The DOE announced that money is starting to flow towards some of the major solar energy challenges. Specifically, 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers are being created at universities, national labs, and a few other nonprofit and for-profit R&D labs. A very significant amount of the money seems to be directed at developing a better understanding of materials science problems - nanostructured materials, novel compositions, catalyst design, etc. I was pleased to see several centers highlighting attempts to incorporate major theory efforts to simulate and rationally design materials. Synopses of the center goals are available here.
On this side of the pond I've put off explicitly thinking about solar stuff in order to focus in on more fundamental physics. I'm convinced it's a necessary investment. David Logan has been teaching me to think in terms of diagrams and Green's functions, and I'm starting some simulation work with Mark Wilson to better understand nanostructured crystal formation.
I'm off to Wales for the weekend to do some walking in the Cambrian Mountains. I'll post a photo or two upon my return.
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