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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August 2020
Aug. 24, 2020
Upcoming Groundbreaking Hydro Prize Incentivizes Innovation
NREL, the U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory launches the Groundbreaking Hydro Prize.
Aug. 24, 2020
From Streams to Rivers: NREL Upgrades Data Exchange for High-Use, Real-Time Applications
A recent upgrade by NREL's Data Analysis and Visualization Group (DAV) has brought some order to laboratory data flow with a platform that makes data streaming and access much easier for ESIF researchers and partners.
Aug. 21, 2020
Novel Design Configuration Increases Market Viability for Pumped-Storage Hydropower in the United States
NREL is supporting Obermeyer Hydro Inc. in their efforts to design a cost-effective, highly flexible pumped-storage hydropower system that reduces project costs, shortens deployment timelines, and is optimized for U.S. energy storage requirements.
Aug. 19, 2020
Researchers Explore Charging Flexibility of Shared Automated Electric Vehicles
Shared automated electric vehicles (SAEVs) may bring lower costs, reduced emissions, and a better travel experience, but their uncoordinated charging at scale could stress the electric grid and increase costs. So, an NREL research team explored the potential charging flexibility of future SAEV fleets.
Aug. 18, 2020
NREL Notice of Intent for 2022 DOE Collegiate Wind Competition
NREL plans to issue a request for proposals in September 2020 for colleges and universities interested in participating in the DOE Collegiate Wind Competition in the spring of 2022. The competition is designed to help prepare college students from a variety of backgrounds for careers in wind energy.
Aug. 18, 2020
NREL, ExxonMobil Teams Imagine, Research New Solutions for Tomorrow's Energy Challenges
A year into their unique collaboration, NREL and ExxonMobil are navigating a multi-pronged effort toward a future where clean-burning biofuels replace some petroleum-based fuels.
Aug. 18, 2020
NREL Helps Students "JUMP" into Building Science Innovation
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, launches its third JUMP into STEM collegiate competition this August.
Aug. 17, 2020
How Might Climate Change Impact Energy Systems?
A new literature review suggests climate change is anticipated to impact regional and global energy systems, with varying magnitudes of effects across regions and technologies.
Aug. 14, 2020
NREL Brings Expertise in Energy Resilience to New Organizational Planning Resource
The Technical Resilience Navigator, a resilience planning tool co-developed by NREL and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, helps organizations identify their resilience gaps and prioritize solutions that reduce risk from energy and water service disruptions.
Aug. 13, 2020
ARIES and RAIL Promise To Advance Renewable Energy Innovation and Integration
Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette introduced two new acronyms to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) lexicon on Aug. 12: RAIL and ARIES. RAIL stands for Research and Innovation Laboratory, while ARIES is short for Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems.
Aug. 13, 2020
Voyage into the Blue with the Ocean Observing Prize Winners
Ocean Observing Prize competitors are integrating marine renewable energy systems with ocean-observing platforms to collect ocean and weather data that can be used to better forecast natural disasters.
Aug. 11, 2020
New High-Rate Drilling System Could Revolutionize High-Temperature Power Electronics
NREL has joined forces with Tetra Innovation Institute to advance a high-rate drilling system that could transform the geothermal industry. This game-changing technology has the potential to increase geothermal drilling rates tenfold and reduce well drilling costs by 75%.
Aug. 11, 2020
Academic Teams Exhibit Strong Showing in Waves to Water Prize DESIGN Stage
Four academic teams emerge victorious in the DESIGN Stage of the U.S. Department of Energy's Waves to Water Prize. Next up, they'll validate their designs in the ADAPT Stage.
Aug. 7, 2020
NREL Floats New Offshore Wind Cost Optimization Vision
A study unveils a new strategic vision for floating offshore wind. NREL researchers identify barriers that must be overcome to bring down the overall cost of energy produced, then outline a vision for an integrated systems approach with the potential to significantly improve the market feasibility of floating wind plants.
Aug. 7, 2020
NREL's Zero Energy Office Building Sets High StandardPage Title
The Research Support Facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory continues to set an example for high-performing zero energy buildings worldwide in the design and construction process.
Aug. 7, 2020
Two-for-One Energy from Photons, Now Better than Ever
NREL researchers have found a promising group of materials for tomorrow's super-efficient solar cells, demonstrating how a carefully designed molecule can efficiently split the energy imparted by one photon into two excited states and keep them separated for several microseconds.
Aug. 6, 2020
USAID and NREL Curate Resilience Solutions for International Power System Planners
Resilient Energy Platform develops resources, trainings, and tools to help developing nations identify power system vulnerabilities and plan for sustainable, secure power systems.
Aug. 3, 2020
Leading by Example: ITEAM Prize Recognizes Energy Saving at U.S. Manufacturing Plants
The U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office and NREL announced the winners of the American-Made Challenges® Individuals Taking Energy Action in Manufacturing (ITEAM) Prize.
Aug. 3, 2020
DOE and NREL Launch STEM Hydropower and Marine Renewable Energy Portals
As part of an effort to recruit the best and brightest to the water power workforce, the U.S. Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office and NREL launched STEM education portals for water power technologies.
July 2020
July 30, 2020
Jeff Logan, Long-Standing JISEA Analyst, Has a World of Curiosity
For Jeff Logan, a curiosity came alive when he went to college. This curiosity has brought him around the world to study the clean energy transition.
July 29, 2020
Fei Ding: Helping Power System Industries Do the Real Work of Grid Resilience and Reliability
Fei Ding is an electrical engineering researcher at NREL who publishes a substantial number of reports and articles about her work on grid resilience and reliability.
July 29, 2020
Arrival of OptGrid: Advanced Technology of Grid Management Now Available to Industry
A new product developed at NREL has industry-shifting potential to help manage today's increasingly distributed energy infrastructure, and it has emerged as a commercial solution for real-time coordination of distributed energy resources.
July 29, 2020
Novel Research Highlights Critical Barriers to Extreme Fast Charging of Lithium-Ion Batteries
In a phenomenon called lithium plating, lithium attaches to graphite particles within the cell instead of inserting itself into the graphite for stable storage. Researchers used high-speed synchrotron X-ray diffraction to gain insight into the conditions that lead to lithium plating.
July 24, 2020
Tomorrow's Forecast: Sunny with a Strong Chance of Wind
Meteorologists, engineers, and geographic information system experts at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory are leading wind resource characterization efforts essential to the development of offshore wind.
July 23, 2020
NREL's Hydropower RAPID Toolkit Webinar Shows Stakeholders the Permitting Path Forward
During an NREL-led Hydropower Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop (RAPID) Toolkit Webinar, NREL legal and regulatory analysts presented updated features and showcased highlights from NREL's latest Hydropower RAPID Toolkit publication.
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