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OSU, UO share $1.34 million in grants for solar research
The grants come from Oregon BEST to help build statewide network of researchers
Samantha Blann
Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: News
Oregon State and the University of Oregon have recently received $1.34 million in grants for solar research. The grants were given in part from the Oregon Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Center (Oregon BEST) to expand laboratories and equipment.
"We believe that the facilities and equipment (the solar research lab) will increase the ability for Oregon companies to stay competitive by collaborating with OSU," said David Kenney, executive director and president of Oregon BEST. "[We also believe] new research will provide new jobs."
Oregon BEST is a nonprofit organization established by funds from the Oregon Legislature. The organization works to build a statewide network of university researchers, laboratories and equipment in areas of green building products and services and a renewable energy generation.
The main goal of Oregon BEST is to fuel Oregon's economy through these areas. "We made four lab facility investments," Kenney said. "Two of them were at OSU."
The investments will give Oregon's solar energy industry access to more advanced research tools. The funds will also provide faculty expertise and a trained workforce in solar energy manufacturing.
Splitting the investment between many universities will enable Oregon to share and leverage research expertise and equipment from each university. This will make the research facilities more competitive nationally when seeking research funding.
OSU's portion of the $1.3 million investment was $572,000 from Oregon BEST, the OSU College of Engineering and the OSU Research Office. The funds will establish the Oregon Process Innovation Center (OPIC) for sustainable solar cell manufacturing.
OPIC is an Oregon BEST facility. Researchers here will focus on improving solar cell manufacturing processes to reduce costs. Developing manufacturing technologies for next-generation solar cells will be another focus of the researchers.
The Oregon BEST investment is funding many research projects at OSU.
"We believe that the facilities and equipment (the solar research lab) will increase the ability for Oregon companies to stay competitive by collaborating with OSU," said David Kenney, executive director and president of Oregon BEST. "[We also believe] new research will provide new jobs."
Oregon BEST is a nonprofit organization established by funds from the Oregon Legislature. The organization works to build a statewide network of university researchers, laboratories and equipment in areas of green building products and services and a renewable energy generation.
The main goal of Oregon BEST is to fuel Oregon's economy through these areas. "We made four lab facility investments," Kenney said. "Two of them were at OSU."
The investments will give Oregon's solar energy industry access to more advanced research tools. The funds will also provide faculty expertise and a trained workforce in solar energy manufacturing.
Splitting the investment between many universities will enable Oregon to share and leverage research expertise and equipment from each university. This will make the research facilities more competitive nationally when seeking research funding.
OSU's portion of the $1.3 million investment was $572,000 from Oregon BEST, the OSU College of Engineering and the OSU Research Office. The funds will establish the Oregon Process Innovation Center (OPIC) for sustainable solar cell manufacturing.
OPIC is an Oregon BEST facility. Researchers here will focus on improving solar cell manufacturing processes to reduce costs. Developing manufacturing technologies for next-generation solar cells will be another focus of the researchers.
The Oregon BEST investment is funding many research projects at OSU.
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