At a glance, you would never guess what is happening in the lab where Batarseh works with electrical engineering students. Inside the lab鈥檚 four walls are hard drives, cables and equipment you don鈥檛 dare touch. But that鈥檚 a nearsighted view of what鈥檚 going on here. Batarseh has been at the forefront of energy conversion and innovations for nearly 30 years.

The next time you鈥檙e in a 麻豆原创 parking lot, look up. See those small solar PV panels on the light poles? Batarseh and his team invented the low-cost high-efficient micro-inverters that made those possible. They鈥檙e merely a hint of the revolutionary smart energy systems he envisions worldwide 鈥� and with the work he and other researchers are doing as part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 renewable energy faculty cluster, we鈥檙e closer than you think.

Start with your credentials 鈥� 29 patents and too many titles and accolades to list in this space. Which ones mean the most to you?
Emotionally, it would be the recognition from the King of Jordan last fall for my work in the field of electrical engineering. My parents were there for the ceremony at the Dead Sea in Jordan, so that was special. The most influential recognition would be from the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame in 2017 鈥� it means a lot to make significant contributions in my home state with such an important application like solar energy conversion.

In simple terms, what exactly are you doing?
Trying to improve lives around the world, long into the future. Just like we once had an industrial generation, I see this as an energy generation. So I work with a team of talented students and colleagues to make solar energy more efficient, accessible and affordable.

How close are we to seeing widespread application of solar energy?
The tipping point is no longer 20 or 50 years ahead. It鈥檚 right now. We are living the smart solar energy revolution.

What are you working on that could tip everything forward?
The integration of solar harvesting and electric battery storage is the key. If we can harvest solar energy and store it for later use, and process it better, then in the long run we wouldn鈥檛 even need a grid. Energy would be delivered the way Uber delivers 鈥� whenever and wherever you need it.

Is that really possible?
Think about it. We鈥檒l have 1 trillion sensors in the world by 2020. If we can integrate that kind of intelligence with energy storage and solar distribution, everyone in the world would have stable and available clean energy 24/7. It wouldn鈥檛 be bulky or expensive or complex.

It sounds futuristic.
Nikola Tesla was the inventor who is very much responsible for today鈥檚 electric power grid. But he also had the vision for the smartphone, back in 1926. He wrote about humans communicating with anyone on the globe, with a device you could fit in your pocket.

Why do so many innovations never see the light of day?
Several reasons: Technology readiness, market demand, and the fact that companies can be too protective. Universities can be self-driven, too. I came to the realization nearly 20 years ago that I could not do this work on solar-energy conversion alone, that I needed experts from various fields, even from the private sector.

Tell us about your own team.
I鈥檝e been very lucky when it comes to attracting top students worldwide. I have graduated 35 Ph.D.鈥檚, 44 masters and 15 honors in the major undergraduate students. We recruit people who have not only the intelligence, but who are able to address real-life applications and communicate them with others.

When did you first envision this idea of solar conversion?
I was working in Chicago in 1985 when Zenith asked for a way to improve the power electronics in their TVs. They wanted to make the energy conversion components smaller. I thought, 鈥淚f it鈥檚 so important for televisions, why not push for better energy conversion for other applications?鈥�

What was your first big step?
When I was hired at 麻豆原创 in 1991, I asked about building a lab to study power electronics for energy conversion. There wasn鈥檛 much budget back then, and there were a lot of questions, but eventually we built the lab through federal funding. By the time renewable energy and clean environment became major topics a decade later, we were ahead of the research.

And you鈥檙e still ahead of the research.
That鈥檚 where we always want to be. We鈥檝e had at least five students start their own companies in the field. We鈥檙e competing with top universities in the U.S., Europe and China, right here at 麻豆原创. Country after country is moving completely to solar energy, and they鈥檙e using technology that we helped developed.

Looking even further ahead, what鈥檚 your ultimate goal?
We鈥檙e doing all of this to make a difference in people鈥檚 lives, and to help improve the world in a small but important way.

