A clean energy revolution is under way in Washington state, and the 91̽�� is well positioned to be its epicenter.

Fueled by increasing demand for new generations of solar cells and batteries — buoyed by investments from the Biden and Inslee administrations as part of efforts to reduce carbon emissions — the marketplace for these industries is being measured in the billions and trillions of dollars, experts say.

With abundant hydroelectricity, manufacturing capacity and a supportive state government, Washington’s economic future is staked, in part, to clean energy.

“The drivers of a modern economy are clean technologies,” said Brian Young, Gov. Jay Inslee’s evangelist for clean energy technologies.

Young, who works for the state Department of Commerce, travels the world encouraging businesses large and small to learn what Washington has to offer: manufacturing capacity, advanced technology solutions, a skilled workforce and a history of leading-edge research and development anchored by the UW, Washington State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

“We are on the radar, both nationally and internationally,” Young said.

This fertile ground for economic development and growth has been nurtured for more than two decades. Gov. Inslee has advocated for moving away from fossil fuels since he served in Congress, and pushed for investments in clean energy throughout his tenure as governor.

In 2013, as a complement to Inslee’s Clean Energy Fund, the 91̽��established the Clean Energy Institute, a collaborative, interdisciplinary academic hub aimed at discovering new ways to harness clean, scalable and equitable energy solutions and to help industry partners bring these solutions to the marketplace.

And, with direct Clean Energy Fund investment in 2017, the 91̽��opened the CEI’s Washington Clean Energy Testbeds, a high-tech lab that has become a portal for researchers and industry partners to collaborate on clean energy solutions through cutting-edge technology, state-of-the-art materials development and scalable production techniques.

“The Testbeds provide the bridge for those technologies to get over that first chasm from lab experiments to pilot demonstration,” said Rick Luebbe, CEO of Group14 Technologies, a battery materials company that continues to use the facility’s equipment to expand its technology platform.

Housed inside a plain, former manufacturing plant next to University Village, the Clean Energy Testbeds give clients laboratory, computing and manufacturing capabilities, supported by 91̽��experts.

“They can come through and can scale more quickly, and reach the marketplace and partners more quickly,” said Daniel Schwartz, the CEI director.

Inside the Clean Energy Testbeds there are devices that replicate the power of the sun. A supercomputer can simulate a power grid. And a printing press can produce battery parts and solar panel arrays, thousands in a minute. It’s a kind of open-access Willy Wonka factory that transforms ideas and innovations into next generation, clean-energy commodities.

Research at the Testbeds will revolutionize e-transportation as we know it, said Jerry Schwartz (no relation to the CEI director), CEO of battery materials startup Ecellix. His company is working on technology to increase battery storage and life while decreasing cost and weight.

“You know, it’s been 100 years since cars really were transformed … since Henry Ford,” Jerry Schwartz said. “Now, this battery is going to change our world, change it dramatically, change everything.”

Ecellix’s technology and others like it will democratize the electric vehicle space, he added. Instead of $100,000, the price today for a Tesla X with a 300-mile range, Schwartz predicts consumer options for about $25,000, roughly in line with a Honda Civic.

The company’s origins stem from research at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and WSU. But instead of building facilities in Pullman, Schwartz looked across the Cascades to the UW’s Testbeds.

“It would have cost us several millions of dollars of direct investment to have the same capabilities we had at the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds on day one,” Schwartz said.

About half of the Testbeds’ users are from companies like Ecellix and Group14, which pay hourly rates that give their engineers access to the facilities and equipment. Other clients include giant corporations like Microsoft, county utility operations and small startups. Academic researchers, supported by state and federal money, round out the teams working side by side inside the Clean Energy Testbeds.

Even though some of the companies using the Clean Energy Testbeds are competitors — both Group14 and Ecellix are pursuing silicon battery solutions — the fertile Washington state climate for clean energy technologies fosters collaboration.

“The market is so huge that we’re not competing with other silicon battery companies,” Luebbe, of Group14, said. “We’re competing with conventional graphite-based lithium-ion batteries.”

Most negative electrodes in electric vehicle batteries today are manufactured with graphite. Silicon, the transformational technology in Group14 and Ecellix’s batteries, can store more juice, cost and weigh less, and recharge in about the time it would take to fill a tank with gasoline.

