Renewable Energy Technologies

The purpose of the Renewable Energy Technologies Division at Sandia National Laboratories is to develop commercially viable energy technologies based on solar, wind, and geothermal resources that become significant domestic and international energy supplies, with a primary focus on the utility sector.

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Photovoltaic

Sandia's photovoltaic programs are part of the National Center for Photovoltaics, which unites much of the photovoltaic work in the United States into a working partnership.

Concentrating Solar Power and Sun Lab

Operating as Sun•Lab, a virtual laboratory comprising CSP groups at Sandia and NREL, Sandia's work focuses on three types of concentrating solar power systems: parabolic troughs, power towers, and dish/engine systems.

NSTTF

This facility is an important resource for users and manufacturers of Concentrating Solar Power systems.  Manufacturers can use the facility to test new designs, ideas, and products in an environment duplicating operating conditions.



Wind

Sandia conducts supporting research and testing in the areas of aerodynamics, structures, materials and reliability.  Our main role in the U.S. DOE wind program is in the development of improved blade design and manufacturing, as well as developing and applying the analysis tools that make this progress possible.

Geothermal

Sandia's work in geothermal technology is aimed at reducing the cost and risk associated with significantly expanding the nation's utilization of geothermal energy. We search for practical solutions to challenges associated with tapping the most intense geothermal sources of heat, typically found well below the earth’s surface in very harsh environments.

Solar Pools

Sandia has a small program that seeks to reduce the cost and improve the reliability of solar hot water systems

Solar Domestic Hot Water

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Distributed Energy Storage

The goal of the Energy Storage Systems program is to develop advanced energy storage technologies and systems in collaboration with industry and to increase the reliability, performance and competitiveness of electric generation, transmission and use in both grid-tied and off-grid systems.  The program develops advanced electric energy storage devices (batteries, flywheels, supercapacitors, etc.), power electronic converters and controls, and then integrates these into utility-scale storage systems.  Both in-house and field testing are conducted in collaboration with partner utilities to evaluate performance under a variety of conditions. 

Energy Storage Systems


DETL


Fuel Cell

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