Program News
Access news stories from NREL's research programs.
Dec. 22, 2014
A new report finds that with good system planning, sound engineering practices, and commercially available technologies, the Western Interconnection can withstand the crucial first minute after grid disturbances with high penetrations of wind and solar on the grid.
Dec. 9, 2014
This opportunity includes two hydrogen- and fuel cell-related topics: in-line quality control devices for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, which is a Technology Transfer Opportunity to leverage NREL technology, and fuel cell-battery electric hybrid trucks.
Nov. 26, 2014
Report explains how to use NREL's tool for modeling the dynamic behavior of photovoltaic inverters.
Nov. 20, 2014
Isothermal Battery Calorimeters (IBCs), developed by NREL researchers, are capable of performing the precise thermal measurements needed to make safer, longer-lasting, and more cost-effective batteries for in a variety of applications.
Nov. 12, 2014
Led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, the H2FIRST project leverages core capabilities at the national laboratories to address the technology challenges related to hydrogen refueling stations. This presentation will review the objectives, approach, and structure of H2FIRST, as well as provide a progress update on active and proposed technical tasks.
Nov. 12, 2014
NREL’s two Advanced Controls Research Turbines are providing the basis for several collaborative research projects involving multiple partners to advance the state-of-the-art wind turbine controls.
Nov. 6, 2014
NREL engineers traveled to Oslo, Norway, to meet with Statoil representatives regarding NREL’s analysis of Statoil’s Hywind II offshore floating wind turbine design.
Nov. 3, 2014
A delegation from the offshore wind technical teams of the Energy Department and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently traveled to Japan to develop a collaborative relationship between U.S. and Japanese offshore wind programs.
Nov. 3, 2014
The U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program has posted the 2014 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Report.
Oct. 30, 2014
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory today issued a Request for Proposals seeking teams of students to participate in the 2016 U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition.
Oct. 21, 2014
First-of-its-kind collaborative report suggests approaches to help mitigate the market design issues that variable renewable generation brings.
Sept. 16, 2014
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory issues this Special Notice that it will release a request for proposals seeking teams of undergraduate students to participate in the 2016 DOE Collegiate Wind Competition.
Sept. 16, 2014
NREL's Thermal Systems Group is performing research and development on components for high-temperature concentrating solar power (CSP) receivers as part of DOE's SunShot effort. DOE supports R&D of CSP technologies in order to achieve SunShot Initiative cost targets with systems that can supply solar power on demand through the use of thermal energy storage. The thermal energy from the receiver can be stored and subsequently dispatched to produce electricity via a turbine driving a generator.
Sept. 9, 2014
NREL is sponsoring National Drive Electric Week events in Denver and Boulder this month.
Sept. 4, 2014
The Energy Department has released the National Offshore Wind Energy Grid Interconnection Study (NOWEGIS), which considers the availability and potential impacts of interconnecting large amounts of offshore wind energy into the transmission system of the lower 48 contiguous United States.
Sept. 3, 2014
NREL recently released the Assessment of Offshore Wind System Design, Safety, and Operation Standards report, which summarizes regulations, standards, and guidelines for the design and operation of offshore wind energy projects in the United States.
Aug. 15, 2014
This webinar will feature representatives from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and focus on how to integrate hydrogen and fuel cell technologies into the transportation, industrial, and other sectors.
July 30, 2014
To address wind turbine transportation and logistics challenges, the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Program is supporting projects to develop cost-competitive solutions to better fabricate, transport, assemble, maintain, and decommission turbines with hub heights of at least 120 meters.
July 30, 2014
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Simulator Of Wind Farm Applications is shedding new light on the causes of wind plant underperformance and how, with the use of coordinated wind turbine control, power output can be increased by as much as 4% or 5%
July 30, 2014
In the late 1990s, global wind capacity was just under 8,000 megawatts, compared to well over 100 gigawatts today. Back then, although the wind industry was growing, wind scientists and engineers were not well-connected with each other on a global basis. There was a need for an unbiased, scientific, peer-reviewed publication that offered wind professionals the opportunity to publish their work, learn about each other's research, and exchange ideas.
July 30, 2014
From a technology development standpoint, Mike Lawson likens today's wave energy industry to the wind industry in the 1970s or '80s. There are tens—maybe hundreds—of concepts for wave energy converters (WECs) in various stages of development, but no single solution has been established as commercially viable yet.
