Richard Lunt

Johansen Crosby Endowed Professor Michigan State University

  • East Lansing MI

Richard is the inventor of over 25 U.S. patents, the majority of which have been licensed.

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Michigan State University

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Biography

Richard R. Lunt joined the faculty of Michigan State University in 2011 in the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Physics Departments. He earned his B.Ch.E. from the University of Delaware, graduating with honors for his work on phase equilibria in superconducting-related perovskites under Douglas J. Buttrey. He received his PhD in chemical engineering from Princeton University while working with Stephen Forrest at the University of Michigan (2006-2010) and Jay B. Benziger at Princeton. While building his lab at MSU he worked as a postdoctoral associate at MIT with Vladimir Bulović. He has won a number of awards for his innovative research and is the inventor of over 25 U.S. patents, the majority of which have been licensed. He is a co-founder of Ubiquitous Energy Inc., which is commercializing transparent solar cells that enable seamless deployment of light-harvesting functionality in the form of products and surfaces. He is also cofounder of GlowShop LLC, which is commercializing educational kits for solar energy.

Areas of Expertise

Solar Cells
Green Energy
Solar Energy
See-Through Solar Technology
Chemical Engineering

Accomplishments

Outstanding Faculty Award

2017
Awarded by the MSU Senior Class Council

Teacher Scholar Award

2016
MSU

Withrow Distinguished Junior Scholar Award

2016
MSU

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Education

MIT

Postdoctoral Research

Electrical and Electronics Engineering

2011

Princeton University

PhD

Chemical Engineering

2010

University of Delaware

BCHE

Chemical Engineering

2004

News

Can solar technology kill cancer cells?

MSU Today  online

2019-10-25

Scientific breakthroughs don’t always happen in labs. For Sophia and Richard Lunt, Michigan State University researchers, many of their breakthroughs happen during neighborhood walks.

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35 Innovators Under 35

MIT Technology Review  online

2019-08-17

Richard Lunt invented solar cells you can see through. They’re made of molecules that absorb ultraviolet and infrared light—wavelengths that we can’t see—and convert it into electricity while letting visible light through. Applied as a coating on the screen of a phone or smart watch, they generate power so the gadget lasts longer between charges. Some low-power devices with the coating, such as e–readers, might not need to be plugged in at all.

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First transparent solar technology invented at Michigan State

Indiana Environmental Reporter  online

2019-06-18

Researchers at Michigan State University have successfully created the first completely transparent solar panels.

These panels, which were announced earlier this year, can collect solar energy without affecting the transference of light, which makes it possible to install them on surfaces that would otherwise be unsuitable for collecting green energy.

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Journal Articles

Epitaxial Stabilization of Tetragonal Cesium Tin Iodide

ACS

2019

A full range of optoelectronic devices has been demonstrated incorporating hybrid organic–inorganic halide perovskites including high-performance photovoltaics, light emitting diodes, and lasers. Tin-based inorganic halide perovskites, such as CsSnX3 (X = Cl, Br, I), have been studied as promising candidates that avoid toxic lead halide compositions.

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Lead Halide Ultraviolet-Harvesting Transparent Photovoltaics with an Efficiency Exceeding 1%

ACS

2019

Transparent photovoltaic (TPV) devices have a number of unique advantages compared with opaque photovoltaic devices. However, balancing efficiency and transparency has been difficult. To date, few TPV devices with PCE over 1% have been demonstrated when the average visible transmission (AVT) is over 70%.

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Integration of near-infrared harvesting transparent luminescent solar concentrators onto arbitrary surfaces

Journal of Luminescence

2019

Visibly transparent luminescent solar concentrators (TLSCs) can convert existing window glazing systems and non-window surfaces into solar energy harvesting resources, dramatically improving energy utilization efficiency. While there has been a significant interest in improving the power conversion efficiency, little attention has been focused on the challenges of integrating luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) onto non-window surfaces or windows with significant infrared absorption coefficients.

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