Photovoltaics vs Fossil Fuels

Technologies that transfer solar energy into electricity--known as photovoltaics--now play a central role in our energy mix but need the support of policymakers and research investment to continue the giant strides it has made over the last decade.

This was one of the key messages by Larry Kazmerski, Executive Director of Science and Technology Partnerships at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory, whose presentation opened the 2012 Industrial Physics Forum co-sponsored by ICTP and the American Institute of Physics.

In his talk titled "Photovoltaics Technology: No Longer an Outlier", Kazmerski told Forum attendees that solar voltaic technology has reached a 'tipping point' that has pushed it into mainstream use, making it ripe for investment in research and development. He noted that production of photovoltaics has seen healthy growth over the past decade, especially in China, which last year produced 57% of the world's photovoltaics and which saw a 30% production spike from 2009 to 2010. Germany remains the largest user of this alternative energy use.

Kazmerski said that the technology for photovoltaics is also growing fast; once driven by silicon, the technology is undergoing revolutionary changes that involve the use of new technologies such as thin films smaller than the width of a human hair, or nanotechnology in the form of quantum dots. He urged investors to support these technologies now so that the next generation of energy consumers will have more efficient, less expensive photovoltaic technology options.

The 2012 Industrial Physics Forum continues Tuesday with special sessions on "Frontiers in Physics" which includes a talk by famed astronomer Lord Martin Rees on "From Big Bang to Biosphere: Progress and Prospects in Space Science", as well as a speech to be delivered at the Forum banquet by William Colglazier, Science Advisor to the US Secretary of State.