Group14 materials are slated to be in 2024 electric Porsche batteries. In the future, the company plans to commercialize batteries for all kinds of mobility, including freight and flight. They are selling silicon battery materials as fast as they can make them at plants in South Korea, Woodinville and, coming in 2024, Moses Lake.

Existing infrastructure in Washington state can help expand these endeavors. REC Silicon, for example, operates one of the largest silicon solar cell plants in the world in Moses Lake. A byproduct of its operation is a key ingredient in silicon batteries, making central Washington an attractive hub for this growing field.

The Washington state constellation of clean energy expertise — from its research institutions to manufacturing sites — builds off the principle that the work is imperative to environmental stewardship.

Daniel Schwartz, the CEI director, said that, because of the institute’s work, the 91̽��and its partners are having outsized influence on the national conversation for how to align private, state and federal funding toward the clean energy innovation imperative.

At a recent roundtable convened by the Energy Futures Initiative, Breakthrough Energy and the Department of Energy, Daniel Schwartz said he was surprised to learn that the 91̽��was the only university represented.

“The 91̽��is charting a unique path to clean energy innovation, and it is getting noticed nationally,” said Schwartz, who also is the Boeing-Sutter Professor of Chemical Engineering and an adjunct professor of materials science and engineering at the UW.

The successful relationship of academia working alongside enterprise also means opportunities for 91̽��students, from undergraduate internships to placements for postdoctoral researchers at companies hungry for expertise, Schwartz said.

“We have a huge opportunity to meet our climate goals, but also implement new technologies, develop new technologies. And we need a partner who can bridge that research and commercialization gap,” said Young, the state’s clean energy economic development lead. “That’s the Clean Energy Testbeds. That’s the 91̽��.”

For more information, contact Schwartz at dts@uw.edu.

Working together with leading domestic solar companies, the and its , the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Toledo have formed the , or US-MAP. This research and development coalition aims to accelerate the domestic commercialization of perovskite technologies.

are an emerging class of materials that can be inexpensively made from abundant elements and engineered to convert light to electricity at high efficiencies — ideal for solar energy. The universities and National Renewable Energy Laboratory will offer the participating companies access to, and support in, their complementary cleantech fabrication, characterization and testing facilities. In turn, representatives from each of the member companies will form an industry advisory board that will guide the efforts performed at the research institutions.

“US-MAP harnesses the power of the best perovskite researchers and resources in the nation to help U.S. solar companies continue to innovate and bring this exciting technology to market,” said , 91̽��materials science & engineering and mechanical engineering associate professor and Washington Clean Energy Testbeds technical director. “Indeed, UW’s Washington Clean Energy Testbeds, an open-access facility for developing and testing energy devices and systems, has been working with solar startups and we’re eager to help other U.S. companies tap into our staff scientists’ expertise and utilize our best-in-class instruments, including our multi-stage roll-to-roll printer for flexible electronics.”

US-MAP founding member companies include: , Energy Materials Corporation, First Solar, Hunt Perovskites Technologies, Swift Solar and Tandem PV. As members of the industry advisory board, company representatives will shape R&D directions and priorities and will be engaged actively in selecting and evaluating projects. The founding organizers — the 91̽��, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Toledo — will serve on the executive board and oversee delivery of projects.

BlueDot Photonics is a Seattle-based startup building next-generation solar panels and other photonic devices.

“US-MAP will help startups like ours access critical expertise required to prove manufacturability and product reliability, while maintaining ownership of intellectual property,” said BlueDot Photonics CEO Jared Silvia. “This network and its facilities will assist us in de-risking key hurdles to commercialization that will benefit all perovskite-based technologies. This will allow companies like ours to shorten the development cycle for products to satisfy customers and our investors.”

In addition to solar energy, perovskites have shown tremendous promise in a range of other technologies, including solid-state lighting, advanced radiation detection, dynamic sensing and actuation, photo-catalysis and quantum information science. Early investments by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office and its Office of Science into perovskite research at the founding organizations have enabled the U.S. to engage at the forefront of many of these technology areas and fostered a vibrant community of industrial leaders.

“Washington state has long been a leader in clean energy innovation and institutions like 91̽��continue to play a critical role in moving our nation’s vital energy research needs forward,” said U.S. Senator Patty Murray, D-WA, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I am encouraged by the work of UW’s Washington Clean Energy Testbeds and its potential for scaling up clean energy adoption — and perovskite technologies, in general — and will continue fighting in the Senate for strengthened investments in these research and technology developments that will help families and communities thrive.”

