Grid Modernization News

Jan 28, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

Today, with support from NREL, the U.S. Department of Energy launched the American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize. The ninth prize in the NREL-administered American-Made Challenges series, the Geothermal Prize is a first-of-its-kind competition designed to spur innovation and address the manufacturing challenges of operating in geothermal environments.

Jan 27, 2020, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

During fiscal year 2019, NREL filed a record 124 patent applications and counted a record 233 disclosures — a category that includes 161 records of invention and 72 software records. NREL-developed software is protectable by copyright, while records of invention can be protected with patent applications.

Jan 26, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

NREL's 21st Century Power Partnership shares energy planning insights and computational tools with analysts from the Brazilian Energy Research Office to support Brazil's plans for energy expansion.

Jan 26, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

Today, NREL announced the opening of a new prize competition — the Fish Protection Prize — designed to generate innovative methods for keeping fish out of water diversions and dam intakes. The movement of fish into water infrastructure separates fish from their natural habitat and can impact native populations, threaten biodiversity, and impede recovery efforts for threatened and endangered species.

Jan 23, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

As leader of the Integrated Decision Support Group at NREL, Andrea Watson advances complex energy projects and programs that require strategy development.

Jan 22, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

Perovskite solar cells have rapidly emerged in the past decade as an extremely efficient method to transform sunlight into electricity, but the issue of stability has so far kept them from commercialization. Four NREL researchers are part of a global consensus on the ways in which stability of perovskite solar cells should be assessed and reported.

Jan 13, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

On November 6, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office awarded $128 million to 75 new projects that will advance solar technologies in five major areas. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) earned a major portion of this funding—nearly $20 million.

Jan 12, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

Wind farm development in the United States often takes place in rural areas with land that is largely the property of farmers and ranchers who lease their land to developers. With wind power capacity additions projected to continue growing, rural residents often wonder if wind energy will be a good neighbor.

Jan 12, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

The U.S. Department of Energy has also taken notice of researcher achievements, providing interviews, career highlights, and advice from several NREL buildings experts on their website.

Jan 9, 2020, 17:00 by Ernie Tucker

In three days at NREL, undergraduates from across the country learn about energy research opportunities through lab tours and hands-on activities led by scientists.

Jan 8, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

The contiguous United States has the technical resource potential to generate up to 32,700 terawatt-hours of electricity per year--more than eight times the amount of electricity consumed in the United States in 2018. However, significant cost and performance improvements in wind power technology are needed for the wind industry to reach this potential.

Jan 6, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

A series of reports identify how Bangladesh, India, and Nepal might develop a coordinated regulatory framework to effectively implement cross-border electricity trade.

Jan 6, 2020, 17:00 by User Not Found

New deputy director and chief operating officer, chief human resources officer, and chief counsel to join team guiding the strategic direction of the laboratory.

Jan 1, 2020, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

An oft-repeated refrain—the sun doesn't always shine, is sometimes seen as an impediment to renewable energy. But it's also an impetus toward discovering the best ways to store that energy until it's needed.

Dec 26, 2019, 17:00 by User Not Found

Funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is fueling five new bioenergy research projects involving NREL scientists.

Dec 19, 2019, 17:00 by User Not Found

The DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office announced 35 student teams from 32 collegiate institutions as finalists in the Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition. The Solar District Cup is a new competition, led by NREL, that challenges multidisciplinary student teams to design and model optimized distributed solar energy systems for a campus or urban district by integrating solar, storage, and other technologies.

Dec 19, 2019, 17:00 by User Not Found

A new modeling approach takes future climate and water resource conditions into account for long-term electricity generation infrastructure planning.

Dec 18, 2019, 17:00 by User Not Found

A multiyear system design and validation project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office reached completion in 2019 and resulted in increased knowledge about development and validation of wave energy converter devices and their associated materials.

Dec 17, 2019, 17:00 by User Not Found

A flagship NREL analysis project, the fifth annual Standard Scenarios Outlook models 36 possible projections for power sector evolution through the year 2050.

Dec 16, 2019, 17:00 by User Not Found

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) achieved many goals across the spectrum of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in 2019, and the news coming from the laboratory shows it.