Powering ahead with Solar energy - Professor Lesley Yellowlees

At this year’s London International Youth Science Forum, our students had the privilege to receive specialist lectures of their choice from scientists who are renowned leading experts in their fields. On Wednesday 30^th July 2014, participants enjoyed specialists lectures on topics ranging from probiotic bacteria; galactic archaeology; ischaemic heart disease; high energy plasma physics to heterogeneous catalysis.

After lunch, Professor Lesley Yellowlees from University of Edinburgh, spoke to our students about ‘Powering ahead with Solar energy’. In her stimulating lecture, Professors Yellowlees began by explaining about the exponential growth in overall global energy consumption and the concerns about the use of fossil fuels. She stressed on the importance of using more renewable energy sources especially solar power. One of the most astounding facts she mentioned was that if we were to condense the rate of oil production to 1 year, then the rate of our usage of oil will be over in 30! 

Professor Yellowlees moved on to explain the different types of solar cells – Pn junction solar cells and dye sensitised solar cells. Students learned about the need to make dye sensitised solar cells more efficient as they are cheaper and can pave the way to harnessing solar energy in the future. Participants also gained better understanding of the Spectroelectrochemical characterisation techniques she came up with to help design better dye sensitised cells, Professor Yellowlees talked about further areas of research that could help us battle the energy consumption crisis, such as breaking the double bonds in carbon dioxide after it is captured and using it to make something useful.  She focused on how there is a need for new ideas, new materials and new science that can only be possible with the work of budding young scientists like our participants.

In the evening, Dr. Clare McNulty from the British Council came to talk to our participants about the importance of talking about science and skills development through various events such as FameLab, with the help of other guest speakers. Students realised that it is essential to be able to pitch their scientific ideas and theories and learned about how they could do so. At the end of the talk, scientific musical comedian Helen Arney entertained us all with her witty mathematical love song, "Statistically I love you" and then sang her own rendition.