Computer Simulations Help Predict Winner in Solar Power Battle

10/08/2013

Fargo, N.D. – Researchers at North Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota are using computer simulations to determine whether quantum dots or nanowires would make better solar collectors for the development of future solar panels. The research team includes Andre Kryjevski, research assistant professor of physics and NDSU Center for Computationally Assisted Science and Technology; Svetlana Kilina, NDSU assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Dimitri Kilin, University of South Dakota.

The team's research results are published in the American Institute of Physics' Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4817728 The group used computational modeling to examine quantum dots, one-dimensional chains of quantum dots and a nanowire to determine their potential application for solar energy collection.

The results, Kryjevski said, show that placing amorphous quantum dots in an array or merging them into a nanowire results in what may be the most effective approach to maximizing efficiency, but he said additional research needs to be done. The Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal covering all areas of renewable and sustainable energy that apply to the physical science and engineering communities.

NDSU, Fargo, North Dakota, USA, is notably listed among the top 108 U.S. public and private universities in the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education’s category of “Research Universities/Very High Research Activity.” As a student-focused, land grant, research institution, NDSU is listed in the Top 100 research universities in the U.S. for R&D in computer science, chemistry, physical sciences, psychology, social sciences, and agricultural sciences, based on research expenditures reported to the National Science Foundation. www.ndsu.edu/research