Grid Modernization News

Jan 20, 2016, 17:00 by Julia Thomas

With emerging technologies, travel behavior may shift from personal vehicles to automated transit systems. An NREL study shows that a campus-sized-ranging from four to 10 square miles-automated mobility district has the potential to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 4% to 14% depending on various operating and ridership factors.

Jan 18, 2016, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

Katherine Dykes and Rick Damiani completed the six-week training as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's pilot Lab-Corps program. Lab-Corps seeks to "help move innovative technologies from national labs into the marketplace."

Jan 13, 2016, 17:00 by Heather Lammers

Today, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced up to $220 million in new funding for a consortium of DOE national laboratories and partners to support critical research and development over the next three years to help modernize our nation’s electrical power grid. The secretary also announced the release of DOE’s comprehensive new Grid Modernization Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP), a blueprint for the Department’s research, development, and demonstration agenda to enable a modernized grid. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will be strongly supporting this effort, bringing its unique array of experts and resources together to participate in 48 of the 88 awarded projects announced today.

Jan 11, 2016, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

Scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are studying what may seem paradoxical - certain defects in silicon solar cells may actually improve their performance.

Jan 5, 2016, 17:00 by Heather Lammers

A new study by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) estimates that $2.2 billion in benefits came from reduced greenhouse gas emissions and $5.2 billion from reductions in other air pollution, in mid-range estimates, for state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policies operating in 2013. RPS policies require utilities or other electricity providers to meet a minimum portion of their load with eligible forms of renewable electricity.

Jan 4, 2016, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

Scientists at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) have jointly set a new world record for converting non-concentrated (1-sun) sunlight into electricity using a dual-junction III-V/Si solar cell.

Jan 3, 2016, 17:00 by User Not Found

NREL is working with two-way power grid communications technologies, which can act like an independent "electricity-only Internet."

Dec 20, 2015, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

Researchers at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have made advances toward affordable photoelectrochemical (PEC) production of hydrogen.

Dec 16, 2015, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

Researchers register ideas on everything from wave power to methane use.

Dec 16, 2015, 17:00 by User Not Found

Scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have made progress towards answering a fundamental question about single-walled carbon nanotubes: do absorbed photons create only neutral excitations (excitons) or are some free charges created also?

Dec 15, 2015, 17:00 by User Not Found

Conventional thermal interface materials can pose a significant bottleneck to heat removal from power electronics packages. High-performance thermal interface materials are a critical enabler to compact, high-performance, low-cost power electronics components for transportation and other applications.

Dec 10, 2015, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

Scientists from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have discovered that a metabolic pathway previously only suggested to be functional in photosynthetic organisms is actually a major pathway and can enable efficient conversion of carbon dioxide to organic compounds.

Dec 10, 2015, 17:00 by User Not Found

Researchers at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have explained the unusual behavior that stems from oxygen molecules interacting with defects in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors.

Dec 8, 2015, 17:00 by User Not Found

NREL researcher's partnership with a sugar-eating bacterium has enabled her to make breakthroughs in biofuels.

Dec 8, 2015, 17:00 by Heather Lammers

The 2014 Renewable Energy Data Book shows that U.S. renewable electricity grew to 15.5 percent of total installed capacity and 13.5 percent of total electricity generation. Published annually by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on behalf of the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Data Book illustrates United States and global energy statistics, including renewable electricity generation, renewable energy development, clean energy investments, and technology-specific data and trends.

Dec 3, 2015, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) recently posted a blog about how the state of Colorado is quickly gaining momentum in the hydrogen and fuel cell technologies race.

Dec 2, 2015, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

Scientists at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a new probe that could lead to a better photoelectrochemical cell.

Nov 24, 2015, 17:00 by User Not Found

Innovations showcased as entrepreneurs network, pitch for funding.

Nov 18, 2015, 17:00 by Heather Lammers

Analysts at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are providing, for the first time, a method for measuring the economic potential of renewable energy across the United States.

Nov 16, 2015, 17:00 by User Not Found

Henry (Bud) Johnston joined NREL on October 12 as the new Laboratory Program Manager for the Geothermal Technologies Program.