuring on photovoltaics will be described.

The determinants of successful development, commercialization and diffusion of solid state lighting (SSL) are not well understood particularly in a global context. Patent data provide one means to gain insight into these corporate and national R&D activities. However, existing SSL patent analyses have focused primarily on US patents. This study analyzes patents granted worldwide to probe differences between the U.S., Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, and China, countries poised to play a key role in SSL’s future.

LED Lighting Half-Time Report
An Executive Roundtable Discussion With The Scientist Who Develop Them And The Companies That Sell Them
February 9, 2010 | 5:30pm | Corwin Pavilion, UCSB 
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