July 30, 2014
According to a wind resource assessment published by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2009, the United States has a land-based wind energy potential of 10,957 GW at an 80-m wind turbine hub height and 12,771 GW of capacity at 100-m hub heights, assuming a capacity factor of at least 30%.
July 29, 2014
In December 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it would fund seven offshore wind demonstration projects as part of an effort to launch an offshore wind industry in the United States
July 29, 2014
Ten college teams took up the challenge to create a wind turbine-based charging system for small electronic devices, develop a business plan, and then design, build, and test a small wind turbine as part of the U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition held concurrently with the American Wind Energy Association’s WINDPOWER Conference.
July 2, 2014
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized four members of NREL’s Transportation and Hydrogen Systems Center team with awards at last week’s 2014 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meetings. The annual meetings provide researchers leading projects funded by the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program and the Vehicle Technologies Office with an opportunity to share accomplishments with representatives from DOE, industry, and other labs.
June 27, 2014
At the 2014 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting, the U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program honored three National Renewable Energy Laboratory staff for their outstanding achievements.
June 6, 2014
In this webinar, analysts from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory discuss findings in their recent paper, which surveys and summarizes cost and benefit estimates of state-level RPS and examines the methods used to create these estimates.
June 2, 2014
NREL's technology transfer capabilities, and the laboratory's own Bill Farris, were highlighted in a recent Chief Executive publication.
May 30, 2014
Middle school students' design and engineering skills tested on the racetrack.
May 23, 2014
The Fuel Cell Technologies Office will present a webinar on NREL’s online data tool for fuel cell system-derived contaminants. NREL has led a multi-year project studying the effect of system-derived contaminants on the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.
May 22, 2014
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has announced up to $6.5 million in funding for high-impact research, development, and demonstration in the Energy Systems Integration Facility.
May 12, 2014
This report examines U.S. curtailment practices regarding wind and solar generation, with a particular emphasis on utilities in the western states.
May 1, 2014
Ten small wind turbines will go blade-to-blade in wind tunnel tests at the inaugural U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Collegiate Wind Competition that runs concurrently with the AWEA 2014 WINDPOWER Conference, May 6–7, 2014, at the Mandalay Bay Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
April 3, 2014
A new study sheds light on the incremental energy requirements imposed by road grade.
March 24, 2014
A new study from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) finds that the economic benefit of transmitting wind energy from Wyoming to the California energy market are likely to exceed the cost.
March 24, 2014
NREL Leads Demo of New Energy Management System at U.S. Naval Base
March 5, 2014
The presentation will highlight NFCTEC efforts to accelerate fuel cell commercialization through analysis of technologies operating under real-world conditions.
Feb. 19, 2014
NREL has found that parabolic troughs and dry-cooled towers deliver similar value for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, despite different solar profiles. A new NREL report shows increasing importance for systems with thermal energy storage. The report also demonstrates that multiple CSP technologies and plant configurations can be analyzed using traditional planning tools such as production cost models.
Feb. 3, 2014
A team of NREL analysts identified potential cost-effective scenarios for using small fuel cell power units to increase the range of medium-duty battery electric vehicles.
Jan. 27, 2014
In an initiative announced on January 15, NREL is joining North Carolina State University in the Energy Department's new Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Next Generation Power Electronics to accelerate development and commercialization of wide bandgap technology, as well as reinvigorate the U.S. manufacturing sector.
Jan. 23, 2014
To help the nation’s future scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs continue to advance the wind industry, the Energy Department (DOE) established the first everDOE Collegiate Wind Competition. The competition will be held May 5–7 alongside the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) WINDPOWER® 2014 Conference & Exhibition at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Jan. 23, 2014
The DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Office has issued a request for information seeking feedback regarding biological hydrogen production R&D pathways, barriers, issues, and opportunities. Feedback is specifically requested on the report for the Biological Hydrogen Production Workshop.
Jan. 8, 2014
Producing hydrogen directly from the sun -- and in a way that is commercially viable -- is more a reality, less a pipedream, thanks in part to a new discovery, renowned hydrogen water-splitting expert John Turner stated in a commentary in the journal Science.
Jan. 3, 2014
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released an expanded version of its FAST wind turbine computer-aided engineering tool under a new modularization framework.
Jan. 2, 2014
On January 2, a reporter from The Denver Post toured the new 5-megawatt dynamometer test facility at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC).
