SUNLAB News
SUNLAB thanks Electro Loh plating for supporting our research
The SUNLAB would like to extend our thanks to Electro Loh Plating of Montreal for gold-coating our custom sample stage for solar cell characterization at no cost. It is great to have industrial partners supporting Canadian research!
SUNLAB Welcomes Dr. Raphael St-Gelais for Its First NSERC CREATE TOP-SET Seminar
Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 3:30 p.m.Refreshments to be served starting at 3 p.mAdvanced Research Complex, room 233University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton StreetHeat transfer and energy conversion using near-field thermal radiationDr. Raphael St-Gelais, McGill UniversityABSTRACT: Thermal radiation between objects separated by sub-micron distances can overcome classical blackbody radiation by orders of magnitude, while being concentrated on a narrow frequency distribution. These unique characteristics could enable breakthrough energy conversion technologies. For example, modules in which a heat source evanescently radiates energy towards a specially tailored (i.e., low bandgap) photovoltaic cell are predicted to greatly outperform existing solid-state heat-to-electricity converters (e.g., thermoelectrics). I will review the physical principles behind heat transfer in this regime and discuss the exciting opportunity it allows for near-field thermophotovoltaic (NFTPV) electricity generation. I will present our recent work [1, 2] in which we used MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) to achieve the first experimental demonstration of heat transfer in the regime required for NFTPV (i.e. sub-100 nm separation and large thermal gradient between parallel surfaces). I will also discuss the possibility of using hot-carrier internal photoemission effect to create silicon-based low-bandgap (0.5 eV) photovoltaic cells for NFTPV [3].[1] Raphael St-Gelais, Linxiao Zhu, Shanhui Fan, and Michal Lipson, “Near-field radiative heat transfer between parallel structures in the deep sub-wavelength regime” Nature Nanotechnology 11, pp. 515–519 (2016)[2] Raphael St-Gelais, Biswajeet Guha, Linxiao Zhu, Shanhui Fan, and Michal Lipson, “Demonstration of Strong Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer between Integrated Nanostructures”, Nano Letters 14 (12), pp. 6971-6975 (2014)[3] Raphael St-Gelais, Gaurang. R. Bhatt, Linxiao Zhu, Shanhui Fan, and Michal Lipson, “Hot Carrier-Based Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion,” ACS Nano 11, no. 3, pp. 3001–3009 (2017)BIO: Raphael St-Gelais will be joining the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ottawa in January 2018. His research program will focus on novel Opto-Thermo-Mechanical Microsystems for applications such as energy conversion, long wavelength photo-detection, and high precision force sensing. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher with Jack Sankey’s Optomechanics lab in McGill University, where he studies the interplay of mechanics and near-field thermal radiation in high-Q mechanical resonators. From 2013 to 2016 he was a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Michal Lipson’s Nanophotonics Group at Cornell and Columbia Universities, where he worked on MEMS for near-field heat transfer control. He received the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship in 2009 for his Ph.D. work on Optical Sensors and MEMS-tunable optical components, as well as postdoctoral fellowships from FRQNT and NSERC for his work at Cornell & Columbia.NSERC CREATE Training in Optoelectronics for Power:from Science and Engineering to Technology (TOP-SET) is a training program to form a cohort of highly qualified personnel with comprehensive understanding of optoelectronic systems, capable of joining advanced R&D teams. For further details regarding TOP-SET, please contact Christine Couture, sunlabadmin@uottawa.caTOP-SET is funded in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.This seminar is funded by the University of Ottawa.
SUNLAB Receives NSERC CREATE Grant
Professor Karin Hinzer has received a six-year grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program. The NSERC CREATE Training in Optoelectronics for Power:from Science and Engineering to Technology (TOP-SET) is a training program to form a cohort of highly qualified personnel with comprehensive understanding of optoelectronic systems, capable of joining advanced R&D teams. This is a collaboration between the University of Ottawa, the Université de Sherbrooke and McMaster University. For further details regarding TOP-SET, please contact sunlabadmin@uottawa.ca.
