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June 2025
Beneath the Surface: Why Bri Friedman Embraces Failure
This NREL engineer is working with the laboratory’s marine energy team to develop a device called the small underwater research flap wave energy converter—or SURF-WEC, for short.
May 2025
Updated Risk Management Framework Supports Success of Marine Energy Devices
NREL’s Marine Energy Technology Development Risk Management Framework gives marine energy researchers and developers a comprehensive process to break down their approach and any variables that may impede or accelerate their success.
HERO’s Mission: An Elevator Part Could Bolster Marine Energy Technologies
NREL's wave-powered desalination research is charting new waters by improving the robustness, reliability, and deployability of the hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis wave energy converter—or HERO WEC.
March 2025
46 Patents, One Fiscal Year
In Fiscal Year 2024, researchers at NREL submitted a record-breaking 294 innovations, representing potentially patentable inventions or copyrightable software.
Ocean Energy Is Almost Ready, But It Needs a Boost Over the Testing Barrier
Marine energy developers often start with a functional theoretical design. But even the best virtual designs cannot account for every invisible defect or ocean oddity. NREL’s desert facilities offer the comprehensive, computer-to-ocean testing that marine energy researchers and developers need to get their technologies closer to commercial use.
January 2025
News Release: Floating Solar Panels Could Support US Energy Goals
Scientists and analysts at NREL quantified for the first time exactly how much energy could be generated from floating solar panel projects installed on federally owned or regulated reservoirs.
December 2024
Beneath the Surface: Salman Husain Ponders the Future of Work, Wave Energy, and World Stewardship
Explore the fascinating world of wave energy with Salman Husain, a lifelong engineer tackling marine energy's toughest challenges. Discover how his passions for problem solving and global stewardship shape his quest for a sustainable future.
November 2024
Aquatic Acrobatics: University Collaboration Visualizes the Future of Flexible Wave Energy
A Ph.D. student, her professor, and a team of NREL researchers pioneer visual diagnostics to characterize flexible wave energy devices.
Device Deployments Help NREL Researchers Identify What Is Broken—So They Can Get To Work Fixing It
After deploying NREL's wave-powered desalination device multiple times, researchers are drawing on lessons learned to build a stronger, simpler design.
October 2024
How a Clean Energy Simulator Is Helping Build a Better Grid
NREL's energy simulator can mimic the grids of the future—and now, this massive, virtual and real-world research platform can simulate water power, too.
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Last Updated May 5, 2025