BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA -- Publication of the first articles in the new SPIE Journal of Photonics for Energy (JPE) began last month in the SPIE Digital Library. The new journal includes special sections on organic photovoltaics and organic light-emitting materials and devices, with papers on technology for more efficient solar cells, enhanced LED color quality, and more.

JPE articles are freely available to all readers throughout this year.

The new peer-reviewed journal is "a bridge between photonics and renewable energy," said Editor-in-Chief Zakya Kafafi (National Science Foundation). "I am excited about the future of photonics and energy, and the role that JPE will play in communicating discoveries in this highly interdisciplinary field. The 21st century will witness many scientific and engineering breakthroughs that will shape the future of clean, sustainable, and renewable energy for generations to come."

"The launch of any new journal is exciting, but the launch of the new SPIE Journal of Photonics for Energy is especially significant, as it highlights the varied roles that optics and photonics technologies play in solving global problems," said SPIE Publications Committee Chair John Greivenkamp (College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona). "This journal provides a home for the diverse interdisciplinary topics in our field that are related to renewable energy and the more efficient use of energy."

The scope of JPE includes topics such as innovative concepts for energy harvesting, conversion, storage, distribution, monitoring, consumption, and efficient usage. It will cover materials and device physics and chemistry, processing, systems, and applications related to photonic solutions for sustainable energy.

Full-length original research articles are published, as well as short technical communications for the Letters section of the journal.

The Journal of Photonics for Energy is closely aligned with the Solar Energy symposium held each year as part of the SPIE Optics and Photonics event. Authors from two long-running conferences from the 2010 symposium, Organic Light Emitting Devices and Materials XIV, chaired by Franky So (Univ. of Florida), and Organic Photovoltaics, chaired by Kafafi, contributed manuscripts to JPE as part of an experimental SPIE journal submission option for conference authors. In concert with the symposium, JPE is intended to serve the interdisciplinary information needs of the community working on solar and other sustainable energy technologies.

The e-journal format enables inclusion of video and audio multimedia content, free full-color images, and rapid article-at-a-time publication. Individual manuscripts are published online as soon as they are copyedited, typeset, and proofed.

More information about the journal along with submission information for authors is available on SPIE.org/jpe.

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. Serving more than 180,000 constituents from 168 countries, the Society advances emerging technologies through interdisciplinary information exchange, continuing education, publications, patent precedent and career and professional growth. SPIE annually organizes and sponsors approximately 25 major technical forums, exhibitions and education programs in North America, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific, and supports scholarships, grants and other education programs around the world.

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