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.
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November 2018
Nov. 14, 2018
News Release: NREL Identifies Where New Solar Technologies Can Be Flexible
Opportunity exists for thin-film photovoltaic and emerging technologies notable for being lightweight and flexible, according to scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Nov. 13, 2018
Philippines Government Aims to Transform its Power System through the REZ Transmission Planning Process
NREL's Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Transmission Planning Process served as a valuable guide for the planned approach to integrate transmission expansion and renewable energy generation planning in the Philippines.
Nov. 7, 2018
How Will Wind Industry Find the Answer? With WISDEM
WISDEM--an acronym for Wind Plant Integrated Systems Design and Engineering Model--is open-source software that answers the "what if" questions.
Nov. 5, 2018
REopt Lite Adds New Energy Optimization Capabilities with Wind, Custom Rate Tariff, Critical Load Builder, and User Dashboard Features
The REopt Lite web tool's new wind optimization module lets building owners and energy managers evaluate the economic viability of grid-connected wind at a site, in addition to solar photovoltaics and battery storage.
Nov. 1, 2018
Molecular Scientists Unlock Sustainable Route Toward Hydrocarbons
A computational modeling team in NREL's Biosciences Center made a significant discovery regarding the key aspects of a cytochrome P450 enzyme that enable it to transform fatty acids directly to olefinic hydrocarbons, an important constituent of gasoline.
October 2018
Oct. 31, 2018
Q&A with Bryan Palmintier: Pulling Together the Pieces with Systems Thinking
Bryan Palmintier's broad scientific career prior and his leadership in the outdoors have made him a cornerstone of many grid projects at NREL. Our Q&A with Palmintier reviews his current work, and how he became such a versatile scientist in energy systems integration.
Oct. 31, 2018
NREL Veteran Supports Air Force Resilience Efforts
Tony Jimenez, a recently-retired Army Reservist of 25 years who spent nine months working as an NREL employee, has played a key role in supporting the military's goal of enhancing installation resilience.
Oct. 30, 2018
Assessing the Wind Power Potential in Bangladesh
New USAID-NREL study uses improved wind resource data sets to determine the feasibility and risks involved in using wind power as a renewable energy resource in Bangladesh.
Oct. 30, 2018
New Mobility Paradigms Influence Electric Vehicle Charging Requirements
Ride-hailing companies' growing interest in operating electric vehicles (EVs) could trigger a significant increase in the demand for public fast chargers. Despite their ability to charge EVs quickly, fast-charging stations are not yet commonplace due to high installation and operating costs. Boosting their utilization could go a long way toward driving down costs. But what is the right number of fast-charging stations in a given area and where should they be located?
Oct. 30, 2018
News Release: NREL, Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) Announce New Participants
As part of an ongoing partnership designed to accelerate transfer of energy efficient technologies' to market, the Wells Fargo Foundation and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory added five new clean-tech startups to the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) program.
Oct. 29, 2018
Natural Gas Emissions: Measure Top-down or Bottom-up?
Study reconciles persistent gap in natural gas methane emissions measurements.
Oct. 25, 2018
Arizona Utility and NREL Launch One of the Largest-to-Date Home Energy Storage Studies
NREL and Arizona utility Salt River Project are studying the benefits and impacts of battery energy systems to both customers and utilities.
Oct. 24, 2018
For Work on High Efficiency Photovoltaics, Dan Friedman Named APS Fellow
Dan Friedman, manager of NREL's High Efficiency Crystalline Photovoltaics Group, has been elected as a fellow of the American Physical Society for this work on III-V semiconductor physics and multijunction photovoltaic science, including numerous device efficiency records.
Oct. 23, 2018
News Release: NREL to Lead $5 Million Initiative to Reduce Energy Use and Increase Energy Efficiency of Major Transportation Hub
Working with DFW and the surrounding region, NREL and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will identify technology approaches that maximize mobility energy productivity of passenger and freight options in this major transportation hub.
Oct. 22, 2018
NREL, SDG&E Collaboration Expands Resiliency in Borrego Springs, Yields Nationally Scalable Results
NREL is working with SDG&E to better understand is how a microgrid controller with advanced technology would perform, specifically with the Borrego Springs microgrid.
Oct. 8, 2018
New III-V Device Concept Combines Two Structures for Lower-Cost Impact, More Applications
NREL has recently combined two structures of III-V materials into one, providing a "two-for-the-price-of-one" benefit. The combination enables novel, potentially record-setting, multijunction solar cells.
Oct. 4, 2018
How to Celebrate National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day
Next week the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will join the U.S. Department of Energy and others across the United States to celebrate the fourth National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day on October 8--10.08--a date chosen to represent the atomic weight of hydrogen (1.008).
Oct. 3, 2018
NREL's Biomass Analysis Tools Celebrate a Decade as the Industry Standard
After nearly 10 years, the NREL-developed High Throughput Pipeline Tools have been delivering solid biomass composition analysis for researchers around the world.
September 2018
Sept. 28, 2018
Q&A with Barry Mather: Bridging the Gap from Power Electronic Devices to Systems
As the group manager for Integrated Devices and Systems (IDS) within NREL's Power Systems Engineering Center and chair of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power Electronics Society Denver chapter, Barry Mather considers himself an honest broker--balancing the needs for a reliable grid while also increasing the amount of distributed energy resources (DER) integrated into the grid. Mather sat down with us to answer some questions about his career at the lab and research in his group. The following has been edited for length.
Sept. 28, 2018
Views of the ESIF: Five Years Back, Five Years Forward
In celebration of five years since the ESIF's dedication, the facility's leadership reflect on its use now, and looking ahead.
Sept. 28, 2018
Crosscutting Grid Research Facilities Provide Industry Launch Pad for Utility-Scale Evaluation
New grid integration technologies at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) have introduced a vast range in grid research capabilities--from multimegawatt-scale wind and solar technologies to advanced energy storage devices, transformers, and protection equipment.
Sept. 28, 2018
Nitrilation Process Produces Acrylonitrile, Attention, and Awards
NREL's clean, cost-competitive nitrilation process to produce a bio-based acrylonitrile is grabbing attention...and awards. This summer, alone, the process technology has been recognized with the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Mid-Continent Region Notable Technology Development Award, the CO-Labs Governor's Award, and has been named a 2018 R&D 100 Award finalist.
Sept. 26, 2018
NREL and Shell Launch Accelerator Program for Emerging Technologies
The Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL will leverage an established national laboratory-industry collaborative model to help startups de-risk and accelerate emerging clean energy technologies on their path to market.
Sept. 26, 2018
PV Cities Training Program Powers Solar Adoption Across America's Cities and Counties
To aid cites in solar adoption, NREL launched the City and County Solar PV Training Program, or PV Cities, in January 2018. The five-month program was designed specifically for cities and counties and aimed to increase the deployment of midscale solar PV systems by engaging stakeholders to develop deployment solutions and empowering city and county staff.
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