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April 2016
News Release: NREL, SLAC Scientists Pinpoint Solar Cell Manufacturing Process
Scientists at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have been able to pinpoint for the first time what happens during a key manufacturing process of silicon solar cells.
NWTC Researchers Develop Wave Energy Conversion Technology
Robert Thresher may be considered the wizard of wind at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, having worked in the field since 1973. At the laboratory since 1984, Thresher’s credited with the buildup of what is now the National Wind Technology Center and the startup of the Energy Department's Water Energy Program. His longtime efforts at turning wind and water into renewable energy has now yielded a record of invention titled “Wave Energy Conversion Devices with Actuated Geometry.”
NREL and Sandia National Laboratories to Sharpen Wind Farm Turbine Controls
Researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory are working to make the “brains” of a wind farm smarter and more efficient.
March 2016
News Release: Global Gathering Addresses PV Role in Energy Prosperity and Climate Change Mitigation
Scientists from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), along with their counterparts from solar energy research institutes in Germany and Japan, gathered recently to discuss the future of photovoltaics (PV) and assess its contributions to increasing global prosperity, energy security and mitigation of climate change.
NREL Supports Native American Tribes in Clean Energy Transformational Leadership
From the subzero tundra in Alaska to the Southwest, NREL is partnering with Native American tribes and Alaska Native villages to advance clean energy goals.
NREL Research into Perovskites Yields New Findings
Two recently published papers show the results of photoemission spectroscopy and time-resolved optical spectroscopy, which quantify the energetics and carrier dynamics that occur at interfaces between the perovskite absorber and transport layers.
NREL Launches HPXML Toolbox for Buildings Industry
If you are considering ways to adopt HPXML, a good first stop is the HPXML implementation guide to get you started.
News Release: NREL Raises Rooftop Photovoltaic Technical Potential Estimate
Analysts at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have used detailed light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data for 128 cities nationwide, along with improved data analysis methods and simulation tools, to update its estimate of total U.S. technical potential for rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems. The analysis reveals a technical potential of 1,118 gigawatts (GW) of capacity and 1,432 terawatt-hours (TWh) of annual energy generation, equivalent to 39 percent of the nation’s electricity sales.
LDRD Program Gives NREL Researchers Path Toward Innovation
Funding source provides scientists with method to propel progress forward.
NREL Research Helps Convert Overabundant Methane into Useful Products
The biological production of fuels and chemicals from methane represents a means of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, utilizing an abundant-yet-underutilized, high-energy gas, making the process the subject of a promising new NREL study, published in Nature's Scientific Reports.
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Last Updated May 5, 2025