Author: US Department of Energy

Electricity grids are facing significant pressure from load growth, aging infrastructure, increasingly dynamic operational needs, and severe weather events. Advanced grid technologies can help meet these challenges, but traditional regulatory frameworks may limit utility pathways to innovation. Regulatory sandboxes offer a potential solution by establishing a structured environment for piloting ... [continued]

NREL Researcher Uses His Field Experience To Help Increase Energy Affordability for Americans Through the Weatherization Assistance Program At 17 years old, NREL researcher Cory Chovanec was traveling door to door in his hometown of Berlin, Wisconsin. His mission: to sell enough vacuum cleaners to qualify for an all-expenses-paid trip ... [continued]

New Study Demonstrates Efficient Performance—Even on Frozen Alaska Soils New energy storage research from NREL, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory, has demonstrated a way to store and reuse heat underground to meet the heating demands of cold regions like Alaska. Published on June 17 in the journal Energy & Buildings, the ... [continued]

As Aviation Continues To See Greater Demand, NASA and NREL Show How Regional Airports Can Become Energy Nodes Between fleets of rental vehicles and ground support equipment, electricity demand at U.S. airports might quintuple in the next 20 years. Smaller regional and general aviation airports, which often have simple rural ... [continued]

A collaborative effort between NREL and CubicPV has yielded a perovskite minimodule that belongs in the record books. The 24.0% certified efficiency marks the first time a U.S. effort has set a record in the perovskite minimodule category. The researchers at NREL and at CubicPV, a company based in the ... [continued]

Key Process Improvements Save Energy and Cut Costs for Recycling Polyester With Enzymes A successful collaboration involving a trio of research institutions has yielded a road map toward an economically viable process for using enzymes to recycle plastics. The researchers, from NREL, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and the University of ... [continued]

U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy to Communities Program Helped Edgartown, Massachusetts, Plan for a Microgrid To Support Municipal Buildings in Emergencies There is no bridge to the island of Martha’s Vineyard from mainland Massachusetts: If you want to get there, you have to take a ferry or plane. The island’s ... [continued]

Technology Helps Overcome Affordability Barriers to Wider Use and Manufacturing of a High-Value Material Found in Aircraft, Bicycles, Cars, and More Deconstructing epoxy resins with hot acetic acid has the potential to provide a scalable and affordable solution for recycling a material used in a range of high-value consumer products, according ... [continued]

30 Local Leaders Join Two New Energy to Communities (E2C) Peer-Learning Cohorts on Electricity Load Growth and Utility Engagement The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is excited to announce the 30 local participants across 25 states, territories, and Tribes selected for two new Energy to Communities (E2C) peer-learning cohorts, managed ... [continued]

Science Sometimes Ends With a Taste Test Experiments lead to a greater understanding, deeper insights, and sometimes they even bear fruit. That was certainly the case last summer at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where researchers nurtured a dozen tomato plants. Tucked into a corner ... [continued]