Solar Research News
Explore our archive of solar news stories.
Dec. 28, 2022
NREL researchers and staff reached countless goals and achieved numerous successes in science, partnerships, and commercialization in 2022. Here are just a few of the highlights.
Dec. 22, 2022
A new approach to manufacturing perovskite solar cells has addressed previous problems and yielded devices with high efficiency and excellent stability, researchers at NREL report in the new issue of the journal Science.
Dec. 8, 2022
The American-Made Solar Prize announced the 20 semifinalist teams in this year's competition, selected for their game-changing solar energy ideas, including concepts to energize solar manufacturing, address obstacles to wider solar adoption, or make installation and maintenance more efficient and cost-effective.
Nov. 30, 2022
NREL has released its annual cost breakdown of installed solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage systems.
Nov. 30, 2022
NREL announced 12 communities as winners of Step 1 of the American-Made Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) Prize—a two-step competition to help communities adopt automated processing of residential solar permits, lowering costs and making solar more accessible for homeowners.
Nov. 22, 2022
Over the last four years, NREL has been part of a multilaboratory team that explored deployable wind turbine systems—including a few solar panels and batteries—using standard shipping containers to power military and disaster relief purposes.
Nov. 18, 2022
There is a new way to explore NREL's famous chart spotlighting the efficiency of solar cells. The Best Research-Cell Efficiency Chart is now interactive, with the ability to pull up decades of research data and create custom charts that focus on specific technologies or time periods. You can also dive deeper into the data behind many points on the chart, going beyond just efficiency.
Nov. 18, 2022
Skyscrapers dominate city skylines, but these massive glass-walled structures can be made more energy efficient through the addition of thermally efficient photovoltaic (PV) windows, according to an analysis by researchers at NREL.
Nov. 15, 2022
Eight scientists from NREL were named today to the Highly Cited Researchers list, including two who are making their first appearance.
Nov. 9, 2022
NREL-developed PRECISE™ automates interconnection assessments to help customers and utilities reach growing solar goals.
Nov. 3, 2022
The clean energy revolution can only succeed if U.S. manufacturers have the materials, components, infrastructure, and other resources needed to meet ambitious emissions-reduction targets. New supply chain strategies are helping make the production of renewable energy technologies as sustainable as their operation.
Nov. 3, 2022
NREL-authored reports provided insights on supply chain issues related to solar photovoltaic, wind power, energy storage, semiconductor, and hydrogen fuel cell and electrolyzer technologies.
Oct. 27, 2022
Two recently published papers spell out advances in the field of photovoltaics made from III-V materials. The improvements to the III-V solar cells will help the technology find a terrestrial home. III-V cells—although efficient—carry such a high price tag it only makes economic sense to use them on satellites and Mars rovers.
Oct. 24, 2022
Moving rows of solar panels further apart can increase efficiency and improve economics in certain instances by allowing greater airflow to whisk away some heat, according to a new analysis.
Oct. 24, 2022
Among the more than 3,000 people who work at NREL, only 15 are current senior research fellows. Along with the current research fellows, Paul Denholm, Vahan Gevorgian, and Joey Luther will advise NREL executive management on the strategic direction of science and technology research.
Oct. 11, 2022
As part of continuing efforts to address energy industry workforce needs, the DOE-sponsored Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition empowers students to embrace the challenge and bring their most innovative solutions to real-world applications.
Sept. 29, 2022
West Gate is a program that embeds innovators at NREL and pairs them with national laboratory scientists and capabilities over a period of two years, during which they have prime access to world-class national laboratory capabilities and expertise to significantly advance the development of their clean-energy technologies.
Sept. 27, 2022
NREL, joined by partners at Sandia National Laboratories and the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute, released its multiyear heliostat roadmap, which identifies research and deployment gaps in heliostat technologies as well as the strategies to overcome them during the next five years.
Sept. 22, 2022
National Renewable Energy (NREL) Senior Research Fellow Matthew Beard accepted the prestigious Ernest Orlando (EO) Lawrence Award on Thursday at a hybrid awards ceremony held in Washington, D.C.
Sept. 22, 2022
Cutting-edge semiconductor research at NREL will continue at the Center for Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy (CHOISE) as part of funding announced last week.
