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DOE Pulse
  • Number 301  |
  • December 7, 2009

Life-long love of science is more than its own reward

SkyFuels’ Randy Gee, left and NREL’s Gary Jorgensen with the award-winning solar trough.

SkyFuels’ Randy Gee, left, and NREL’s
Gary Jorgensen with the award-winning
solar trough.

Gary Jorgensen is proof that persistence pays. Two technologies he spent years developing were honored in 2009 with R&D 100 awards.

As a senior scientist at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., Jorgensen was a lead researcher on the teams that developed a cost-reducing solar reflector that is an integral part of the SkyTrough™ parabolic trough solar concentrating collector, and a weathering system that cuts product testing time—the Ultra-Accelerated Weathering System. Both technologies were honored in 2009 by R&D Magazine as being two of the top 100 technical innovations of the year.

Jorgensen started young. A homemade Christmas present from his uncle—a gadget made of lab glassware that inflated balloons when vinegar and baking soda were added—inspired him to learn more about how things work. “As a scientist, I know there’s an answer to everything. But … you have to put in time and effort to get there. Seeing the end point off in the distance can be the driver that keeps you going,” Jorgenson said.

Over the course of his 30-year NREL career, he has published almost 150 papers, reports, and key presentations. He holds eight patents, with two others pending.

Two of those patents are for a breakthrough solar reflector film—ReflecTech® mirror film—used in concentrating solar power collectors, including the SkyTrough™ technology that also received a 2009 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium

The SkyTrough™ is the result of more than a dozen years of collaboration between NREL researchers and industry partner SkyFuel, Inc. The key to SkyTrough™ is its lightweight and glass-free mirrors made of ReflecTech® mirror film, which Jorgensen helped develop. This glossy laminate is multiple layers of polymer films with an inner layer of pure silver, all adhered to a thin aluminum sheet. The material’s highly reflective surface is lighter and less expensive to manufacture than glass mirrors. And it’s easier to transport and install.

The second R&D 100 Award was for the Ultra-Accelerated Weathering System (UAWS), an ultraviolet (UV) concentrator dish used to weather materials. Three of Jorgensen’s patents are related to this technology.
The UAWS speeds the exposure of coatings, paints, and other materials to determine their durability and resistance to sunlight and weathering. The dish’s design allows researchers to accumulate the equivalent of one year’s worth of UV weathering in as little as one week. The UAWS is the outcome of a cooperative research and development agreement among NREL, the Russian Institute of Laser Optical Technology and Atlas Weathering Services Group.

Jorgensen is just as fascinated to discover how things work today as he was when he was as a boy. But now his interest is richer and deeper. “I hope that maybe I can make a positive change in the world. For me, there are select fields of endeavor that can make a difference and improve society for future generations, and renewable energy is one of them.”

Kathryn Ruckman is a writer in the NREL Communications Office

Submitted by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory