A new multivariable photovoltaic measurement system, developed by an engineer from the South Dakota State University, is anticipated to assist researchers and private industry who are engaged in improving the efficiency of solar cells by converting sunlight into electric power.
Assistant professor Mahdi Farrokh Baroughi, left, and undergraduate researcher Ben Goemann, right, examine the multivariable photovoltaic measurement system developed in Farrokh Baroughi's lab at South Dakota State University.
Mahdi Farrokh Baroughi, who works in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of South Dakota State University as an instructor and researcher, has invented the measurement system which is anticipated to give the much awaited impetus to the present photovoltaic technologies. According to him, the urgency to introduce cheaper solar cell technologies have forced most of the researchers to utilize easy and simple fabrication process and lower quality materials. Such processes often result in less information, less purity and less control over the structure of the device and its functional parameters.
The system, being developed by Farrokh Baroughi, is designed to provide details on what is performing well in a specific device and what is underperforming. The new system will enable researchers to fine-tune their designs for solar modules or other similar devices.
The new device has won the Pat and Jo Cannon Intellectual Property Commercialization Award from the SDSU in February this year. Integrid Technologies, a new company, has invested to commercialize the idea which also received partial funding from Technology Transfer Office of SDSU and South Dakota Innovation Partners.