News and Feature Stories
The following news stories take an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how NREL is advancing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.
November 2019
Nov. 8, 2019
News Release: NREL Joins Annual CyberForce Competition for First Time
Students from six colleges will be participating at NREL during the Nov. 16 event.
Nov. 6, 2019
Wind Pioneer Paul Veers
NREL Research Fellow Paul Veers learned early that he didn't want to stay on the farm, but instead found the challenge of wind energy and its wind farms a perfect fit.
Nov. 6, 2019
NREL and Energy I-Corps Produces Eco-Plastics, Transportation Tech-to-Market Hopefuls
Two teams from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have been selected for the most recent cohort of the U.S. Department of Energy's "boot camp" for national-lab-based startups: Cycle, and HeadCount.
Nov. 5, 2019
New Master's Program Prepares Students to Energize the World
A new master's program in Next-Generation Power and Energy Systems offered by the University of Colorado and featuring instructors from NREL helps students learn about grid modernization-related challenges, such as renewable energy source integration, cybersecurity, and the potential of autonomous energy grids.
Nov. 4, 2019
Former NREL Director Charlie Gay Retires from DOE Solar Program
Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Director Charlie Gay, an internationally recognized pioneer in photovoltaics (PV), retired from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Nov. 1.
Nov. 4, 2019
NREL’s ‘Living Laboratory’ Provides Steppingstones to Real-World Impact
The number of electric vehicles (EVs) hitting the road is increasing, and with that comes a significant challenge: developing and deploying low-cost solutions for public EV charging infrastructure. Partners such as PowerFlex are using NREL's "living laboratory" to find solutions to this and other big energy challenges.
October 2019
Oct. 30, 2019
Creating Resources for Resilience with Cable Broadband Data in New NREL Project
A new project funded by DOE's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response aims to visualize grid events and train computers to classify them in near real time.
Oct. 30, 2019
News Release: NREL Selected for Series of Offshore Wind Turbine Research Projects
NREL was named prime contractor for three projects within ARPA-E's Aerodynamic Turbines Lighter and Afloat with Nautical Technologies and Integrated Servo-control (ATLANTIS) program.
Oct. 29, 2019
R&D 100 Awards Honor Two NREL Innovations
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) today won two R&D 100 Awards from R&D World magazine.
Oct. 29, 2019
ARPA-E Wind Wins: NREL to Produce Public Datasets that Advance Floating Wind Turbine Design
Next-gen floating wind systems will use controls to make them more efficient, lighter weight, and lower cost, but first industry needs a foundation built on validated design tools to explore novel controls-integrated design approaches. NREL is generating the first public data set to include advanced turbine and platform control using a 1:60-scale testing setup, which will provide data to validate the modeling tools incorporating control co-design characteristics.
Oct. 29, 2019
Bryan Pivovar: Champion for H2@Scale
Bryan Pivovar began researching hydrogen when the field was wide open, but now the new NREL senior research fellow sees the next decade belonging to hydrogen energy.
Oct. 23, 2019
A New Way to Measure Mobility Potential of Cities
The Mobility Energy Productivity (MEP) metric comprehensively quantifies the efficiency of transportation systems while taking time, affordability, and energy use into consideration.
Oct. 23, 2019
Potential of a Fast-Growing Algae Strain Revealed Through NREL Research
Researchers said the strain thrives at high temperature and in saltwater, while rapidly converting carbon dioxide into renewable biomass.
Oct. 16, 2019
Modeling Modernity: NREL Proposes Key Revisions to the IEEE Reliability Test System
Outlined in their article in IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, NREL researchers and colleagues proposed an update to the IEEE Reliability Test System (RTS) to bring it into the 21st century.
Oct. 11, 2019
Matt Beard: New Senior Research Fellow Helps Make Quantum Leap in Solar Energy
Newly appointed NREL Senior Research Fellow Matt Beard is pursuing new concepts that can impact many types of different energy technologies.
Oct. 8, 2019
NREL Celebrates National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day October 8
This week the National Renewable Energy Laboratory joins others across the United States to celebrate the fifth National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day on October 8--10.08--a date chosen to represent the atomic weight of hydrogen (1.008).
Oct. 8, 2019
News Release: NREL Names FAST Competition Grand Prize Winners
The FAST Prize competition sought ideas to reduce the time to commission pumped-storage hydropower.
Oct. 7, 2019
From Refugee to Researcher
NREL Senior Scientist Huyen Dinh has overcome the upheaval of being a refugee to becoming a leader in hydrogen research.
Oct. 4, 2019
User Feedback Key to Supply Chain Modeling Tool Development
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed the Materials Flows through Industry (MFI) modeling tool, which applies a mine-to-materials analysis to a wide range of manufacturing scenarios, identifying and analyzing opportunities to reduce the energy and carbon intensities of the U.S. manufacturing sector.
Oct. 4, 2019
NREL Staff Discuss Their Research at AWEA Offshore
NREL researchers will attend the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Offshore WINDPOWER Conference alongside staff from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO). The event takes place Oct. 21-23, 2019, in Boston and provides attendees an opportunity to engage in panels, presentations, and discussions about the status and future of offshore wind in the United States.
Oct. 3, 2019
CoMET Brings Together Collaboration in Composite Materials Manufacturing Research
Something about a 200-ft blade, heavier than an elephant, and spinning over 100 miles an hour, seems improbable--a triumph of manufacturing that often leaves onlookers in wonder. At NREL however, wonder is mixed with an ambition to improve. Beneath the towering test turbines at the National Wind Technology Center, NREL hosts a collaborative research environment for the growing composite manufacturing industry to build its skills and push its frontiers.
Oct. 2, 2019
National GEM Consortium Honors NREL Director Keller
The National Graduate Education for Minority Students (GEM) Consortium honored NREL Director Martin Keller with its Corporate Leadership Award.
Oct. 1, 2019
First-Ever American-Made Solar Prize Concludes, Awards Round 1 Winners: Phase3 Photovoltaics, Solar Inventions
Round 1 of the American-Made Solar Prize concluded as two final winners received $500,000 each.
Oct. 1, 2019
Now Publicly Available, NREL's ReEDS Model Expands Access to Inform the Power Sector
What might the U.S. energy generation mix look like between now and the year 2050? Thanks to the now publicly available Regional Energy Deployment System model, or ReEDS for short, we can now explore how the power system will evolve under changing market conditions.
