Energy & Resources Group

Search Results for 'solar power'

ERG Site

Affiliated Faculty

ERG has a small core faculty but a much larger group (100+) of affiliated faculty. Affiliated faculty are based in other departments on campus or at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and share ERG’s commitment to shared learning and interdisciplinary work. They are advisors, mentors, or employers to ERG students, and serve on master’s project, […]

Analysis & Control (EMAC) Energy Modeling

The Energy Modeling, Analysis and Control (EMAC) group addresses the engineering and techno-economic challenges to decarbonizing electric power systems. Our work ranges from applied to theoretical. Much of our work focuses on building new control and optimization frameworks to facilitate the operation of low carbon grids.

Faculty by Primary Interest

Areas of Interest Climate Change Ecology Energy Governance Water International Climate Change ERG CORE David Anthoff David Anthoff is an environmental economist who studies climate change and environmental policy. He co-develops the integrated assessment model FUND that is used widely in academic research and in policy analysis John Harte John Harte’s research interests span ecological […]

Students

Gordon Bauer

MS, PhD

Operation, Cost, and Environmental Impact of Self-Driving Electric Taxi Fleets (MS ’18) Transportation has long been dominated by the personal gasoline-powered automobile, but breakthroughs in electric vehicles, shared mobility, and automation promise to disrupt the sector. Gordon’s research focuses on leveraging these disruptions to maximize both social and environmental sustainability, drawing on insights from a […]

Anna Brockway

MS, PhD

Anna Brockway is a graduate student in the Energy and Resources Group and Electrical Engineering at UC Berkeley. Anna studies how electric power systems are changing—and how they must change—in response to existing and emerging stressors. Her work has focused on stressors to conventional power system operation including climate change, renewable energy, electrification, and public […]

Isa Ferrall

MS, PhD

Decentralized solar energy systems for electricity access: historical context and comparisons of reliability (MS ’18) Isa is a MS/PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group. She is interested in the impact of renewable energy on rural electrification, global development, and the domestic energy sector. Previously, Isa gained experience on both the technical and applied […]

Jonathan Lee

MS, PhD

The Cost of Reliability in Decentralized Solar Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (MS ’18) Jonathan studies transitions in electric power systems and electricity markets, specifically microgrids and distributed energy resources, the role of new technologies in grid planning, and the effects of the physical structure of power systems on social equity. He is interested in both […]

Arthur Mallet Dias

MS

Arthur is interested in using sustainable innovation as a framework for designing new businesses, services, and products that help tackle climate change. He is particularly interested in promoting sustainability through energy and resource efficiency, solar power deployment, and sustainable mobility, as well as bringing clean water, sanitation, and electricity to the rural and urban poor. […]

Alumni

Nkiruka Avila

MS, PhD

Designing and Adapting Appropriate Socio-Technical Systems for the Renewable Energy Transition (PhD ’18) Nkiruka has expertise in solar grid integration and climate policy in California, and in electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. She draws from engineering and urban planning disciplines to envision how the renewable energy transition could lead to equitable socio-technical […]

Felipe Castro

PhD

On Rate Regulation in Modern Electricity Sectors (PhD ’17) Felipe was a Ph.D. Candidate with ERG. His research seeks to improve the understanding and organization of energy systems, leveraging methods, and concepts developed in fields including operations research, microeconomics, and industrial organization. Felipe’s work puts a particular emphasis on the development and application of data […]

Michael Cohen

MS, PhD

Michael Cohen puts the power and complexity of the grid into students' hands via a video game. We asked Michael about his innovative project and his unique experience at ERG. "In addition to developing the game itself, I am working with teachers at local high schools to develop curriculum around it and try it out with their students this year. I hope to not only create a solid educational product but also gain some insights into how technology can be used to support learning about complex systems in general."

Ranjit Deshmukh

PhD

India’s Low Carbon Electricity Futures (PhD ’17) Ranjit’s research efforts largely focus on addressing the clean energy and energy access challenges in developing nations. As part of both the International Energy Studies group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and ERG, Ranjit is developing models of the Indian national power system to analyze policies and […]

Matthias Fripp

MS, PhD

Now You See It, Now You Don’t: The metastable defect in boron-doped czochralski silicon (’03 MS) Optimal Investment in Wind and Solar Power in California (’08 PhD)

Donna Green

MA, PhD

Renewable Energy Technology Systems for Remote Area Electrification in Indonesia: A Critical Review of Technology Transfer (’00 M.A.) Power Games: The Political Use of Solar Technology in Northern Thailand (04 PhD)

Veronica Jacome

MS, PhD

Reshaping the relationships in Ungula’s electricity sector: the advent of the prepay meter (MS ’15) Presumptions and Precarity: Probing Electricity Infrastructure (PhD ’20) Veronica Jacome is a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) and holds a BS in Engineering Physics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At ERG, Veronica focuses on the […]

