PhD Student / Adj. Professor
University of Alaska Fairbanks / Western Colorado University
Walsenburg, Colorado, United States
Rich Strömberg draws on his decades of experience in high-volume semiconductor manufacturing at Intel and Texas Instruments plus solar and wind energy program management for the State of Alaska working on microgrid energy systems for remote villages and the statewide power grid. He holds a BS in math and computer science, a BA in journalism, a Master in Environmental Management from Western Colorado University and is currently a PhD student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks pursuing an interdisciplinary degree in reuse of solar PV systems for social and ecological benefit - a degree pursuit that was born out of his work with Equitable Solar Solutions™. His doctoral research and studies are sponsored by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power.
Rich is a key researcher on both technical and social factors related to reusing solar equipment. He is a member of the International Electrochemical Commission Task 82 on PV reuse and of the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) Task 13 Subtask 1.2 on solar PV reuse. He is also a collaborator with Battelle and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on the NSF sponsored Securing critical material supply chains by enabling phOtovoltaic circuLARity (SOLAR). In fall 2022, he was elected to be the vice chair of the Photovoltaic Technical Division at the American Solar Energy Society.
Rich lives off-grid in a passive solar and passively cooled house that he designed and built. In addition to 2.3 kilowatts of solar PV modules and a small wind turbine, he has two small test arrays to study the long-term effects of PV module defect modes.
Monday, September 11, 2023
12:15 PM – 12:30 PM PDT