2024: Peer Review and New Publications
Dr. Smestad served as a peer-reviewer for the U.S. Department of Energy. This included the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). A summary of the most recent report is available here (+ Manufacturing and Competitiveness).
New publications are available regarding soiling in solar energy systems. These include: “Soiling in Solar Energy Systems: The Role of the Thresholding Method in Image Analysis,” published in Solar RRL; “Electro-Optical Model of Soiling Effects on Photovoltaic Panels and Performance Implications,” published in Energy Engineering; and a paper on, “Quantifying the impact of inverter clipping on photovoltaic performance and soiling losses,” published in the journal Renewable Energy. Dr. Smestad was a principal co-author. Read more via the publications page.
20 – 23 September 2022, Istanbul, Turkey
Dr. Smestad and co-authors presented (via a pre-recorded video), “Progress in Solar Energy to Address the Energy Crisis” at the International Conference and Exhibition on Renewables, “Technologies and Options for Securing Energy & Food Flows in View of the Ukrainian Crisis.” This grassroots, but earnest, event was hosted by the Internationales Forschungszentrum für Erneuerbare Energien, IFEED, e.V. in Germany, Selçuk Üniversitesi, Turkey and the Nordic Folkecenter for Renewable Energy, Denmark. Download his slides (PDF) here. Download the abstract to the talk (PDF) here.
14 April, 2022: Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics
Greg Smestad was one of several contributors to the 13th Edition of the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITRPV). The international collaboration and report was organized by the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). The report summarizes annual forecasts and key parameters along the photovoltaic value chain. It’s available in both German and English. Read more
31 January, 2022: U.S. Department of Energy 2022 SETO Peer Review
The 2022 Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Peer Review included an overall review of the office’s justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) initiatives. This is the first time such a review was part of the office’s biennial peer review. Along with 5 other experts, Dr. Smestad participated as a reviewer in the JEDI portion of the 2022 Peer Review. Read more This is connected to Dr. Smestad’s 2020-2021 work in support of U.S. Clean Energy Policy.
18 October, 2021: A new publication on Tracking Soiling Losses
This explores the, “Assessment, Uncertainty, and Challenges in Mapping,” and was published in the IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. Dr. Smestad was a principal co-author. Read more
1 July, 2020: Low-cost solar PV soiling sensor paper
Greg Smestad is a co-author (with researchers from Duke University) of a paper in the journal Solar Energy on the development of a low-cost solar PV soiling sensor and its testing in Western India. Read more
20 April, 2020: Greg P. Smestad is a co-author of a PV soiling study
“Selection of optimal wavelengths for optical soiling modelling and detection in photovoltaic modules” was published in the Elsevier journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells to further explore the use of spectral models to increase the accuracy in optical soiling detection. Read more
March 31st, 2020: Dr. Greg Smestad quoted at Solartribune.com
In the final quote in, “Empowering Individual Action to Fight Climate Change,” Dr. Smestad highlights the importance of people going directly to source materials to educate themselves; this approach is not just for the experts. Read more
For a full list of publications…
For a full list of the publications of Greg P. Smestad, PhD, please visit our publications page.
Free webinars of the PVQAT TG12 Soiling Group
2017- 2020: Greg Smestad is one of the organizers of the PVQAT (Photovoltaic Quality Assurance Task Force, pron. “pee vee cat”) webinars on soiling. The solar energy community organizes webinars that are designed to facilitate international collaboration on a variety of topics. Learn more
February 28, 2020 to 24 January, 2021:
Dr. Smestad of Sol Ideas Technology Development volunteers to support Joe Biden‘s proposals on clean energy policy and environmental justice. more
January 09, 2020: Author of a PV soiling article published in the journal Nature-Scientific Reports
Greg Smestad is first author of a PV soiling article published in the journal Nature-Scientific Reports. Go to our publications page to read or download paper. more
April 2019: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells journal
Greg Smestad’s editorial “Greg P. Smestad and Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells” is now available online, on ScienceDirect, via a share link which provides free access to the article until May 16, 2019. You may download the article in addition to reading it. No sign up, registration, or fees are required.
