About Us

The Oklahoma Photovoltaics Research Institute is a statewide consortium focused upon education and research programs related to next generation solar cells. This multidisciplinary Institute comprises of faculty members (both experimental and theoretical) from Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, and Engineering from all three major research Universities in Oklahoma: Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Tulsa, in addition to industrial partners within the state.

The primary goal of the Institution is to foster active and sustainable collaboration across Oklahoma in research, education, and outreach and to focus and consolidate resources in terms of both expertise and infrastructure to support such efforts. Members of the Institute are committed to supporting Colleges and Schools around the state in the development of such programs, and providing opportunities and access to the resources where possible.

A significant goal of the Institute is also to facilitate active involvement of undergraduate students from Oklahoma in PV research, and to establish and strengthen existing collaborative programs that leverage state and federal funding to promote and encourage participation in PV research across Oklahoma.

Collaboration and engagement with the members is strongly encouraged and we as a group are committed to encourage and support research in photovoltaics and renewable energy throughout the Sooner State. This includes helping and partnering with local colleges and schools who have an interest in PV research or education, and to provide experimental resources and expertise to enable growth of such programs throughout Oklahoma.

If you are interested in becoming an active member of the Institute, or would like help to develop programs of study and/or research in photovoltaics, we encourage you to contact members of the Institute and we will help in any way we can!

Recent and Current State Funding

• `A Nanostructured Energy Harvesting and Storage System for Space and Terrestrial Applications' (NASA EPSCoR: NNX13AN01A: 9/01/2013 – 8/31/2016)
• `Extracting the Photonic Spectrum for the Long Range Exploration of Space: A Hybrid Photovoltaic Photon Upconversion and Biological System for Energy Production and Life Support' (NASA EPSCoR: NNX15AM75A: 9/01/2015 – 8/31/2018)
• `High Efficiency Dilute Nitrides Solar Cells for Space Applications' (NASA EPSCoR: NNX16AQ97A: 9/01/2016 – 8/31/2019)
• `Cogenra-ARPA-E Novation Subcontract by DOE : Design and assembly of laminated PV-Thermal Modules' (Department of Energy ARPA-E: 01/01/2017 – 12/01/2018)

Partnerships with Industry and National Laboratories

Although the members of the Institute are primarily situated in the three main research Universities around Oklahoma, partnerships with both industry and national laboratories around the United States also contribute significantly to the programs of the Faculty and groups involved. Indeed, Amethyst Research Inc. (ARI), based in Ardmore, Oklahoma is a committed partner to the Oklahoma PV Research Institute and has long-term partnerships with several of the academic members of the Institute. These relationships have led to a number of very fruitful research programs, securing funding via several sources including: OCAST, National Science Foundation and the NASA EPSCoR programs. In addition to ARI, collaborative links have been established with MiaSolé, a thin-film CIGS Company based in San Jose, CA, and CHREA-CNRS, a French National Laboratory based in Valbonne in Southern France. Furthermore, members of the Institute also have close relationships and collaborative programs with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and the Oak-Ridge National Laboratory here in the United States. The Oklahoma PV Research Institute is also a committed partner to the Sooner Renewable Energy Initiative at the University of Oklahoma, and the OK-LSAMP programs.

To further expand on this interactions the partners in the Oklahoma PV Research Institute are keen to establish and strengthen links with other industrial partners and National Laboratories. Interested partners should contact the Director of the Institute or Steering Committee directly.

Spotlight

Congratulations to the #OKPVRI2023 Poster Award winners!

Graduate awards

1st Place: Mohi Naderi (OSU)

2nd: Tamanna Pinky (OU)

3rd: Ashley Kennedy (NSU)

Undergraduate awards

1st Place: Rachel Galfo (NSU)

2nd: Ethan Falconetti (TU) 3rd: Sarah Saleh (NSU)

Recent News

• Congratulations to Dr. Afshari!
  
• Congratulations to Dr. BRIAN LEININGER! He successfully defended his dissertation on 4/20 of this year.
  
• The members of the @OKPVRI congratulate Dr. Ian Sellers (@SellersPVGroup), Center Associate Director and Ted S. Webb Presidential Professor @OUPhysAstro, on his well-deserved promotion to Full Professor! We thank him for his numerous contributions to growing PV research in OK.
  

Upcoming and Recent Events

• We thank Prof. @WhittakerBrooks from @UtahChemistry for presenting the OSU Physics Colloquium and @OKPVRI Plenary Symposium. You can see her fantastic talk, Chirality-, Ionic-, and Spin- Induced Electronic Transfer in Organometal Halide Semiconductors. Link
• OKPVRI Plenary Symposium Ultra-thin photovoltaics for space power applications Louise Hirst, University of Cambridge 10:00 AM CST, Tuesday November 16th, 2021 Online via Zoom, abstract and registration at: Link
• OKPVRI research @ the Joint Fall 2021 Meeting of the Texas Sections of APS, AAPT, and SPS! Friday, October 22, 2021: M02.00005: Lead-free All-perovskite Tandem Solar Cell by Duha & Borunda
• Jan. 25, 2021, RF100 Solar Energy Forum - Distributed Generation
• Jan. 15, 2021, OKPVRI Symposium
• Dec. 03, 2020, OU Colloquium: Nancy Haegel - National Renewable Energy Laboratory Multi-Terawatt-Scale Photovoltaics: Trajectories and Challenges
• Nov. 06, 2020, OSU CMP Seminar: Makhsud Saidaminov - University of Victoria Perovskite solar cells: why they perform well and degrade fast?

Recent Publications

• FACsPb Triple Halide Perovskite Solar Cells with Thermal Operation over 200 °C | ACS Energy Letters Link
• Temperature-Dependent Carrier Extraction and the Effects of Excitons on Emission and Photovoltaic Performance in Cs0.05FA0.79MA0.16Pb(I0.83Br0.17)3 Solar Cells | ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Link

More publications by OKPVRI can be found here:

Publications