Arizona lawmaker says $15 million will help make UA a leader in developing new renewable energy technology
TUCSON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today is welcoming $15 million in federal stimulus funds aimed at advancing solar energy research at the University of Arizona.
“This is great news for the University of Arizona and solar energy research,” said Giffords, a member of the House Science and Technology Committee. “These funds will help make Arizona a leader in developing the new technology we need to build a clean-energy future.”
The university will use the funds over five years to develop the basic science and technology for the next generation of solar cells. These cells promise to provide electricity using flexible, low-cost platforms, such as plastic.
The funds are being distributed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Department of Energy.
UA is one of 46 universities, national laboratories, non-profit organizations and private firms across the country that will receive $377 million for new Energy Frontier Research Centers. Arizona State University in Tempe will receive $14 million.
“We’re delighted that the federal government is funding this project,” said Dr. Neal R. Armstrong, the professor of chemistry and optical sciences who leads the UA center. “This will lead to a major change in the way we convert sunlight into electricity. These centers are a bold move by the federal government to change the way we derive power from the sun.”
In announcing the funding, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the centers will allow us to confront the urgent need to reduce our dependence on imported oil and curtail greenhouse gas emissions.
“Meeting the challenge to reduce our dependence on imported oil and curtail greenhouse gas emissions will require significant scientific advances,” Chu said. “These centers will mobilize the enormous talents and skills of our nation’s scientific workforce in pursuit of the breakthroughs that are essential to expand the use of clean and renewable energy.”
Of the $377 million awarded to the centers, $277 million comes from funding made available through the Recovery Act with the remaining $100 million made from the department’s FY2009 budget. The 46 centers are being funded at $2-5 million per year each for a planned initial five-year period and were selected from a pool of applications received in response to a solicitation issued by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science in 2008 and announced on April 27, 2009.
In total, the EFRC initiative represents a planned DOE commitment of $777 million over five years.
Center researchers will take advantage of new capabilities in nanotechnology, high-intensity light sources, neutron scattering sources, supercomputing, and other advanced instrumentation in an effort to lay the scientific groundwork for fundamental advances in renewable energy.