Dr. Smestad spoke at the IEEE Santa Clara PhotoVoltaic Joint Society Chapter
March 2018, Greg P. Smestad, Ph.D. gave a talk on the Optical Characteristics of PV Glass Coupons and PV Modules Related to Soiling Losses & PARC on 14 March 2018 at the IEEE Santa Clara Valley PhotoVoltaic Joint Society Chapter (formerly known as the Silicon Valley Photovoltaics Society, SVPVS), a forum for entrepreneurs, business people, investors, engineers, and scientists. His talk can be downloaded from the IEEE Santa Clara Valley PhotoVoltaic Society’s website.
Dr. Smestad spoke at the PV Materials Durability Workshop
December 2017: Greg Smestad was an invited speaker at the 4th Atlas/NIST Workshop on PV Materials Durability December 5-6, 2017. The goal of this workshop was to develop recommendations to bridge the gap between research activity and consensus standards development. Dr. Smestad’s presentation, “Optical Characterization of PV Glass Coupons and PV Modules Related to Soiling Losses“, is available here: View Presentation
21 August 2017 Solar Eclipse
Greg Smestad and Sol Ideas collected data during the eclipse for NASA’s Globe Observer program. About fifteen visitors safely viewed the crescent sun’s shadows and the obscured sun itself. View Google Photo Album. Air temperature, light level (irradiance) and the output from small solar panel were measured vs. time.
Sol Ideas’ Greg Smestad joins PVQAT as one of the main organizers
April 2017, Sol Ideas’ Greg Smestad joins PVQAT (pron. “pee vee cat“) as one of the main organizers for monthly webinars presenting current data and results in the study of the affects of soiling on PV panel performance. Over 41 nations participate in these webinars. more
Sol Ideas joins researchers from NREL and University of Exeter to the effects of soiling on PV panels
Spring 2017, Sol Ideas joins researchers from NREL and the University of Exeter to examine a global investigation of the effects of soiling on PV panels. The preliminary results were presented in the summer of 2017 at the IEEE PVSC in Washington, DC. View the study in the context of all of our publications on PV soiling.
Interview with the California Frontier Project on the de Anza Expedition and the Californios
May 2017, the California Frontier Project interviewed Sol Ideas’ principal, Greg Bernal-Mendoza Smestad about Los Californios (the descendants of the de Anza Expedition) and the West Coast’s first Thanksgiving in 1776, currently celebrated as San José’s birthday.
Read blog post for Podcast Episode 002 “You Have to Carry This On”: What it Means to be a Californio with host Damian Bacich and guest Greg Bernal-Mendoza Smestad.
Listen to just the interview:
Greg Smestad co-authors two new Concentrator Photovoltaics articles in peer-reviewed journals
May 2016, with researchers from Spain and the UK, two major contributions were added to the literature, “Investigating the impact of weather variables on the energy yield and cost of energy of grid-connected solar concentrator systems”, and “Performance, limits and economic perspectives for passive cooling of High Concentrator Photovoltaics” more
Smestad co-authors 1st Chapter on Multi-junction Concentrator Solar Cells in Springer’s book High Concentrator Photovoltaics
August 2015, Springer released High Concentrator Photovoltaics Fundamentals, Engineering and Power Plants, a “comprehensive overview of the fundamentals and engineering of high concentrator photovoltaic (HCPV) technology.” Dr. Smestad contributed as co-author and a specialist in the field for Chapter 1, Multi-junction Concentrator Solar Cells: Analysis and Fundamentals.
Sol Ideas, NREL and SCU team up on the Cost Analysis of HCPV
In April 2015, Kelsey Horowitz of NREL presented A Bottom-Up Cost Analysis of a High Concentration PV Module at CPV-11, in Aix-les-Bains, France. Ms. Horowitz’s Co-authors are Dr. Smestad, Michael Woodhouse and Dr. Hohyun Lee.
Solar energy-related engineering and entrepreneurship in emerging market countries
Greg P. Smestad, Ph.D. was invited to speak to the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the IEEE PhotoVoltaic Society on January 15, 2015. His one-hour talk surveyed solar energy-related engineering and entrepreneurship in emerging market countries and highlighted Grameen Shakti’s successful social business model for Solar Home Systems (SHS) in Bangladesh more
I&ECR publishes article on Solar Fuels made from H2O and CO2, co-authored by Dr. Smestad
May 2012, Greg P. Smestad and Aldo Steinfeld publish their article, Review: Photochemical and Thermochemical Production of Solar Fuels from H2O and CO2 Using Metal Oxide Catalysts in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. You can also request a PDF by sending an email message to .