Solar Research News
Explore our archive of solar news stories.
Dec. 27, 2018
While the United States was the first to demonstrate floating PV panels--with the first installation occurring 10 years ago on pontoons on an irrigation pond in Napa Valley, California--the idea has not received widespread national acceptance.
Dec. 21, 2018
New paper aids researchers in understanding defects in coalescing materials, helping to develop low-cost substrates for solar cells.
Dec. 14, 2018
Two new reports from NREL track the evolving costs of PV and establish a new cost benchmark for PV-plus-storage.
Dec. 10, 2018
NREL scientists have a long history of successfully analyzing geothermal and solar energy data. But they are now actively researching desalination capabilities by partnering with technology leaders on several groundbreaking projects. The purpose is to explore geothermal and solar-thermal technologies for creating fresh water from otherwise unusable water.
Nov. 14, 2018
Opportunity exists for thin-film photovoltaic and emerging technologies notable for being lightweight and flexible, according to scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Nov. 5, 2018
The REopt Lite web tool's new wind optimization module lets building owners and energy managers evaluate the economic viability of grid-connected wind at a site, in addition to solar photovoltaics and battery storage.
Oct. 24, 2018
Dan Friedman, manager of NREL's High Efficiency Crystalline Photovoltaics Group, has been elected as a fellow of the American Physical Society for this work on III-V semiconductor physics and multijunction photovoltaic science, including numerous device efficiency records.
Oct. 8, 2018
NREL has recently combined two structures of III-V materials into one, providing a "two-for-the-price-of-one" benefit. The combination enables novel, potentially record-setting, multijunction solar cells.
Oct. 4, 2018
Painting Solar Cells Provides New Path to Market
Sept. 28, 2018
New grid integration technologies at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) have introduced a vast range in grid research capabilities--from multimegawatt-scale wind and solar technologies to advanced energy storage devices, transformers, and protection equipment.
Sept. 26, 2018
To aid cites in solar adoption, NREL launched the City and County Solar PV Training Program, or PV Cities, in January 2018. The five-month program was designed specifically for cities and counties and aimed to increase the deployment of midscale solar PV systems by engaging stakeholders to develop deployment solutions and empowering city and county staff.
Sept. 24, 2018
The Hands-On PV Workshop brings graduate students from across the United States to NREL each year to increase their knowledge about photovoltaics and see practical applications of PV technologies.
Sept. 21, 2018
With seven new projects, NREL will elevate research in concentrating solar power (CSP). The projects are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) through a National Laboratory call for proposals.
Sept. 12, 2018
New analysis examines how solar deployment may impact grid operations in Florida, an understudied but important market.
Aug. 15, 2018
In addition to the cool science he saw, public-private partnerships played a recurring role in Perry's remarks.
July 19, 2018
A new NREL report finds that community and regional financial institutions , such as community banks and credit unions, are experiencing positive early performance of loans for photovoltaic systems.
July 18, 2018
Used by researchers and project developers, NREL's Solar Power Tower Integrated Layout and Optimization Tool (SolarPILOT(TM)) generates and characterizes power tower systems or systems using central receivers. The software--along with its companion ray-tracing tool SolTrace--is now being made available as open source on NREL's GitHub page. Both the SolarPILOT and SolTrace GitHub projects are open to contributions from users, and a webinar planned for July 18th will present the open-source projects.
July 16, 2018
Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are refining an old technique called hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE), which holds the potential to produce cheaper, more efficient solar cells.
June 18, 2018
NREL released an API for REopt(TM) Lite, enabling streamlined integration with other tools inside and outside NREL and allowing building owners and researchers to evaluate the economics of grid-connected solar PV and battery storage at multiple commercial sites. The API opens opportunities for research collaboration and broader market impact, driving solar and storage deployment.
