Professor Andrei Afanasev, GW Department of Physics and Professor Mona Zaghloul, chairman of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, have received a $150,000 grant over two years from Dominion Virginia Power. Their project seeks to engineer solar cells that use the unique properties of quantum dots to raise conversion efficiency of solar light into electricity.
In Jan. 16, 2013 press release Governor McDonnell applauded Dominion Virginia Power’s selection of several Virginia universities to receive renewable energy research and development funding totaling $1.4 million from Dominion Virginia Power, as part of the company’s new R&D Partnership Program. The development and funding of these projects was prompted by successful legislation proposed by the Governor last session that provides utilities credit for these investments toward meeting their statutory RPS goals.
“Dominion Virginia Power is providing the seed money necessary for alternative and renewable energy research in Virginia and helping to keep the Commonwealth on track to becoming the ‘Energy Capital of the East Coast’,” Governor McDonnell said. “This funding will provide dividends to all Virginians in the future while Dominion today is adding renewable solar and biomass energy and is in the early stages of testing wind generation off the coast of Virginia. The Virginia General Assembly is to be commended for allowing such R&D activities to count toward utilities meeting the goals of the commonwealth’s renewable portfolio standard. Virginia welcomes initiatives like these to develop technologies that can increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of renewable energy resources and support broad integration of Virginia’s alternative energy resources into a diverse energy portfolio.”
This grant was one of eight awards to universities in Virginia.