Brian Coppa Begins Justmeans Clean Energy Column

Brian Coppa Clean Energy Columnist.

Brian Coppa, Ph.D., has recently joined the blog team with Justmeans and will be developing a clean energy column focused on emerging funding trends, government programs for renewables, solar industry analyses, new business strategies, energy-efficient products, and clean energy political and policy issues, as well as related topics. As an experienced senior consultant, he provides expertise for the fields of electronic materials, microelectronics, alternative energy and cleantech, as a whole. Brian has published nearly 100 related industry analyses articles since 2007, attracting over 50,000 viewers, which have been recognized by leading trade journals, USA Today, Business Week, BoonePickens.com, Nasdaq.com, and World News. Dr. Coppa has authored numerous pending U.S. patents and technical peer-reviewed journal articles, which have received over 300 literature citations and initiated over 10 invited talks. He stays abreast of the latest issues in his respective fields through technical journals, conferences and trade events. Dr. Coppa is an advocate for green building and the development of domestic supply chains for the economic benefit (gross domestic product boost) of manufacturing to meet the increasing need for clean energy components and resources, especially in an era of more frequent recessions.

His first suite of upcoming articles will include topics such as: new government initiatives in the U.S. for clean energy, solid state lighting trends, and the fabless and outsourcing approach of research and development (R&D) and manufacturing for semiconductors and what this means for the future solar cell industry. The article concerning energy-efficient solid state lighting will discuss the impact of the U.S. Recovery Act or Stimulus program on the market for high-brightness light-emitting diodes and review the supply chain for this industry. Lastly, the article dealing with semiconductor production trends will be forward-looking in nature and discuss the possibility of a foundry model for R&D and manufacturing of solar cells. Many former leading companies in microchip technology and production have been unable to withstand the enormous capital requirements for building multi-billion dollar fabrication facilities or upgrading equipment for device node size shrinkage and have transitioned to common foundry operations. As many solar companies struggle with the current oversupply, bank credit shortage, and remnants of the global recession, this outsourcing model may be a future trend for them as well, which deserves more analysis and attention in this column.

The author is hoping to take his readers on an interesting ride through the world of clean energy over the course of 2010, and he is advocating comments from interested viewers on these various topics.