Solar Research News
Explore our archive of solar news stories.
Dec. 22, 2020
Make informed decisions about renewable energy system design and project economics with the latest version of NREL's System Advisor Model.
Dec. 22, 2020
NREL researchers and staff reached countless goals and achieved numerous successes in science, partnerships, and technology commercialization in 2020, from breaking world records to launching new initiatives. Here are just a few of the highlights.
Dec. 18, 2020
Researchers from NREL and the University of New South Wales achieved a new world-record efficiency for two-junction solar cells, creating a cell with two light-absorbing layers that converts 32.9% of sunlight into electricity.
Dec. 17, 2020
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition has announced that 35 teams from 34 schools are advancing as finalists in the Class of 2021 program.
Dec. 14, 2020
With the breakneck speed of innovation at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the laboratory's High-Flux Solar Furnace (HFSF) is all the more remarkable for continuously facilitating envelope-pushing research since 1989.
Dec. 14, 2020
Determining how many years a solar panel will last can take, well, years. Intended to function for 25 years or more, solar panels must be made to withstand the elements. In some cases, panels continue working well after their planned operational lifetime. Nowhere is this more evident than on the sunny hillside where NREL operates the Outdoor Test Facility.
Dec. 4, 2020
While research continues to move perovskite solar technology toward commercialization, scientists at NREL are investigating how to manufacture them with human health in mind.
Nov. 25, 2020
Eight researchers affiliated with NREL are on this year's list of Highly Cited Researchers compiled by Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science Group, with four identified for their influence beyond their own scientific specialty.
Oct. 27, 2020
On Oct. 19, DOE announced the 19 Innovation Contest winners of the Solar Desalination Prize, a $9 million prize competition designed to increase access to fresh water and strengthen water security in the United States.
Oct. 16, 2020
Scientists at NREL report a breakthrough in developing a next-generation thermochromic window that not only reduces the need for air conditioning but simultaneously generates electricity.
Oct. 12, 2020
Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants generate clean energy to power our communities. Yet, one consistent challenge of CSP plants is hydrogen buildup, which can be costly to mitigate and reduces plant efficiency. NREL researcher Greg Glatzmaier has spent much of his career finding a solution.
Oct. 6, 2020
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition announces the list of schools participating in the Class of 2021 competition.
Oct. 5, 2020
DOE announces winners of the Solar Prize Round 2, awarding another $1 million in prizes to solar innovators.
Oct. 2, 2020
R&D World magazine today presented NREL with four of its annual R&D 100 Awards for research innovations. In addition to the R&D 100 winners, two additional NREL technologies were given Special Recognition Awards.
Oct. 1, 2020
NREL's new perovskite material, marketed as Apex Flex, broke through two design barriers to arrive at a solar cell that is flexible and stable enough for car-top application at a cost 200 times less than flexible PV technologies of similar specific power.
Sept. 29, 2020
Hybrid systems of floating solar panels and hydropower plants may hold the technical potential to produce a significant portion of the electricity generated annually across the globe, according to an analysis by researchers at NREL.
Sept. 15, 2020
Across the world, renewable power is displacing traditional generation, but can renewables also replace the critical stability functions that go with it? NREL studies are confirming in the field and on live power systems that solar, wind, and hybrid power plants can provide their own source of grid stability—potentially unlike anything currently on the grid.
Aug. 7, 2020
NREL researchers have found a promising group of materials for tomorrow's super-efficient solar cells, demonstrating how a carefully designed molecule can efficiently split the energy imparted by one photon into two excited states and keep them separated for several microseconds.
July 13, 2020
Due to rapid increase of PV installations over the past decade, there is expected to be an explosion of retired PV modules by 2050. NREL scientists propose research and development to advance processes for managing that waste and establishing a PV circular economy.
July 9, 2020
Released each year, electricity-generation technology cost and performance data power forward-looking analyses at NREL and beyond.
June 18, 2020
Eight teams from across the United States are working with NREL to develop and test novel applications of solar energy in rural communities and commercial-scale settings as part of the second round of the Solar Energy Innovation Network.
