ENERGY RESEARCH
Energy security and decarbonization rank among the defining national challenges of this era. INSTAR's energy research spans the full technology stack — from materials science and electrochemistry at the atomic level, to grid architecture and policy analysis at the system level — because no single layer of this problem can be solved in isolation. We are particularly interested in the intersections: where materials properties constrain system design, where grid dynamics shape the economics of storage investment, and where AI-driven optimization unlocks value that static engineering cannot. Early-career researchers in our Fellowship program contribute meaningfully to this domain across multiple technical tracks.
Solar Energy
We investigate next-generation photovoltaic materials — perovskite absorbers, tandem cell architectures, and organic photovoltaics — where the limiting factors are materials stability and interface chemistry as much as raw efficiency. Concentrating solar thermal for industrial process heat is a parallel interest, addressing the hard-to-decarbonize manufacturing sectors that electricity alone cannot easily reach.
Energy Storage
Our electrochemical storage research spans solid-state lithium systems, sodium-ion chemistries, and redox-flow architectures — each with distinct tradeoffs in energy density, cycle life, safety, and cost that make them suited to different grid roles. Understanding the materials and degradation mechanisms at the electrode-electrolyte interface is central to all of this work.
Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
We study catalytic water splitting, photoelectrochemical hydrogen production, and proton-exchange-membrane fuel-cell performance. Green hydrogen requires Earth-abundant, durable catalysts to become cost-competitive — identifying and understanding those materials is one of the more demanding open problems in electrochemistry, and one with significant national energy security implications.
Grid Systems & Policy
We model smart-grid architectures, demand-response mechanisms, and distributed energy resource coordination to understand how variable renewables can be integrated reliably and economically. Alongside the engineering analysis, we examine market designs and regulatory frameworks that shape investment incentives — because technology alone does not determine the pace of energy transition.
GROUNDED IN OPEN DATA
INSTAR Lab grounds its energy research in transparent, publicly available datasets for reproducibility and public accountability. We rely on authoritative federal energy statistics, renewable energy resource data, and scientific research repositories to drive evidence-based energy innovation.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
Comprehensive energy production, consumption, and pricing statistics used to benchmark and validate our energy systems models.
NREL OpenEI
Open energy data and tools from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory informing our grid modeling and renewable integration research.
DOE OSTI
Scientific and technical research outputs from the Department of Energy used to inform and contextualize our energy R&D programs.
data.gov
Federal portal providing access to DOE, EPA, and FERC energy and environmental datasets for policy and systems research.
OUR PARTNERS
For Researchers
Join the INSTAR Fellowship
The INSTAR Fellowship is an open citizen-scientist program — no minimum degree required, selection based on fit with our research culture. Structured mentorship, interdisciplinary scope, and the freedom to pursue hard problems.