丹尼尔边缘主义者

Researching Solar Cell Behavior

丹尼尔边缘主义者 was interested in electronics from a very young age. “我想是的 the only kindergartner who listed ‘electrical engineer’ as my future job,” he says.

Later in his academic career, with guidance from research supervisors Peter Olver at the University of Minnesota and Peter Markowich at the University of Cambridge, he discovered that his favorite part of engineering was physics, and that his favorite 物理学的一部分是数学.

“Without their support and guidance,” he says, “I would not be where I am today.”

Today, Brinkman is integrating math, engineering, and technology in his research into 太阳能电池性能. Collaborating with Arizona State University students and faculty, and with First Solar, a prominent manufacturer of solar panels, he seeks to predict how well solar cells will perform over vastly different time scales. 这个团队 developed mathematically driven physical models to understand the cells’ behavior, rather than relying solely on the statistical analysis of expensive data.

This current project is coming to a close, but Brinkman is looking ahead to the possibility of exploring how 一个 solar cell technology might be more valuable than another in a specific location, or how to optimize the characteristics of different solar cell devices for specific installations.

“Renewable energy is the future and there are many opportunities for researchers to apply mathematics to industrial applications in ways that will reduce costs and improve 效率.”

Cadmium telluride solar cells at the 550 megawatt Topas Solar Farm in San Luis Obispo 县,加州. Photo courtesy of First Solar, Inc.

Department of Mathematics, College of 科学
赞助商:你.S. 能源部

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