Solar Steps Up and Shines On (Part 1)

While our federal government attempts to curtail solar, states and other countries are benefiting from advances in solar technologies, applications and performance. In a two-part series, we cover how solar has advanced, where it is going in the near term, and how it is helping to advance development internationally. On June 30, Villanova University Professor Pritpal Singh will share solar considerations, technology and the opportunities they offer to springboard development around the world. On July 28, commercial and residential solar Application Engineer, Gil Jones, will examine how technology, manufacturing and application experience have improved solar performance, reliability and cost from a world leading industrial supplier’s perspective.

This presentation was recorded and can be viewed by clicking on the Play button below.

Professor Singh has a long history of teaching, researching and applying solar and related technologies. He uses this deep knowledge and experience to outline considerations for Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Starting with traditional cell technologies, he addresses more recent advances in cell/PV module technologies and their commercialization. He also shows the PV technology price reductions over time. Dr. Singh also addresses advances in related battery technologies and their application and integration with Solar PV to create a more fully functional energy source. Finally he addresses how solar energy has aided international development.

Dr. Pritpal Singh is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Villanova University. He received his BSc in Physics from the University of Birmingham in England in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Applied Science/Electrical Engineering from the University of Delaware in 1984.

Dr. Singh has been a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Villanova University for 41 years. He teaches post-graduate courses in power electronics, renewable energy systems, electrochemical power sources, and smart grid systems and undergraduate courses in analog electronics. Dr. Singh has performed research in solar cell materials including amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, and zinc telluride. He has experience with electrochemical materials fabrication and characterization including scanning electron microscopy. He has over 25 years of research experience in energy storage and performed pioneering work in fuzzy logic-based state-of-charge (SoC) and state-of-health (SoH) estimation of batteries for a wide variety of chemistries and PEM fuel cells. He has also designed and built battery management instrumentation. He has over 150 peer reviewed conference and journal publications and has consulted for the US Department of Energy on thin film solar cell research as well as energy systems. His recent research has been focused on novel techniques for lithium-ion and lead acid battery SOC and SOH characterization. Dr. Singh was awarded the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES) 2022 Duncan Fraser Award for Excellence in Engineering Education.