Advanced Infrastructure for Sustainable Energy Research

The Sustainable Energy Technologies Center (SET) provides an interdisciplinary research environment to develop, characterize, and evaluate advanced sustainable-energy technologies. Through its laboratories and collaborative facilities across King Saud University, the Center supports fundamental and applied research in hydrogen, solar energy, energy storage, biomass, wind energy, geothermal energy, and peaceful nuclear applications.

Research Facilities

Hydrogen and Advanced Energy Materials

The Center supports research in hydrogen production, hydrogen-storage materials, fuel-cell materials, electrocatalysis, and advanced functional materials.

Selected equipment and capabilities include:

• Benchtop X-ray Diffraction System (XRD)
• UV–Vis–NIR Spectrophotometer
• Incident Photon-to-Current Efficiency Measurement System (IPCE)
• Surface Area and Pore Size Analyzer
• Sputter Coating System
• Dual-Zone Tube Furnace with Controlled Atmosphere
• Microwave Synthesis System
• Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS)
• Temperature-Programmed Desorption, Reduction, and Oxidation Analyzer
• Rotary Evaporators, heating ovens, and high-temperature furnaces

These facilities support material synthesis, structural and optical characterization, catalyst evaluation, surface analysis, and the development of materials for hydrogen and electrochemical-energy applications.

Energy Storage and Materials Characterization

The Energy Storage and Materials Characterization facilities support the preparation and analysis of nanomaterials and functional materials for batteries, supercapacitors, and other energy-storage systems.

Selected capabilities include:

• UV–Visible Spectroscopy
• Particle-Size Analysis
• High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
• Thermal treatment and material-processing systems
• Physical, optical, and chemical characterization of advanced materials

Solar Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Technologies

The Solar Photovoltaics Laboratory supports the fabrication and evaluation of thin films, semiconductor materials, photovoltaic devices, and solar-energy conversion systems.

Selected equipment includes:

• Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition System (PECVD)
• DC Sputtering System
• Spin-Coating System
• Controlled-Atmosphere Tube Furnace
• Solar Simulator
• Surface Profilometer
• Semiconductor Electrical Characterization System

The laboratory enables thin-film deposition, device fabrication, surface analysis, electrical characterization, and solar-cell performance evaluation.

Biomass, Bioenergy, and Environmental Analysis

The Biomass Energy Laboratory supports biomass characterization, biofuel research, waste-to-energy technologies, and environmental analysis.

Selected equipment includes:

• Atomic Absorption Spectrometer
• High-Performance Liquid Chromatography System
• Gas Chromatograph equipped with FID and TCD detectors
• Total Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen Analyzer
• CHN Elemental Analyzer
• Bomb Calorimeter
• Muffle Furnace
• Vacuum Drying Oven

These capabilities support the chemical and elemental analysis of biomass, fuels, water, waste streams, organic compounds, and environmental samples.

Wind Energy and Grid Integration

The Wind Energy Laboratory supports education and research in wind-turbine aerodynamics, turbine performance, energy-system simulation, and grid integration.

Selected facilities include:

• Educational Wind Tunnel
• Wind-Turbine Emulation Systems
• Wind-Energy Grid-Integration Demonstration System
• DC- and Stepper-Motor-Based Turbine Simulators
• Small Wind-Turbine Demonstration Models

These systems allow researchers and students to investigate turbine behaviour, aerodynamic performance, electrical characteristics, and integration with utility networks.

Geothermal Energy and Geomechanics

The geothermal-energy facilities support the characterization of rocks, geological materials, and geothermal reservoirs.

Selected capabilities include:

• Evaluation of the geomechanical properties of cylindrical rock and core samples
• Seismic investigation of geothermal reservoirs
• Physical and mechanical characterization of geological materials
• Assessment of materials and conditions relevant to geothermal-energy development

Nuclear Energy and Radiation Technologies

The nuclear-energy facilities support research, training, and measurement activities related to peaceful nuclear applications, radiation protection, dosimetry, and advanced energy materials.

The facilities include:

• Radiation Measurement Laboratory
• Health Physics Laboratory
• Dosimetry Calibration Laboratory
• Nuclear Research Laboratory
• X-ray Fluorescence Analysis System
• Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy System
• Laser Flash Thermal Conductivity Measurement System
• Seebeck Coefficient and Electrical Resistance Measurement System

These capabilities support radiation measurement, material identification, elemental analysis, thermal-property evaluation, thermoelectric-material characterization, and radiation-safety research.

Integrated Renewable-Energy Systems

The Center also provides hybrid renewable-energy systems to demonstrate and study the integration of multiple energy sources.

These facilities support:

• Solar–wind hybrid-energy systems
• Renewable-energy integration
• Energy-system monitoring and evaluation
• Student training and practical demonstrations
• Development and validation of integrated clean-energy solutions

Core Capabilities

SET’s facilities collectively support:

• Advanced materials and nanomaterials synthesis
• Catalyst and electrode preparation
• Structural, optical, surface, and thermal characterization
• Thin-film deposition and semiconductor-device fabrication
• Electrochemical energy conversion and storage
• Hydrogen production and fuel-cell material research
• Biomass, fuel, water, and environmental analysis
• Solar and wind-energy performance evaluation
• Radiation measurement and nuclear-material characterization
• Prototype development and renewable-energy system integration

Shared Research Infrastructure at King Saud University

SET collaborates with research centers, colleges, and central laboratories across King Saud University. These partnerships provide access to complementary capabilities in materials synthesis, advanced characterization, engineering design, device fabrication, and performance testing.

Key collaborating facilities include:

• Center of Excellence for Research in Engineering Materials (CEREM).
• King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology (KAIN).
• Advanced Manufacturing Institute.
• Central laboratories of the Colleges of Science and Engineering

Collaboration and Facility Access

SET welcomes collaboration with academic researchers, government organizations, industrial partners, and technology developers. Available forms of cooperation include joint research projects, material and device characterization, technical consultation, postgraduate research, professional training, prototype development, and technology validation.

Access to laboratories and equipment is subject to availability, safety requirements, instrument status, and prior coordination with the responsible laboratory team.