Famous for computing breakthroughs like the GUI and ethernet, the Palo Alto Research Center is now a cleantech hotbed.
If Madonna can reinvent herself now and again, why not the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)?
Formerly Xerox's R&D center, Silicon Valley-based PARC is using its new status as an independent subsidiary of Xerox to leverage its almost 40-year history in IT, mass production, microfluidics and other scientific expertise for a variety of mostly corporate clients—unlike the government focus of other research institutes.
And now, there are a number of interesting cleantech-specific initiatives underway at the sprawling hillside complex, a stone's throw from Stanford University and the VCs of famed Sand Hill Road.
"Our cleantech effort was bottoms-up, driven by researchers," said Scott Elrod, manager of PARC's hardware systems laboratory, of the nine or so cleantech projects now in various stages at PARC.
"Staff wanted to make a difference."
The center's most visible cleantech-related initiative in recent years has been helping incubate solar concentrating startup SolFocus, which resided in and operated from PARC's labs until August of 2007.
PARC scientists helped the company develop a second generation of its solar concentrator, which is now smaller, lighter and less expensive to make (see photos below.) PARC drew directly on its expertise in laser printing.
The success of the partnership inspired PARC to institute a formal incubation program, which it calls Startup@PARC. Fledgling cleantech and other companies can leverage PARC staff and facilities in exchange for cash, royalties, equity compensation, or a combination.
PARC's Elrod said several dozen applications are currently being reviewed, and more are welcome.
We received a tour of the facility, and learned about the center's current cleantech-related projects, including:
Printing for solar PV - Gridlines on the front of most manufacturers' silicon cells for collecting current tend to be relatively wide, hiding much of the substrate beneath from the sun. PARC developed a new extrusion method for printing narrower yet taller gridlines on silicon with the same conductivity, but less "shadow".
The new technique apparently boosts the power output of a solar cell by 6 percent. "We invented the print head; we're looking at commercializing in a reasonably short timeframe," said Elrod.
LED lighting - Could PARC's optics and thermal management experience translate into differentiated designs? Researchers pursued phosphor-based solid state lighting that has proven to be 10-20 percent more efficient than LEDs, PARC claims. The technology has been developed, and the center is now interested in engaging commercial partners.
Membrane-less water filtration - A novel design inspired by years of toner manipulation through apertures has lead to what appears to be a high volume water filtration process not requiring a membrane. PARC scientists leveraged the centrifugal force of contaminants in water to direct them through an alternative path in a spiral flow.
The technique requires little power, and appears to hold promise for wastewater treatment, according to PARC's Elrod.
Liquid fuels from the air - Perhaps the most ambitious cleantech project underway at PARC is an investigation into the practicality of generating liquid fuels from simply water and carbon present in the air.
PARC scientists are looking into using renewable energy to power large scale electrolysis, combining hydrogen from water with large volumes of carbon extracted from the atmosphere to produce hydrocarbon-based fuel.
Admittedly, carbon would be released back into the atmosphere when the fuels combusted, Elrod acknowledged. But using the atmosphere for carbon "transport," as described on a PARC briefing slide, would guarantee fuel could be made anywhere, even on small islands.
"This is speculative, high risk and potentially high reward," said Elrod. "We're not putting a lot of people on this; this still has to pass the sanity test. But we don't know of anyone else doing this."
Other cleantech projects underway at PARC include demand response-like adaptive control technologies for data centers and power grids, new manufacturing techniques for small form-factor fuel cells that take advantage of PARC's print head expertise, biofuel from algae [ed.: everyone's gotta be looking at algae, right?] and reusable paper.
Cameras aren't normally allowed at PARC. Here, then, are rare photographs from our visit with hardware lab manager Scott Elrod.
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