the Institute for Sustainable Power Quality, established by the late Mark C. Fitzgerald, a close personal friend of Mrohs. Today, photovoltaics is a multi-billion dollar industry with
major markets throughout the developed and developing worlds. As the price of solar continues to decline and the cost of conventional electricity continues to go up, the U.S. market opportunity will only get more exciting as ‘grid parity’ in cost approaches. “PV technology is proven and becoming a mainstream com-
modity. It is not going to go away,” Mrohs says. What makes photovoltaic technology unique is that it doesn’t
“PV technology is proven and becoming a mainstream commodity. It is not going to go away.” –Mark Mrohs ’74
inherently depend on the economies of scale that are required for conventional centralized means of electricity generation that require large generators—a single solar module is just as effi- cient as a big field of modules covering acres. “You can’t make a small nuclear power plant or a small steam
Mrohs designed the curriculum and managed the instruction
for the first national solar photovoltaic training program funded by the World Bank. The SPV Training Programme for India was overseen by the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and awarded to Siemens Solar from 1995 to 1998. Using curriculum he developed, Mrohs taught a series of
three, two-week, technician training programs and a one- week advanced design and installation program each year over a three-year period. He worked primarily with the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology at Madras (now Chennai). The university subsequently developed and still offers a photovoltaic technician training program based on the training that Mrohs provided. Hundreds of millions of people in rural India and other
countries do not have access to electricity from a grid exten- sion, so they rely on small gasoline generators, which are noisy, smoky and notoriously unreliable. Even those living in cities have standby generators because of frequent power outages. Photovoltaic systems in rural areas charge batteries which
are then used for lighting, which is much safer than burning cow dung or liquid fuels, and to power TVs, radios, sewing ma- chines, cell phones and tools. They provide power to run vac- cine refrigerators in small rural clinics or to recharge batteries on remote microwave and radio repeater stations. Mrohs was awarded the 2009 ISP Mark C. Fitzgerald Me-
morial Award for his dedication to promoting quality renewable energy training. Under his direction, SunPower has developed a sophisticated training and certification program that has been accredited by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). SunPower is the only PV manufacturer in the world with a training program that meets the international standards set by
S UMME R 2 0 1 0 H a r v e y Mu d d C o l l e g e 2 3
power plant. You make them big, hundreds of megawatts, to be cost effective. With solar you can make a power plant that is just four kilowatts, just enough to power a house. That inher- ent nature is unique to PV,” says Mrohs. “Wind is a brethren renewable technology to solar PV, and can be scaled small or ramped up into large megawatt farms, but the solar resource is more widely distributed than the wind resource, so we have an advantage there.” Manufacturers are continuing to work on ways to make solar
less expensive and more “clever,” Mrohs says. SunPower makes solar tiles that blend in with regular flat ceramic roof tiles and are being used by Southern California new home builders. And BIPV, or building-integrated photovoltaics, is gradually being adopted by architects and incorporated into the glass walls on the sides of office buildings. Mrohs is confident about the future of photovoltaics, a career that has blossomed since his days at HMC. “The HMC experience was the best time of my life, when
the most doors in my mind were opening, the best friends were made, the most inspiration was given,” Mrohs says. “My con- fidence was given anchor there, and since then I have been out in the working world, and have held my own, not arrogant but confident that I have the problem-solving skills to overcome the challenges that keep coming.”
Elaine Regus is a freelance writer based in Claremont, Calif.
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