Case Western Reserve University and a number of companies are joining together to find ways to boost the productive life time span of the solar energy technologies, energy saving lighting, building exteriors, energy efficient roofing and more.
This attempt received encouragement from the State of Ohio in the form of $2.88 million grant to set up a Solar-Durability and Lifetime Extension (S-DLE) Center at Case Western Reserve.
Aerial View of Case Western Reserve University
The S-DLE Center will establish labs and test facilities to appraise the materials and components used for solar power generation. The facilities include checking solar radiation up to 1,000 suns, and subjecting the products to extreme levels of temperature, freezing, humidity, thawing cycles and other ecological elements.
The proposed S-DLE center as felt by the U.S. Department of Energy will fill the critical void in identifying and introducing energy efficient products at the development stage itself. It is anticipated to assist the companies engaged in solar energy generation to speed up the production process to bring down the costs involved in development of a product, to introduce products that will last for a number of years with improved warranties for the products and above all to cut down the investment costs of the owners.
The testing facilities proposed for the center will assist the users to ascertain the effects of the 25 years exposure to various elements to check the durability of the products. The facility will also have features to trial the thermo-mechanical, optical and electrical attributes of components, materials and products utilized in solar modules.
S-DLE center has plans to utilize the funding received from the state to erect 12 solar trackers that are erected over a motorized platform and enabled with GPS facility to follow the movement of the sun all through the day. It will also utilize the funding for building ecological test chambers and indoor solar simulators that can simulate up to 1000 times the solar intensity.