“ 91̽��has played an incredible role in renewable energy and is now bringing together some of the best researchers and innovators in the country to develop this next-generation technology to expand the use of solar to more homes and businesses across the country,” said U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, D-WA.

“This coalition represents what America does best: partnership for innovation and societal benefit,” said U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, whose district includes the UW. “The United States should and can lead in solar manufacturing, water power and wind energy — and I know Washington can play a role in getting us there through our outstanding public research institutions like the 91̽�� and our promising startups.”

Researchers and companies looking to access resources, capabilities, and expertise within the US-MAP Consortium should visit .

For more information, contact Suzanne Offen with the UW’s at soffen@uw.edu.

Ginger’s project, which will receive $1.25 million, focuses on developing new methods to alleviate the impact of defects in perovskite solar cells. Perovskites are printable crystalline compounds that can harvest sunlight and convert it to electricity at efficiencies comparable to silicon-based semiconductors used in today’s solar cells. Perovskite solar cells could be printed on roll-to-roll printers like newspapers, reducing manufacturing costs. They are a rapidly growing branch of solar cell research and development, and , operated by the CEI, includes facilities for developing and testing these technologies, including a 30-foot-long multistage roll-to-roll printer.

Atomic-scale defects at perovskite surfaces can reduce their performance. Previous research by Ginger’s group has shown that surface “passivation” — treating perovskites with different chemical compounds — can “heal” these defects and improve the efficiency of perovskite solar cells. But when these perovskites are assembled into solar cells, the current-collecting electrodes can create new defects, sapping efficiency. With this new funding, Ginger and his collaborators, Seth Marder and Carlos Silva at Georgia Tech, will develop new chemical passivation strategies, and new charge-collecting materials, that allow perovskites to reach their full potential while still remaining compatible with low-cost manufacturing.

Gamelin’s project, which will receive $200,000, aims to modify solar cells so they can collect high-energy photons more efficiently. Today’s solar cells can convert low-energy photons to electrical power efficiently, but the high-energy variety is converted at very low efficiency — a major source of energy loss. Gamelin’s team has developed materials that can absorb high-energy photons and emit twice as many low-energy photons, a process termed “quantum cutting.” Their SETO project seeks to integrate these materials as thin layers on the surfaces of solar cells. These surface coatings would essentially “convert” high-energy photons to low-energy photons, allowing their absorption by the solar cell and potentially doubling the current generated by the solar cell. With the new funding, Gamelin’s team will work to develop scalable deposition techniques and prototype large-area solar cells.

The funds from the Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office are part of $28 million in awards for 25 projects in photovoltaics and related fields to boost efficiency and reduce costs in solar energy, according to a March 22 from the office. The first set of selections from this program, announced late last year, included more than $2.3 million awarded to 91̽��projects.

###

The 91̽�� and its  named Kevin Klustner executive director of the . When complete, CAMCET will be a 340,000-square-foot building that will bring together 91̽��scientists and engineers with industry, civic and nonprofit partners to accelerate clean energy solutions for a healthy planet.

The building will house space for research, learning and cleantech prototyping, testing and validating. It will also offer space for organizations aligned with the UW’s clean energy innovation mission. CAMCET is the first building under consideration for a location in the 91̽��West Campus — an area designated in the for 3 million square-feet of new development that will foster a thriving collaboration ecosystem for the 91̽��and partners.

“ 91̽��and its Clean Energy Institute have helped establish Washington as a leader in clean energy innovation and the CAMCET building will catapult Washington to even greater heights,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. “With this center, our students will get the best education and prepare for jobs of the future, while our cleantech companies will grow and create good jobs for our economy.”

“ 91̽��is a powerhouse in advanced materials and clean energy research and development,” said Klustner. “CAMCET will connect these 91̽��researchers with local and global industry and nonprofit partners to bring critical clean technologies to the world. CAMCET, and West Campus at large, represents a new model for buildings on campus that will greatly benefit our students, faculty, and region and I’m proud to help lead this effort.”

Klustner has held a variety of executive roles in technology and cleantech companies. Most recently, he was the CEO of Powerit Solutions, a cloud-based industrial energy efficiency platform, which was acquired by Customized Energy Solutions. Prior to Powerit, he was the CEO of Verdiem, a venture-backed software company in the energy efficiency space. Klustner was also the chief operating officer of WRQ, a privately held enterprise networking company. While there, he helped grow the company from $15 million to $200 million in revenues.

“Kevin brings a wealth of cleantech industry experience that will help ensure CAMCET builds on UW’s strengths to create a hub for clean energy research and technology in the Pacific Northwest,” said , 91̽��CEI Director and Boeing-Sutter Professor of Chemical Engineering. “External partners that join 91̽��in CAMCET will have access to a fantastic talent pool and the instruments and technology testbeds needed to advance their ventures. With CAMCET, 91̽��will chart an exciting course for how we educate future clean energy leaders and build a community dedicated to getting clean energy technologies to market faster to combat climate change.”

In January 2018, the Washington State Legislature allocated $20 million to the 91̽��to establish CAMCET. The building will house:

• Research
  • : The CEI supports the advancement of next-generation solar energy and battery materials and devices, as well as their integration with systems and the grid.
  • : A joint research collaboration of the U.S. Department of Energy’s  and the UW.
  • Wet, dry, and computational lab space for advanced materials and clean energy research and training.
  • Market-rate leasable research spaces.
• Industry/ Government/ NGOs
  • : The CEI’s open-access, fee-for-use facility for prototyping, testing, and validating clean technologies. The facility takes no intellectual property from external users. It also hosts Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Investor-in-Residence programs available to cleantech innovators across the region.
  • Startup lab modules and hot desks.
  • Market-rate leasable spaces.
• Learning
  • Active learning spaces for students.
  • Seminar and meeting rooms.
  • Collaboration Spaces.
• Public
  • Venues for events, conferences, and K-12 and public outreach.

UW’s West Campus is located just south of the forthcoming U District Link Light Rail Station and within short walking distance of greenspace and the Portage Bay waterfront.

Subject to 91̽��Regents’ approval, 91̽��will seek a developer for CAMCET in 2019, with construction currently slated to begin in fall 2020.

###

For more information, contact Suzanne Offen with the Clean Energy Institute at +1 206-685-6410 or soffen@uw.edu.

Three teams led by 91̽�� researchers have received competitive awards totaling more than $2.3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office for projects that will advance research and development in photovoltaic materials, which are an essential component of solar cells and impact the amount of sunlight that is converted into electricity.

The 91̽��teams are led by , a professor of electrical and computer engineering; , a professor of chemical engineering; and , an associate professor of both mechanical engineering and materials science and engineering. All are also researchers with the UW-based , and MacKenzie serves as director of the institute’s . Dunham and Hillhouse are also members of the 91̽��.

Hillhouse and MacKenzie are leading projects to explore the properties and manufacturing potential of thin-film perovskites. These are printable crystalline compounds that are able to harvest photons at power conversion efficiencies almost equal to silicon-based semiconductors used in today’s solar cells, but at lower costs. But before perovskites can have a global impact on solar energy, researchers need to improve their stability and develop improved, scalable manufacturing methods.

Hillhouse’s project, awarded $1.5 million, will focus on understanding how the composition, structure, and environmental exposure of pervoskites can affect their stability and performance. This project will apply new photoluminescence imaging and video methods to combinatorial material libraries, which were fabricated at a facility built by Hillhouse with funding from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. His team will use machine learning methods to extract new information from these extremely large datasets, which could reveal the fundamental connections between nanoscopic and microscopic material features and macroscopic solar cell performance and stability. 91̽��partners in this work are , professor of statistics, and , director of research at the UW’s eScience Institute and research associate professor of chemical engineering.

MacKenzie’s project, awarded nearly $200,000, focuses on perovskite manufacturing using roll-to-roll processing techniques. In the solar energy field, roll-to-roll processing involves additively printing and coating ultra-thin solar-cell components — including thin-film perovskites — directly onto rolls of flexible material, much like applying paint to a wall or printing out a document. MacKenzie’s team will analyze the effectiveness of different techniques for depositing perovskite onto the rolls by rapidly analyzing the films as they are being printed. They will use optical probes and photoluminescence techniques to gather data on how well various roll-to-roll-produced perovskites interact with light. They can use this data to change the ways perovskites are deposited in roll-to-roll processing to manufacture higher-quality, flexible solar cells more efficiently, as well as at the production scales needed to make an economic and environmental impact. His team’s work will make use of the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds near the 91̽��campus, which include world-class roll-to-roll manufacturing facilities supported by the state of Washington and the Washington Research Foundation.

