UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Nelson Dzade, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State, will provide a snapshot of the status and future direction of the field of computational materials science, and will illustrate developments from his most recent work in using first-principles calculations to unravel the microscopic fabric of surface and interfacial phenomena in thin-film solar cells. 

Dzade will discuss these advances in his talk titled "The interface is still the device: engineering it for enhanced thin film solar cell performance." The talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31, in 112 Walker Building at University Park and via Zoom. 

The need for clean and sustainable energy sources has never been greater. Solar energy has long been the most compelling technological option for producing "green" energy from sunlight. Harnessing this energy and designing an infrastructure around it will help to mitigate the environmental and societal impacts of climate change. Thin-film solar cells have great potential to overtake the currently dominant silicon-based solar cell technologies used within the rapidly expanding market. With recent advances in high-performance computing, society is now at the threshold of a new era where first-principles calculations are transforming scientists’ ability to understand, design, and optimize interfaces using energy materials with predictive power. 

Dzade’s talk is part of the fall 2022 EESI EarthTalks series, “Exploring the Multiple Dimensions of Solar Energy.” Using both a local and global scope, the series addresses the latest perspectives on policies, environmental management, and the technological advancements toward the dual use, and social and cultural implications, of solar energy. 

The EESI EarthTalks series is supported by Penn State’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. Talks also are available via Zoom. Visit the fall 2022 Earthwebsite to learn more.