Energy Systems Integration Newsletter: March 2022

In this edition, annual reports highlight research accomplishments; the Puerto Rico 100 study launches; NREL partners with UL to develop cybersecurity standards for distributed energy resources; and more.

Impact Reports Showcase Research Powering the Clean Energy Transition

In 2021, the world's largest energy companies, communities across the nation, and the U.S. government all turned to NREL for its technical knowledge and research capabilities. The recently released annual reports for the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform, the Energy Systems Integration Facility, and advanced computing offer only a snapshot of the impact of NREL research: highlights from the diverse projects, publications, patents, partnerships, and technical breakthroughs realized in the last year.

From a black start using 100% renewable resources to self-organizing microgrids and cyber threat emulations, these are the need-to-know innovations that are advancing clean, equitable, and resilient energy.

Access the annual reports.

NREL Study To Show Puerto Rico How To Reach Its 100% Clean Energy Goal

Puerto Rico's power system has been battered by multiple disasters and serves some of the highest priced electricity in the nation. With an excellent supply of natural resources—solar, wind, and water energy—Puerto Rico has committed to transitioning toward a clean, affordable, and resilient energy future, and an NREL-led study will show how it's possible.

As part of the Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transition to 100% Renewable Energy (PR100) study, a national laboratory team will perform an integrated analysis and collaborate with Puerto Rico energy sector stakeholders to determine pathways for Puerto Rico to achieve its enacted policy of progressing toward 100% renewable energy by 2050.

Read the full story about the launch of the PR100 study.

NREL Collaborates With UL To Develop Cybersecurity Standard for Distributed Energy Resources

In collaboration with the global safety certification company UL, NREL is supporting the development of a cybersecurity certification standard for distributed energy resources and inverter-based resource devices. Upon completion of the initial outline of investigation, the team will coordinate industry consensus for a standard that prioritizes cybersecurity enhancements for power systems with high penetrations of distributed energy resources and inverter-based resources. It will apply to solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, and energy storage devices, among other resources that are essential to advance grid operations. NREL's collaboration with UL on establishing the cybersecurity certification program is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office.

Read the full story about this collaboration.

Q&A With Robin Burton: Stakeholder Engagement and Energy Justice in the Puerto Rico 100 Study

Robin Burton is the co-principal investigator of the Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transition to 100% Renewable Energy (PR100) study. The stakeholder-driven project will generate multiple pathways for Puerto Rico to meet its commitment to achieve 100% renewable electricity by 2050. The rigorous analysis and advanced modeling will demonstrate the mix of solar photovoltaics, energy storage, wind and wave energy, and infrastructure expansion that is most achievable, cost-effective, and resilient in the face of extreme weather.

Read our Q&A with Robin Burton.

Video: NREL Celebrates Women's History Month

Check out this video featuring just a few of the women at NREL who are transforming energy.

NREL Releases National Solar Radiation Database Final Report

With more than 166,000 users annually, the National Solar Radiation Database is the leading source of high-resolution solar resource data in the United States. NREL recently released the final report, which covers data from fiscal years 2019 through 2021. Containing state-of-the-art, satellite-based estimation of solar resource availability and variability, the National Solar Radiation Database enables the integration of large amounts of solar energy on the electric grid. These regularly updated data sets also help users reduce the cost of solar deployment by providing accurate information for siting studies and system output prediction.

NREL Report Provides Framework for Modeling Photovoltaics + Battery Installations

With cost decreases in recent years, installations of both independently sited and colocated solar photovoltaics (PV) and battery systems have increased. Increased deployment of these technologies makes it more important to understand the potential value of colocating battery energy storage and PV, particularly within the realm of future system planning.

A new NREL technical report, titled Modeling Methods for Capturing System Interactions of Combined Technologies: A Study of PV + Battery, presents methodologies to more fully represent the value and limitations of combined PV and battery installations.

JISEA Sustainable Communities Catalyzer Advances Equitable Renewables Deployment

Renewable energy development can bolster local economies through job creation, tax revenues, and lower energy costs; however, communities that need these benefits the most often see less deployment.

NREL and the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA) completed a new study that intersected data on disadvantaged community indicators and renewable energy generation potential to identify where deployment could have the biggest local impact. "We risk exacerbating existing inequalities if we fail to prioritize energy justice and expand access to the benefits of renewable energies to disadvantaged communities," said Megan Day, NREL/JISEA analyst and coauthor of the study. "Our analysis and resulting data set can help prioritize equitable investments."

Learn more about the intersection of equity metrics and renewable energy technical potential.

NREL Recognizes Outstanding Women in STEM at Colorado Women's Day Awards

At the 2022 Annual Colorado Women's Day Awards, Svitlana Pylypenko, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Colorado School of Mines, was recognized with the NREL Foundation Outstanding Women in STEM Award. The annual award recognizes a Colorado woman for her achievements in a STEM field, either as an inventor, businesswoman, STEM advocate, or educator. The NREL Foundation, established in 2021, allows new partners and sources of capital to find ways to accelerate NREL's cleantech mission and provides a more flexible operating platform for the laboratory.

Learn more about the awards and other outstanding women in STEM.

Publications Roundup

Final Report on Probabilistic Cloud Optimized Day-Ahead Forecasting System Based on Weather Research and Forecasting-Solar

NREL researchers have released a final report summarizing their successful three-year effort to improve the accuracy of solar irradiance forecasts for the Weather Research and Forecasting-Solar model by predicting cloud formation. The researchers first identified variables that affect cloud dynamics and solar radiation. Then, by introducing stochastic perturbations to the variables, they developed an ensemble of forecasts that reduces uncertainty while capturing probable atmospheric conditions. The researchers validated their forecasts against satellite measurements, finding that their method provides unbiased estimations of the irradiance within 1% and 3.2% of observations for global horizontal irradiance and direct normal irradiance, respectively. The forecasts are essential for renewable energy, which require accurate day-ahead and further-out forecasts for scheduling and coordinating with the electric grid.

PacWave Grid Integration Study: Transient and Dynamic Conditions – Final Report

NREL released another final report, this one about the impacts of connecting the wave energy generation plant PacWave to the local electric grid. PacWave is a U.S. Department of Energy-funded facility to experiment with wave energy. This project simulated PacWave and its interconnection with the nearby distribution and sub-transmission systems. The researchers simulated worst-case scenarios and a range of interconnection options, finding that the PacWave system could cause unacceptable power dynamics on the grid. The researchers offer suggestions and simulation results that indicate how such power issues could be reduced or prevented.