Dunham’s project, awarded $681,000, will investigate another promising material in photovoltaics research, known by its acronym CIGS — or copper indium gallium selenide. Like perovskites, CIGS is another strong and efficient absorber of photons from sunlight — a necessity for any material used in photovoltaic applications. CIGS can also be deposited onto flexible materials for incorporation into thin-film solar cells. Dunham’s research centers on understanding how variations in CIGS crystalline structure and composition affects how carriers move within the crystal and impact its sunlight-to-energy conversion rate. They plan to use this information to create models for CIGS manufacturing processes and their impact on performance efficiency, which they’ll test and refine in partnership with , a California-based solar energy company.

The awards to 91̽��teams are part of from the Solar Energy Technologies Office to develop new technologies and solutions that both reduce solar electricity costs and support growing employment in the solar field. These include projects to boost the performance and reliability of photovoltaic cells, modules and systems — as well as to reduce materials and processing costs.

###

Many innovations of 21st century life, from touch screens and electric cars to fiber-optics and implantable devices, grew out of research on new materials. This impact of materials science on today’s world has prompted two of the leading research institutions in the Pacific Northwest to join forces to research and develop new materials that will significantly influence tomorrow’s world.

With this eye toward the future, the Department of Energy’s and the announced the creation of the — or NW IMPACT — a joint research endeavor to power discoveries and advancements in materials that transform energy, telecommunications, medicine, information technology and other fields. 91̽��President and PNNL Director formally launched NW IMPACT during a ceremony Jan. 31 at the PNNL campus in Richland, Washington.

“This partnership holds enormous potential for innovations in materials science that could lead to major changes in our lives and the world,” said Cauce. “We are excited to strengthen the ties between our two organizations, which bring complementary strengths and a shared passion for ground-breaking discovery.”

“The science of making new materials is vital to a wide range of advancements, many of which we have yet to imagine,” said Ashby. “By combining ideas, talent and resources, I have no doubt our two organizations will find new ways to improve lives and provide our next generation of materials scientists with valuable research opportunities.”

The institute builds on a history of successful partnerships between the 91̽��and PNNL, including joint faculty appointments and past collaborations such as the , the PNNL-led and a new UW-based . But NW IMPACT is the beginning of a long-term partnership, forging deeper ties between the 91̽��and PNNL.

The goal is to leverage these respective strengths to enable discoveries, innovations and educational opportunities that would not have been possible by either institution alone.

“By partnering the 91̽��and PNNL together through NW IMPACT, the sum will truly be greater than the parts,” said David Ginger, a 91̽��professor of chemistry and chief scientist at the 91̽��.  “We are joining together our expertise and experiences to create the next generation of leaders who will create the materials of the future.”

Ginger will co-lead the institution in its initial phase with Jim De Yoreo, chief scientist for materials synthesis and simulation across scales at PNNL and a joint appointee at the UW.

Over its first few years, NW IMPACT aims to hire a permanent institute director, who will be based at both PNNL and the UW; create at least 20 new joint UW-PNNL appointments among existing researchers; streamline access to research facilities at the UW’s Seattle campus and PNNL’s Richland campus for institute projects; involve at least 20 new 91̽��graduate students in PNNL- 91̽��collaborations; and provide seed grants to institute-affiliated researchers to tackle new scientific frontiers in a collaborative fashion.

Some of the areas in which NW IMPACT will initially focus include:

• Materials for energy conversion and storage, which can be applied to more efficient solar cells, batteries and industrial applications. These include innovative approaches to create flexible, ultrathin solar cells for buildings or fabrics, long-lasting batteries for implantable medical devices, catalysts to enable high efficiency energy conversion and industrial processes, and manufacturing methods to synthesize these materials efficiently for commercial applications.
• Quantum materials, such as ultrathin semiconductors or other materials that can harness the rules of quantum mechanics at subatomic-level precision for applications in quantum computing, telecommunications and beyond.
• Materials for water separation and utilization, which include processes to make water purification and ocean desalination methods faster, cheaper and more energy-efficient.
• Biomimetic materials, which are synthetic materials inspired by the structures and design principles of biological molecules and materials within our cells — including proteins and DNA. These materials could be applicable in medical settings for implantable devices or tissue engineering, and for self-assembled protein-like scaffolds in industrial settings.

