National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Solar Research
October 21, 2009
Solar Technology Acceleration Center is Powering Up 
Members of the Solar Technology Acceleration Center (SolarTAC) and supporters convened in Aurora, Colo., today, to mark a milestone in “Powering Up” one of the world’s largest solar test and demonstration facilities. Since announcing the initial launch of SolarTAC one year ago, the site infrastructure development has progressed to the point where members can now break ground for their planned solar technology implementation and testing. Today’s occasion also included the announcement that the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have both signed letters of intent to join SolarTAC.
October 8, 2009
NREL Concentrating Solar Power Team Receives Two Awards Under DOE’s National Laboratory Call for Research and Development Projects
On October 8, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu announced that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will receive funding for two proposals submitted to the DOE Solar EnergyTechnologies Program in June 2009: (1) Advanced Thermal Energy Storage and Solar-Field Test and Evaluation Facilities ($4.4 million) and (2)Nanomaterials for Thermal Energy Storage in Concentrating Solar Power Plants ($1 million). These awards complement ongoing NREL research and development in support of CSP. Over the coming months, NREL will reach out to CSP stakeholders to refine the plans for the facilities to meet the near- and long-term needs of the CSP industry.
September 28, 2009
Weathering System Cuts Product Testing Time
NREL's new Ultra-Accelerated Weathering System can quickly give an accurate portrait of what the sun will do to a product in 10, 20 or 30 years. This helps companies determine a service-life guarantee for a product.
September 16, 2009
Federal Laboratory Consortium Highlights NREL Research
The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer’s (FLC) Mid-Continent Region recently recognized the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and its partners with two awards for excellence in technology transfer.
September 14, 2009
Award-Winning Battery's Secret Is 'Buried'
Actually, the secret's out. In two years, Planar Energy Devices plans to commercialize an innovative, solid-state lithium-ion microbattery developed by NREL researchers.
August 4, 2009
Award-Winning Reflector to Cut Solar Cost
NREL's partnership with SkyFuel yields a more cost-effective parabolic trough technology.
July 30, 2009
NREL Names Director for National Center for Photovoltaics
Dr. Ryne P. Raffaelle has been named director of the National Center for Photovoltaics at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Raffaelle most recently has been Academic Director for the Golisano Institute for Sustainability and Director of the NanoPower Research Laboratory at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York.
July 27, 2009
CRSP and Colorado School of Mines REMRSEC Form Relationship
The Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion (CRSP) and the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (REMRSEC) have announced an important affiliation that will add value to both centers and enhance their work on solar energy research.
July 22, 2009
NREL Research Garners Three Prestigious R&D 100 Awards
An ultra-accelerated weathering system, a parabolic trough solar concentrating collector, and a microbattery -- all developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) -- were honored today as top 100 innovations for 2009 by R&D Magazine.
July 13, 2009
Unique Research Tool Aims to Reduce PV Cost
NREL has installed its first Atmospheric Processing Platform to prototype lower-cost thin film solar cells from inks and other solutions.
July 9, 2009
DOE/BLM Announce Availability of Solar Energy Study Area Maps
The Department of Energy and the Bureau of Land Management announced the availability of maps that identify 24 tracts of BLM-administered land for in-depth study for solar development. A public comment period ends July 30, 2009.
July 7, 2009
NREL Collaborating with Spire to Develop Solar Cells with 42% Efficiency
Through a Photovoltaic Technology Incubator Award, Spire Semiconductor will receive more than $3.7 million under an 18-month contract with NREL.
June 11, 2009
Nozik wins UN science and technology prize for solar research
Senior Research Fellow Arthur J. Nozik of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has won the 2009 Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization (IREO) Award for Science and Technology. IREO is a new international organization related to the United Nations.
June 9, 2009
NREL Seeks Proposals, Announces Awards for Photovoltaic Technology Incubator Program
The U. S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is seeking project proposals as part of recently announced DOE funding to accelerate commercialization of solar energy technologies. NREL also is announced partnerships with 13 U.S. small solar businesses, which have the capability to enter the market by 2012.
June 4, 2009
CRSP Named to DOE Funded Energy Frontier Research Center
The Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion (CRSP) will play an integral role in a new federally-funded effort to develop revolutionary solar cell designs at the nanoscale. The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the lead organization of CRSP, and will partner with Los Alamos National Laboratory
May 28, 2009
NREL teams with Dutch Energy Research Center
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has signed a research collaboration agreement with the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN). NREL and ECN will join forces on areas such as policy studies, energy analysis, wind energy and solar photovoltaic energy.
May 16, 2009
Seventy-eight Teams Race Innovative Solar and Hydrogen Model Cars
Seventy-eight teams from 29 Colorado middle schools participated in today’s Junior Solar Sprint and Hydrogen Fuel Cell car competitions hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The student teams raced solar or hydrogen powered vehicles that they designed and built themselves.
May 7, 2009
NREL Solar Cell Wins Federal Technology Transfer Prize
A new class of ultra-light, high-efficiency solar cells developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been awarded a national prize for the commercialization of federally funded research.
April 13, 2009
World's Second-Largest Solar Thermal Power Plant to Be Built in Florida
By mid 2010, Florida Power and Light (FPL) will construct the Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center, a 75-megawatt plant that will sit on 500 acres near Indiantown, Florida, adjacent to FPL’s existing combined-cycle power plant. It will be the world's second largest concentrating solar power plant.
April 13, 2009
NREL’s JEDI Model Demonstrates Benefits for Nevada’s Energy Development
Vote Solar released “The Sun Rises on Nevada,” its in-depth analysis of employment, economic, tax, and environmental benefits, which demonstrated the potential gains for Nevada to develop solar energy. Vote Solar used the Job and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) model developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for concentrating solar power plants.
March 31, 2009
NREL Partnering with GreenVolts to Commercialize IMM Solar Cell
Through a cooperative research and development agreement, NREL will provide assistance with the optimization of the solar cell's design and transfer of the technology into the marketplace.
March 12, 2009
NREL Successfully Transfers VSHOT Technology to Solar Industry
NREL provides the most efficient optical characterization testing method--the Video Scanning Hartmann Optical Test--for solar concentrators.
February 18, 2009
NREL wins first Governor's Award for Research Impact in Renewable Energy
A non-profit coalition advocating for federal research in Colorado has honored the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory with one of its first Governor's Awards for Research Impact.
February 17, 2009
Chuck Kutscher Receives Excellence Award in Renewable Energy from Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter recently honored NREL's Chuck Kutscher with the Governor's Excellence in Renewable Energy Award. Kutscher has dedicated 30 years to NREL, is a tireless advocate of renewable energy as a climate change solution, and is a writer, a teacher and a leader in the solar industry.
This Web Site is