Florida Solar Energy Center

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) is a special research place at the University of Central Florida. It sits on a 20-acre area, which is about the size of a small park, on Florida's Space Coast at UCF's Cocoa campus. This center is very important because it studies ways to make and save energy from the sun.

FSEC is the biggest place in the United States that gets money from the state to work on clean energy and saving energy. People there test new ideas, teach others, and make sure solar energy systems work well. The person in charge of the center is James M. Fenton, Ph.D., who helps guide all the research and learning that happens there.

Operations

The Florida Solar Energy Center has a team of 150 people, including 95 experts in engineering, energy research, building science, and education. The rest of the team includes support staff and student helpers. The center conducts its research through real-world observations, computer modeling, and experiments in special labs. These research projects are created together with companies, nonprofit groups, private sponsors, and national labs.

Research and grants

In October 2009, the United States Department of Energy gave a $2.8 million grant to the Solar Energy Center. This money helped the center start and run a new training network for solar energy teachers.