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.
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January 2025
Jan. 17, 2025
Reducing Data Center Peak Cooling Demand and Energy Costs With Underground Thermal Energy Storage
A new project led by NREL aims to incorporate geothermal underground thermal energy storage (UTES) technology for data centers.
Jan. 17, 2025
Introducing GeoBridge, a New Launch Point for Geothermal Information
If you have ever struggled to find geothermal degree programs, conferences, trade associations, tax incentives, or other geothermal information, you are not alone.
Jan. 17, 2025
ARIES: Solutions at any Scale
Annabelle Pratt is a chief engineer in NREL's power systems engineering center whose motivation for her work runs deep.
Jan. 17, 2025
These Innovative Approaches Harness the Benefits of Rooftop Solar Energy for Homes and Small Businesses
The Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN) Round 3 brought together eight multistakeholder teams from various locations across the United States to develop new approaches to solar deployment, focusing on residential and commercial buildings in underserved communities.
Jan. 17, 2025
Cybersecurity Accelerator Expands To Speed Commercialization of Department of Energy Technologies
The Critical Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator has launched a new track to help technologies across the U.S. Department of Energy's 17 national laboratories bridge the gap from concept to adoption.
Jan. 17, 2025
Planning and Development Pathways for Building Interregional Transmission
A new study by NREL and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory provides practical options for developing more interregional transmission infrastructure to move toward a transformed power system.
Jan. 17, 2025
NREL Invites Industry, Academia To Help Advance Large Wind Turbine Designs
Request for proposals invites fundamental research efforts to generate validation data that could improve performance and reliability of large commercial wind turbines.
Jan. 17, 2025
NREL's Greg Martin Helps Engineer Energy Integration Onto the Grid
The group manager was singled out as a Distinguished Member of Operations Staff "for exemplary leadership, technical acumen, strategic vision, and unwavering passion for mission-oriented collaboration."
Jan. 16, 2025
Accelerator Opens To Increase Tribal Capacity for Engaging in Offshore Wind Energy
NREL, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy, has launched the Capacity Accelerator for Tribal Offshore Wind Engagement aimed at supporting the capacity of Tribal nations to engage in decision-making processes and projects related to offshore wind energy.
Jan. 16, 2025
Winners of Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize Enhance Domestic Recycling Industry With Novel Innovations
The $5.1 million prize, which was launched by the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Energy Technologies Office and is administered by NREL, is tackling the challenge of recycling turbine blades and other hard-to-recycle components.
Jan. 15, 2025
ChargeX Consortium Identifies Automated Solution To Fix Key Part of Electric Vehicle Charging User Experience
National laboratory researchers and industry collaborators in the ChargeX Consortium have identified a new mechanism called "seamless retry" that could alleviate a common electric vehicle (EV) driver frustration with public charging by automatically restarting failed EV charging sessions, so users do not have to.
Jan. 15, 2025
How Jerry Hur Balances Award-Winning Work With High-Octane Car Drifting
The NREL Flatirons Campus research technician is celebrated for his meticulous work, attention to detail, and adherence to safety protocols--qualities that earned him a 2024 Distinguished Member of Operations Staff award.
Jan. 15, 2025
JISEA Green Computing Catalyzer and Intel Build Framework To Measure Artificial Intelligence's Energy Use
Researchers at NREL are investigating methods to make computing more energy efficient.
Jan. 15, 2025
First Cohort of Solar Energy Innovators Awarded in Solar Prize Round 8
Twenty new innovators are now on their way to advancing technologies that can support the solar industry's growth and adoption.
Jan. 15, 2025
Vast Federal Lands Have Potential for Renewable Energy—But Only a Small Fraction Is Needed
NREL analysis finds millions of acres have opportunity for solar, wind, and geothermal, while leaving most areas undisturbed or available for other land uses.
Jan. 15, 2025
The Dawn of Electric Trucking Calls for High-Power Charging
Just a few years ago, electric trucks seemed like a distant dream.
Jan. 14, 2025
Coming Soon: NREL's Most Powerful Research Wind Turbine Yet
A new 3.4-megawatt turbine will be added to NREL's Flatirons Campus to expand the capabilities of researchers focused on wind energy, grid integration, and more.
Jan. 14, 2025
NREL Calls for Proposals From US Wind Turbine Manufacturers
In January 2025, NREL issued the 2025 Competitiveness Improvement Project funding solicitation, which is designed to support wind energy technology manufacturers like EWT Americas.
Jan. 14, 2025
News Release: Floating Solar Panels Could Support US Energy Goals
Scientists and analysts at NREL quantified for the first time exactly how much energy could be generated from floating solar panel projects installed on federally owned or regulated reservoirs.
Jan. 13, 2025
Closing the Loop: How NREL's Advanced Diagnostics Enable a Circular Battery Future
Battery experts at NREL are teaming up with researchers from Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc., Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Baker Hughes' Waygate Technologies to resolve bottlenecks facing the EV battery supply chain.
Jan. 13, 2025
Early Career Spotlight: Scientist Carlos Baez-Cotto's Journey From Puerto Rico to NREL
Each month, the Materials, Chemical, and Computational Science Early Career Spotlight features one of the directorate's researchers to explore their interests, motivations, and achievements.
Jan. 13, 2025
Strengthening Energy Resilience: NREL's Commitment to Disaster Recovery
NREL has been at the forefront of supporting communities in rebuilding and enhancing their energy systems for over a decade and provides insights into effective strategies for community and infrastructure resilience.
Jan. 9, 2025
News Release: Improving Tandem Efficiency Can Lower Solar Photovoltaic Module Cost Per Watt
Increasing module efficiency and expanding manufacturing capacity play complementary roles in reducing costs of metal halide perovskite/silicon tandem solar modules, according to researchers at NREL.
Jan. 8, 2025
HBCU Energy Education Prize Returns With Second Round of Its Inspire Track
Round 2 of the HBCU Clean Energy Education Prize Inspire Track is now open, supporting HBCUs in developing summer or academic-break STEM education programs that inspire K–12 and community college students to pursue energy careers.
Jan. 7, 2025
NREL-Developed Silicon Carbide Inverter Part of Production-Intent Program at John Deere
In collaboration with John Deere, NREL researchers helped develop a a 200-kilowatt, 1,050-volt silicon carbide traction inverter with never-before-seen performance that is now part of a production-intent program at John Deere.
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