IBM, Harvard tap compute cloud for solar research

Harvard University and IBM have launched a project to harness the computing muscle of thousands of computers to discover cheap solar energy materials.

The initiative, announced Monday, is part of the IBM-sponsored World Community Grid, which seeks to speed up research on humanitarian challenges with a grid of connected computers.

The idea is that people and organizations donate computing time to these efforts. A grid server doles out tasks to disparate machines to speed up computational jobs.

IBM also said that it will test running the grid software on an internal compute cloud to tap idle time.

Existing World Community Grid projects are aimed at developing a more nutritious rice as well as conducting cancer and AIDS research. The Harvard project wants to test the chemical properties of a number of organic materials with the aim of determining which are most promising for use as solar cells.

An example of organic solar cells. Konarka makes the plastic cells in a roll-to-roll printing process. Because they are flexible and relatively cheap to make, they can be used in tents, solar chargers, or even clothing.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET Networks)

The advantage of organic solar cells is that they are much cheaper to manufacture than traditional silicon and are flexible and lightweight. Some kinds can make electricity with a broader spectrum of light, including indoor light.

On the other hand, these cells aren't as efficient at converting light to electricity and they degrade more quickly.

By parsing out the the computing research across several computers, Harvard researcher Alan Aspuru-Guzik said that the project can be completed in 2 years. Using a traditional supercomputer cluster to run the analysis would take 22 years.

"It would take us about 100 days of computational time to screen each of the thousands of compounds for electronic properties without the power of World Community Grid," he said in a statement.

The World Community Grid is tailored to public and nonprofit organizations but IBM has a number of projects in solar and the energy business.

Its commercial research group has three solar-related programs, including the development of thin-film solar cells from CIGS (a combination of copper, indium, gallium, and selenide) and technology to manufacture solar concentrators.

IBM is also very active in developing smart grid software and services for electric utilities.

ZDNET新聞專區：Martin LaMonica2008/12/09 13:03:02哈佛大學與IBM公司已推出一項計畫，將運用由成千上萬台電腦所集合的運算威力，設法找到廉價的有機太陽能電池材料。

這項計畫在周一，是IBM贊助的「世界社群網格」(World Community Grid)計畫的一部分。「世界社群網格」的宗旨，是借助網網相連的電腦，加速研究人類所面臨的諸多挑戰。 

構想是，民眾與機構捐出電腦運算時間來共襄盛舉。網格伺服器將把待做的任務分配給個別不同的機器，以加速運算工作。

IBM也表示，將在內部的運算雲端(compute cloud)上測試執行這個網格軟體，以善用電腦閒置時間。

現行的世界社群網格計畫目標包括發展更有營養的稻米，以及協助進行抗癌症、抗愛滋病的研究。哈佛的計畫是測試多種有機物質的化學屬性，希望能找到最適合用來製作太陽能電池的材質。

有機太陽能電池的優點在於，製造成本比傳統的矽低廉，而且更具彈性，重量也比較輕。其中一些可產生光譜寬廣的電光，包括室內光線。但另一方面，這些電池把光轉換成電力的效率比較差，而且壞得(degrade)比較快。   

哈佛大學研究員Alan Aspuru-Guzik指出，把運算研究分給多台電腦同時進行，可讓這項計畫在兩年內完成。若使用一部傳統超級電腦叢集來作分析，要費時22年才能完成。 

他發布書面聲明說：「如果不借助世界社群網格的運算效能的話，我們大約需要100天的運算時間，逐一過濾數千種化成物的電子屬性。」

世界社群網格是投入公益的非營利組織，而IBM有多項計畫投入太陽能與能源營利事業。IBM的商業研究事業群已進行三項太陽能相關的計畫，包括開發CIGS(結合銅、銦、鎵、硒化物)的薄膜太陽能電池，以及用來製造太陽能集光器的技術。 

IBM也積極開發供電力事業使用的智慧型網格軟體與服務。(唐慧文/譯)