Overview

Electricity is the lifeblood of modern society, powering everything from cities to pacemakers. While the demand for electricity continues to expand, the electricity generation system faces challenges. Harmful environmental impacts, the lack of access to electricity for over one quarter of the world’s population, threats to national security, resource supply problems, and difficulty in powering autonomous applications mean that a new electricity generation system is needed. Instead of unsustainable fossil fuels, we use today’s unlimited sunshine to generate power, using photovoltaics that are sustainable.

QESST (Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies) is a new Engineering Research Center supported jointly by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy to remove barriers to harnessing solar power in economically viable and sustainable ways. QESST is led by faculty from ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. ASU researchers work with colleagues at the center’s partner institutions to provide a staging ground for major innovations in solar energy devices and systems.

The center’s mission includes accelerating commercialization of solar energy technologies through partnerships with industry and expanding opportunities for education in energy engineering. QESST will capitalize on one of the greatest scientific advances of the 20th century, quantum mechanics, to develop photovoltaics (PV) and advanced energy converters that:

• Revolutionize electricity generation
• Renew interest in science and engineering
• Revitalize the U.S. PV industry, allowing it to dominate the expected trillion dollar PV market

The interdisciplinary team consisting of multiple universities, world-renowned energy companies, leaders in PV, and entrepreneurs will build a strategic partnership to generate innovative solutions to sustainable electricity generation.

The projected impact of QESST:

• Generating the majority of new U.S. electricity through PV technologies
• Providing electricity for 1.5 billion people worldwide without access
• Creating materials and novel quantum processes to revolutionize PV devices
• Reinventing U.S. manufacturing through solar technologies, engineering, and business networks

Engineering Research Centers sponsored by the NSF focus on areas of research considered vital to national interests in science and engineering innovation, technological advancement, economic expansion, and education of future innovation leaders.

Visit the QESST website