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October 2020
Apex Flex: An All-Perovskite Tandem Technology Suitable for Solar-Powered Vehicles
NREL's new perovskite material, marketed as Apex Flex, broke through two design barriers to arrive at a solar cell that is flexible and stable enough for car-top application at a cost 200 times less than flexible PV technologies of similar specific power.
September 2020
News Release: Untapped Potential Exists for Blending Hydropower, Floating PV
Hybrid systems of floating solar panels and hydropower plants may hold the technical potential to produce a significant portion of the electricity generated annually across the globe, according to an analysis by researchers at NREL.
Renewables Rescue Stability as the Grid Loses Spin
Across the world, renewable power is displacing traditional generation, but can renewables also replace the critical stability functions that go with it? NREL studies are confirming in the field and on live power systems that solar, wind, and hybrid power plants can provide their own source of grid stability—potentially unlike anything currently on the grid.
August 2020
Two-for-One Energy from Photons, Now Better than Ever
NREL researchers have found a promising group of materials for tomorrow's super-efficient solar cells, demonstrating how a carefully designed molecule can efficiently split the energy imparted by one photon into two excited states and keep them separated for several microseconds.
July 2020
News Release: NREL Research Points to Strategies for Recycling of Solar Panels
Due to rapid increase of PV installations over the past decade, there is expected to be an explosion of retired PV modules by 2050. NREL scientists propose research and development to advance processes for managing that waste and establishing a PV circular economy.
2020 Annual Technology Baseline Electricity Data Now Available
Released each year, electricity-generation technology cost and performance data power forward-looking analyses at NREL and beyond.
June 2020
NREL Supports Innovators as They Pursue New Ideas for Rural and Commercial-Scale Solar
Eight teams from across the United States are working with NREL to develop and test novel applications of solar energy in rural communities and commercial-scale settings as part of the second round of the Solar Energy Innovation Network.
From Space Travel to Fisheries: Wave Energy Modeling Tool Helps Design Tomorrow's Tech
NASA is using WEC-Sim (Wave Energy Converter SIMulator), an open-source code developed by NREL and Sandia National Laboratories, to ensure NASA’s Orion Crew Model uprights and remains upright upon landing in the ocean.
Concentrating Solar Power Best Practices Report Is First of Its Kind
NREL experts and industry leaders focus their knowledge on focused sunlight—an on-demand, renewable power source.
May 2020
Blockchain: Not Just for Bitcoin
A common vision for the future of the nation's energy grid involves homeowners selling unused power generated from rooftop solar panels to others in their communities, and working together to help ensure the reliability, resiliency, and security of the power grid everyone uses. But how can the grid manage such complex energy transactions at scale? Several emerging solutions rely on blockchain technology.
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Last Updated May 5, 2025