Markets and Applications of Solar-Pumped Lasers

Solar-pumped lasers offer the potential of transforming relately low value low intensity, incident solar radiation into a more potent energy source for applications. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) asked SRI to assess the near-term and longer-term potential for solar-pumped lasers to meet either current or promising new opportunities. We reviewed NREL-supplied documents and other technical information, collected key market information, and conducted telephone interviews with vendors of laser systems.

The application that appears most natural for solar-pumped lasers is energy intensive materials processing. The cost and performance of solar-pumped and electrically pumped Nd:YAG lasers systems were compared in detail, with example applications of cutting and welding, and nominal power levels of 1 kW continuous wave (CW). The conclusion of this analysis was that, even under the most optimistic assumptions, solar-pumped lasers based on emulating existing electrically powered lasers are unlikely to compete economically in the near future. The efficiency of electrically excited lasers has grown so high that the cost of energy is no longer pivotal.

Principal Investigator

David L. Huestis, E-mail: <david.huestis@sri.com>

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