Solar Thermoelectric Alternative Energy

Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations
October 25, 2011 at Belmont Media Center, Belmont MA

Gang Chen, Ph.D.,Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This innovative design has been getting a lot of praise! Professor Chen gives a brief overview of current methods of producing solar energy, and he explains how the thermoelectric effect can be used to convert solar energy into electricity. Dr. Chen demonstrates the innovative solar thermoelectric generator (STEGs) developed in his lab. Devices of this type are very popular (and inexpensive) in Europe and China.

Gang Chen, PhD, is the Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has received numerous honors and awards including a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award (1994) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2002). His professional activities include the following:

  • Chair of the ASME Nanotechnology Institute Advisory Board
  • Co-Editor: Annual Review of Heat Transfer
  • Associate Editor: ASME Journal of Heat Transfer
  • Editor: Microscale Thermophysical Engineering

May 12, 2011 article in The Economist on Dr. Chen's "Third Way" Solar power

May 02, 2011 MIT News article on Dr. Chen: Solar Power with a Side of Hot Water

May, 2011 article on Dr. Chen in Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence News

May, 2011 Nature Materials article on this solar thermoelectric device by Dr. Chen et al.