Grid Modernization News

Dec 18, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

The German Aerospace Center has partnered with NREL to investigate how well rotor blades designed with bending-torsion coupling handle strongly variable wind speeds.

Dec 13, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

International award cements NREL’s status as a world leader in energy-efficient and sustainable data centers.

Dec 13, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

Two new reports from NREL track the evolving costs of PV and establish a new cost benchmark for PV-plus-storage.

Dec 12, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

The Shell GameChanger™ Accelerator Powered by NREL (GCxN) has announced its first round of start-up innovators – four companies focused on developing long-term energy storage and advancing the grid of the future.

Dec 12, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

New National Science Foundation and Department of Energy-funded research highlights a previously unexplored consequence of the global proliferation of wind energy facilities: a wake effect from upwind facilities that can reduce the energy production of their downwind neighbors.

Dec 9, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

NREL scientists have a long history of successfully analyzing geothermal and solar energy data. But they are now actively researching desalination capabilities by partnering with technology leaders on several groundbreaking projects. The purpose is to explore geothermal and solar-thermal technologies for creating fresh water from otherwise unusable water.

Dec 9, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

A team of NREL scientists partnered with Forest Concepts to perform detailed thermochemical conversion simulations for biomass feedstocks. The simulations relate feedstock attributes to expected product yields and necessary pyrolysis conversion process conditions.

Dec 3, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

NREL and partners have created a new blade-resolved model of a large modern wind turbine, enabling scientists and engineers to begin understanding the complex flow physics in multi-turbine wind farms that will take advantage of future exascale modeling and simulation capability.

Nov 29, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

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 29, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

Electrical Engineer Greg Martin is the Research Operations Engineering group manager for ESI. Martin works on strategic visioning and planning for ESIF, and with his background expertise on power electronics and advanced inverters and power systems, he's bringing exciting new insights for future capabilities. Read our conversation with Martin to learn about the new capabilities he's working on at ESIF.

Nov 28, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

Powering our future society will require energy systems and infrastructure that are more expansive, secure, and resilient than today's. It will also require thought leaders and innovators who can capably and creatively guide this vital energy sector transition. To address these needs, NREL and Colorado School of Mines are piloting a novel Advanced Energy Systems (AES) graduate program in fall 2019. Learn more.

Nov 26, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

Researchers established identical raceway-style ponds in five outdoor locations to cultivate and harvest three strains of algae during the four seasons.

Nov 25, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

Nov 22, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

Richard Adams builds energy--around technology, among investors, and through foundations.

Nov 19, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and General Electric (GE) have joined forces to tackle an issue that is relatively new ground for the power industry. Five years ago, most people couldn't envision high penetration on the grid of variable-generation renewables such as photovoltaics (PV) and wind.

Nov 18, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

NREL's Donal Finegan recently received a Global Young Researcher Award from the Institution of Chemical Engineers for his contributions to NASA's battery safety program and NREL's advanced diagnostics. Not yet 30 years old, Finegan is widely viewed as a leader in the international battery community, responsible for significant advancements in safety, diagnostic techniques, and design approaches.

Nov 18, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

Given annually by R&D Magazine, the awards honor the 100 most innovative technologies of the past year and were chosen by an independent panel of judges.

Nov 13, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

Opportunity exists for thin-film photovoltaic and emerging technologies notable for being lightweight and flexible, according to scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Nov 13, 2018, 17:00 by Wayne Hicks

Ongoing research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory could lead to a cleaner method of transforming acrylonitrile into carbon fiber, replacing petrochemicals with biomass as the starting point.

Nov 12, 2018, 17:00 by User Not Found

NREL's Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Transmission Planning Process served as a valuable guide for the planned approach to integrate transmission expansion and renewable energy generation planning in the Philippines.