Feb 7 2014
Dr. Som N. Dahal, an electrical engineer with particular expertise in quantum dot nanostructures and silicon solar cell fabrication has joined Natcore Technology Inc. as a Senior Research Scientist. He is based at Natcore's R&D Center in Rochester, NY.
Dr. Dahal had most recently been Staff Engineer/Scientist at Idalia Solar Technologies in Stony Brook, NY. There and in the solar power laboratories of the University of Delaware and Arizona State University, he gained extensive experience on material development, device modeling and characterization of III-V nanostructures and silicon solar cells including the laboratory setup and successful design, fabrication and characterization of high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells.
Dr. Dahal's initial technical efforts at Natcore will be focused on two programs:
- The realization of a manufacturable quantum dot solar cell. Scientists have made significant progress working on this project at Rice University under Natcore co-founder Prof. Andrew Barron. Now Natcore feels a full-time scientist will be required in order to develop a workable prototype.
- The use of lasers to replace the high-temperature diffusion furnace in solar cell production. This will significantly reduce energy- related cost and enhance solar cell performance. Natcore expects to take delivery of its laser equipment in March.
Dr. Dahal is the author or co-author of four refereed journal articles and seven conference publications, nearly all of which are based on quantum dots. He has been an invited presenter at meetings of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference.
Dr. Dahal earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering at the Fulton School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University, where his Research Advisor was Dr. Christiana Honsberg, Director of the Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies Center (QESST). QESST is an NSF–DOE funded center. Dr. Dahal earned his MSc in Physics from Tribhuvan University in Katmandu, Nepal. With an enrollment of 144,000, Tribhuvan is one of the largest universities in the world.
"We need a full-time scientist to work on these two crucial projects," says Chuck Provini, Natcore's president and CEO. "We cannot rely on part-time post-doctoral students to take us to our goals. We were fortunate to find Som. He's the perfect man for this job."
Dr. Dahal lives with his wife and two daughters in Pittsford, NY.
Source: http://www.natcoresolar.com/