Speaker: Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi

Speaker's Title and Affiliation: Professor, Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Seminar Title: Photovoltaics: An Environmentally Clean Energy Option

Abstract:
Worldwide demand for electrical energy is increasing at a very rapid pace. Solar cells have the potential for solving the energy and environmental problems simultaneously because solar energy is free and unlimited and solar cells can convert sunlight into electrical energy without any undesirable impact on the environment.  Every gigawatt-hour of electrical energy produced by solar cells, rather than by burning coal, prevents the release of 1000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.  However, the cost of photovoltaic modules must be reduced by about a factor of four in order to compete with fossil fuels.  Research on photovoltaic materials, devices and systems is being conducted at the Center of Excellence in Photovoltaics at Georgia Tech to accomplish this goal.  An overview of the fundamental and applied research in these areas, along with the opportunities and challenges in photovoltaics, will be presented.  Emphasis will be placed on understanding and reduction of harmful defects in low-cost silicon, technology development for cost-effective PV, and design and development of photovoltaic systems.  In addition to the development of record high efficiency solar cells on and low-cost materials, performance of the world’s largest roof-top grid-connected PV system in 1996 installed on the GT Aquatic Center will be discussed.  This 342 kW system has produced three billion watt hours of electrical energy since the 1996 Olympics, and is capable of satisfying the electrical needs of about fifty homes.

Speaker Bios:
Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi is a Regent’s Professor, John H. Weitnauer, Jr. Chair in the College of Engineering and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is the founding director of the University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education at Georgia Tech and the founder and CTO of Suniva, Inc. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 1971, the M.S. degree in materials engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, in 1973, and the Ph.D. degree in metallurgy and material science from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, in 1977. Before joining the electrical engineering faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, in 1985, he was a Westinghouse Fellow at the Research and Development Center, Pittsburgh, PA. His current research interests include development of cost and efficiency roadmaps for attaining grid parity with silicon photovoltaics; understanding of impurity effects in silicon solar cells; gettering and passivation of defects in solar grade silicon; rapid thermal processing of solar cells; design and fabrication of low-cost high efficiency cells on mono and multicrystalline silicon; and design, performance and economics of photovoltaic systems; performance and reliability of photovoltaic systems; semiconductor material and device characterization; defects and recombination in semiconductors; and low-cost manufacturing of Si solar cells.

Dr. Rohatgi is an IEEE Fellow. He has published more than 370 technical papers in the PV field and has been awarded 16 patents. Dr. Rohatgi has been widely recognized for his research and development contributions:

• Named "Champion of PV" by Renewable Energy World Magazine, 2010
• Recipient of the 2010 Outstanding Achievement in Research Innovation Award, nominated on behalf of the faculty of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Leadership in Technology award by Renewable Energy World for his achievements in advancing the market for renewable energy in North America, 2010
• Envention Award by Atlanta Business Chronicle for conservation and pollution-curbing efforts, 2009
• Hoyt Clarke Hottel Award by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) award committee for outstanding educator and innovator in the field of photovoltaics , 2009
• Thought Leadership Award finalist by the Aspen Institute's 2009 Energy & Environment Awards, 2009
• Climate Protection Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for dedication and technical innovation in PV, 2009
• One of The Five Most Influential People in Renewable Energy by Power Finance & Risk Magazine, 2008
• Georgia Institute of Technology Outstanding Research Program Development Award, 2007
• William Cherry Award by the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2003
• Rappaport Award by the U.S. Department of Energy/NREL, 2003
• Georgia Tech Distinguished Professor Award, 1996
• As part of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Dr. Rohatgi and his team designed and installed the world's largest grid-connected, roof-top PV system on the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center
• Westinghouse Engineering Achievement Award, 1984