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.
April 2020
April 16, 2020
Desalination Dreams: Meet the Entrepreneurial Waves to Water CONCEPT Stage Winners
This Earth Day, we recognize five teams of entrepreneurs who are integrating marine energy and desalination to provide clean water.
April 15, 2020
NREL Researchers Review Promising Class of New Materials for Energy Applications
Scientists at NREL have performed a comprehensive review of a unique, emerging class of materials called chalcogenides that hold the potential for use in solar cells, water splitting, and other energy applications.
April 13, 2020
Spring Sightings: Flowers and FAST Prize Teams Blossom
Three winning teams of the Furthering Advancements to Shorten Time (FAST) Commissioning for Pumped-Storage Hydropower Prize are reducing the time, cost, and risk associated with commissioning pumped-storage hydropower projects.
April 13, 2020
News Release: NREL Six-Junction Solar Cell Sets Two World Records for Efficiency
Scientists at NREL have fabricated a six-junction solar cell that now holds the world record for the highest solar conversion efficiency at 47.1%, which was measured under concentrated illumination. A variation of the same cell also set the efficiency record under one-sun illumination at 39.2%.
April 9, 2020
NREL Research Makes Skies Safer for Bats
Bats are notoriously difficult to study, and there is still much we do not know about them. To help improve understanding of bats and their behavior around wind turbines, NREL is collaborating on several research and development projects funded by the U.S. DOE Wind Energy Technologies Office. These efforts are helping minimize wind turbine-bat encounters through monitoring, deterrence, and curtailment.
April 8, 2020
NREL Extends Deadline for DOE Competitiveness Improvement Project Proposals to May 5
NREL has extended the U.S. Department of Energy's Competitiveness Improvement Project distributed wind request for proposals submission deadline to May 5 at 2 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.
April 3, 2020
Lignin Research Yields Additional Answers into Bacteria's Role
A collaboration between NREL and three other national laboratories has yielded new insight into the ability of bacteria to break down the hardy part of a plant known as lignin. The additional understanding of the process could open a path to industrial applications.
April 3, 2020
Scientist Nancy Haegel Uses the Elegance of Physics To Guide Materials Research
NREL Materials Science Center Director Nancy Haegel's fingerprints were on semiconductor light detectors aboard NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Her research in semiconductors continues to inspire others and inform her activities at NREL.
April 2, 2020
Floating Wind Turbines on the Rise
Over 26,000 megawatts (MW) of planned offshore wind capacity exists in the offshore wind development pipeline. Rapidly falling technology costs for offshore wind, including floating offshore wind technology, have aided the growth of this pipeline, and promise to help wind become a significant part of the power mix in coastal communities.
April 2, 2020
News Release: $125,000 Awarded in DISCOVER Stage of Ocean Observing Prize; Launch of DEVELOP Competition
NREL announced the 11 winners of the DISCOVER Competition, the first stage of the Powering the Blue Economy: Ocean Observing Prize. Of the selected winners, 10 received $10,000 each, and one grand prizewinner received $25,000 to help accelerate the development of the marine energy sector.
April 2, 2020
Global 'Fashion for Good' Program Picks NREL's Pienkos to Participate
Phil Pienkos, who retired from NREL this month, already has his next project underway. He has been selected to participate in an international initiative called Fashion for Good that aims to bring sustainability into the fashion industry.
March 2020
March 30, 2020
Co-Optima Leads High-Speed Chase for Co-Optimization of Fuels and Turbocharged Spark-Ignition Engines
A new report summarizes findings from the first phase of the Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines initiative, which focused on turbocharged spark-ignition engines for light-duty vehicles, identifying the fuel properties and engine parameters that mitigate knock and emissions, while maximizing efficiency and performance.
March 30, 2020
Quantifying the Value of Resilience During Disruptive Events
Researchers at NREL have developed a framework for quantitatively modeling resilience metrics to show communities and utilities the benefits of investing in resilience strategies for the grid.
March 30, 2020
Ready, Set, ... Innovate! Round 2 of American-Made Solar Prize Celebrates Successful Competition Day
After months of hard work, the efforts of American-Made Solar Prize Round 2 teams have been rewarded at Set! Demo Day, with 10 finalist teams each winning $100,000 in cash prizes and $75,000 in support vouchers to be used at national laboratories and other partner facilities.
March 30, 2020
Q&A with Ben Kroposki: A Grid Visionary
Ben Kroposki works at the innovative edge of renewable energy in power systems, leading to his current role at NREL as director of the Power Systems Engineering Center.
March 30, 2020
Women Making Waves in Marine Energy Research
NREL celebrates Women's History Month by highlighting the innovation and leadership of three women in marine energy research.
March 26, 2020
NREL-Led Research into Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Cells Shows New Path to Take
Researchers at NREL, working in collaboration with their counterparts in the Republic of Korea, have validated the potential of using a combination of perovskite and silicon to create solar cells that are more than 30% efficient. Their initial solar cell achieved a certified efficiency of 26.2%.
March 25, 2020
Photovoltaics Pioneer and NREL Alumna Sarah Kurtz Honored by National Academy of Engineering
World-renowned photovoltaics expert and longtime NREL alumna Sarah Kurtz was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering for her contributions to the development of high-efficiency solar cells and leadership in solar cell reliability and quality.
March 25, 2020
JISEA Celebrates a Decade of Energy System Transformation Through Analysis
Ten years since its founding, the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis continues to provide critical insights linking energy, society, and prosperity around the world.
March 24, 2020
Harnessing Marine Energy at All Scales, From a Village Microgrid to a Vast Tidal Inlet
NREL-led assessments are helping remote, off-grid communities such as Igiugig in Alaska identify self-sustaining microgrid options, while the team’s resource characterization work in Cook Inlet has the potential to deliver power to the grid for distribution across the state.
March 20, 2020
2020 Industry Growth Forum to Go on — Now in a Virtual Format
In light of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, NREL has changed the format of the 2020 Industry Growth Forum to an entirely virtual event.
March 18, 2020
NREL’s Industry Growth Forum Celebrates 25 Years
What does it take to grow the clean energy industry long-term? Former director Charlie Gay was there at the beginning – and is returning to keynote the IGF’s 25th forum. Check out the list of 40 new presenting companies, posted here.
March 17, 2020
Analysis Reveals PV Systems in the U.S. Operating as Expected
The vast majority of solar panels are living up to expectations for energy production after five years, according to a new analysis of 100,000 photovoltaic (PV) systems across the United States.
March 17, 2020
American Society of Mechanical Engineers Designates NREL Researcher as Fellow
Sreekant Narumanchi was recently selected as an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) fellow. This recognition honors his extensive involvement with ASME and his excellence in mechanical engineering research at NREL.
March 16, 2020
Waves to Water Academic Teams Sharpen Their Pencils—and Their Desalination Designs
In November, DOE announced the 20 CONCEPT stage winning teams, each awarded $10,000 from a $200,000 cash prize pool. Wielding their book smarts, seven academic teams were among the 20 winners.
