Energy Technology and Market Risk Reduction

Leveraging our market and project development expertise, NREL offers a broad range of advisory services to reduce the risks associated with energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

This includes policy and regulatory analysis, financing alternatives, project management, proposal reviews, and project risk and technology assessments.

Photo of a man closing the door of a large, multicolored metal box that is roughly the size of a semi-truck trailer. Inside the box are batteries that make up a 1-megawatt battery energy storage system.

Our Work

We offer integrated engineering and business expertise to evaluate potential technical and market impacts of emerging technologies and accelerate commercialization. Technology and market barriers are identified to inform NREL's early, technology-ready-level science and technology efforts.

Our capabilities include:

Technology validation for building energy systems, energy storage, and renewable energy applications in the built environment
Control strategy optimization to maximize performance of new technologies within larger systems
Market analysis for wide-scale adoption of technologies/systems
Public/private partnerships to evaluate specific technologies and systems
Sharing of lessons learned to support broader market development
Analysis of financial strategies for implementing technologies/systems and expert support during implementation
Workforce development analysis and support.

Policy and Regulatory Analysis

We analyze federal and state policies and support regulatory implementation by comparing alternative policies on federal fleet mandates, local electric vehicle incentives, solar permitting standards, and more.

Project Financing Alternatives

We can help your organization identify effective public and private financing alternatives for your energy efficiency and large-scale renewable energy projects, including:

Debt financing and structures that use cash flows generated by your project
Investment and production tax credits, grants, bonds, and other types of national, state, and local incentives.

Energy Project Risk Assessments

We help clarify and manage risk in energy resources; project costs; and evolving regulatory, permitting, and retail markets through activities such as:

Evaluation of project economics
Site screening
Business case development
Procurement strategies.

Technology Screening and Assessments

Through a combination of industry and NREL-developed tools, we provide efficiency and renewable energy assessments for existing buildings, facilities, and state and local governments.

Project Development Models

NREL has developed a series of project development models, including the BEPTC™/SROPTTC™ approach. Learn more about the BEPTC/SROPTTC project development model.

Workforce Development Analysis and Support

We help organize collegiate competitions designed to develop career skills and prepare students for entering the clean energy workforce. These competitions include Solar Decathlon and Race to Zero.

Our Partnerships

NREL Helps Streamline Solar Power Installations for Local Governments
In partnership with SolSmart, NREL expertise has helped more than 100 local governments streamline the process for homes and businesses to install solar power.