The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) was recently singled out as one of the country’s “pre-eminent organizations” conducting research today on ways to ensure adequate domestic energy sources in the future.
The resolution, adopted by the board of directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) on February 16, included FSEC in a group of leading national research organizations that deserve continued public and private support to continue their important missions. NARUC directors agreed to pursue their efforts to obtain further support for FSEC and the other organizations “to improve our nation’s energy supply and delivery infrastructure to help secure the United States’ domestic energy future.” The NARUC board additionally directed its executive director “to pursue a formal lobbying strategy that will achieve these research and development objectives.”
The board resolution also noted that research and development from these research organizations is essential to maintaining the countrys secure and long-term energy infrastructure.
FSEC energy research and development efforts include both basic and applied research and encompass a broad range of technologies, including high-performance buildings, photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, distributed power systems, hydrogen and alternative fuels, fuel cells, pollutant detoxification, energy systems testing and certification, energy codes and standards research, and education, training and certification for energy professionals. Jim Fenton, director of the center, noted that “Over the past 25 years, these FSEC research and development activities have created more than $2 billion in estimated consumer energy savings, enhanced industry development and job creation and contributed significantly to energy and environmental security.”
Other organizations cited by NARUC include the Electric Power Research Institute, Gas Technology Institute, Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center, Iowa Energy Center, Rutgers Center for Energy, Economic & Environmental Policy, North Carolina Alternative Energy Corporation, University of Vermont Center for Rural Studies, and the national energy laboratories.
FSEC is a research institute of the University of Central Florida and is the statewide energy research institute for Florida. More information on the center is available at www.fsec.ucf.edu.