Sept. 12, 2022
A collaborative team from NREL and Princeton University has resurrected a century-old microwave technique to reveal a surprising feature of well-established light-driven chemistry. The study outlines how an important class of "photoredox catalysts" operates, leading to unforeseen ways to manipulate their efficiency and selectivity.
Sept. 1, 2022
A unique architectural structure enabled the researchers to record a certified stabilized efficiency of 24% under 1-sun illumination, making it the highest reported of its kind. The highly efficient cell also retained 87% of its original efficiency after 2,400 hours of operation at 55 degrees Celsius.
Aug. 30, 2022
NREL study identifies the opportunities and challenges of achieving the U.S. transformational goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035.
Aug. 18, 2022
It is hard to find a flock of sheep nestled under an array of solar panels. But both solar developers and those in the local community who care for the land—whether as farmland, rangeland, or native habitats—can benefit from agrivoltaics.
Aug. 9, 2022
State and local zoning laws and ordinances influence how and where wind and solar energy projects can be sited and deployed—which can have a measurable impact on U.S. renewable energy resource potential.
Aug. 4, 2022
This week, U.S. Department of Energy announced a new three-year consortium intended to accelerate the development of cadmium telluride (CdTe) technologies by lowering the cost and increasing the efficiency of the thin-film solar cells.
July 18, 2022
Video explains how having more than enough renewable energy capacity can make the grid more flexible.
July 15, 2022
From sustainable fuels to airport infrastructure analysis to next-gen aircraft, NREL offers solutions for lowering emissions in a sector that is among the most difficult to decarbonize.
July 6, 2022
NREL researchers made for an inventive bunch in fiscal year 2021, even exceeding record-breaking activity in FY '20. A patent issued in November 2021 for compressed gas energy storage, for example, which covers the idea of injecting compressed natural gas into defunct oil and gas fracking sites, accounted for just one of 36 issued patents in FY '21.
July 1, 2022
How do we reduce the carbon impact of an already green technology?
June 27, 2022
In a new comprehensive literature review, researchers at NREL discovered that alternatives to recycling may have untapped potential to build an effective circular economy for solar photovoltaic and battery technologies, such as reducing the use of virgin materials in manufacturing, reusing for new applications, and extending product life spans.
June 15, 2022
The latest additions to the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP) more than double the number of communities advancing local energy goals through this DOE-funded, multi-lab, multi-partner effort.
June 15, 2022
The sixth round of competition offers $4.1 million in prizes for those ready to revolutionize the solar industry.
June 14, 2022
Scientists at NREL have demonstrated a tin-lead perovskite cell that overcomes problems with stability and improves efficiency. The new cell, a tandem design with two layers of perovskites, measured a 25.5% efficiency.
June 9, 2022
When Greg Glatzmaier left NREL for the last time after a career that spanned four decades, he was already planning trips to Nevada and Spain. But not to play poker or hang out on the beach.
June 6, 2022
NREL Senior Scientist Steve Johnston has been selected as a recipient of the 2022 American Solar Energy Society (ASES) Hoyt Clarke Hottel Award.
May 31, 2022
Deblasio was instrumental in getting the solar photovoltaics and distributed energy industries going. Sadly, he died on April 27 at the age of 80.
May 25, 2022
Martin Keller, director of NREL, said he expects the Flatirons Campus near Boulder, Colorado, will reach net zero emissions annually by the end of fiscal year 2023 and the South Table Mountain Campus outside Golden, Colorado, to hit that achievement three years later.
May 24, 2022
Representatives from solar research institutes around the world and international participants from academia and industry discussed the implications of the multi-terawatt photovoltaics market at the 3rd Terawatt Workshop of the Global Alliance of Solar Energy Research Institutes, May 16-17 in Freiburg, Germany.
May 19, 2022
Among NREL's many funding agencies, the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) funds what is perhaps some of NREL's most innovative work.
May 18, 2022
NREL has a long history of building solar cells that capture light from the sun at record-setting efficiencies. But the sun is not the only light source from which photovoltaics can capture energy.
