About Sol Ideas Technology Development
Biography of Greg Smestad, Ph.D.

Greg P. Smestad received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in 1994 on the topic of the thermodynamic limits of quantum solar energy conversion. He received his Masters degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 1985 from Stanford University, and his B. S. in Biology in 1983 from the University of Santa Clara in California. From 1995 to 2002, he was a part time professor in both the technical and policy fields. He currently works in the area of optoelectronics and materials used for solar energy conversion. He is owner of a consulting firm, and has been instrumental in bringing to market several educational and renewable energy-related products. He continues to develop, implement and analyze products that utilize advanced materials that lead to a cleaner and more sustainable environment.

From 1985 to 1990, Dr. Smestad was employed by the Hewlett-Packard Company, first as a Materials and Process Engineer (growing Czochralski, CZ, GaP), and later as an LED Optics Design Engineer. There he proposed, developed, and implemented novel LED optics based on non-imaging optics that are now used extensively in automotive and energy efficiency applications. From 1990 to 1992, he created and managed the optics and semiconductor characterization lab at the Hahn-Meitner Institute Solar Energy group in Berlin, Germany, and conducted research on novel thin film solar cells.

In 1992, he became part of the Solar Chemistry group of the Energy and Process Technology department at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland, where he conducted his Ph.D. work. In 1994, he was employed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as an electrochemist and researcher developing thin film electrochromic (switchable) energy efficient windows.

From 1995 to 2002, he was a professor, first as the founding lecture and lab chemist at the California State University, Monterey Bay, and then as a part time science-policy specialist at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. From 1996 to 1999, he served as a consultant for Prof. M. Graetzel at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and developed a novel Surlyn sealing technique for dye sensitized solar cells. From 1990 onward, he has served as Associate Editor for Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells.

Dr. Smestad has also served as a conference chair and instructor at international conferences, authored over 15 scientific papers in technology, materials science, and energy policy, and has written a book on the Optoelectronics of Solar Cells. He invented, developed and brought to market an educational solar cell kit, Re-creating Photosynthesis, used by students and teachers world-wide. He holds three U.S. patents on LED optics, with a fourth on a sensor for a UV water purifier. He enjoys combining his interdisciplinary skills to solve practical problems in environmental science and policy, chemistry, engineering and renewable energy.

His skills include design, measurement and analysis of solar cells and photovoltaics, written and oral communication, project management, semiconductor materials characterization, optical design and analysis, spectroscopic, chemical and electrochemical measurements and analysis, sensor design (electronics and optics), energy policy analysis, grant writing, and professional instruction and education.

On a personal note, Dr. Smestad is an eighth generation Californian and a descendant of early Spanish settlers to Monterey and the San Francisco Bay Area, and he is involved in historical and educational activities related to his heritage.

Watch a video interview of Greg P. Smestad at Solar Power 2006 (requires Microsoft's Windows Media Player).

THESIS:

G. Smestad, "Luminescence as a predictor of quantum solar energy conversion", Thesis No. 1263 (1994), The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) Lausanne, Swizerland, thesis advisor: Prof. Dr. Michael Grätzel.

PUBLICATIONS:

Refer to Publications for a list of selected publications by Greg Smestad.

ANZA TRAIL GUIDE:

• Anza Trail Guide and CD
  
  

PATENTS:

• US 5,001,609 1991, "Non-Imaging Light Source" (light emitting diode, LED, chip optics). Download PDF file (requires Adobe Acrobat reader - See Note).
  
  
• US 5,013,144 1991, "Light Source Having a Multiply Conic Lens" (LED lens optics). Download PDF file (requires Adobe Acrobat reader - See Note).
  
  
• US 5,055,892 1991, "High Efficiency Lamp or Light Accepter" (LED non-imaging lens optics). Download PDF file (requires Adobe Acrobat reader - See Note).
  
  
• US 6,429,438 2002, "Ultraviolet Light Detector for Liquid Disinfection Unit" (monitor for water sterilization/purification unit). Download PDF file (requires Adobe Acrobat reader - See Note).

AWARDS AND GRANTS:

2003-2005		National Park Service
Awardee for a Juan Bautista de Anza Trail Guide and Audio CD; Federal grant received from the National Park Service to write an educational trail guide and audio CD. Web site: http://www.nps.gov/juba/
10/1/99 - 4/1/01		University of California	Santa Cruz, California
California Energy Commission, Public Interest Research, PIER/EISG grant 99-10. Co-Principal Investigator, with Professor Jin Zhang, "Development and Characterization of Improved Solid State Dye-Sensitized Nanocrystalline Solar Cells." Continued April - August 2001. URL: http://www.energy.ca.gov/research/innovations and http://eisg.sdsu.edu/
1998 - 1999		Radiation Monitoring Devices	Watertown, Massachusetts
Small Business Innovative Research Grant (SBIR), Phase I, "Screen-printed Solar Cells Based on Nanocrystalline TiO2 Films." Solicitation No. DOE/ER-0706, 50533-98-I, 1998, Collaborator.
May 14, 1998		Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlanta, Georgia
Peter B. Sherry Memorial Lecture in Chemistry Award, Lecture: "Education, Chemistry and Electron Transfer: Demonstration of an Artificial Leaf."
1995 - 1996		University of California	Santa Cruz, California
University of California Energy Institute, Energy Science and Technology program. Co-Principal Investigator, with Professor Jin Zhang, "Ultrafast studies of the charge injection mechanism in photosensitized TiO2 cells: A critical step towards efficient light energy conversion".
Fiscal 1995		DOE/National Renewable Energy Lab	Golden, Colorado
Funded jointly by OER/BES, Div. Chemical Sciences, Div. Adv. Energy Projects, and EE/Office of Utility Technologies Photovoltaics Division. Served as collaborator, DOE/National Renewable Energy Lab Photochemical Solar Cells Subtask Ic, Cell Sealing.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE AND CREDENTIALS:

Refer to a summary of Greg P. Smestad's Teaching Experience and Credentials.


Note: To read PDF files you will need the Adobe Acrobat reader, which can be downloaded free from the Adobe web site.