“The science of making materials involves understanding where the atoms must be placed in order to obtain the properties needed for specific applications, and then understanding how to get the atoms where they need to be,” said De Yoreo.

NW IMPACT will draw on the unique strengths and talents of each institution for innovative collaborations in these areas. For example, PNNL has broad expertise in materials for improved batteries. The lab also offers best-in-class imaging, NMR and mass spectrometry capabilities at , a DOE Office of Science user facility. DOE supports fundamental research at PNNL in chemistry, physics and materials sciences that are key to materials development. The 91̽��brings complementary facilities and equipment to the partnership, such as the and a cryo-electron microscopy facility, as well as expertise in a variety of “big data” research and training endeavors, highly rated research and education programs, and ongoing materials research projects through the National Science Foundation-funded .

###

For more information, contact James Urton with the 91̽��News Office at 206-543-2580 or jurton@uw.edu and Susan Bauer with the PNNL News & Media Relations Office at 509-372-6083 or susan.bauer@pnnl.gov.

The institute was launched at a reception Dec.  4 at its headquarters in the $87.8-million Nano Engineering and Sciences Building. During the event, speakers including 91̽��officials and NanoES partners celebrated the NanoES mission to capitalize on the university’s strong record of research at the nanoscale and engage partners in industry at the onset of new projects.

The vision of the NanoES, which is part of the UW’s , is to act as a magnet for researchers in nanoscale science and engineering, with a focus on enabling industry partnership and entrepreneurship at the earliest stages of research projects. According to , director of the NanoES and a 91̽��professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering, this unique approach will hasten the development of solutions to the field’s most pressing challenges: the manufacturing of scalable, high-yield nano-engineered systems for applications in information processing, energy, health and interconnected life.

“The 91̽�� is well known for its expertise in nanoscale materials, processing, physics and biology — as well as its cutting-edge nanofabrication, characterization and testing facilities,” said Böhringer, who stepped down as director of the UW-based to lead the NanoES. “NanoES will build on these strengths, bringing together people, tools and opportunities to develop nanoscale devices and systems.”

The centerpiece of the NanoES is its headquarters, the Nano Engineering and Sciences Building. The building houses 90,300 square feet of research and learning space, and was funded largely by the College of Engineering and . It contains an active learning classroom, a teaching laboratory and a 3,000-square-foot common area designed expressly to promote the sharing and exchanging of ideas. The remainder includes “incubator-style” office space and more than 40,000 square feet of flexible multipurpose laboratory and instrumentation space. The building’s location and design elements are intended to limit vibrations and electromagnetic interference so it can house sensitive experiments.

NanoES will house research in nanotechnology fields that hold promise for high impact, such as:

• Augmented humanity, which includes technology to both aid and replace human capability in a way that joins user and machine as one – and foresees portable, wearable, implantable and networked technology for applications such as personalized medical care, among others.
• Integrated photonics, which ranges from single-photon sensors for health care diagnostic tests to large-scale, integrated networks of photonic devices.
• Scalable nanomanufacturing, which aims to develop low-cost, high-volume manufacturing processes. These would translate device prototypes constructed in research laboratories into system- and network-level nanomanufacturing methods for applications ranging from the 3-D printing of cell and tissue scaffolds to ultrathin solar cells.

Collaborations with other UW-based institutions will provide additional resources for the NanoES. Endeavors in scalable nanomanufacturing, for example, will rely on the roll-to-roll processing facility at the 91̽��‘s or on advanced surface characterization capabilities at the . In addition, the Washington Nanofabrication Facility recently completed a three-year, $37 million upgrade to raise it to an ISO Class 5 nanofabrication facility.

91̽��faculty and outside collaborators will build new research programs in the Nano Engineering and Sciences Building. , a 91̽��professor of electrical engineering, recently moved part of his synthetic biology research team to the building, adjacent to his collaborators in the and the .

“We are extremely excited about the interdisciplinary and collaborative potential of the new space,” said Klavins.

The NanoES also has already produced its first spin-out company, Tunoptix, which was co-founded by Böhringer and recently received startup funding from , a U.K.-based venture capital firm.

