November 2022
Ready, Set, Go! 120-Plus Teams To Compete in Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge
124 teams from 97 collegiate institutions are working to solve the climate crisis, one building at a time, by participating in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2023 Design Challenge.
Livewire Data Platform Expands Access to Transportation Project Data Sets
Finding readily available and easily accessible data sets is a common challenge in the research community. DOE's Livewire Data Platform's growing catalog of transportation and mobility-related projects helps address this need by providing researchers with a unified platform to connect with each other and easily find data sets.
Not Just a Summer Lab Internship
As a child growing up in Massachusetts, Gabriel Prepetit went to football stadiums to watch the games and excitement unfold, but the massive structures around him ultimately made the real lasting impression.
National Lab Collaboration Shows Biofuels Are Competitive Alternatives to Petroleum Across the Board
Renewable fuels still carry a high burden of proof: They need to be high performing, efficient, and cost-effective. Analysis performed by national laboratory researchers has uncovered a slate of biofuels produced from organic materials, including plants and agricultural waste, that have the potential to replace petroleum-derived fuel.
NREL and SMUD Launch Groundbreaking Automation Tool for Interconnecting Customer Solar to the Grid
NREL-developed PRECISE™ automates interconnection assessments to help customers and utilities reach growing solar goals.
NREL Develops Cybersecurity Tool To Flag Threats for Grid
Cybersecurity is gaining significant importance on the power grid as more distributed energy resources (DERs) are connecting to operational technology (OT) networks.
New Capability for Nondestructive and Fast Module Spectral Response Measurements
NREL’s cell and module performance team recently commissioned a new testbed for measuring the spectral response of silicon PV modules.
Q&A With Maurice Martin: Advancing Cybersecurity on the Front Lines of the Modern Grid
Securing the grid from cyberattacks is increasingly important as systems become more distributed, digital, and interdependent. Thanks to serendipitous events in his career, Maurice Martin was able to board the cybersecurity train right as it was taking off.
NREL-Authored Clean Energy Supply Chain Analysis Reports
NREL-authored reports provided insights on supply chain issues related to solar photovoltaic, wind power, energy storage, semiconductor, and hydrogen fuel cell and electrolyzer technologies.
NREL and Lithuanian Energy Agency Partner To Launch 100% Renewable Energy Study
A new agreement between NREL and the Lithuanian Energy Agency kicks off a multiyear research collaboration to support Lithuania with achieving 100% clean electricity.
U.S. Department of Energy Awards NREL $4.8M To Accelerate National Affordable Housing Upgrade Effort
An NREL project is among seven selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to help fast-track affordable housing solutions for disadvantaged communities.
Pioneer in Energy Efficient Buildings Bestowed Lifetime Achievement Award
At the start of Otto Van Geet's career, most research laboratories spent energy freely for science. Thirty years later, laboratories are more likely to be monuments of futuristic sustainability, and that progress is thanks in large part to Otto's creative work in designing efficient buildings.
October 2022
It's Go Time for Low-Cost, Net-Zero Affordable Housing
The U.S. construction industry is facing a housing supply deficit on the order of millions—and growing—at a time when climate targets mean that every unit needs be built as efficiently, sustainably, and affordably as possible.
News Release: Efficiency and Stability Best-Practices Proposed for Solar Water-Splitting To Make Hydrogen
Scientists from NREL and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are providing researchers with a guide to how to best measure the efficiency of producing hydrogen directly from solar power.
Long-Lived? Highly Recyclable? Priorities for Solar Panels in a Circular Economy
To meet its 2050 decarbonization goals, the United States will need to install up to 20 times more solar photovoltaic (PV) modules than are installed today.
IN² Demonstration: The Possibilities of a Plug-and-Play Kitchen
For its latest NREL-based cohort, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) formed an all-demonstration group, where each participant would create a demonstration of their technologies as part of the program. Among the first to have its demonstration project underway is San Francisco-based Kit Switch.
NREL, Mines Researchers Show Advances in Development of III-V Solar Cells for Use on Earth
Two recently published papers spell out advances in the field of photovoltaics made from III-V materials. The improvements to the III-V solar cells will help the technology find a terrestrial home. III-V cells—although efficient—carry such a high price tag it only makes economic sense to use them on satellites and Mars rovers.
Marquee NREL Partnership With Hewlett Packard Enterprise Continues To Build on Years of Groundbreaking Innovation
Eleven years ago, the buds of what would become one of NREL's most impactful and successful partnerships began to bloom. NREL commissioned a new data center in the new Energy Systems Integration Facility, designed to house a new supercomputer--and push NREL into the leading edge of high-performance computing.
NREL, Kern Community College District Collaborate on Launch of First-of-Its-Kind California Renewable Energy Laboratory
NREL Director Martin Keller stood alongside Kern Community College District Chancellor Sonya Christian to formally announce that the state of California has awarded KCCD $50 million to create a renewable energy hub, called the California Renewable Energy Laboratory, and $200K of that has come to NREL to help get CREL off the ground.
Why the World Needs Manufacturing Masterminds
Read a summary of the six manufacturing experts profiled throughout the year as part of NREL's Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A profile series.
Last Updated May 28, 2025