Tag Archives: NREL

First Cohort of Solar Energy Innovators Awarded in Solar Prize Round 8

After competing in the Ready! Contest in the American-Made Solar Prize Round 8, 20 new innovators are now on their way to advancing technologies that can support the solar industry’s growth and adoption. These semifinalist teams each won $50,000 to further their innovations in the second phase of the prize. The U.S. Department of Energy … Continue reading First Cohort of Solar Energy Innovators Awarded in Solar Prize Round 8

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Floating photovoltaic (PV) could support US energy goals

Federal reservoirs could help meet the country’s solar energy needs, according to a new study published in Solar Energy. For the study, Evan Rosenlieb and Marie Rivers, geospatial scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), as well as Aaron Levine, a senior legal and regulatory analyst at NREL, quantified for … Continue reading Floating photovoltaic (PV) could support US energy goals

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Community Photovoltaic Solar and Beyond

Community solar—a solar energy deployment model that allows customers to buy or lease part of a larger shared solar photovoltaic (PV) system—is a growing area of PV development. This model expands access to renewable energy to renters, households that qualify for energy assistance, homeowners with shaded property or those with roofs that do not support a … Continue reading Community Photovoltaic Solar and Beyond

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Agrivoltaics 101 Resources Provide a Guide Toward Implementation

Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) has helped numerous communities plan for and implement agrivoltaic systems, and technical assistance providers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are working to share key learnings from those projects with other communities looking to follow in their footsteps. Agrivoltaics allow for the dual use of land through the deployment … Continue reading Agrivoltaics 101 Resources Provide a Guide Toward Implementation

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NREL Notice of Intent Invites US Manufacturers To Develop Next-Generation Distributed Wind Energy Technology

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has issued a notice of intent under the Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP), calling for U.S. manufacturers of small- and medium-sized wind turbine technology to develop project ideas and teams in preparation for a 2025 request for proposals (RFP). NREL also invites interested parties to register to attend a two-day … Continue reading NREL Notice of Intent Invites US Manufacturers To Develop Next-Generation Distributed Wind Energy Technology

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Large-scale photovoltaic plants can foster abundant biodiversity

NREL collects detailed data on the interactions among habitat, pollinators, soil, and solar photovoltaic (PV) energy production. The growth in utility-scale solar development is leading to questions about how best to use the land underneath solar panels and what impacts solar installations have on soil and habitat. An increasingly common practice is to establish habitat … Continue reading Large-scale photovoltaic plants can foster abundant biodiversity

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Lighting the way for photovoltaic (PV): How NREL helps communities harness the benefits of agrivoltaic solar power, agriculture, and ecosystems

NREL research helps farmers, local communities, and global partners navigate the complexities of bringing agrivoltaic solar power to remote areas. With their reflective, smooth glass sheen, stiff metal posts, and electric wiring, you might be surprised to learn that solar fields can be sites of thriving biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, and community bonding. Three years ago, … Continue reading Lighting the way for photovoltaic (PV): How NREL helps communities harness the benefits of agrivoltaic solar power, agriculture, and ecosystems

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NREL-Backed Research Effort Twists Halide Perovskites From a Distance

Research led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Center for Hybrid Organic Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy (CHOISE), an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), discovered a new process to induce chirality in halide perovskite semiconductors, which could open the door to cutting-edge electronic applications. The development is … Continue reading NREL-Backed Research Effort Twists Halide Perovskites From a Distance

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Behind the Blades: How Jeremy Stefek Delivers Wind Energy Workforce Solutions To Meet Growing Industry Needs

Forget “brat summer.” Jeremy Stefek is ready for “demure fall.” “Maybe I’ll take a trip to the San Juan mountains, do some work during the day, take some evening hikes, and watch the leaves turn,” Stefek explained. “Fall, compared to summer, feels like less pressure to be doing something all the time. It’s a chance … Continue reading Behind the Blades: How Jeremy Stefek Delivers Wind Energy Workforce Solutions To Meet Growing Industry Needs

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NREL’s Research in Battery Energy Storage Is Helping Advance the Clean Energy Transition

To bring new clean energy sources online across the United States and around the world, several questions need to be answered. Where are the best places to build out new generation like solar and wind farms? How can we get all that clean energy from its source to where it needs to be? What is … Continue reading NREL’s Research in Battery Energy Storage Is Helping Advance the Clean Energy Transition

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NREL Advances Method for Recyclable Wind Turbine Blades