鈥淕reetings from the Dead Sea, Jordan,鈥� Issa Batarseh, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Florida Solar Energy Center鈥檚 Energy System Integration Division, wrote in acceptance remarks for the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame induction gala.

The gala, originally scheduled Sept. 8, was postponed because of Hurricane Irma and was rescheduled for Nov. 6 when Batarseh was already committed to travel to Jordan for the Royal Scientific Society event.

Batarseh was one of eight 2017 inductees to the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame.聽 Inductees are required to have at least one U.S. patent and a connection to Florida. A selection committee, comprised of distinguished leaders in research and innovation from throughout Florida, select the inductees after an open nomination process.

Batarseh, who has been at 麻豆原创 since 1991, holds 28 U.S. patents for technologies focused on the development of advanced systems for solar-energy conversion to improve cost, power density, efficiency and performance.

He joins two other 麻豆原创 researchers in the hall: Shin-Tson Wu, a professor of optics, who was inducted into the inaugural class in 2014, and M.J. Soileau, professor emeritus of optics, who was named last year.

The Royal Scientific Society of Jordan recognition similarly focused on Batarseh鈥檚 contributions to power electronics and specifically the influence he has had on that country鈥檚 scientific accomplishments and impact on making science part of the nation鈥檚 identity. Batarseh is one of 14 scientists around the world selected for that honor and recognized by the King of Jordan.

Batarseh was born in Jordan and served as president of Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Amman, Jordan, from 2010 to 2014 while on professional development leave from 麻豆原创. He also served as a Fulbright visiting associate professor at the university in 1997.

He said he knew he wanted to study engineering technology in the early 1980s at the birth of the computer and electronics revolution when microprocessors and personal computers were the news of the day.

鈥淚 am inspired by working with highly talented and energetic students and the realization that my work produces new innovations that help our planet become greener and our environment cleaner,鈥� he said.

He is the co-founder of Petra Solar (now Petra Systems), formed in 2006 by licensing Batarseh鈥檚 technology to distribute and control solar power from panels and feed it directly into the grid. Shortly after formation, the company received $14 million in venture capital funding for product development and global market expansion. The company established its research and development activities in the Central Florida Research Park and hired 麻豆原创 graduates, many trained by Batarseh. In 2011, Petra System raised an additional $40 million in venture funding. One of the company鈥檚 successes was supplying New Jersey with more than 200,000 utility pole-mounted solar units.

Batarseh and his students also founded Advanced Power Electronic Corp. in Central Florida Research Park. The company, which completed the 麻豆原创 Business Incubation Program, is still run by 麻豆原创 graduates. The company specializes in solar energy conversion and integration technologies, and is a leading designer of solar chargers for military applications.

To see an overview of Issa Batarseh鈥檚 work as presented at the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame

Issa Batarseh, who has made significant technical contributions in the field of power electronics, and Guifang Li, a professor of optics and photonics who specializes in optical fiber communications, are 麻豆原创鈥檚 eighth and ninth members of the select academy.

Election to NAI Fellow status is a high professional distinction given to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.

The class of 168 Fellows named today brings the total number of NAI Fellows to 582, representing more than 190 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutions. The 2015 Fellows account for more than 5,300 issued U.S. patents, bringing the collective patents held by all NAI Fellows to more than 20,000. These academic luminaries have made a significant impact to the economy through innovative discoveries, creating startup companies, and enhancing the culture of academic invention.

Batarseh joined 麻豆原创 in 1991 and has distinguished himself by establishing the Florida Power Electronics Center, conducting significant scholarly research which has resulted in more than 100 published papers in refereed journals, and more than 200 refereed papers at international conferences. He is a Fellow of both the IEEE and the AAAS and, in 2004, received the Davis Productivity Award for Best Invention recognized by the State of Florida. He has graduated 42 Ph.D. students and more than 70 masters and undergraduate students.

Over the years, Batarseh has helped secure more than $12 million for his work in developing innovative power electronic systems to convert energy collected in solar panels into domestic electricity grids and similar topics in power electronics. He is also a founding partner of a start-up, Petra Solar, which is commercializing solar-electronics-conversion systems, and he has received 27 patents.

