News Releases
Access news releases about the laboratory and renewable energy and energy efficiency
technologies.
View all news and feature stories.
Dec. 11, 2017
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have gained new insights into how glycosylation--the natural attachment of sugars to proteins--affects a key cellulase enzyme.
Dec. 7, 2017
A new study from the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) establishes a novel catalytic method to produce renewable acrylonitrile using 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP), which can be biologically produced from sugars. This hybrid biological-catalytic process offers an alternative to the conventional petrochemical production method and achieves unprecedented acrylonitrile yields.
Nov. 27, 2017
Thermochromic windows capable of converting sunlight into electricity at a high efficiency have been developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Nov. 22, 2017
William Tumas, an associate laboratory director for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has been elected a fellow by the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Nov. 16, 2017
The director of the Materials Science Center at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).
Oct. 27, 2017
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) established a new world efficiency record for quantum dot solar cells, at 13.4 percent.
Oct. 25, 2017
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) reported significant advances in the thermoelectric performance of organic semiconductors based on carbon nanotube thin films that could be integrated into fabrics to convert waste heat into electricity or serve as a small power source.
Oct. 24, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has entered into a license agreement with MicroLink Devices, Inc. (Niles, IL) to commercialize NREL's patented inverted metamorphic (IMM) multijunction solar cells.
Oct. 4, 2017
A new study from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) quantifies how much charging infrastructure would be needed in the United States to support various market growth scenarios for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs).
Oct. 2, 2017
A case study of the Barnett Shale region in Texas, where hydraulic fracturing was first implemented, for the first time provides quantifiable information on the life cycle land use of generating electricity from natural gas based on physical measurements instead of using assumptions and averages that were previously used for evaluation.
Sept. 18, 2017
Keeping storage tank corrosion rates to a minimum considered vital for use of molten salts
Sept. 13, 2017
An enzyme discovered at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) proves adept at breaking down cellulose fibers regardless of whether their crystalline structure is simple or highly complex. No other enzyme has shown that ability.
Sept. 12, 2017
The installed cost of solar power fell to record lows in the first quarter of 2017 because of the continuing decline in photovoltaic (PV) module and inverter prices, higher module efficiency, and lower labor costs, according to an analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Aug. 25, 2017
Collaboration between researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) shows the high potential of silicon-based multijunction solar cells.
Aug. 24, 2017
The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released the 2017 Annual Technology Baseline (ATB), updating a key source of reliable electricity generation technology cost and performance data used to support and inform electric sector analysis in the United States.
Aug. 24, 2017
Commercial electricity customers who are subject to high demand charges may be able to reduce overall costs by using battery energy storage to manage demand, according to research by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Aug. 23, 2017
A discovery by two scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) could aid the development of next-generation semiconductor devices.
July 31, 2017
Roderick Jackson is the new laboratory program manager for buildings-related research at the Energy Department's (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
July 24, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is again receiving national recognition for its 40th Anniversary with a prestigious public service award.
July 21, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is partnering with Panasonic Corporation and Xcel Energy to simulate and optimize the energy load profile of Peña Station NEXT, a planned 382-acre mixed-use development in Denver, Colo.
July 12, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has confirmed the technical and economic viability of integrating 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy into India's grid by 2022.
June 15, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has selected 22 leaders to participate in its 2017 Executive Energy Leadership program (Energy Execs).
June 8, 2017
A multi-institutional team led by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) discovered a way to create new alloys that could form the basis of next-generation semiconductors.
May 31, 2017
Juan Torres takes over June 5 as the new Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Systems Integration at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
May 20, 2017
Fifty-three teams from 18 Colorado middle schools gathered at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden today for the 27th Annual Junior Solar Sprint and Lithium-Ion Battery Car Competitions.
May 16, 2017
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed new designer quantum dot systems with greater control over beneficial properties for photoelectrochemical and photovoltaic solar applications.
May 9, 2017
For all living things to succeed, they must reproduce and have the energy to do so. An organism's ability to extract energy from its surroundings--and to do it better than its competitors--is a key requirement of survival. Until recently it was thought that in all of biology, from microbes to humans, there were only two methods to generate and conserve the energy required for cellular metabolism and survival.
May 8, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Forge Nano to commercialize NREL's patented battery materials and systems capable of operating safely in high-stress environments. A particular feature of the technology is the encapsulation of materials with solid electrolyte coatings that can be designed to meet the increasingly demanding needs of any battery application.
May 4, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recognized its innovation and partnering successes and honored the scientists and engineers behind them at the lab's annual Innovation and Technology Transfer Awards ceremony.
May 2, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will collaborate with 14 companies to address their critical technology challenges under the third round of DOE's Small Business Vouchers (SBV) program.
April 18, 2017
The annual potential of solar energy far exceeds the world’s energy consumption, but the goal of using the sun to provide a significant fraction of global electricity demand is far from being realized.
April 14, 2017
The Industry Growth Forum, hosted by the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), this week attracted more than 400 investors, entrepreneurs, technologists and thought leaders to Denver, Colo. Three companies were honored with Best Venture and Outstanding Venture Awards at the conclusion of the event.
April 14, 2017
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed a new perovskite ink with a long processing window that allows the scalable production of perovskite thin films for high-efficiency solar cells.
April 13, 2017
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a proof-of-principle photoelectrochemical cell capable of capturing excess photon energy normally lost to generating heat.
April 12, 2017
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recaptured the record for highest efficiency in solar hydrogen production via a photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting process.
March 28, 2017
Learn about how NREL researchers are making detailed component and system-level cost breakdowns available for residential photovoltaic (PV) solar systems for the first time.
March 28, 2017
NREL hosts the annual Industry Growth Forum April 13-14, 2017 in Denver, Colorado.
March 7, 2017
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has selected 22 leaders to participate in its 2017 Executive Energy Leadership program (Energy Execs).
Feb. 11, 2017
Students from Fort Collins, Colo., dominated this year's Colorado High School Science Bowl with Fort Collins High School emerging victorious over second-place finisher Ridgeview Classical.
Feb. 3, 2017
A team of scientists from the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) determined that surface recombination limits the performance of polycrystalline perovskite solar cells.
Jan. 13, 2017
The National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has begun validation work on the first water power technology ever tested in an NREL dynamometer facility.
Jan. 11, 2017
The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will help an additional 10 companies advance their technologies under the third round of the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) program, a five-year, $10 million program designed to facilitate early-stage technologies that provide scalable solutions to reduce the energy impact of commercial buildings.
Jan. 9, 2017
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed a method which boosts the longevity of high-efficiency photocathodes in photoelectrochemical water-splitting devices.