SelectedWorks - Todd P. Otanicar

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Selected Works of Todd P. Otanicar

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Todd P. Otanicar started at Boise State University in 2019 and is currently an associate professor with the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering. He received a Ph.D. from Arizona State University in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Otanicar investigates nanoscale heat and energy transport with a particular emphasis on application to energy generation, utilization, and storage. He is one of the leading researchers in the field of nanoparticles for solar thermal energy applications and pioneered the idea of using nanoparticle as spectrally selective absorbers for hybrid solar thermal/photovoltaic systems. His research has been funded by ARPA-E, NSF, NASA and NREL.

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About Todd P. Otanicar

Dr. Todd P. Otanicar started at Boise State University in 2019 and is currently an associate professor with the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering. He received a Ph.D. from Arizona State University in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Otanicar investigates nanoscale heat and energy transport with a particular emphasis on application to energy generation, utilization, and storage. He is one of the leading researchers in the field of nanoparticles for solar thermal energy applications and pioneered the idea of using nanoparticle as spectrally selective absorbers for hybrid solar thermal/photovoltaic systems. His research has been funded by ARPA-E, NSF, NASA and NREL.

Peer-Reviewed Articles (15)

A Review of Solar Hybrid Photovoltaic-Thermal (PV-T) Collectors and Systems (Todd Otanicar) Progress in Energy and Combustion Science (2023)

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in hybrid PV-T collectors and the wider systems within which they can be implemented, and assess the worldwide energy and carbon mitigation potential of ...

Experimental Investigation of Low Velocity and High Temperature Solid Particle Impact Erosion Wear (Evan Gietzen, Soroor Karimi, Nipun Goel, et al.) Wear (2022)

Next generation Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants utilizing solid particles as the heat transfer medium (HTM) are expected to achieve greater operational efficiencies. However, the erosion from the solid particles can cause significant damage to ...

Effect of Temperature on Abrasion Erosion in Particle Based Concentrating Solar Powerplants (Nipun Goel, Tessa Mei-Lin Fong, John P. Shingledecker, et al.) Solar Energy (2021)

The use of solid particles as a heat transfer medium is being explored for concentrated solar power plants (CSP) to increase their efficiency by achieving operating temperature >700 °C. During operation, these hot particles are ...

Annual Simulation of Photovoltaic Retrofits within Existing Parabolic Trough Concentrating Solar Powerplants (Nipun Goel, Hannah O'Hern, Matthew Orosz, et al.) Solar Energy (2020)

Solar power for electricity production comes from either photovoltaics or concentrating solar power plants. The former has seen rapid growth and expansion due to the rapid fall in global prices, while the latter has seen ...

Spectral Beam Splitting Retrofit for Hybrid PV/T Using Existing Parabolic Trough Power Plants for Enhanced Power Output (Rhetta Wingert, Hannah O'Hern, Matthew Orosz, et al.) Solar Energy (2020)

Conversion of sunlight into electricity is the fastest growing commercial means of deploying renewable energy at utility scale. The two primary methods for conversion are photovoltaics and concentrating solar thermal power. The complimentary advantages of ...

Concentrating Photovoltaic Retrofit for Existing Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors: Design, Experiments, and Levelized Cost of Electricity (Todd P. Otanicar, Rhetta Wingert, Matthew Orosz, et al.) Applied Energy (2020)

Photovoltaics and concentrating solar thermal power are two ways for generating electricity from sunlight, albeit through different methods. Parabolic trough style powerplants represent 3.6 GW of electricity production, but many of these plants are aging ...

Experimental Evaluation of a Prototype Hybrid CPV/T System Utilizing a Nanoparticle Fluid Absorber at Elevated Temperatures (Todd Otanicar, John Dale, Matthew Orosz, et al.) Applied Energy (2018)

Novel approaches for solar energy conversion continue to garner interest as a potential thermal and electrical energy source. Additionally, the need for systems capable of producing thermal energy at temperatures up to 300 °C is ...

Detailed Performance Model of a Hybrid Photovoltaic/Thermal System Utilizing Selective Spectral Nanofluid Absorption (Nick Brekke, John Dale, Drew DeJarnette, et al.) Renewable Energy (2018)

This work explores recent advancements of a concentrating hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (CPV/T) system, with an emphasis on detailed modeling and parametric performance studies. This system combines two widely researched methods of harnessing solar energy: photovoltaics (PV) ...

Solar Selective Volumetric Receivers for Harnessing Solar Thermal Energy (Vikrant Khullar, Himanshu Tyagi, Todd P. Otanicar, et al.) Journal of Heat Transfer (2018)

Given the largely untapped solar energy resource, there has been an ongoing international effort to engineer improved solar-harvesting technologies. Toward this, the possibility of engineering a solar selective volumetric receiver (SSVR) has been explored in ...

Envisioning Advanced Solar Electricity Generation: Parametric Studies of CPV/T Systems with Spectral Filtering and High Temperature PV (Todd P. Otanicar, Stephen Theisen, Tyler Norman, et al.) Applied Energy (2015)

Hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) devices can simultaneously generate thermal and electrical energy,but have been limited to low temperature applications. This is done to avoid performance degradationof the PV cell at high temperatures. While the low temperature ...

