How a student’s solar simulation sparked a new science startup
A major part of Ryerson’s thriving culture of entrepreneurship is Zone Learning, an initiative that supports student startups and facilitates the application of research and innovation to real-world issues. Ryerson is home to ten startup incubators, called zones, which support the growth of new enterprises across different industries, from clean energy and biomedical science, to fashion and law.
Among these ten incubators is the Science Discovery Zone (SDZ), a space that enables students to adopt an evidence-based approach and test big ideas. Anna Leckman is one of the newest members of the SDZ and, while studying for a master’s in environmental applied science and management, is building a new venture called Arevi Consulting Ltd. With an interest in how physics can be used to solve environmental problems, she’s aiming to develop a new tool that can be used to help solar panels work more efficiently.
“Physics fascinates me and climate change worries me, so it feels like a happy marriage,” she said.
Leckman explains that new solar panels need to be tested to ensure they’re working properly. This is done by shining light into the panels, most commonly with a xenon lamp. However, she says that xenon lamps can be expensive to operate and have a short lifespan. Her idea is to replace xenon lamps with a tool that uses low-voltage and long-lasting LED lights.
Her system will also be tunable, so that users can adjust the light to imitate conditions from different parts of the world. This will help manufacturers to maximize the efficiency of their products and enable companies which install solar panels to provide the most suitable hardware.
“I’m creating a simulator that will, hopefully, almost exactly imitate the spectrum of light coming from the sun,” said Leckman. “Although there are quite a lot of solar simulators in the market already, few of them are LEDs and even fewer of them are tunable.”
Since 2010, Ryerson’s ten zones have incubated more than 3,500 startups, involving more than 5,200 innovators, creating more than 4,000 jobs and raising more than $750 million in funding. In addition to these spaces, Zone Learning recently began a new program called the Professional Skills Development Zone. This provides final year students and new alumni with transferrable skills training to improve their employability, while enabling them to access student wage subsidy programs.
Related links:
Find out more about Zone Learning (opens in new window)
Read about the Science Discovery Zone (opens in new window)
Learn about the Professional Skills Development Zone (opens in new window)