June 12, 2020
NREL experts and industry leaders focus their knowledge on focused sunlight—an on-demand, renewable power source.
May 21, 2020
This spring, a new cohort of Power Connectors joined the American-Made Challenges team following a competitive application process. The group was chosen for their expertise in areas that would ensure the success of competing teams and the overall program.
May 14, 2020
A common vision for the future of the nation's energy grid involves homeowners selling unused power generated from rooftop solar panels to others in their communities, and working together to help ensure the reliability, resiliency, and security of the power grid everyone uses. But how can the grid manage such complex energy transactions at scale? Several emerging solutions rely on blockchain technology.
April 29, 2020
Working with leading domestic solar companies, NREL and three universities have formed the U.S. Manufacturing of Advanced Perovskites Consortium (US-MAP), which will work to accelerate commercialization of perovskite technologies.
April 28, 2020
On April 27, with support from NREL, the U.S. Department of Energy kicked off the Solar Desalination Prize, a $9 million competition that's part of the American-Made Challenges series. The competition is designed to accelerate the development of systems that use solar-thermal energy to produce clean drinking water from salt water.
April 13, 2020
Scientists at NREL have fabricated a six-junction solar cell that now holds the world record for the highest solar conversion efficiency at 47.1%, which was measured under concentrated illumination. A variation of the same cell also set the efficiency record under one-sun illumination at 39.2%.
March 30, 2020
After months of hard work, the efforts of American-Made Solar Prize Round 2 teams have been rewarded at Set! Demo Day, with 10 finalist teams each winning $100,000 in cash prizes and $75,000 in support vouchers to be used at national laboratories and other partner facilities.
March 26, 2020
Researchers at NREL, working in collaboration with their counterparts in the Republic of Korea, have validated the potential of using a combination of perovskite and silicon to create solar cells that are more than 30% efficient. Their initial solar cell achieved a certified efficiency of 26.2%.
March 25, 2020
World-renowned photovoltaics expert and longtime NREL alumna Sarah Kurtz was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering for her contributions to the development of high-efficiency solar cells and leadership in solar cell reliability and quality.
March 17, 2020
The vast majority of solar panels are living up to expectations for energy production after five years, according to a new analysis of 100,000 photovoltaic (PV) systems across the United States.
March 5, 2020
A change in chemical composition enabled scientists to boost the longevity and efficiency of a perovskite solar cell developed at NREL. The new formula enabled the solar cell to resist a stability problem that has so far thwarted the commercialization of perovskites.
Feb. 19, 2020
Researchers at NREL and Northern Illinois University have developed a technique to sequester the lead used to make perovskite solar cells, a highly efficient emerging photovoltaic technology.
Feb. 18, 2020
New edition also shows continued growth in U.S. installed wind and solar photovoltaic capacity, energy storage, and electric vehicle sales.
Feb. 6, 2020
The Hands-On Photovoltaic Experience is aimed at providing in-depth training and expertise on the latest in solar technology and advancements, with the benefit of individualized research training and access in a small-group setting.
Jan. 28, 2020
During fiscal year 2019, NREL filed a record 124 patent applications and counted a record 233 disclosures — a category that includes 161 records of invention and 72 software records. NREL-developed software is protectable by copyright, while records of invention can be protected with patent applications.
Jan. 23, 2020
Perovskite solar cells have rapidly emerged in the past decade as an extremely efficient method to transform sunlight into electricity, but the issue of stability has so far kept them from commercialization. Four NREL researchers are part of a global consensus on the ways in which stability of perovskite solar cells should be assessed and reported.
Jan. 14, 2020
On November 6, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office awarded $128 million to 75 new projects that will advance solar technologies in five major areas. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) earned a major portion of this funding—nearly $20 million.
Jan. 2, 2020
An oft-repeated refrain—the sun doesn't always shine, is sometimes seen as an impediment to renewable energy. But it's also an impetus toward discovering the best ways to store that energy until it's needed.
