Energy Analysis News
Explore our archive of Energy Analysis news stories.
Dec. 21, 2018
Ian Baring-Gould has traveled the globe for NREL, helping communities. He is amazed at the progress of renewables, particularly wind, over the past few decades.
Nov. 30, 2018
The challenge to modernize our grid is not a maintenance task or an everyday repair. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium (GMLC) is responding to a grid transformation unlike anything the nation has experienced.
Nov. 5, 2018
The REopt Lite web tool's new wind optimization module lets building owners and energy managers evaluate the economic viability of grid-connected wind at a site, in addition to solar photovoltaics and battery storage.
Oct. 23, 2018
Working with DFW and the surrounding region, NREL and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will identify technology approaches that maximize mobility energy productivity of passenger and freight options in this major transportation hub.
Sept. 12, 2018
New analysis examines how solar deployment may impact grid operations in Florida, an understudied but important market.
Aug. 31, 2018
As the Program Lead for Solar Data, Analysis, and Tools in the Integrated Applications Center, Kristen Ardani is making widespread solar deployment a reality.
July 19, 2018
A new NREL report finds that community and regional financial institutions , such as community banks and credit unions, are experiencing positive early performance of loans for photovoltaic systems.
July 12, 2018
The new Tribal Energy Atlas is a first-of-its-kind interactive geospatial application that allows tribes and others to conduct their own analyses of installed energy projects and resource potential on tribal lands.
July 12, 2018
NREL has released the 2018 Annual Technology Baseline, updating a key source of reliable electricity generation technology cost and performance data used to support and inform electric sector analysis in the United States.
July 9, 2018
The second report in the Electrification Futures Study series presents scenarios reflecting a wide range of possible electricity demand growth through 2050 driven by the adoption of end-use electric technologies.
June 18, 2018
NREL released an API for REopt(TM) Lite, enabling streamlined integration with other tools inside and outside NREL and allowing building owners and researchers to evaluate the economics of grid-connected solar PV and battery storage at multiple commercial sites. The API opens opportunities for research collaboration and broader market impact, driving solar and storage deployment.
June 12, 2018
NREL's REopt Lite web tool now offers enhanced resilience analysis capabilities that allow building owners and energy managers to size PV and storage systems to meet a specified outage duration and compare the sizing and costs of a resilient system with a system sized to maximize savings.
May 29, 2018
A recent analysis from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that, during last summer's total eclipse, solar energy output in the West dropped by about 5.9 gigawatts (GW).
May 8, 2018
A massive amount of wind data was recently made accessible online, greatly expanding the amount of information available on wind flow across the continental United States.
April 25, 2018
Pairing solar photovoltaics with rooftops of low and moderate-income housing represents an opportunity to help modernize the U.S. electric grid and improve energy affordability in low-income communities
April 10, 2018
A new software package developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and industry partners SunPower and kWh Analytics is making the measurement of PV system expected lifetime performance more reliable, consistent, and accurate.
April 9, 2018
Adding higher penetrations of solar photovoltaics (PV) to the electric power grid could increase the potential for energy storage to meet peak demand, according to new analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Feb. 28, 2018
NREL recently created the Scientific Computing and Energy Analysis (SCEA) directorate, pairing our expertise in high performance computing with our deep knowledge of energy analysis.
Feb. 26, 2018
In February 2008, a team of NREL analysts led by Paul Denholm published a paper that examined how to plan for future large-scale integration of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation on the electric grid. They observed a unique change in the shape of the electric load met by conventional power plants when increasing levels of PV are added to the system, and thus identified the earliest version of what was later named the "duck curve" by the California Independent System Operator.
Feb. 22, 2018
New study in the journal Energy Policy illustrates the importance of quantifying power system operational constraints to enable more renewables on the grid.
Jan. 9, 2018
Four agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), hosted two workshops that led to a new report where the teams identified areas of importance for modeling variable renewable energy, performed experiments to determine key assumptions, and compiled a set of recommendations for future research in this area.
Jan. 8, 2018
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is spearheading the Electrification Futures Study, a research collaboration to explore the impacts of widespread electrification in all U.S. economic sectors--commercial and residential buildings, transportation, and industry.
