Physicist sees optics playing big role in solar energy

INDUSTRY / OPTICS

When noted physicist Roland Winston thinks of optics, it’s solar energy, not lasers that comes to mind.

The Star caught up with Winston, a University of California at Merced professor, last week when he was a presenter at the Optical Society of America’s annual meeting.

Q: What was your early background, and how did you get involved in physics?

A: I grew up in New York City but I never finished high school. I didn’t drop out; I applied to Chicago and they took me.

I came to school early and had my bachelor’s degree at the age of 16 and didn’t know anything. I was mostly interested in philosophy and literature, and I took a math course because I think at the time I just had to fill (the schedule) with something. And I was lucky that I encountered an extremely good mathematician who really got me excited about math, and from that I tried physics courses.

Q: How did you get involved in optics at the University of Chicago?

A: I had an experiment in mind that required detecting a very faint light called Cernekov radiation, which is produced by faster light particles than the medium.; I knew that the minimum number of detectors I needed was some number, but when I tried all the usual optical solutions I could think of, I missed by a factor of four, and I couldn’t afford that.; I knew I wasn’t interested in an image of the track of light, so I was able to apply new methods.

Q: How would you describe your work to the average person?

A: I’m interested in the widespread use of solar energy, and to make it widespread, you have to have lots of applications. Using nonimaging optical techniques, we know how to collect it at temperatures up to about 300 degrees Centigrade (572 degrees Fahrenheit), with no moving parts.

Once you can get temperatures like that, you can heat, you can cool buildings, you can make steam and you can do various things. I showed an experiment where we achieved concentrations equal to 80,000 suns.

Q: What does a nonimaging optics device look like?

A: It’s a funny-shaped mirror, it’s not parabolic, it’s more or less something like a ‘W’ shape, but not with sharp edges.

Q: Solar energy use has grown rapidly in developing countries that lack widespread electrical infrastructures. Is this part of your emphasis?

A: I have collaborations in China and India, and it appeals to me, that these technologies are so much both needed and more likely to find early use in countries with less infrastructure.

Q: How has the process of scientific discovery worked for you?

A: It’s been both messy and backwards; in other words, you work backwards from the answer. Science is no different than any other human activity, like composing music; it’s a process of not necessarily logical order, not necessarily sequential; it’s often things done in parallel – they call it ‘trial and error – and guesses. I think what you need for it is to very badly want the answer, so you’re thinking about it all the time, and you need to be lucky.

Q: How does optics come into play for the average person?

A: The most interesting developments I’ve seen are the new light- emitting diode (LED) light sources. A single light-emitting diode is on its way to replacing lamps, and that’s pretty exciting; and by the way, it requires unconventional optical techniques to use the light in a useful manner.

I think optics will have a big role to play in solar collectors, which at some point will be an important energy source.

Q: Tucson has been called “Optics Valley.” How do you view this area’s standing in the optics industry?

A: I was brought here early on because some of the people at the university were starting to use our devices for infrared (light) collection, for infrared astronomy. They still do.

Looking from the outside, the reputation you have is, in this country, there are two optics centers – this is one and Rochester (N.Y.) is the other one – and I wouldn’t try to rate the schools.

Roland Winston

Age: 64

Title: Professor of physics in the Division of Natural Sciences, University of California at Merced.

Education: Ph.D. in physics, University of Chicago, 1963.

Career: A pioneer in “nonimaging optics,” which focuses on transferring light efficiently and controlling its distribution. Holds more than 40 U.S. patents and has won numerous academic honors. Led research groups at Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Chicago and the Enrico Fermi Institute before joining the UC-Merced faculty in July.

Contact reporter David Wichner at 573-4181 or wichner@azstarnet.com.