2017-18 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships nominations are now open
According to the Government of Canada, the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship is "Canada’s most prestigious and highest valued award for doctoral researchers today", and "is designed to support world-class students pursuing doctoral degrees at Canadian universities. The scholarship awards $50,000 per year for three years. The program is open to both Canadian and international students. Students must be nominated by the Canadian university at which they plan to study. The 2017-2018 competition was launched in June 15, 2017 and the nomination deadline will be in November 1, 2017 at 20:00 ET. Please note that institutions may have internal deadlines."We would be pleased to nominate exceptional students for study at the SUNLAB, and encourage those to apply.For more information, please visit http://www.vanier.gc.ca.For more information about becoming a member of the SUNLAB research team, please contact sunlabadmin@uottawa.ca.
SUNLAB Students Win Professional Engineers of Ontario Ottawa Chapter Prize
Congratulations to fourth year undergraduate students Lianne de la Salle, Sam Lukasik, Wesley Mok, Dapo Oyenubi and Maxwell Welyhorsky who were awarded the prize in the Social, Environmental and Humanitarian Implication category at the Professional Engineers of Ontario Ottawa Chapter 2017 Student Papers Night, held April 5, 2017 in Ottawa, and adjudicated by a panel of professional engineers. Their win helped the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Engineering secure the trophy for this competition for the third year in a row. The team's presentation focused on a Rentable Solar Charging System, a prototype intended for the sub-Saharan African market and designed for reliable and scalable applications with varying energy needs. This fourth year project is a collaboration between Radius Power and the SUNLAB.
Federal Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan Announces NSERC SPG Awards at ARC
CPV-13 Early Bird Registration Now Open
The online registration is now open for the 13th International Conference on Concentrator Photovoltaic Systems (CPV-13), held between May 1-3, 2017, at the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The discounted Early Bird rates are available until March 17.
SUNLAB Graduates 3 Students in 2016
The SUNLAB sends congratulations to three students for the successful thesis defense and completion of their postgraduate studies in 2016:Ahmed Gabr, Ph.D., Elec. Eng., "Modelling and Characterization of Down-Conversion and Down-Shifting Processes for Photovoltaic Applications", June 2016Robert Chu Tu Li, M.A.Sc., Elec. Eng., "Development of Field Scenario Ray Tracing Software for the Analysis of Bifacial Photovoltaic Solar Panel Performance", October 2016Patrick McVey, M.A.Sc., Elec. Eng., "A New Characterization Technique to Analyze Concentrator Photovoltaic Optical and System Performance", December 2016
Science Co-Op Student of the Year: Sanmeet Chahal
We wish to extend congratulations to Sanmeet Chahal, recipient of the Faculty of Science Co-Op Student of the Year Award 2016, for his research at the SUNLAB over the summer. His project focused on the development of a fully-parameterized three-dimensional distributed circuit model for electrical simulation of multi-junction photovoltaic devices, including solar cells and photonic power converters, composed of N junctions connected electrical in-series in a vertical stack. These results have been accepted for oral presentation at Photonics West on 30 January 2016 ("20-junction photonic power converter performance under non-uniform illumination calculated by 3D distributed circuit model", paper 10099-7) and further developments will be submitted to another leading international photovoltaic conference later this year.
SUNLAB student's research featured in the Ottawa Citizen
Congratulations to Ross Cheriton,a Ph.D. student in physics at the SUNLAB who has been working alongside Ottawa-Gatineau company iBionics on powering chips in new wire-free retinal implants for retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. This research was recently featured in the Ottawa Citizen as well as a fundraising campaign for the University of Ottawa.
SUNLAB student awarded IEEE PES scholarship for a second year
Congratulations to Lianne de la Salle, undergraduate student at the SUNLAB, for being selected as a 2016-2017 IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative recipient for a second year! The Initiative provides multi-year scholarships and career experience opportunities to electrical engineering undergraduate students specializing in power and energy engineering.Lianne de la Salle has contributed to various SUNLAB research projects such as the study of CPV module acceptance angle, tracker precision and solar resource. As well, she has assisted in the maintenance of SUNLAB’s outdoor solar test facility, ensuring tracker functionality and proper data collection.
