Brownson Bio
Jeffrey (Frey) Brownson, PhD is a queer solar expert, visual artist, associate professor at Penn State, and industry consultant. As one of only five solar engineering faculty in the entire nation, Dr. Brownson has tackled social and physical change within large institutions like Penn State and multi-institutional entities such as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
They lead solar energy research and education at Penn State as Associate Professor of Energy & Mineral Engineering, in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Prior to Penn State, I earned degrees in Environmental Chemistry & Technology (Ph.D., 2005; interdisciplinary program) and Geology (M.S., 2001) from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. Their transformative framework of Solar Ecology reconfigures what it means to “do solar”—(re)turning to solar culture as farming.
Born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, they earned a doctorate in 2005 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After working as a postdoctoral solar researcher at a national lab in Paris, they joined the faculty of Penn State, immediately recruited by four bright-eyed undergrads to serve as faculty lead for the 2009 Solar Decathlon (to design, build, and operate a solar powered home). This pivotal encounter completely changed Frey’s approach to design, civic engagement, and institutional change.
Dr. Brownson’s work through the Solar Collaborative at Penn State emerges as an archive of diffraction experiments through stakeholders, spacetimemattering, and following disruptive changes in our world. They study solar resource assessment/economics, photovoltaic materials, and systems performance for photovoltaics and buildings. A non-binary person in STEM and the arts, they participated in the DoE SunShot initiative “Finding Pennsylvania’s Solar Future”, the DoE SunShot Initiative for Solar Forecasting, the DoE Energy Efficient Buildings Hub in PA, and served as faculty lead in the DoE Solar Decathlon 2009. Brownson has engaged their solar community as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Solar Energy Society from 2013-2016, advocating the critical importance of our young professionals in the health and future of the solar industry.
Scholarship
Their scholarly work includes over 37 peer reviewed publications, 28 non-refereed/conference publications, 2 patents, 1 book chapter: System Integrated Photovoltaics (SIPV), (Routledge; 2012), and a 16-chapter textbook: Solar Energy Conversion Systems, (Academic Press; 2013).
Speaking invitations include over 25 events among civic, academic, and research audiences have been opportunities to share the potential for solar in jobs, education, and global industry growth. Locations include venues across the USA, Burkina Faso (Keynote Speaker, AfricaSolar 2015), China, Germany, Mexico, and the UAE. As conference chair for the 44th Meeting of the American Solar Energy Society (2015), they contributed the closing plenary.
Goals
The next stage in my career demands a regime shift in the ways that faculty, staff, and community members (beyond academia) embrace local vernacular and common identity tied to a shared sense of place. I want to invest my future in work where my peers are motivated to engage with society toward a just and equitable energy future, while embracing social diversity, biodiversity, epistemological transparency, and systems thinking.
Frey Brownson, PhD
Jeffrey Brownson (Frey) is a queer solar expert, visual artist, Penn State professor, and industry consultant. Haunting the halls of academia. Partner, Queer Dad, Enby Artist, Photon Wrangler.
Big Fab Solar Collab Graduates
Follow the links to download electronic theses and dissertations:
Community Solar
Solar is people. (not a Soylent Green reference)
Get Involved
The Big Fab Solar Collab is a feminist anti-colonial collective that works with colleagues, students, and community members to explore Solar Ecology and social change. Interested? We welcome you too.
Collab Research Overview
We make stuff happen, building something out of nothing, and giving it away. We are a collective group of creative and dedicated students, staff, and a few faculty that are looking to disrupt what it means to do solar!”
Solar Ecology is Farming
Re-configuring the boundaries of energy conversion for the entangled present, solar ecology affects and is affecting our naturecultures as farming.
The Solar Genome Project
The Solar Genome Project (SGP) is a solar non-profit registered in PA (501c3 pending), and functions as an applied extension of the Solar Ecology Program of research.
Solar Resource Measures
We measure what we value. We value what we measure.