Purdue Receives Funding for Solar Research

The tuition and fee recommendations will now go to the Executive Committee for a May 31 public hearing

Purdue University has received a $4.8 million federal grant to help improve solar power technology. The three-year grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot initiative.

Vice President Joe Biden announced the award winners Wednesday. Purdue says the goal is to test the material limitations often found in critical components at large-scale solar power plants.

"This is a highly-collaborative multidisciplinary effort. The heat exchanger is one of the critical choke points in the concentrated solar power system that needs to be enhanced to make this technology cost effective," Purdue’s School of Materials Engineering Kenneth Sandhage said.

Purdue says the research will involve professors from Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Wisconsin. Researchers from the three schools will work in three main areas: processing, properties, and performance of the advanced heat exchangers.