A conference sponsored by the Solar Energy Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Oct. 20-21 will focus on “Energy Storage: Fundamental to Applied.”
The seventh annual conference will be held at the Carolina Club at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center and will feature local, national and international experts in solar fuels and related areas.
The conference will also feature a half-day career workshop in conjunction with the American Chemical Society and members of industry.
The UNC SERC was founded in 2008 to serve as a regional hub for solar energy research. Its primary goal is to find and develop ways to capture and store the energy of the sun in the high-energy chemical bonds of hydrogen and carbon-based solar fuels.
The center is led by Arey Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Thomas J. Meyer. It is developing the next generation of energy scientists with 70 postdoctoral fellows, 110 graduate students and 30 undergraduate students currently trained or in training.
“Research in the UNC Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) extends solar energy conversion to another level,” Meyer said. “The sun is great during the day, but what happens at night when it is gone? We are exploring ways to convert the sun into fuels instead of relying on electricity so that power is available to all on demand.”
The SERC has attracted $33 million in research funding and has taken a national leadership role with workshops, conferences, symposia and public outreach forums with political and industry leaders.
Conference organizers include Meyer, co-director John Papanikolas, Kirk Schanze and Ralph House.
For information, visit http://www.serc.unc.edu/.