Alison Koppe

JD, MS

Reduce, Reuse, Regulate: Repurposing the Clean Air Act to Limit Power Plants’ Carbon Emissions (MS ’14) Alison will graduate in Spring 2014 with an ERG M.S. and a J.D. from Berkeley Law. She’s interested in using legal tools to instigate the clean energy revolution, including novel applications of existing law (especially the Clean Air Act […]

David Marcus

MA

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT This ERG alumni spotlight features one of the first ERG graduate students, David Marcus (MA’77), and is written by ERG alumna, Sarita Sarvate (MS’78). The piece is the first of a series of stories on the achievements and journeys of alumni, showcasing their life after ERG. Small is Beautiful by Sarita Sarvate (MS’78) One summer […]

James Nelson

PhD

Scenarios for Deep Carbon Emission Reductions from Electricity by 2050 in Western North America Using the SWITCH Electric Power Sector Planning Model (PhD ’14) Jimmy Nelson is a graduating Ph.D. student in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California at Berkeley and a Link Energy Fellow. His graduate work was performed in […]

Zachary Norwood

PhD

A Better Steam Engine: Designing a Distributed Concentrating Solar Combined Heat and Power System (’11 PhD)

Autumn Preskill

MS, PhD

Autumn Petros-Good received her B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College in 2009, and her M.S. from ERG in 2011 and her PhD from ERG in 2015. She worked on characterizing the potential for energy storage to change the electricity landscape, and has previously worked with the Nature Conservancy on investigating the relationship between large-scale […]

Joseph Rand

MS

Environmental, Economic, and Social Trade-Offs of Hydropower Relicensing (MS ’16) Joseph is interested in the social, environmental, and economic trade-offs in energy development, and in particular the social conflicts arising around utility-scale wind farm siting and hydropower relicensing. His master’s research focuses on the relicensing of the Yuba River Development Project, a large hydropower project […]

Jessica Reilly

MS, PhD

Jess studies the impact of and adaptation to climate change on Latin America’s coasts. Currently, she travels on her 39-foot sailboat, Oleada, down the Pacific coast of Mexico and Central America, through the Panama Canal, and into the Caribbean to document local climate knowledge through GIS mapping and personal narratives. You can follow her journey […]

Britt Shaw

MS

At ERG, I am exploring the barriers to renewable projects that are stalled or abandoned in emerging markets and potential solutions. By striving to answer that question, I hope to help move electricity sector development forward — especially in East Africa.

Michaelangelo Tabone

MS, PhD

Michaelangelo Tabone (MS 2012) is a PhD student in ERG advised by Dr. Duncan Callaway. His research focuses on applying novel statistical methods to topics in energy analysis. Most recently, he completed a project for the CPUC predicting the flexibility needs of power systems that contain significantly large amounts of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation. He […]

Cyrus Wadia

MS, PhD

"In a sense, we’re going through a transition here. The industry is going through a transition that we’re only seeing the beginning of,” says Dr. Cyrus Wadia (PhD’08). Cyrus knows about transitions. He has been a policy advocate, business entrepreneur and scientific innovator for clean energy and human welfare prior, throughout and since his time at ERG. He has not only observed but has been part of the change in the world’s switch to solar. His multiple hats and his work on the frontline edge of policy, economics and science made him a perfect fit for the interdisciplinary program at ERG.

Jim Williams

MS, PhD

M.S. 1986 – A Vehicular Power Plant Application of the Monolithic Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Ph.D. 1995 – Fan-Lizhi’s Big Bang: Science and Politics in Mao’s China ERG alumnus Jim Williams, now a professor at the University of San Francisco, is a global thought leader in the area of low-carbon energy systems. At USF his focus is on […]

News

ERG Dan Kammen Addresses Texas’ Recent Electric Grid Failure

In a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, titled "Why the massive power outages in Texas are so much worse than California's summer blackouts," features ERG professor Dan Kammen discussing how such energy outages have highlighted a similarity between California and Texas. “What is so interesting here is that like in California — extreme weather (for us, fires) — has stressed an old, outdated and ‘not smart’ grid,” Kammen stated. “Without well-integrated solar, wind, AND energy storage our grids are vulnerable.”

Earthweek Features ERG Professor Margaret Torn’s Lead Research on Net-Zero Emissions

ERG adjunct professor Margaret Torn was recently featured in Earthweek for her leading research in how the U.S can reach zero net emissions of carbon dioxide in 2050 by shifting energy infrastructure to operate mainly on renewable energy. “It means that by 2050 we need to build many gigawatts of wind and solar power plants, new transmission lines, a fleet of electric cars and light trucks, millions of heat pumps to replace conventional furnaces and water heaters, and more energy-efficient buildings,” Torn states.

Farbes ERG Alums Williams

A recently published study lead by ERG adjunct professor Margaret Torn found that "reaching zero net emissions of carbon dioxide from energy and industry by 2050 can be accomplished by rebuilding U.S. energy infrastructure to run primarily on renewable energy, at a net cost of about $1 per person per day." This study was featured in several news sources, including the Berkeley Lab, Daily Californian, Pv Magazine, and Clean Technica. “The decarbonization of the U.S. energy system is fundamentally an infrastructure transformation,” Torn states in the Berkeley Lab article. “It means that by 2050 we need to build many gigawatts of wind and solar power plants, new transmission lines, a fleet of electric cars and light trucks, millions of heat pumps to replace conventional furnaces and water heaters, and more energy-efficient buildings – while continuing to research and innovate new technologies.”

