David P. Fenning

Director, Solar Energy Innovation Laboratory (SOLEIL)

David P. Fenning is an assistant professor in NanoEngineering at UC San Diego, where he directs the Solar Energy Innovation Laboratory (SOLEIL). His group researches materials for solar energy conversion and storage. Currently, his work focuses on defects and reliability in silicon and hybrid perovskite solar cells and CO2 electrocatalysis for solar fuels.

After completing his Ph.D. on silicon solar cell materials at MIT in 2013, he worked with the silicon R&D team at 1366 Technologies Inc., followed by an MIT/Battelle postdoctoral fellowship in solar fuels. He joined the NanoEngineering Department at UC San Diego in 2015.

He is a recipient of the American Chemical Society's PRF New Investigator award and was recognized as a 2017 Hellman Fellow. His research is supported by the DOE SunShot Initiative and the California Energy Commission.