Jan Kleissl is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. Kleissl is the Principle Investigator for the Grid Integration and Decarbonization Laboratory. Kleissl is also the Director of the Center for Energy Research. Kleissl received a PhD from the Johns Hopkins University in Environmental Engineering and joined UC San Diego in 2006. Kleissl supervises 13 PhD students, Postdocs, and Project Scientists. Kleissl teaches classes in Renewable Energy Meteorology, Laboratory Techniques, Groundwater Flow, and Building Energy Efficiency. Kleissl received the 2009 National Science Foundation CAREER award, the 2008 UC San Diego Sustainability award, and the 2022 Charles Greeley Abbot Award of the American Solar Energy Society.

Professor Kleissl’s lab researches novel optimization technologies for solar power integration into power systems. Solar power forecasts are applied to schedule electric vehicle charging, distributed energy resources (DERs), and distribution feeder voltage control. Kleissl frequently interacts with utilities, grid operators, and the solar industry to bring forecasting technologies to market. Kleissl currently oversees the construction of the DERConnect research facility sponsored by the National Science Foundation. He is also the PI for DERConnect which will open to industry and academic users in 2025.

Specialties: Fluid mechanics, Environmental Sensing, Solar Forecasting, Distributed Energy Resources