The SUNLAB to take part in Green Energy Doors Open
Come visit the SUNLAB as part of Green Energy Doors Open, Sunday, September 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. More details can be found here.
Dr. Joan Haysom wins the WiRE Woman of Distinction Award for Solar 2016
Congratulations to SUNLAB member Dr. Joan Haysom on winning the WiRE Woman of Distinction Award for Solar 2016. This award recognizes women who go "above and beyond business-as-usual, consistently demonstrate outstanding leadership, and have contributed significantly to the expansion and improvement of the power sector". Dr. Haysom received her award at CanSIA's Game Changer Awards Gala, held last May 16 in Niagara Falls, Ontario.Dr. Haysom is a senior renewable energy specialist at Leidos Canada and an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa. She has been a member of the SUNLAB since 2010.
Congratulations to Dr. Joan Haysom for winning the WiRE Woman of Distinction Award for Solar!!!!!! @CanadianSIA
— WiRE (@WiREOntario) 17 mai 2016
SUNLAB students awarded scholarships
Congratulations to SUNLAB students Louis Béchard, Patrick McVey White, Meghan Beattie and Ross Cheriton on receiving scholarships for 2016-2017.Both Louis Béchard and Patrick McVey White, master's students at the SUNLAB, have been awarded a prestigious Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The program's objective is to help develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students who demonstrate a high standard of achievement in undergraduate and early graduate studies. The support will allow Louis to fully concentrate on his master's studies and Patrick to start his doctoral studies.Meghan Beattie, a master's student, and Ross Cheriton, a doctoral student, have been awarded Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS). OGS awards are merit-based scholarships available to students in all disciplines of academic study. The OGS program is jointly funded by the Province of Ontario and Ontario universities.
Prof. Karin Hinzer wins University of Ottawa Young Researcher of the Year Award
Congratulations to Prof. Karin Hinzer, SUNLAB director, on being awarded the University of Ottawa Young Researcher of the Year Award (engineering, science and medicine category) for 2016. Prof. Hinzer received her award in a ceremony held on April 7, 2016, at the Alex Trebek Alumni Hall.
CPV-13 to take place at the University of Ottawa in 2017
Professor Karin Hinzer will be chairing CPV-13, the 13th International Conference on Concentrated Photovoltaic Systems, which will take place at the University of Ottawa, May 1 to 3, 2017. The premier technical conference in the areas of high- and low-concentration PV components, modules, and tracker-based PV systems, CPV-13 will bring together students, academics, technologists, and financiers to engage in discussions of state-of-the-art CPV components, trackers, and installations.For more information, click here.
The SUNLAB part of the City of Ottawa Doors Open event
The SUNLAB is happy to take part in the City of Ottawa's Doors Open event. Come visit us between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., on Saturday, June 4, 2016 at the University of Ottawa's Advanced Research Complex, 25 Templeton Street. You will be able to tour the SUNLAB as well as other world-class photonics laboratories.For more information, click here.
CPV-12 abstract submitted!
We are happy to announce that we have submitted abstract for the 12th International Conference on Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV-12).The abstract is entitled "Effects of Lens Temperature on Chromatic Aberration and CPV System Performance", and describes work done in cooperation with CEA-LITEN, INES, Le Bourget du Lac, France.
SUNLAB student awarded IEEE PES scholarship
Congratulations to Lianne de la Salle, undergraduate student at SUNLAB, for being selected as a 2015/16 IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative recipient! The Initiative provides multi-year scholarships and career experience opportunities to electrical engineering undergraduate students specializing in power and energy engineering.Lianne de la Salle has contributed to various SUNLAB research projects such as the study of CPV module acceptance angle, tracker precision and solar resource. As well, she has assisted in the maintenance of SUNLAB's outdoor solar test facility, ensuring tracker functionality and proper data collection.
Honourable mention at Innovation 360
We are very happy to announce that Ross Cheriton, a PhD student at SUNLAB, has won an honourable mention for his demonstration of InGaN/GaN solar cells at the TEXPO competition in Hull, Québec on September 29th, 2015. The honourable mention was for the Huawei Microsystems Design Award for most novel and industrially relevant results in the field of materials research and microsystems.