GW Launches Institute for the Analysis of Solar Energy

By Jaime Freedman

As soaring energy prices and environmental challenges cast dark clouds over much of the world, the sun offers enduring solutions. This fall, GW positioned itself as a global leader in the fast-growing solar power field by launching the interdisciplinary Institute for the Analysis of Solar Energy to focus on the economic, technical, and policy issues associated with developing and deploying solar power to meet global energy needs.

The scholarly institute will engage faculty members and graduate students in disciplines across the University—including business, economics, engineering, geography, public policy, public administration, and chemistry—in collaborative research projects. The institute was established within the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences through a combination of private, corporate, and foundation funds, including support from media mogul and environmentalist Ted Turner.

“The new institute will draw on the expertise of our faculty and the advantages of our location in the heart of the public policy community,” says GW President Steven Knapp. “Its creation illustrates the University’s commitment to play a leading role in informing the national conversation on alternative sources of energy.”

According to Peg Barratt, dean of Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, “GW’s researchers will concentrate on questions beyond analyzing the science of solar energy generation to exploring its many unanswered questions, such as how to transmit energy across the nation, what possible cost scenarios could look like, and how to meet the demands of peak power times.” Dr. Barratt led the way as the institute quickly developed from an alumnus-generated idea in February 2008 to a $2.5 million funded, one-of-a-kind enterprise by the fall.

The institute gathered its first set of research proposals in September. Highlights include analyzing solar deployment issues such as intermittency, when the sunlight is interrupted by cloud cover; solar cost analysis and comparison with traditional energy sources; and new storage and fuel methods using solar.

“We’ll be examining solar’s possibilities, the roadblocks, the policy, and related issues,” Dr. Barratt says. “We’re building the resources to provide trusted, scientifically sound information and analysis of solar energy to assist our nation’s policymakers as they develop our country’s energy policy.”
Spearheading the effort is international solar expert Ken Zweibel, executive director of the institute, who has served as a solar industry leader for the past three decades. “In the next 15 years, the United States can substantially reduce its dependence on foreign oil, as well as its carbon emissions, by using solar as a major part of its energy supply, and our new GW institute is committed to drafting that roadmap,” he says.

Zweibel comes to GW from PrimeStar Solar Inc. in Golden, Colo., a solar power manufacturing company he co-founded. He previously worked for 27 years at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory Solar Program in Colorado, where he headed up efforts to develop solar technology for low-cost electricity.

Zweibel is the author of two books and numerous articles on solar energy, including “The Solar Grand Plan,” published in the January 2008 edition of Scientific American. The ambitious plan calls for the installation of solar panels over vast areas of land in the sun-rich southwestern United States, the construction of high-voltage, direct-current power distribution lines to transmit the solar electricity across the country, and the transition of transportation to plug-in electric hybrids to use the new carbon-free energy.

“There is a real sense of urgency about energy and environmental challenges,” says Zweibel. “The increased price of conventional energy suggests we revisit alternatives. This institute—fueled by the tremendous knowledge base at GW—will help contribute to that re-examination.”

“The Institute for the Analysis of Solar Energy has a perfect home here at GW,” Dr. Barratt concurs. “It gathers experts in many fields, joins faculty and students in collaborative research, and puts trusted information about solar energy before a large group of stakeholders here in D.C. and around the world.”

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu