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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April 2018
April 20, 2018
NREL and Hawaiian Electric Navigate Uncharted Waters of Energy Transformation (Part 2)
NREL and the Hawaiian Electric Companies are evaluating energy trends and simulating future grid scenarios to ensure stability--and their findings could help other islands, and even mainland states, apply similar solutions.
April 20, 2018
NREL and Hawaiian Electric Navigate Uncharted Waters of Energy Transformation (Part 1)
NREL helped the Hawaiian Electric Companies respond to new stability challenges associated with the rapid addition of solar power and other renewables to Hawaii's six isolated island grids.
April 18, 2018
KULR Technology Exclusively Licenses Award-Winning Battery Internal Short Circuit Device
Under agreement with NREL, KULR will be the exclusive manufacturing, distribution, and marketing partner for the patented, award-winning Battery Internal Short Circuit (ISC) Device to industrial, research, and design clients. Developed by NREL and NASA, the Battery ISC Device revolutionizes the way lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are evaluated so designs can be improved before batteries hit store shelves.
April 18, 2018
CAEBAT Model Featured on American Chemical Society Journal Tenth Anniversary Issue Cover
NREL's collaboration with Purdue University's School of Mechanical Engineering has yielded new insights for lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery electrodes at the microstructural level, that can lead to improvements in electric vehicle (EV) battery performance and lifespan. A stochastic algorithm developed by Purdue University, as part of NREL's Advanced Computer-Aided Battery Engineering Consortium, is prominently displayed on the cover of the 10th anniversary issue of American Chemical Society's Applied Materials and Interfaces. The NREL/Purdue team's corresponding article, "Secondary-Phase Stochastics in Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes" detailing the research and resulting discoveries, is showcased inside.
April 18, 2018
Abundant Renewable Energy Resources Exist in Lao PDR
A clearer picture of which renewable energy resources can benefit the Lao People's Democratic Republic has emerged from a new report published by NREL.
April 18, 2018
Co-Optima Transportation Ingenuity Capitalizes on Strengths of U.S. Energy Resources and Existing Infrastructure
The FY17 Year in Review describes recent advances including identification of key properties for new fuels, assessment of compatibility with vehicle components and infrastructure, and expansion of research to encompass solutions for the entire on-road fleet. This research effort, led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is providing industry with the scientific underpinnings needed to accelerate introduction of high-performance fuels and engines that reduce energy consumption, improve air quality, and lower drivers' costs.
April 13, 2018
NREL Staff Honored for Innovative Thinking, Accomplishments
The Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) celebrated the innovative minds behind cutting-edge research at its annual Innovation and Technology Transfer Awards ceremony last month.
April 13, 2018
News Release: Research Team Engineers a Better Plastic-Degrading Enzyme
A breakthrough in enzyme research led by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the United Kingdom's University of Portsmouth has led to an improved variant of an enzyme that can breakdown ubiquitous plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET.
April 12, 2018
NREL Research Pushes Perovskites Closer to Market
NREL has played a significant role in the increased efficiency of perovskite solar cells.
April 11, 2018
Heavy-Duty Emissions Research Honored with SAE Colwell Award
On April 10, authors the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Cummins Inc. received the Arch T. Colwell Merit Award during the 2018 annual Society of Automotive engineers (SAE) World Congress Awards and Recognition Ceremony in Detroit. The Colwell award recognizes the authors of papers of outstanding technical or professional merit that are presented at SAE meetings.
April 10, 2018
News Release: New Solar PV Tool Accurately Calculates Degradation Rates, Saving Money and Guiding Business Decisions
A new software package developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and industry partners SunPower and kWh Analytics is making the measurement of PV system expected lifetime performance more reliable, consistent, and accurate.
April 9, 2018
New Analysis Finds Synergistic Relationship Between High PV Penetration and Energy Storage Deployment
Adding higher penetrations of solar photovoltaics (PV) to the electric power grid could increase the potential for energy storage to meet peak demand, according to new analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
April 9, 2018
NREL Leadership Contributes to Revision of Key Energy Integration Standard, IEEE 1547
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has published the full revision of IEEE 1547, which establishes uniform requirements for interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as solar photovoltaics, with the electric power system. With support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office, NREL researchers provided leadership and technical support in developing this full revision of the standard.
April 5, 2018
News Release: Perovskite Technology is Scalable, But Questions Remain about the Best Methods
As perovskite solar cells set efficiency records and the nascent technology becomes more stable, another major challenge remains: the issue of scalability, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
April 4, 2018
From Preble's Mouse to Rattlers, NREL Biologist Likes Critters
Looking out over the "living laboratory" of NREL's campus, Senior Wildlife Biologist Tom Ryon sees a tapestry that others may not. Everywhere he goes, he can't avoid interactions with nature. Nor does he want to.
April 3, 2018
News Release: NREL Opens Large Database of Inorganic Thin-Film Materials
An extensive experimental database of inorganic thin-film materials that organizes a decade's worth of research at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is now publicly available.
April 2, 2018
News Release: NREL Research Overcomes Major Technical Obstacles in Magnesium-Metal Batteries
Scientists at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have discovered a new approach for developing a rechargeable non-aqueous magnesium-metal battery.
March 2018
March 30, 2018
Q&A with Sheila Hayter: Laying the Foundation for an Interconnected Energy Future
Sheila Hayter is a group manager in the Integrated Applications Center (IAC), leading a team of experts who support international, federal, state, and local entities with the goal of significantly reducing nonrenewable energy consumption though optimized use of energy efficiency strategies and renewable energy technologies. Along with her NREL work, she is the ASHRAE president elect. We caught up with Hayter to discuss where her roles with ASHRAE and NREL intersect.
March 27, 2018
Transportation Research Fueled by Academia
NREL's long history of successful partnerships with universities includes collaborating on transportation research projects, as well as joint appointments and sustaining a thriving host of internship programs. Over the past few years transportation researchers have collaborated with more than 20 universities within the United States and internationally.
March 27, 2018
Koenraad Beckers: A Love of Science Benefits Geothermal Research
In June, NREL researcher Koenraad Beckers will bike from Boise, Idaho, to Yellowstone National Park. The ride is typical for this avid biker. The reason though is unusual. Passionate about geothermal energy research, he wants to observe the hot water in both places.
March 22, 2018
Newly Branded Energy Systems Integration Group Joins International Institute for Energy Systems Integration
The Utility-Variable Generation Integration Group (UVIG) is broadening its reach among the ESI community, joining with the International Institute for Energy Systems Integration (iiESI), and changing its name to the Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG).
March 22, 2018
News Release: NREL Discovers Enzyme Domains that Dramatically Improve Performance
By studying and comparing the workhorse cellulose-degrading enzymes of two fungi, researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have pinpointed regions on these enzymes that can be targeted via genetic engineering to help break down cellulose faster.
March 21, 2018
Johney Green Joins Inaugural Board of Trustees for the UK's Faraday Institution
NREL's Johney Green, Jr. has been chosen to join Faraday's inaugural board of trustees to help set the agenda and support programs for emerging electrochemical energy storage technologies.
March 13, 2018
National Wind Technology Center to Help Verify Bend-Twist Coupled Smart Blades
NREL will evaluate a pioneering bend-twist rotor concept at the National Wind Technology Center
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