Tim Coutts  Research Professor of Physics Research Fellow National Renewable Energy Laboratory Phone: (303) 384-6561 email: tim_coutts@nrel.gov
Adjunct Professor. B.Sc., Sunderland (1964), Ph.D, Newcastle Polytechnic (1968).

Research Interests

Dr. Timothy J. Coutts is a Research Fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and works in the National Center for Photovoltaics.  He has interests in several technologies related to solar energy conversion and energy efficiency.  In particular, he leads a Team concerned with the development of novel transparent conducting  oxides, such as cadmium stannate and zinc stannate.  Advanced  characterization techniques have been developed for these materials  in conjunction with Professor Kaydanov.  These enable the fundamental electronic structure of the materials to be probed and to guide improvements to them.  These materials are used in several very-large-area applications such as flat-panel displays, photovoltaic arrays, and heat-reflecting windows.  He also teaches a short course for the American Vacuum Society on this topic.

Dr. Coutts has also had a longstanding interest in thin-film solar  cells and is now involved in modeling of tandem structures for the new High Performance Initiative in the Department of Energy's program.  Although just at its inception, this is likely to be a ten-year program in which there will be interesting, if severe, technical challenges.  The eventual aim of the program is to achieve a tandem cell with a laboratory efficiency of 25%.  The program is likely to involve both traditional thin-film semiconductors (e.g. CdTe and CIGS) as well as new materials yet to be developed.

Finally, Tim is interested in thermophotovoltaic generation of  electricity using infrared radiation from radiant surfaces at high temperatures.  This offers opportunities in the recovery of high-temperaure industrial waste heat.  The principles are identical to those involved in photovoltaics but the operating conditions could be much more severe.  Nevertheless, the potential is enormous and strenuous efforts are being made to attract funding in this area.  

 Last Modified: 3/01/2001
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