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A Blog Devoted to UD Innovation, Excellence and Scholarship
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Research & Discovery

A Blog Devoted to UD Innovation, Excellence and Scholarship
Wayne Buchanan (left) and Brian McCandless (right)

ABOVE: IEC researchers Wayne Buchanan (left) and Brian McCandless (right) prepare to load the vapor transport deposition system for a doped cadmium telluride film run. Buchanan is raising the source head out of the main chamber and McCandless is examining the previous film deposition (gray plate) and preparing to place the nanocrystalline film-coated glass substrate onto the graphite susceptor. | Photo by Evan Krape

UD’s McCandless and collaborators find path to higher efficiency, lower cost

Stop for a moment and imagine an efficient highway system. No need to jockey for position, no choke-point merging from three lanes into one, no long idles at ill-timed traffic lights, no rolling roadblocks as the motorist ahead of you prepares for a turn that is still five miles away. Regardless of the number of cars, you would know what smooth sailing looks and feels like.

That’s the life solid-state researchers want for electrons as they work to capture the sun’s extraordinary energy and convert it into electricity.

If it was an easy fix – all of that capturing and converting – scientist Brian McCandless could be spending more time with his bagpipes.

But he and many other researchers have been chipping away at the challenge of improving the electron traffic in solar cells for decades. McCandless, of the University of Delaware’s Institute of Energy Conversion, has focused especially on the conversion efficiency and cost of thin-film photovoltaics, which offer competitive pricing for solar power generation.

Now, McCandless and his collaborators at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado, have made significant inroads, with McCandless’ UD-patented invention that has a Star Trek-like name – a Vapor Transport Deposition System – and NREL’s larger-scale verification of its abilities.

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Jill Higginson

Honor for Engineering’s Jill Higginson

Engineering professor named Fellow by American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering

Harsh Bais, Yan Jin, Kali Kniel

Disruptors: Harnessing Beneficial Microbes

So, what do a virologist, botanist and soil physicist have in common? This team from UD’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is leveraging their collective expertise to ensure that our food supply is safe and abundant, now and in the future.

Man Steps Onto Moon

1969 – The Morning News: Man Steps onto Moon

Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong took the first moon step at 10:56 p.m., Delaware time, just six hours and 39 minutes after he and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. fulfilled the age-old dream of landing on the moon. This was a major milestone in the new era of space exploration. We invite you to explore this interactive experience and relive the excitement of the first moon landing.