Brooke Stanislawski is a postdoctoral researcher working to advance renewable energy technologies through numerical modeling of physical processes such as fluid mechanics, turbulence, heat transfer, and structural loading.

She works on projects in wind, solar, and hybrid power plant applications. In wind energy, she uses high-fidelity modeling to study the influence of turbulence on wind turbine loads. In solar energy, she works in concentrated solar power (CSP), modeling optical losses, wind loading, and the turbulent inflow in the atmospheric boundary layer. She is also interested in the development of fast-response models that bring findings from high-fidelity models to more accessible software tools.

During her Ph.D., she used large-eddy simulations to develop cooling solutions for utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plants to improve performance as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative.

Research Interests

Multi-fidelity numerical modeling of renewable energy systems

Computational fluid dynamics

Turbulence

Convective heat transfer

High-performance computing

Atmospheric boundary layer flow

Education

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah

M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University

Professional Experience

Postdoctoral Researcher, NREL (2022–Present)

Ph.D. Graduate Research Assistant, University of Utah (2017–2021)

Engineer, Siemens Energy (2013–2017)

Featured Work

Row Spacing as a Controller of Solar Module Temperature and Power Output in Solar Farms, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (2022)

Viewing Convection as a Solar Farm Phenomenon Broadens Modern Power Predictions for Solar Photovoltaics, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (2022)

Potential of Module Arrangements to Enhance Convective Cooling in Solar Photovoltaic Arrays, Renewable Energy (2020)