“IP Group is very excited to work with the 91̽��,” said Nena Golubovic, physical sciences director for IP Group. “We are looking forward to the new collaborations and developments in science and technology that will grow from this new partnership.”

“We are eager to work with our partners at the IP Group to bring our technology to the market, and we appreciate their vision and investment in the NanoES Integrated Photonics Initiative,” said Tunoptix entrepreneurial lead Mike Robinson. “NanoES was the ideal environment in which to start our company.”

The NanoES leaders hope to forge similar partnerships with researchers, investors and industry leaders to develop technologies for portable, wearable, implantable and networked nanotechnologies for personalized medical care, a more efficient interconnected life and interconnected mobility. In addition to expertise, personnel and state-of-the-art research space and equipment, the NanoES will provide training, research support and key connections to capital and corporate partners.

“We believe this unique approach is the best way to drive innovations from idea to fabrication to scale-up and testing,” said Böhringer. “Some of the most promising solutions to these huge challenges are rooted in nanotechnology.”

The NanoES is supported by funds from the College of Engineering and the National Science Foundation, as well as capital investments from investors and industry partners.

###

For more information, contact Böhringer at 206-221-5177 or karl@ee.washington.edu and Jevne Micheau-Cunningham, deputy director of the NanoES, at 206-685-3015 or jevne@uw.edu.

A new facility for accelerating the clean energy innovation cycle opened in Seattle Feb. 16. The , a research unit at the 91̽��, created the to increase the rate at which breakthrough science and engineering discoveries turn into market-adopted clean energy technologies. The state-of-the-art user facility has labs for manufacturing prototypes, testing devices and integrating systems. CEI unveiled the Testbeds at a celebration with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, cleantech leaders and clean energy researchers.

“The process of taking a clean energy research discovery and making a prototype, then rigorously testing and refining it for market readiness, requires equipment and expertise that is expensive to acquire, and rarely available when and where you need it,” said CEI director and 91̽��professor . “As a result, too many start-ups have great ideas, but fail before fully demonstrating their technology. Amazingly, lack of easy access to facilities and expertise is often a barrier for big companies, too. The Washington Clean Energy Testbeds centralize these resources to help shorten the time between clean energy idea to prototype, while reducing the capital and providing the expertise a company needs to get a viable product in the hands of customers.”

Located in a former sheet metal fabrication facility near UW’s Seattle campus, the 15,000-square-foot Washington Clean Energy Testbeds provide researchers and cleantech businesses customized training and access to top-quality fabrication, characterization and computational instruments. Specifically, these instruments are for printing, coating and testing the materials and devices needed to achieve ultra-low-cost solar cells and batteries; as well as developing the system integration software and hardware to optimize the performance of devices and systems like vehicles, buildings and the grid. At the Testbeds, users can:

• Print ultra-low-cost, thin-film solar cells and electronic devices using novel electronic inks.
• Fabricate and test new battery systems to dramatically increase performance without compromising safety.
• Develop and test energy management software that controls and optimizes how batteries, vehicles and buildings integrate with a clean energy grid.

The Washington State Legislature provided 91̽��$8 million to plan and design the Testbeds. CEI engaged 91̽��faculty, regional cleantech leaders and national research institutions like the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to create a facility that serves clean energy innovators.

“The Washington Clean Energy Testbeds are a tremendous resource for Washington’s and the world’s visionary clean energy entrepreneurs and researchers,” said Gov. Inslee. “I applaud CEI for building a center that will lead to the development of technologies to benefit our economy and environment. Our state’s commitment to clean energy remains strong.”

For comparison, access to public energy research and testbed facilities often involves a competitive application and approval process. The Washington Clean Energy Testbeds’ open-access model requires only an initial consultation with Testbed management to ensure project feasibility and safety. Open-access is ideal for researchers and companies that want to rapidly advance their ideas.

“I wish these Testbeds existed when EnerG2 was developing its advanced carbon materials for energy storage,” said EnerG2 CEO Rick Luebbe. “This specialized facility connects clean energy startups to a supportive university, talented people, and the necessary instruments. It’s unlike anything in the country and offers a smart solution for slashing the time and funding needed to de-risk a technology concept.”

