Facilities
NREL's energy systems integration support facilities provide energy systems integration research and development, testing, and analysis at various scales.
The Energy Systems Integration Facility, planned to open in fall 2012, can be used to design, test, and analyze components and systems to enable economic, reliable integration of renewable electricity, fuel production, storage, and building efficiency technologies with the U.S. electricity delivery infrastructure.
New grid integration capabilities at the National Wind Technology Center will allow testing of many grid integration aspects of multi-megawatt, utility-scale variable renewable generation and storage technologies.
The Distributed Energy Resources Test Facility can be used to characterize, test, and evaluate distributed generators, interconnection systems, controls, and procedures. Standards associations and industry have taken advantage of NREL's distributed energy capabilities to evaluate and validate their products and processes.
The Thermal Test Facility is a flexible, multipurpose, multi-laboratory facility focused on thermal energy processes, thermal handling equipment, and energy management. The Automated Home Energy Management Lab provides a flexible test bed for device-, whole-home, and grid-level strategies. The Advanced HVAC Lab enables rapid, accurate, and robust measurement of space conditioning performance—from bath fans to a 10-ton remote terminal unit. The Energy Storage Lab is home to the world's most accurate battery calorimeters of their kind, thermal imaging, and environmental chambers—with controlled duty cycling at every step.
At NREL's Vehicle Testing and Integration Facility, researchers collaborate with automakers, charging station manufacturers, utilities, and fleet operators to assess charging, communication, and control technology and modify plug-in electric vehicles to play an active role in building and grid management.
