Nagios
SDLE SunFarm
Global SunFarm Network
Automated Image Processing
b
b

Pioneering Lifetime and Degradation Science and Technology Development

The SDLE Research Center at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a world-class research center dedicated to data science and analytics applied to materials and energy sciences.

Established in 2011 by Prof. Roger H. French, the SDLE Center focuses on:-

○ Lifetime and degradation science of solar photovoltaic (PV) materials, and other environmentally exposed, long-lived (>25 years) technologies

○ Accelerated laboratory and outdoor real-world exposures and evaluations of outdoor exposed technologies such as solar, led lighting and building envelope materials

○ Energy efficiency and virtual energy auditing of buildings, using engineering epidemiology and data analytics

○ Data-mining, statistical- and machine-learning applied to materials

○ Petabyte/Petaflop big data analytics applied to time-series, spectral and image datasets

○ Non-relational data warehousing and analytics environment for complex systems

 


News


NEW AUTOMATED SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM RECEIVES $1 MILLION GRANT

New system reduces racking and installation costs of current systems by 33 percent
CLEVELAND – Acme Express Inc., a Cleveland-based, technology development company, has
been awarded a $1-million Small Business Innovation Research grant funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. The grant will enable Acme to
research and develop Roll-A-Rack, a new patent-pending solar-panel racking system that reduces racking and installation costs of traditional systems by 33 percent.

SDLE is Adding Two New Research Positions

Postdoctoral Scholar Position
In Photovoltaic Degradation and Data Science

CWRU Research Team talks Data Science in Halliburton Exploration Insights Magazine

In August, three of the authors (French, Heo and Carter) had the opportunity to attend LIFE2018, the Halliburton Landmark Innovation Forum and Expo. This event highlighted the importance of maintaining an innovative spirit to drive exploration in a field ripe with legacy data and infrastructure. It underlined the need for the oil and gas industry to embrace new methods of data science and analytics to solve the fast-moving technological challenges.

The Solar Panel Doctors (Inside Climate News)

Manufacturers are ramping up production of a new kind of solar panel that’s 10 percent more efficient than the standard silicon panels used by utilities today. But there’s a catch—big questions remain about whether these panels will last as long out in the elements.

EERE Success Story—Researchers Illuminate Solar Panel Wear and Tear to Improve Longevity

Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels can last for 25 years or more, but before they hit the market they must undergo testing and meet stringent reliability standards. Now researchers at Case Western Reserve University are pairing advanced imaging techniques with statistical analyses to get an even deeper look into the damages—not visible to the eye—that lead to power loss over a panel’s lifetime.

Solar power output up 10 percent in new panels, CWRU awarded federal grant to test durability (The Plain Dealer)

Case Western Reserve University has been awarded a $1.47 million federal grant to determine the durability of a new, more powerful solar panel design already commercially available.
 
The hot new design -- known in the industry as "Passivated Emitter Rear Cell," or PERC -- typically boosts the output of an off-the-shelf solar panel by 10 percent.

Case Western Reserve University’s SDLE Center receives $1.47 million SunShot grant

The Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension (SDLE) Research Center at Case Western Reserve University, an organization that conducts degradation research on solar energy devices and materials, has been awarded a $1.47 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative.

Engineering researchers apply data science to better predict effect of weather and other conditions on solar panels

In a new study, a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University and Gebze Technical University (GTU) in Turkey used data science to determine and predict the effects of exposure to weather and other conditions on materials in solar panels.