Prof Lakshman Dissanayake recognised globally for solar panel research
View(s):Stanford University, in partnership with Elsevier in the United States, has released global rankings of international publications. Within this group, Professor Lakshman Dissanayake of the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Sri Lanka, has been recognised among the top 2% of scientists worldwide for his work on developing an efficient and affordable solar panel in August.
Prof Dissanayake said 4 other scientists from NIFS and some university professors have been ranked in the 2% elite scientist group. He added that NIFS is a research institute that is mandated to advance research on the global scale, and the group regularly publishes in globally recognised journals. These journals are published and maintained by the US company Elsevier Incorporated.
They publish around 100 journals of research findings of Lankan, Indian, Chinese and other scientists. Elsevier and Stanford University have collaborated to rank these international publications.
One criterion of the ranking process is known as the citation analysis which is the number of times that university professors, students and other scholars read a particular journal article. In effect such a contribution allows for knowledge dissemination.
Prof Dissanayake established that the creation of the low-cost solar panel is still at the research phase where researchers are trying to create a stable and efficient product. He highlighted that the device would be made of a cathod, anod and electro light and that research is being done on all three components.
Researchers are working with a 1×1 cm solar panel, which would have to be connected with thousands of others to make the roof top solar panel, he said.
Once this is done, the solar panels can be employed for commercial use, which according to Dissanayake would take around five years. The solar panels would be known as second generation solar panels.
The solar panels would have a local and international patent and would be available for local and global distribution. The professor underscored that currently solar panels are unpopular because of their high costs and the device that is being tested would be both low-cost and efficient.
Prof Dissanayake explained that the bulk of the funding comes from the government, but this year the NIFS has been able to acquire competitive funding from National Research Council amounting to 3 million rupees as well as international funding amounting to $10,000. (PW)
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