May 18, 2022
Researchers at NREL created a solar cell with a record 39.5% efficiency under 1-sun global illumination. This is the highest efficiency solar cell of any type, measured using standard 1-sun conditions.
May 5, 2022
Perovskite materials may hold the potential to play an important role in a process to produce hydrogen in a renewable manner, according to an analysis from scientists at NREL.
May 4, 2022
On Monday, April 25, DOE announced the top division winners and Project Pitch Champion in the Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition Class of 2021–2022. A total of nine student-led teams won first, second, or third place across the three divisions, plus four honorable mentions.
April 29, 2022
The U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Desalination Prize Round 2 has named six semifinalist teams with innovative solar-thermal desalination system concepts.
April 26, 2022
On April 22, DOE announced the 20 finalist teams moving forward in the American-Made Solar Prize Round 5. After pitching their concepts for solar innovation during Set! Demo Day events, 10 hardware-focused and 10 software-focused teams were named finalists and awarded cash prizes.
April 22, 2022
As solar grows rapidly as an energy source, the number of photovoltaic (PV) modules that are manufactured and installed each year will continue to expand.
April 18, 2022
As researchers develop new technologies for space applications, careful thought and rigorous testing must be performed to be certain the technology can function for an extended period in the operating environment.
April 14, 2022
NREL customizes competitions for DOE technology offices—solar, water, buildings, geothermal, and others—to meet industry needs. American-Made is a pillar of DOE's activities, incentivizing U.S. entrepreneurs to strengthen American leadership in energy innovation and domestic manufacturing.
April 6, 2022
As part of the Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A profile series, Parthiv Kurup shares how his analyses are streamlining manufacturing processes to reduce the sector's energy consumption while reducing costs.
March 15, 2022
DuraMAT, a multi-laboratory consortium led by NREL, is exploring ideas that could extend solar module lifetime up to 50 years.
Feb. 28, 2022
No U.S. cities have done anything like what Cohoes, New York, was proposing: a municipally-owned and operated floating solar installation—but there was no reason it would not work. The technology of floating solar is sound, and their reservoir could hold enough panels to power all Cohoes city-owned buildings and streetlights—erasing around $500,000 in annual electricity costs.
Feb. 24, 2022
The National Community Solar Partnership hosted its annual summit, featuring esteemed DOE leadership, state governors, and industry experts.
Feb. 24, 2022
When it comes to concentrating solar power (CSP) research, Mark Mehos has seen the industry growth and solar boom firsthand. CSP technologies—capturing sunlight to produce heat that drives thermoelectric generation systems—had their beginnings in the mid-1980s, at the dawn of his 35-year career at NREL.
Feb. 22, 2022
Eight teams will receive direct funding and more than a year of technical support as they explore new forms of equitable solar adoption in residential and commercial-scale settings.
Feb. 18, 2022
Three NREL teams win prestigious REMADE awards to remake recycling, improve manufacturing, and build a circular economy.
Feb. 9, 2022
Concentrating solar power (CSP) has long held promise as a renewable energy technology. CSP uses mirrors, or heliostats, to harness the power of the sun by heating and storing an inexpensive medium such as sand, rocks, or molten salt for on-demand energy dispatch.
Feb. 7, 2022
The Solar Futures Study draws insights from across NREL's expertise and tools to deliver detailed analysis of solar energy's future in the United States.
Feb. 3, 2022
Winning thousands in cash prizes is just one of the many benefits that comes with being a finalist in an American-Made Challenges (AMC) Prize competition.
Feb. 2, 2022
REopt, a free, techno-economic decision support model, helps users optimize energy systems for buildings, campuses, communities, and microgrids. Once called REopt Lite, the REopt tool is dropping the "Lite" in 2022 to better reflect its true status as a heavy-hitting and comprehensive optimization tool.
Feb. 1, 2022
A pilot study demonstrates SolarAPP+ ability to expedite solar installs.
Jan. 31, 2022
Math, mentors, and Mother Nature all had a hand in leading Craig Turchi toward his new role as the manager of NREL's Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Program.
Jan. 14, 2022
Since 2019, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has published an annual series, titled "Women Scientists at the Forefront of Energy Research," to celebrate the accomplishments of women in the energy science field.
