An energy center at N.C. State has $9 million to put toward making home installation of solar energy panels easier and less expensive.
The Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management Systems Center, established by the National Science Foundation, is a research center located on Centennial Campus. The center partners with facilities nationwide to bring green energy to households and businesses.
According to Alex Huang, professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of FREEDM Systems Center, home installation of solar panels is expensive and time consuming, but the process will be made easier thanks to the grant from the Department of Energy.
Inspections must be passed and permission must be given by homebuilders before the panels can be installed. When overhead costs and the cost of installation are put together, the price can reach up to $5 per watt, Huang said.
“Renewable energy is great and everyone understands that, but we need to make it compatible with the usual energy systems,” Huang said. “We want the cost to be reduced by 400 percent. Bringing the cost from $5 per watt to $1.50 per watt is our goal.”
Researchers also hope to make the installation process more efficient, Huang said. Because the panels are installed on top of the home, the project will make sure installation meets policies and codes.
Solar energy panels on a roof are about more than just generating electricity, because it also impacts building structure, says Huang. The project addresses issues such as weight and resistance to wind.
The panels need to be lightweight, and researchers want to make sure everything needed is included in the panels so a home can be fully powered by solar energy for hours, according to Huang.
In addition to lowering costs and meeting building codes, the project takes a look at the installation process and tries to make it less demanding.
“We want to get installation to the point where almost any handyman can do it,” Huang said. “For example, if an inspector could review the house on an iPad, he or she could approve installation without actually being there.”
Researchers at the FREEDM Systems Center are not the only ones working on the project. Researchers at the center have teamed up with the NC Solar Center to make their green energy goals come to fruition.
Students are also working on the project. Undergraduate, graduate and master candidates are all involved. Currently, ten undergraduate seniors sponsored by FREEDM are trying to build a solar powered home. Those students strive to take solar energy and deliver it directly to computers and cell phones, rather than plugging devices into walls.
Researchers at FREEDM developed a strategic plan for this project and asked for the grant in December 2012. They recently received the official word that the grant would be given.
“The money is here and we have started working on the project,” Huang said.
The grant spans five years. External reviewers will come each year to review progress. Dr. David Lubkeman, research professor at FREEDM who will serve as project manager, has a timeline to reach goals efficiently.
“It is a five year project, but we are funded on a year to year basis depending on performance,” Lubkeman said. “We intend to have our first generation system running by end of year two, our second generation system running by end of year four and field testing in year five.”
The FREEDM Systems Center leads the project along with the NC Solar Center. Other partners involved include the University of Toledo, Isofoton, ABB, and Quanta Technology.
The grant is a part of the Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative. This initiative hopes to make solar energy a main source of electricity by 2020.
“This project is one of the major efforts to really try to get the cost down and make solar energy compatible with more traditional sources of energy,” Huang said.
