CAREER: Energy in Sustainable Infrastructure - Multi-scale/physical Approach to a Novel Hybrid Solar Roofing Panel

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This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project will investigate and improve infrastructure sustainability with experimental and modeling approaches by studying the multi-physical properties of solar roofing materials and fabricate a novel solar roofing panel with optimized multifunction. The panel will contain a photovoltaic layer deposited on a thermoelectric layer and then bonded to a plastic lumber substrate through a functionally graded interlayer containing water tubes. Heat transfer and thermo-mechanical behavior of the solar panel will be characterized by experiments and multi-scale/physical modeling. Delamination and in-layer cracking will be investigated and simulated for the structural design of the panels. An internal variable based model will be introduced to describe the long-term performance. The long-term educational goal of this CAREER project is to promote sustainable engineering among the next generation of researchers and engineers at the graduate, undergraduate and pre-collegiate levels. This CAREER project will develop several educational components related to architecturally integrated sustainable infrastructure for harvesting solar energy and increase awareness of novel cost effective approaches that serve as viable solutions for global energy and climate challenges. Three strategic approaches will be implemented: 1) develop interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate curricula that integrate material manufacturing, instrumentation development, laboratory testing, and technology innovation; 2) establish collaboration with a public school in the Harlem community to promote STEM research course work related to sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy among underrepresented youth, and; 3) increase public understanding and awareness of the role of original research in the development and implementation of sustainable energy and building solutions.