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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December 2020
Dec. 1, 2020
Wells Fargo Invests $20M To Extend Highly Successful IN2 Incubator Program Through 2024
Now in its seventh year, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) is now a $50 million program, designed from the start to consider a diverse cross section of start-ups, collect them into cohorts, connect them with technological expertise, and accelerate their clean technologies to the marketplace.
November 2020
Nov. 30, 2020
Synthetic Data Sets Set New Standard in Energy Systems Research
An NREL team and external collaborators have invented near-replicas of energy systems—realistic down to individual devices and up to interstate power transmission. The team's creation, Smart-DS, is set to become the new standard in modeling and simulating energy system scenarios.
Nov. 25, 2020
Q&A With Tarek Elgindy on SMART-DS: Texas-Sized Grid Modeling for Renewable Resource Integration
Since joining NREL as a summer intern in 2015, Tarek Elgindy has since become a key engineer, developing SMART-DS: Synthetic Models for Advanced, Realistic Testing: Distribution Systems and Scenarios through the Power Systems Engineering Center.
Nov. 25, 2020
Eight NREL Scientists Included on List of Highly Cited Researchers
Eight researchers affiliated with NREL are on this year's list of Highly Cited Researchers compiled by Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science Group, with four identified for their influence beyond their own scientific specialty.
Nov. 24, 2020
How Might Electric Vehicles Affect Electric Loads? Expanded Online Tool Provides Quick Answers
New feature of NREL's electric vehicle infrastructure projection tool helps utilities, agencies, and researchers predict hour-by-hour impact of charging on the grid.
Nov. 24, 2020
News Release: Scientific Organization AAAS Names NREL's Green a Fellow
Johney Green, an associate laboratory director at NREL, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Nov. 18, 2020
HyBlend Project To Accelerate Potential for Blending Hydrogen in Natural Gas Pipelines
NREL will lead a new collaborative research and development project known as HyBlend to address the technical barriers to blending hydrogen in natural gas pipelines.
Nov. 18, 2020
From the Garage to the Open Sea: NREL's Scott Jenne To Patent Inflatable Wave Pump Design
NREL researcher Scott Jenne and his team are paving the way to the development of the wave energy generation devices of tomorrow.
Nov. 18, 2020
An Unexpected Debut: ARIES Microgrid Infrastructure Powers NREL Campus Through Outage
A power outage involving a transformer at NREL's Flatirons Campus provided an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of the new Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) research platform. ARIES was used to repower the Campus exactly as envisioned for renewable microgrid systems of the future.
Nov. 17, 2020
News Release: NREL Advanced Manufacturing Research Moves Wind Turbine Blades Toward Recyclability
A new material for wind blades that can be recycled could transform the wind industry, rendering renewable energy more sustainable than ever before while lowering costs in the process. The use of a thermoplastic resin has been validated at NREL.
Nov. 16, 2020
Advanced Charging Systems Research Moves Consumer and Commercial Electric Vehicles Faster and Further
NREL stands at the forefront of the groundbreaking work to improve battery performance, combining extreme fast charging initiatives with grid integration opportunities to meet energy demands.
Nov. 16, 2020
Maximizing Energy Production Looks Like a Breeze
Researchers at NREL are taking a plant-level, systems-engineering approach to maximize offshore wind systems' energy output, lifespan, and economic feasibility, while minimizing forces on individual wind turbines.
Nov. 13, 2020
Taking It to Extremes: NREL-Led Project Explores Development of Oxide Electronic Devices for Extreme Operating Environments
An NREL-led project is developing tomorrow's tough electronic devices capable of withstanding temps of 600°C and other harsh conditions.
Nov. 11, 2020
The World of Water Power Is Just One Click Away: Visit the Expanded STEM Portals Today
The STEM Hydropower and Marine Renewable Energy portals bring all things water power to educators and students. Learn more about the recently added resources.
Nov. 10, 2020
NREL Examines U.S. Transportation Patterns During COVID-19 Pandemic
To predict the future, it helps to know a thing or two about the past. If you want to track down where the next viral hotspot might be, it is useful to know how those spreading the disease are moving.
Nov. 10, 2020
EV Charging Stations Continued Strong Growth in Early 2020, NREL Report Shows
As electric vehicles (EVs) have increased in popularity over the past few years, the infrastructure to charge them has similarly expanded along interstate highways, at workplaces, and at public parking lots across the country.
Nov. 9, 2020
NREL Invites U.S. Manufacturers To Help Advance Distributed Wind Technologies
NREL has issued a call to action for U.S. manufacturers of small- and medium-sized wind turbines by issuing a notice of intent under the Competitiveness Improvement Project to allow companies to prepare project ideas and teams in advance of a request for proposals planned for release in early 2021.
Nov. 6, 2020
Drivetrain Reliability Collaborative Seeks Gearbox Failure Causes, Solutions
NREL and Argonne National Laboratory researchers have teamed with industry partners such as SKF, Winergy, General Electric, and Afton Chemical to understand the causes of axial cracking, create a design life equation that accounts for it, and develop and validate solutions to reduce this and other causes of gearbox failure.
Nov. 5, 2020
Garvin Heath, JISEA Analyst, Is Defining Circularity for Next-Generation Energy Materials
Moving from a linear to a circular economy for energy materials starts with research and development. JISEA Analyst Garvin Heath and a team of researchers are leading the charge.
Nov. 5, 2020
WESyS: the Open-Source Waste-to-Energy System Simulation Model
WESyS simulates the possible evolution of the U.S. waste-to-energy industry based on industrial, technological, and policy-related factors.
October 2020
Oct. 30, 2020
Matchmaking Challenge: Wind Workforce Research Helps Bridge Gap Between Employers and Applicants
Wind energy industry employment grew more than 50% over 5 years, and yet, 68% of wind energy employers have difficulty filling entry-level jobs, and 83% of students or recent graduates say it is hard to find a position in wind energy. This wind workforce gap is the subject of a recent NREL survey.
Oct. 30, 2020
Winners of 2020 JUMP into STEM Take Virtual Internships in Stride; Contribute to Building Science Research
2020 JUMP into STEM winners were undaunted by the shift of JUMP into STEM's summer internship programs to a virtual experience, and NREL staff members committed to providing a meaningful virtual opportunity for the interns.
Oct. 30, 2020
IEEE Journal Features NREL Commentary on the Future of Renewable Energy
A new publication looks toward the future of renewable energy and explains research direction in the areas of renewable energy transmission, consumption, and generation.
Oct. 29, 2020
Energy I-Corps: SuperCohort to the Rescue
The DOE's researcher-entrepreneurship program forges ahead virtually under the leadership of Shelly Curtiss, former executive director of the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association.
Oct. 29, 2020
New Directions Sharpen NREL's Cybersecurity Research, Protecting Energy Systems Beyond the Grid Edge
When it comes to cybersecurity for the electric grid, researchers at NREL are looking ahead.
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