Applicability of Nanofluids in High Flux Solar Collectors (R. A. Taylor, P. E. Phelan, Todd Otanicar, et al.) Mechanical Engineering Faculty Works (2011)

Concentrated solar energy has become the input for an increasing number of experimental and commercial thermal systems over the past 10-15 years [M. Thirugnanasambandam et al., Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 14 (2010)]. Recent papers have ...

Nanofluid Optical Property Characterization: Towards Efficient Direct Absorption Solar Collectors (R. A. Taylor, P. E. Phelan, Todd Otanicar, et al.) Mechanical Engineering Faculty Works (2011)

Suspensions of nanoparticles (i.e., particles with diameters < 100 nm) in liquids, termed nanofluids, show remarkable thermal and optical property changes from the base liquid at low particle loadings. Recent studies also indicate that selected ...

Nanofluid-Based Direct Absorption Solar Collector (Todd Otanicar, P. E. Phelan, R. S. Prasher, et al.) Mechanical Engineering Faculty Works (2010)

Solar energy is one of the best sources of renewable energy with minimal environmental impact. Direct absorption solar collectors have been proposed for a variety of applications such as water heating; however the efficiency of ...

Parametric Analysis of a Coupled Photovoltaic/Thermal Concentrating Solar Collector for Electricity Generation (Todd Otanicar, I. Chowdhury, P. E. Phelan, et al.) Mechanical Engineering Faculty Works (2010)

The analysis of the combined efficiencies in a coupled photovoltaic (PV)/thermal concentrating solar collector are presented based on a coupled electrical/thermal model. The calculations take into account the drop in efficiency that accompanies the operation ...

Vapor Generation in a Nanoparticle Liquid Suspension Using a Focused, Continuous Laser (R. A. Taylor, P. E. Phelan, Todd Otanicar, et al.) Mechanical Engineering Faculty Works (2009)

This letter discusses experimentation with optically induced phase change in nanoparticle liquid suspensions-commonly termed nanofluids. Four different types of nanofluids at five concentrations were exposed to a similar to 120 mW, 532 nm laser beam ...

Solar Energy Harvesting: How to Generate Thermal and Electric Power Simultaneously (Drew Dejarnette and Todd Otanicar) (2016)

This Spotlight describes energy harvesting using a hybrid concentrating photovoltaic (PV) system with simultaneous thermal generation for energy storage. Several designs have been proposed to build a system that takes advantage of the entire solar ...

Light-Induced Energy Conversion in Liquid Nanoparticle Suspensions (Patrick E. Phelan, Robert Taylor, Ronald J. Adrian, et al.) Advances in Numerical Heat Transfer: Nanoparticle Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow (2013)

Nanoparticle Based Concentrating Photovoltaic/Thermal Hybrid Collector (John Dale and Todd Otanicar) SolarPACES 2017: International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems (2018)

Hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems are envisioned to co-produce thermal energy and electricity by utilizing the full solar spectrum, something single junction PV cells do not do. Additionally, the need for cost effective storage becomes ...

Experimental Validation of a Novel Light-Splitting Technique for Retrofitting CSP Plants by Hybridizing with CPV (Matthew Orosz, John Dale and Todd Otanicar) Proceedings of the ISES Solar World Congress 2017 (2017)

Photovoltaic (PV) solar power generation is expanding rapidly relative to Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) due to a faster decline in solar PV panel costs after manufacturing commenced in east Asia in the 1990s. One remaining ...

Performance and Economic Optimization of Hybrid Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Power Plants with Dynamic Simulation (Hannah O'Hern, Todd Otanicar and Matthew Orosz) Proceedings of the ISES Solar World Congress 2017 (2017)

Energy storage is a critical determinant of grid stability under scenarios with a high percentage of renewables in the generation portfolio. Concentrating solar thermal power traditionally offers high capacity thermal energy storage (TES) on timescales ...

Ambient Water Condensing Apparatus (Todd P. Otanicar and Jared Starkweather) (2019)

An ambient water condensing apparatus that extracts water vapor from ambient air utilizing a thermoelectric device, a superhydrophobic and/or superhydrophilic radiating condensing surface and a heat sink for providing point of source irrigation or drinking ...

Ambient Water Condensing Apparatus (Todd P. Otanicar and Jared Starkweather) (2018)

An ambient water condensing apparatus that extracts water vapor from ambient air utilizing a thermoelectric device, a superhydrophobic and/or superhydrophilic radiating condensing surface and a heat sink for providing point of source irrigation or drinking ...

High Temperature Stability and Optical Measurements of Plasmonic Nanoparticles for Energy Conversion (Drew DeJarnette, Todd Otanicar, Ebrima Tunkara, et al.) 2015 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit (2015)

Use of nanoparticles to convert photons into thermal energy necessitates the heating of the suspending fluid embedding the particles. High temperature media can influence the energy and bandwidth of the nanoparticle plasmon resonance thus altering ...

Solar Filtering Applications of Indium Tin Oxide Nanoparticles in Heat Transfer Fluids (Ebrima Tunkara, Mit Muni, Drew DeJarnette, et al.) MRS Fall 2015 (2015)

We investigated the use of indium tin oxide (ITO), a semiconductor nanoparticle, as a spectral filter for use in concentrated GaAs photovoltaic (PV) cells. The synthesized nanoparticles filter high energy UV and infrared photons that ...

Low Cost, Dispatchable Solar Energy; A Pathway through Tulsa (Todd P. Otanicar) Oklahoma Innovation Institute: Tulsa Research Day (2014)