News and Feature Stories
The following news stories take an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how NREL is advancing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.
December 2020
Dec. 17, 2020
Solar District Cup Students Are Ready for the Finals
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition has announced that 35 teams from 34 schools are advancing as finalists in the Class of 2021 program.
Dec. 17, 2020
Swimming With the SHARKS: NREL Makes a Splash at 2020 ARPA-E Funding Round
NREL researchers are working to fast-track the development of tomorrow's cost-effective marine energy technologies, thanks to an ARPA-E SHARKS funding award.
Dec. 16, 2020
$10 Million Sparks Research To Reduce Risks of Promising Bioengineered Organisms
Two awards totaling nearly $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program will support two research projects at NREL and partner laboratories that aim to analyze and reduce biosecurity risks of promising bioengineered organisms.
Dec. 16, 2020
All in a Day's Work
In their new report, "Workforce and Economic Development Considerations from the Operations and Maintenance of Wind Power Plants," NREL researchers Matthew Kotarbinski, David Keyser, and Jeremy Stefek seek to expand our understanding of wind's economic impact by examining O&M worker integration in communities.
Dec. 14, 2020
At 30 Years Young, the Future Is Bright for NREL's High-Flux Solar Furnace
With the breakneck speed of innovation at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the laboratory's High-Flux Solar Furnace (HFSF) is all the more remarkable for continuously facilitating envelope-pushing research since 1989.
Dec. 14, 2020
First Solar's Photovoltaic Technology Completes 25 Years of Testing at NREL
Determining how many years a solar panel will last can take, well, years. Intended to function for 25 years or more, solar panels must be made to withstand the elements. In some cases, panels continue working well after their planned operational lifetime. Nowhere is this more evident than on the sunny hillside where NREL operates the Outdoor Test Facility.
Dec. 9, 2020
NREL's Top 2020 Wind Program Accomplishments Demonstrate a Clear Vision for Wind Energy Advancement
The NREL wind program's top 2020 achievements demonstrate not only the laboratory's scientific and research abilities, but also its clear vision for wind energy advancement.
Dec. 8, 2020
News Release: Tri-Lab Initiative Leads Innovation in Novel Hybrid Energy Systems
Future novel hybrid energy systems could lead to paradigm shifts in clean energy production, according to a paper published last week in Joule. Researchers from the U.S. DOE's three applied energy laboratories co-authored the paper describing such integrated energy systems.
Dec. 5, 2020
NREL Research Takes Safety Issues into Account for Perovskite Production
While research continues to move perovskite solar technology toward commercialization, scientists at NREL are investigating how to manufacture them with human health in mind.
Dec. 4, 2020
Co-Optima Reveals Scientific Details Behind Light-Duty Vehicle Research
For the first time, researchers with DOE's Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative have shared scientific details that will help the research community and industry identify viable candidates for bio-based fuels that can maximize performance and efficiency when used in turbocharged spark-ignition (SI) engines.
Dec. 3, 2020
2020 Standard Scenarios Outlook Models Possible Evolution of U.S. Electricity Sector with Expanded Metrics
Explore 45 forward-looking scenarios and a new interactive data viewer with the latest release of our flagship Standard Scenarios.
Dec. 2, 2020
Offshore Wind Industry Prepares To Ride Economic High Tide
National Wind Technology Center researchers at NREL apply a range of modeling expertise and tools to help industry, government, and research partners gain objective understanding of the balance among potential offshore wind costs, revenues, and risks within the context of technical, legal, regulatory, tax, and policy issues.
Dec. 2, 2020
NREL Research Team Analyzes COVID-19 Manufacturing Supply Shortages
The early days of the ongoing pandemic were marked by shortages of personal protective equipment and coronavirus testing materials. To help overcome those challenges, an NREL research team led by Samantha Reese and Alberta Carpenter identified pinch points in the manufacturing process due to simultaneous shortages and increased demand for face shields, N95 respirators, and materials used in coronavirus tests.
Dec. 2, 2020
NREL's Bryan Pivovar Awarded for Excellence in Fuel Cell Research
The Electrochemical Society (ECS) headquarters has awarded the 2021 Energy Technology Division Research Award to Bryan Pivovar, a researcher in the Chemistry and Nanoscience Center at NREL.
Dec. 1, 2020
Transportation Secure Data Center Turns 10, Sees Dramatic Growth
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Transportation Secure Data Center (TSDC), a national resource providing free online access to a veritable treasure trove of detailed travel behavior data applicable for a host of research applications.
Dec. 1, 2020
Wells Fargo Invests $20M To Extend Highly Successful IN2 Incubator Program Through 2024
Now in its seventh year, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) is now a $50 million program, designed from the start to consider a diverse cross section of start-ups, collect them into cohorts, connect them with technological expertise, and accelerate their clean technologies to the marketplace.
November 2020
Nov. 30, 2020
Synthetic Data Sets Set New Standard in Energy Systems Research
An NREL team and external collaborators have invented near-replicas of energy systems—realistic down to individual devices and up to interstate power transmission. The team's creation, Smart-DS, is set to become the new standard in modeling and simulating energy system scenarios.
Nov. 25, 2020
Q&A With Tarek Elgindy on SMART-DS: Texas-Sized Grid Modeling for Renewable Resource Integration
Since joining NREL as a summer intern in 2015, Tarek Elgindy has since become a key engineer, developing SMART-DS: Synthetic Models for Advanced, Realistic Testing: Distribution Systems and Scenarios through the Power Systems Engineering Center.
Nov. 25, 2020
Eight NREL Scientists Included on List of Highly Cited Researchers
Eight researchers affiliated with NREL are on this year's list of Highly Cited Researchers compiled by Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science Group, with four identified for their influence beyond their own scientific specialty.
Nov. 24, 2020
How Might Electric Vehicles Affect Electric Loads? Expanded Online Tool Provides Quick Answers
New feature of NREL's electric vehicle infrastructure projection tool helps utilities, agencies, and researchers predict hour-by-hour impact of charging on the grid.
Nov. 24, 2020
News Release: Scientific Organization AAAS Names NREL's Green a Fellow
Johney Green, an associate laboratory director at NREL, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Nov. 18, 2020
HyBlend Project To Accelerate Potential for Blending Hydrogen in Natural Gas Pipelines
NREL will lead a new collaborative research and development project known as HyBlend to address the technical barriers to blending hydrogen in natural gas pipelines.
Nov. 18, 2020
From the Garage to the Open Sea: NREL's Scott Jenne To Patent Inflatable Wave Pump Design
NREL researcher Scott Jenne and his team are paving the way to the development of the wave energy generation devices of tomorrow.
Nov. 18, 2020
An Unexpected Debut: ARIES Microgrid Infrastructure Powers NREL Campus Through Outage
A power outage involving a transformer at NREL's Flatirons Campus provided an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of the new Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) research platform. ARIES was used to repower the Campus exactly as envisioned for renewable microgrid systems of the future.
Nov. 17, 2020
News Release: NREL Advanced Manufacturing Research Moves Wind Turbine Blades Toward Recyclability
A new material for wind blades that can be recycled could transform the wind industry, rendering renewable energy more sustainable than ever before while lowering costs in the process. The use of a thermoplastic resin has been validated at NREL.
