WUHAN, China (July 17, 2014) - Wuhan Optoelectronics Forum No. 83 was successfully held in Auditorium A101 at Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) in the morning of July 17.
The increased worldwide awareness of global climate change and environmental pollution has raised the demand for renewable, clean and safe energy sources. Renewable energy is only 1% of worldwide energy production. Solar energy is the ultimate sustainable renewable energy source. The recent rapid growth of solar cell market, which has greatly stimulated public attention, is largely caused by the incentive policies on renewable energy from governments. To make a substantial increase in the contribution of solar energy, we must develop technologies that can produce energy from sunlight in a self-sustainable and cost competitive manner. Many research entities have started research efforts on photovoltaic solar cells. To ensure these research efforts are successful, we must have a clear understanding of the fundamental science, the current status, and the critical issues of today’s PV technologies and proposed next generation technologies. In this presentation, I will address these issues based on my personal experiences of research on solar cells. My presentation will cover the following topics: The principles of solar energy conversion; The status and issues of today’s thin-film PV technologies; The problems of next generation PV technologies; Possible pathways and strategies to a successful energy future.
Dr. Yanfa Yan is currently Ohio Research Scholar Endowed Chair/Professor at The University of Toledo. He is also a joint Distinguished visiting scientist in National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He obtained his B.S., M.S., Ph.D. degree in physics at Wuhan University. Prof. Yan has received a number of national and international awards including JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow Award (Japan, 1995), DOE/EERE Young Investigator Award (America, 2001), NREL Director’s Award for Outstanding Research (America, 2007), R&D 100 Award (America, 2011), and American Physical Society Fellow (America, 2011). Prof. Yan has authored and co-authored over 270 journal papers. He also wrote 6 pieces of book chapters and invited review papers. He was done more than 20 invited and penalty presentations in past few years. His current research interests are mainly focusing on: 1) emerging, and future generation materials and device architectures for energy and related applications (photovoltaics, solar fuel production, and rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors); 2) Energy materials design by density-functional theory and other approaches; 3) Development and application of advanced electron microscopy techniques for energy related research.
