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January 2020
News Release: NREL Helps Launch Geothermal Manufacturing Prize — Newest of American-Made Challenges
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.
How NREL Is Fanning the Sparks of Innovation
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.
News Release: NREL Opens Prize Designed to Generate Solutions for Protecting Fish from Water Power Structures
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.
NREL Hosts Technical Exchange to Boost Brazil's Power Sector Transformation
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.
Q&A with Andrea Watson: Building Teams to Solve Energy Challenges Globally
As leader of the Integrated Decision Support Group at NREL, Andrea Watson advances complex energy projects and programs that require strategy development.
International Effort Aims to Establish Protocols for Assessing, Reporting Perovskite Stability
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.
NREL Secures 21 Awards to Further CSP and PV Research
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.
When Wind Sweeps into Communities
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.
Artificial Intelligence, Analysis, and Achievements: Buildings Researchers in the Spotlight
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.
Students Focus on Sunny Futures During Mini-Semester
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.
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Last Updated May 5, 2025