Sunlight provides one of humanity’s best hopes for meeting long-term energy needs, but the business case remains elusive. That’s about to change. Dr. Curtis P. Berlinguette is working at the nanoscale to design new materials for next-generation solar cells that turn sunlight into electricity efficiently and cost-effectively.

His team is also finding better ways to store this energy. Inspired by a plant’s ability to capture sunlight through photosynthesis and store the energy in chemical bonds, they are developing catalysts to convert sunlight directly into high-density fuels such as hydrogen.

Building on his long track record of industry collaboration spanning electronics, chemical, glass manufacturing, cleantech and energy, Berlinguette is now commercializing some of these catalysts through a spin-off company that he launched.

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