June 12, 2018
NREL's REopt Lite web tool now offers enhanced resilience analysis capabilities that allow building owners and energy managers to size PV and storage systems to meet a specified outage duration and compare the sizing and costs of a resilient system with a system sized to maximize savings.
May 31, 2018
Although NREL's recent community open house is a highly visible outreach effort, it is only one of many connecting the laboratory with communities in Colorado and across the country.
May 29, 2018
NREL has received $7 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the next generation of liquid-phase concentrating solar power technology.
May 29, 2018
A recent analysis from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that, during last summer's total eclipse, solar energy output in the West dropped by about 5.9 gigawatts (GW).
May 22, 2018
On May 19, NREL hosted its 19th annual Middle School Electric Car Competition, where students raced solar and lithium-ion powered cars that they designed and built.
May 10, 2018
Mowafak Al-Jassim, Andy Walker, Robert McCormick, and Gregg Beckham were chosen for their significant contributions to NREL and the larger scientific community.
April 25, 2018
Pairing solar photovoltaics with rooftops of low and moderate-income housing represents an opportunity to help modernize the U.S. electric grid and improve energy affordability in low-income communities
April 24, 2018
Few scientists reference Kurt Vonnegut in their academic journals, but researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found the parallels between his work and theirs compelling. Both invoke polymorphism--the ability of a material to adopt multiple crystal structures.
April 20, 2018
NREL and the Hawaiian Electric Companies are evaluating energy trends and simulating future grid scenarios to ensure stability--and their findings could help other islands, and even mainland states, apply similar solutions.
April 20, 2018
NREL helped the Hawaiian Electric Companies respond to new stability challenges associated with the rapid addition of solar power and other renewables to Hawaii's six isolated island grids.
April 12, 2018
NREL has played a significant role in the increased efficiency of perovskite solar cells.
April 10, 2018
A new software package developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and industry partners SunPower and kWh Analytics is making the measurement of PV system expected lifetime performance more reliable, consistent, and accurate.
April 5, 2018
As perovskite solar cells set efficiency records and the nascent technology becomes more stable, another major challenge remains: the issue of scalability, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
April 4, 2018
Looking out over the "living laboratory" of NREL's campus, Senior Wildlife Biologist Tom Ryon sees a tapestry that others may not. Everywhere he goes, he can't avoid interactions with nature. Nor does he want to.
April 3, 2018
An extensive experimental database of inorganic thin-film materials that organizes a decade's worth of research at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is now publicly available.
Jan. 30, 2018
Perovskites become a passion for a scientist who had an "experience edge" over other students.
Jan. 30, 2018
Researchers at NREL created an environmentally stable, high-efficiency perovskite solar cell, bringing the emerging technology a step closer to commercial deployment.
Jan. 29, 2018
NREL's cell and module performance recently developed a new procedure for measuring the power of commercial crystalline-silicon photovoltaic modules that reduces the uncertainty in module maximum power.
Jan. 18, 2018
The 2018 Hands-On PV Experience workshop is an opportunity for a select group of U.S. graduate students to spend an immersive week at NREL in a hands-on, small-group research setting.
Jan. 16, 2018
A microscopic analysis of perovskite solar cells reveals new insight into how the devices degrade--information necessary for moving the technology closer to commercialization.
Jan. 12, 2018
NREL will host the ninth annual PV Reliability Workshop from Feb. 27 to March 1 in Lakewood, Colorado. Sessions at the workshop will cover key topics in reliability, such as stability of high-efficiency modules, module soiling, inverter reliability, monitoring and failure detection, international standards, and accelerated testing of modules.
Jan. 9, 2018
Four agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), hosted two workshops that led to a new report where the teams identified areas of importance for modeling variable renewable energy, performed experiments to determine key assumptions, and compiled a set of recommendations for future research in this area.
Jan. 8, 2018
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is spearheading the Electrification Futures Study, a research collaboration to explore the impacts of widespread electrification in all U.S. economic sectors--commercial and residential buildings, transportation, and industry.
