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. 30, 2020
Solving Solar Power Growing Pains in Michigan
To expedite distributed energy resource integration and plan for more distributed energy generation, the Michigan Public Service Commission contacted NREL for help updating its rules.
Dec. 30, 2020
The Future Is Autonomous: NREL's Autonomous Energy Grids Research Featured in IEEE Spectrum
A recent feature story in IEEE Spectrum magazine covers current progress and the opportunities ahead for autonomous energy grids (AEGs), and how the Basalt Vista neighborhood has made NREL's vision for AEGs a reality.
Dec. 30, 2020
SETO Awards NREL To Pursue National Solutions in Solar Integration
NREL has been awarded a large share of funds from the Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) 2020 funding program. NREL leads three projects. Two will target broad challenges in systems integration and the third will apply artificial intelligence to solar optimization.
Dec. 22, 2020
System Advisor Model Update Includes New Data, Improved Model Integration
Make informed decisions about renewable energy system design and project economics with the latest version of NREL's System Advisor Model.
Dec. 22, 2020
Technical Roadmap Guides Research Direction for Grid-Forming Inverters
A team of experts from NREL and several collaborating institutions have published the Research Roadmap on Grid-Forming Inverters, a comprehensive guide to understanding inverter-dominated power systems. The roadmap provides a system-wide perspective on the integration of inverter-based resources.
Dec. 22, 2020
Top 20 NREL Stories of 2020
NREL researchers and staff reached countless goals and achieved numerous successes in science, partnerships, and technology commercialization in 2020, from breaking world records to launching new initiatives. Here are just a few of the highlights.
Dec. 21, 2020
2020 JUMP into STEM Winners Announced for Three Technical Challenges
This year's JUMP into STEM competition pushed students to research, collaborate, and develop possible solutions for three key issues facing the building science industry.
Dec. 18, 2020
News Release: I AM Hydro Prize Winners Leverage Advanced Manufacturing Expertise to Bolster Hydropower
Eleven winning teams claimed top honors with their concepts to leverage the rapid innovations enabled by advanced manufacturing to solve hydropower's critical challenges.
Dec. 18, 2020
Nuclear-Renewable Synergies for Clean Energy Solutions
For nearly a decade, JISEA has supported analysis and dialogue on the potential of nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems to provide sustainable, cost-effective, and reliable power, heat, and other energy services.
Dec. 18, 2020
Quantum Wells Enable Record-Efficiency Two-Junction Solar Cell
Researchers from NREL and the University of New South Wales achieved a new world-record efficiency for two-junction solar cells, creating a cell with two light-absorbing layers that converts 32.9% of sunlight into electricity.
Dec. 17, 2020
Solar District Cup Students Are Ready for the Finals
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition has announced that 35 teams from 34 schools are advancing as finalists in the Class of 2021 program.
Dec. 17, 2020
Swimming With the SHARKS: NREL Makes a Splash at 2020 ARPA-E Funding Round
NREL researchers are working to fast-track the development of tomorrow's cost-effective marine energy technologies, thanks to an ARPA-E SHARKS funding award.
Dec. 16, 2020
$10 Million Sparks Research To Reduce Risks of Promising Bioengineered Organisms
Two awards totaling nearly $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program will support two research projects at NREL and partner laboratories that aim to analyze and reduce biosecurity risks of promising bioengineered organisms.
Dec. 16, 2020
All in a Day's Work
In their new report, "Workforce and Economic Development Considerations from the Operations and Maintenance of Wind Power Plants," NREL researchers Matthew Kotarbinski, David Keyser, and Jeremy Stefek seek to expand our understanding of wind's economic impact by examining O&M worker integration in communities.
Dec. 14, 2020
At 30 Years Young, the Future Is Bright for NREL's High-Flux Solar Furnace
With the breakneck speed of innovation at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the laboratory's High-Flux Solar Furnace (HFSF) is all the more remarkable for continuously facilitating envelope-pushing research since 1989.
Dec. 14, 2020
First Solar's Photovoltaic Technology Completes 25 Years of Testing at NREL
Determining how many years a solar panel will last can take, well, years. Intended to function for 25 years or more, solar panels must be made to withstand the elements. In some cases, panels continue working well after their planned operational lifetime. Nowhere is this more evident than on the sunny hillside where NREL operates the Outdoor Test Facility.
Dec. 9, 2020
NREL's Top 2020 Wind Program Accomplishments Demonstrate a Clear Vision for Wind Energy Advancement
The NREL wind program's top 2020 achievements demonstrate not only the laboratory's scientific and research abilities, but also its clear vision for wind energy advancement.
Dec. 8, 2020
News Release: Tri-Lab Initiative Leads Innovation in Novel Hybrid Energy Systems
Future novel hybrid energy systems could lead to paradigm shifts in clean energy production, according to a paper published last week in Joule. Researchers from the U.S. DOE's three applied energy laboratories co-authored the paper describing such integrated energy systems.
Dec. 4, 2020
NREL Research Takes Safety Issues into Account for Perovskite Production
While research continues to move perovskite solar technology toward commercialization, scientists at NREL are investigating how to manufacture them with human health in mind.
Dec. 4, 2020
Co-Optima Reveals Scientific Details Behind Light-Duty Vehicle Research
For the first time, researchers with DOE's Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative have shared scientific details that will help the research community and industry identify viable candidates for bio-based fuels that can maximize performance and efficiency when used in turbocharged spark-ignition (SI) engines.
Dec. 3, 2020
2020 Standard Scenarios Outlook Models Possible Evolution of U.S. Electricity Sector with Expanded Metrics
Explore 45 forward-looking scenarios and a new interactive data viewer with the latest release of our flagship Standard Scenarios.
Dec. 2, 2020
Offshore Wind Industry Prepares To Ride Economic High Tide
National Wind Technology Center researchers at NREL apply a range of modeling expertise and tools to help industry, government, and research partners gain objective understanding of the balance among potential offshore wind costs, revenues, and risks within the context of technical, legal, regulatory, tax, and policy issues.
Dec. 2, 2020
NREL Research Team Analyzes COVID-19 Manufacturing Supply Shortages
The early days of the ongoing pandemic were marked by shortages of personal protective equipment and coronavirus testing materials. To help overcome those challenges, an NREL research team led by Samantha Reese and Alberta Carpenter identified pinch points in the manufacturing process due to simultaneous shortages and increased demand for face shields, N95 respirators, and materials used in coronavirus tests.
Dec. 2, 2020
NREL's Bryan Pivovar Awarded for Excellence in Fuel Cell Research
The Electrochemical Society (ECS) headquarters has awarded the 2021 Energy Technology Division Research Award to Bryan Pivovar, a researcher in the Chemistry and Nanoscience Center at NREL.
Dec. 1, 2020
Transportation Secure Data Center Turns 10, Sees Dramatic Growth
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Transportation Secure Data Center (TSDC), a national resource providing free online access to a veritable treasure trove of detailed travel behavior data applicable for a host of research applications.
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