Denver had sunshine galore on Monday, but most of it wasn't being converted into usable energy - and a group of people that met at the State Capitol hopes to change all that.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory (CREC) formally announced on Monday the formation of the Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion (CRSP).

The Collaboratory is a renewable energy research partnership between CU-Boulder, Colorado State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Colorado School of Mines. The solar Center will allow the four institutions to work collaboratively and with private-sector companies on cutting-edge solar research.

George Douglas, spokesperson for NREL, said Tuesday that the word "Revolutionary" in the CRSP title refers partially to the Center's objective of working with next-generation or "third-generation" conversion of sunlight into electricity.

He said the first-generation projects use the "typical silicon solar cells that you see everywhere," while second-generation arrays use thin-film solar cells that Douglas said are "just starting to come into their own" in the marketplace.

Douglas said it's a little too early to talk about specific CRSP projects, but said it will look at third-generation ideas such as the work done by NREL Senior Research Fellow Arthur Nozik, who will serve as CRSP's scientific director.

Nozik has done research on photoconversion with clusters of semiconductors only several nanometers wide (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter).

Douglas said that, theoretically, it is possible to make silicon release more than one exciton - a combination of an electron and a positive hole - per photon that strikes the silicon.

"So, the easy way to say it is that at the nanoscale, it's possible to double or even triple the efficiency of the solar cell," said Douglas.

Also, he said the CRSP could research ways of using the sun to create usable fuel. For example, electricity produced when solar radiation strikes a device submerged in water could be used to separate hydrogen from the oxygen in H2O, providing hydrogen that could be used in fuel cells.

The CRSP will also include elements of a true ivory tower/industry partnership. Twelve companies have signed on as founding members: Applied Materials; Ascent Solar Technologies; DuPont; Evident Technologies; Konarka; Lockheed Martin; Motech Industries; QuantumSphere; Sharp; Solasta; Sub-One Technology and SunEdison.

It's too early to say that CRSP research would lead to development of affordable solar technology that is also more efficient than older panels - but it's fair to guess that such a product would sell. Douglas said he believes a team made up of research institutions and private companies might be able to develop viable products in a timely manner.

"What's unusual and positive about CRSP is that industry is involved right at the beginning," said Douglas. "The research is very much to be influenced by what industry sees as the need for making better or different products that can be rapidly commercialized, because industry tends to think in a much shorter time span than researchers tend to think."

There will be no official CRSP physical headquarters for the time being, other than Nozik's office, and Douglas called the organization a "virtual center." He said the principal researcher for a project might do the research primarily in their own facility - or work might take place in several locations.

The CRSP will begin with three co-directors: CU Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry David Jonas, Mike Elliott from CSU and Craig Taylor from Mines. Jonas said his early responsibilities would include coordinating a broad spectrum of CU solar research efforts - ranging from photovoltaics to photoelectric chemistry.

A Monday Collaboratory press release said decisions about which CRSP projects to fund will be made in the summer of 2008, with research beginning in the fall.

The developments that might come out of CU via CRSP remain to be seen, but CU-Boulder Chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson said in the release that the university is a force to be reckoned with in collaborative and on-campus renewable energy efforts.

"These activities, which include cutting-edge research, new courses and degree programs, commercialization of new technologies and numerous public outreach events, are organized under CU-Boulder's Energy Initiative and are transforming the nation's and indeed, the world's energy landscape," said Peterson.

Contact Richard Valenty about this story at (303) 443-6272 ext. 126, or valenty@coloradodaily.com.