Research Interests:

Carlos Colon has been a member of the research facility at the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) since December of 1989. After graduating from the Interamerican University in 1985, Carlos completed various computer and engineering courses at the University of Central Florida. During the 19 years of working at FSEC, he has acquired invaluable experience in laboratory measurement, field monitoring and data analysis of various energy related projects. He has performed as a project leader conducting energy research for the State Energy Office Division of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Tallahassee, Florida. Some of these projects include monitoring of commercial HVAC, residential building and commercial system simulations using RHVAC (manual J), TRNSYS, and Energy Gauge USA (EGUSA). In 1997 he completed a solar thermal evaluation project for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) performing remote control and monitoring of residential solar hot water heating technologies for the consortium of electric utilities. In Lakeland, Florida, Mr. Colon was responsible for developing the first utility-owned solar water heating system program (with Lakeland Electric), where more than sixty customers pay for metered hot water energy use on a monthly basis. During July 2002, the program reached a Stellar Project status under the U.S. Department of Energy-Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. During 2002 through 2004, Carlos served as principal investigator performing research involving roof integrated solar absorber prototypes, including simulations of combined Photovoltaic-Thermal absorbers (PV-T) for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). In April 2007, Carlos became a certified Florida Class I residential energy rater. Currently, Mr. Colon serves as task leader for the Building America program where he investigates high performance homes featuring grid-tied photovoltaics. At present, he is involved in the construction and development of a flexible water heating test facility to compare multiple systems operating side by side. During his spare time he enjoys computers, microcontroller system design, technical consulting, recreational sports, music playing, and dedicates time to his family.