Li is the recipient of both the NSF Career award and the ONR Young Investigator Award, and is a fellow of IEEE, SPIE and the Optical Society of America. He is a deputy editor for Optics Express and an associate editor for Photonics Technology Letters.

His research interests include optical communication and networking, RF photonics and all-optical signal processing. He has collaborated widely with academic institutions and industry.

Li’s research, totaling $4.7 million, has focused on high-capacity optical fiber communication systems. He has been awarded 26 patents.

The NAI Fellows will be inducted April 15 as part of the fifth annual conference of the National Academy of Inventors at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va. Fellows will be presented with a trophy, medal, and rosette pin in honor of their outstanding accomplishments.

Other 麻豆原创 members of the academy are Leonid Glebov, Shin-Tson Wu, Michael Bass, and Peter Delfyett, all from the College of Optics & Photonics; MJ Soileau, vice president for research and commercialization; Sudipta Seal, NanoScience Technology Center and the College of Engineering & Computer Science; Tson Wu and Marwan Simaan from the College of Engineering & Computer Science.

, at the College of Engineering and Computer Science, developed the groundbreaking technology under the leadership of Issa Batarseh, Ph.D. The facilitated the exclusive license agreement.

Energy organizations and market forecasters project the solar PV industry will exceed $130 billion within the next 15 years. Twenty percent of the world鈥檚 population lacks access to electricity, according to World Energy Outlook-2009 estimation. As global-wide momentum continues to build for eco-friendly solutions, solar PV is positioned as a cleaner, more abundant and better distributed energy source than traditional technologies such as nuclear, coal, natural gas and hydro.

A crucial component of solar PV is the inverters that convert the direct current (DC) output of the solar cells to the alternating current (AC) used to power electric devices and deliver electricity to the grid. Traditional approaches have relied on large, central inverters that are expensive, require high-voltage wiring and introduce a single point of failure into the system. Microinverters have entered the market with improvements over the central inverters, but lack system scalability and full compatibility with the three-phase configurations used by the utilities that distribute electricity. In addition, they are not designed for optimal one-to-one, single microinverter connected to a single solar panel, performance.

鈥淥ur team of University researchers has developed the technology to produce the industry鈥檚 first single-module three-phase microinverter that achieves the needed scalability, compatibility and single microinverter-to-solar panel performance to reduce the cost of solar energy while substantially boosting energy-harvesting capacity,鈥� explained Dr. Batarseh. 鈥淎mong its many other benefits, it also provides both high power conversion and light load efficiency.鈥�

Under the MaxHarvest Microinverters brand, GreenTech Endeavors will continue to develop, test and invest in the technology as it prepares its market strategy. GreenTech Endeavors鈥� management team will also provide a variety of strategic business and marketing support activities.

鈥淲e are extremely excited on the potential benefits this technology has for consumers and overall impact it can have for communities and entire populations around the world,鈥� said Will Perego, founder and CEO at GreenTech Endeavors, and CEO at MaxHarvest Microinverters. 鈥淚n addition, the combination of the Department of Energy鈥檚 initial funding and the University鈥檚 innovative research is a shining example of the efforts needed for the United States to remain a major player worldwide in the development of clean, renewable energy.鈥�

Perego launched MaxHarvest Microinverters in March 2015, one of 17 companies he has started since the 1980s. A visionary and entrepreneur dedicated to clean energy solutions, Perego is in the process of finalizing a funded R&D project and engaging several of the 麻豆原创 students who worked on the initial research, a move that would bring in additional inside knowledge of the technology as his company refines it further.

About the GreenTech Endeavors:
GreenTech Endeavors is an incubator of revolutionary cleantech startups that can help create an abundant, safe and non-polluted world for all mankind. GreenTech Endeavors licenses clean technologies from American Universities to bring these technologies to market and also invests in early stage cleantech startups. For more information: greentechendeavors.com.