On Science— Kammen Explores the Industrial Drivers of a Low-carbon Economy

In an recent article on Science, Kammen contributes insight on the possibilities of harnessing renewable energy through various techniques.

Noah Kittner and Dan Kammen Argue for Solar and Wind Over Hydropower in Nature Article

Recent ERG alum Noah Kittner (MS ’15, PhD ’18) and professor Dan Kammen, along with Stanford postdoc Rafael Schmitt and UC Berkeley professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Matt Kondolf, published an article this week in Nature. They argue that solar and wind energies are key to maintaining both environmental and human health in […]

ERG Research Shows Reliability of Independent Solar Power in Sub-Saharan Africa

Nature Energy recently published research by ERG PhD Student Jonathan Lee and Professor Duncan Callaway quantifying the cost of reliability for decentralized solar and battery systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. Their research finds that falling costs of solar photovoltaics and lithium-ion batteries is enabling decentralized solar plus storage systems to be increasingly cost-competitive with traditional electricity […]

Mileva ERG Alumni Deshmukh

ERG alumni Ranjit Deshmukh, Ana Mileva, and Grace Wu recently published their research on alternatives to the hydroelectric power Inga III Dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The team explores the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of possible renewable energy options, which offer lower economic, social, and environmental risks. “Given these [environmental and social] shortcomings, developing […]

Misplaced Praise – How Kosovo Took a Step in the Wrong Direction

The U.S. government recently congratulated the government of Kosovo for signing a contract with American multi-national corporation Contour Global to build a new 500 MW coal-fired power plant. Kosovo highlights the potential of this plant to relieve a long history of energy insecurity, and provide for better health and economic prosperity. However, ERG Chair Dan […]

WA Solar Powered “Net-Zero Community” on Lopez Island

ERG alumni Chris and Chom Greacen explain the vision and execution that brought to life the Common Ground community on Lopez Island, WA. Read about the project’s origins and objectives, efficiency and affordability, solar energy, and community. “In 2006, a group of local residents set a goal of creating net-zero-energy (NZE) straw-bale homes as part of […]

Wind and Solar Energy Potential in The Democratic Republic of Congo – New ERG Study

Image: Renewable Riches: How Wind and Solar Could Power DRC and South Africa (2017) Ana Mileva, Ranjit Deshmukh, and Grace Wu discuss The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) position to harness reliable renewable energy. “In the analysis Renewable Riches, researchers from the University of California’s Energy and Resources Group modeled the DRC’s best wind and solar […]

Paper Authored by PhD Candidate Noah Kittner and Professor Dan Kammen Published in Nature Energy

Noah Kittner and Dan Kammen's new paper, "Energy storage deployment and innovation for the clean energy transition," was published in Nature Energy on July 31, 2017

ERG Professor Callaway – Solar Power in Africa

ERG Professor Duncan Callaway comments on renewable energy in Africa, noting the advancements in solar technology in Crescent Vale News.

ERG PhD Lara Speaks at TEDx Pura Vida 2017

Last week, ERG PhD student José Daniel Lara spoke in Costa Rica at the TEDx Pura Vida 2017 event. Lara’s talk focused on the urgency for Costa Rica to integrate solar energy to power daily life. He added that the country has the potential to take the lead in renewable energy because. He explained, “In the 20th century, Costa Rica […]

ERG Graduate Students Deshmukh and Wu: Can Wind and Solar Fuel Africa’s Future?

ERG Graduate Students Ranjit Deshmukh and Grace Wu's research on renewable energy in Africa was highlighted in a news article in Nature.

ERG-led THIMBY Wins Categories in Tiny House Competition

The Tiny House in My Backyard (THIMBY) team won several categories in the 2016 Sacramento Municipal District Tiny House Competition.

ERG Alumni: Leaders at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Two articles on the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory website featured the current work of ERG alumni Ryan Wiser (M.S. '96, Ph.D. '02) and Andrew Jones (M.S. '07, Ph.D. '12).

THIMBY House Project Is Well Underway!

The Tiny House in My Backyard (THIMBY) is an interdisciplinary team of UC Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students working together to design and build an affordable, off-grid, 100% solar-powered “tiny” house. The construction of their first “tiny” house began on May 23rd when the support for the unit’s water tanks was established. Since then, the […]

ERG Alum Receives Microsoft Grant for Ugandan Micro-grid Systems

New Sun Road is a California technology company directed by ERGie Jalel Sager (MS’11 , PhD’15). They are committed to implementing solutions to climate change and global energy poverty, provide electricity to communities, health clinics, and education centers in remote and challenging environments. New Sun Road designs, builds and installs SolPower™ micro-grid systems with broadband […]