Professor , a seasoned cleantech entrepreneur and global expert in electronic materials and emerging manufacturing methods for energy devices, displays and communication, will lead the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds. MacKenzie has founded and led five startup companies and holds over 110 patents and publications. In addition to leading the Testbeds and teaching at UW, he is currently the chief technical officer of Imprint Energy, a UC Berkeley spinout developing flexible, high-energy batteries based on large-area print manufacturing.

At the Testbeds, MacKenzie manages a staff of trained experts in fabrication and analysis of energy systems and devices. They work on-site to train users and support research and development efforts.

“CEI’s vision for an open-access clean energy testbed model based at a world-class university with an innovation focus brought me from the Bay Area to Seattle,” said MacKenzie. “I’m thrilled to help foster a community of distinguished faculty, bright students, and cleantech businesses that will work together to create solutions for a healthy planet.”

The “Scale-up & Characterization” portion of the Testbeds offers a platform for prototyping authentic-scale solar and storage devices as well as testing manufacturing processes. The lab includes a 30-ft-long multistage roll-to-roll printer for solar cells, batteries, sensors, optical films and thin-film devices and is the only one of its kind in the United States. The Washington Research Foundation (WRF), an organization that provides grants to support research and scholarship in Washington State, funded this sophisticated instrument and helped recruit MacKenzie and staff to Seattle.

The “Scale-up & Characterization” lab also includes a controlled humidity and temperature room to enable specialized fabrication under precise atmospheric conditions. The collection of characterization instruments in the lab form a unique roster of capabilities tailored specifically for supporting scaled energy devices and modules. They allow for rigorous testing of new devices using solar simulators, environmental test chambers, battery cyclers, electron microscopes, X-ray spectrometers and other instruments.

WRF Innovation Professor and Kyocera Professor from 91̽��will use the “Scale-up and Characterization” lab for their work with the Battery500 consortium. Battery500 is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program led by PNNL that aims to develop next-generation lithium batteries that have more than double the “specific energy” found in the batteries that power today’s electric cars. The multi-disciplinary consortium includes leaders from DOE, national labs, universities and industry, all of which are working together to make smaller, lighter and less expensive batteries that manufacturers can adopt.

The “Systems Integration” lab at the Testbeds provides an evaluation platform for testing the performance of energy devices and algorithms when integrated into real and simulated system environments. For example, a real-time digital simulator (RTDS) allows for modeling commercial and grid-scale system performance under normal and extreme conditions. System integration experiments using the RTDS can involve new software algorithms that control or optimize power infrastructure. The lab also includes flexible power hardware and battery storage devices up to 40 kW in scale, allowing authentic testing at the scale of an electric vehicle or commercial building. Battery Informatics, Inc., a 91̽��spinout company, is using the Testbeds’ systems integration tools to evaluate the performance of their self-learning battery management system.

Another research initiative housed at the “Systems Integration” lab includes the Transactive Campus Energy Systems project. This first-of-its-kind regional partnership with UW, PNNL and Washington State University seeks to develop and demonstrate the technologies to cost effectively balance energy use among buildings, campuses and cities. Funding for this project comes from the Washington Department of Commerce’s Clean Energy Fund and DOE. 91̽��professors and lead this project for 91̽��and Testbeds users can access data researchers are drawing from devices and systems across UW’s campus.

“The Washington Clean Energy Testbeds harness the research knowledge and technical expertise of 91̽��faculty and students for the creation of clean energy technologies that are cost-effective and reduce carbon emissions,” said 91̽��President . “And this facility will help train students in the software and hardware that underpins smart manufacturing and smart grid solutions, creating a pipeline of talent for the next generation of clean energy innovations.”

In addition to lab space, the Testbeds offer users meeting and office space where they can work, collaborate, and further build their cleantech community. An entrepreneur-in-residence, currently John Plaza, will hold regular office hours. With more than 20 years of experience in the renewable energy sector, Plaza will provide users with insights about the commercialization process, target markets, product development, and fundraising strategies.

In summer 2017, CEI will open its Research Training testbed for students on UW’s campus. Part of the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds system, this facility provides 91̽��students access to research-quality tools and training in clean energy concepts that cut across academic disciplines. CEI member faculty will host laboratory courses in the space and Testbeds users can access the additional instrumentation when not in use for teaching purposes.

###

For more information, contact Suzanne Offen at soffen@uw.edu or 206-685-6410.