Dominion Foundation representatives pose with university researchers.
An energy company awarded the University of Maryland researchers a $50,000 educational grant to pursue yearlong research in solar-energy cooling.
Solar-energy cooling uses heat from the sun to power cooling systems, such as air-conditioning units. The grant, announced Sept. 25, comes from the Dominion Foundation, a national energy company that awards grants for research. This university tied with Kent State University to earn the most funds of the 40 universities the Dominion Foundation awarded with academic grants this year.
Yunho Hwang, a mechanical engineering professor and associate director for this university’s Center for Environmental Energy Engineering, will lead the research team.
Joseph Baker, a junior mechanical engineering major working with Hwang on the project, said the team already has used some of the grant money to upgrade its equipment in order to improve accuracy in experimenting. The team is working to expand on a previous model of solar cooling, he said.
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Solar energy is a new but thriving sector. More than 195,000 solar projects were installed in the U.S. last year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Solar power creates no emissions, therefore minimizing negative impact on the environment, and serves as an alternative to traditional energy sources such as fossil fuels.
“There are certain limitations with solar energy, but we’re working on it,” Baker said, noting that significant technological development still lies ahead for the field.
However, the energy source does have potential. Unlike many sources of fuel, solar energy is both abundant and inexhaustible, Baker said.
“It does not matter the season, you can always get it and always use it,” Hwang said. “If [we] can use solar energy for cooling, we are meeting the demand to the supply.”
Residents and businesses can harness solar energy in the United States, but Hwang’s team is working to expand its use through optimizing cooling systems, making solar energy easier to implement in more houses and buildings.
The project follows a nationwide trend in working to make solar power more accessible and affordable.
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The cost to install solar has dropped 73 percentage points since 2006, according to the SEIA. About 40 percent of Americans live within 20 miles of at least one solar installation, and solar energy use is expected to continue growing through 2016, according to the SEIA.
Jennifer Rooks, communications coordinator for the aerospace engineering department, said the team’s work on this project is emblematic of the research at the engineering school.
“We have a very large energy research hub here,” Rooks said. This grant “is an opportunity for us to make some leads in environmental engineering.”