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) see a realistic path forward to the manufacture of bio-derivable wind blades that can be chemically recycled and the components reused, ending the practice of old blades winding up in landfills at the end of their useful life. The findings are published in … Continue reading NREL Advances Method for Recyclable Wind Turbine Blades

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NREL researchers highlight opportunities for manufacturing perovskite photovoltaic panels

Researchers working at the forefront of an emerging photovoltaic (PV) technology are thinking ahead about how to scale, deploy, and design future solar panels to be easily recyclable. Solar panels made of perovskites may eventually play an important role amid global decarbonization efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As the technology emerges from the testing … Continue reading NREL researchers highlight opportunities for manufacturing perovskite photovoltaic panels

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DuraMAT Forecasts How New Photovoltaic Module Technologies Might Perform Over 20, 30, or 50 Years

As the Solar Industry Grows Rapidly, Materials, Designs, and Solar Panels Are Changing Quickly. For the solar photovoltaics (PV) industry, rapid growth can produce rapid—and sometimes unpredictable—changes. As the industry continued to see a major period of growth in 2023, the Durable Module Materials (DuraMAT) Consortium seized the opportunity to support the industry’s booming domestic … Continue reading DuraMAT Forecasts How New Photovoltaic Module Technologies Might Perform Over 20, 30, or 50 Years

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Popular NREL Cell Efficiency Chart Now Better Presents Tandem Photovoltaics

The Best Research-Cell Efficiency Chart is one of the most-visited pages on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) website. It makes frequent appearances in presentations at photovoltaic (PV) research conferences, tracking the rise and maturation of new PV technologies. Just like the technologies it tracks, the chart continues to evolve. Recently, NREL developed an interactive version of … Continue reading Popular NREL Cell Efficiency Chart Now Better Presents Tandem Photovoltaics

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How Extreme Weather and System Aging Affect the US Photovoltaic Fleet

Massive Data Set of Photovoltaic System Performance Quantifies the Small but Significant Impacts of Extreme Weather and Long-Term Degradation, With Important Lessons for the PV Industry. For photovoltaic (PV) systems—designed to operate over lifetimes of 20, 30, or even 50 years—small losses in energy production can add up to measurable differences over time. These differences … Continue reading How Extreme Weather and System Aging Affect the US Photovoltaic Fleet

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NREL Analysis Identifies Drivers of Offshore Wind Power Development

As much as 20% of regional power needs along the Atlantic coast could be served by offshore wind farms by 2050, according to researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) who modeled deployment of this emerging U.S. energy sector in new depth and detail. The researchers who performed the analysis … Continue reading NREL Analysis Identifies Drivers of Offshore Wind Power Development

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Building Better Blades: Renewed Funding Supports Wind Turbine Blade Innovations at NREL

Wind turbines are getting bigger, and so are turbine blades, which need to be made of durable materials if they are going to keep functioning for 20 or more years. And at the end of their lifespan, it is essential that those durable materials be reused, not tossed in a landfill. Working out how to … Continue reading Building Better Blades: Renewed Funding Supports Wind Turbine Blade Innovations at NREL

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NREL Reimagines Next-Generation Drivetrain Technologies for Offshore Wind Turbines

Comparison Provides Insight Into Future Trends of Offshore Wind Energy. New studies leveraging conceptual designs of offshore wind turbines point to how their drivetrains could change in the near future to produce more power while lowering costs, according to a new journal article by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and … Continue reading NREL Reimagines Next-Generation Drivetrain Technologies for Offshore Wind Turbines

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NREL, GE Research Team Find Critical Adjustments To Improve Wind Turbine Design

Low-level jet streams, also known as low-level jets (LLJs), behave in powerful and complex ways that can impact numerous American lives and livelihoods. Winds that blow along the U.S. coastline hit the homes of over 128 million people; that same wind energy has the potential to bring ashore a tidal wave of clean, renewable electricity … Continue reading NREL, GE Research Team Find Critical Adjustments To Improve Wind Turbine Design

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Next Decade Decisive for Photovoltaic Growth on the Path to 2050

Global experts on solar power strongly urge a commitment to the continued growth of photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing and deployment to power the planet, arguing that lowballing projections for PV growth while waiting for a consensus on other energy pathways or the emergence of technological last-minute miracles “is no longer an option.” The consensus reached by … Continue reading Next Decade Decisive for Photovoltaic Growth on the Path to 2050

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