News and Feature Stories
The following news stories take an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how NREL is advancing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.
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October 2024
Oct. 22, 2024
NREL Coauthors U.S. Department of Energy Blueprint to Decarbonize the Buildings Sector
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a blueprint to aggressively reduce buildings sector greenhouse gas emissions while delivering equity, affordability, and resilience benefits to communities.
Oct. 22, 2024
NREL Explores How Corporate Procurement Can Advance Renewable Energy Deployment
NREL team researches the important role of corporate investments in clean energy development through a new partnership.
Oct. 17, 2024
September's Sunny Skies Make Perfect Day for Solar Calibrations
From Sept. 21 to 27, groups of scientists and engineers from around the globe gathered at NREL's Solar Radiation Research Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, for the 24th NREL Pyrheliometer Comparisons.
Oct. 16, 2024
How a Clean Energy Simulator Is Helping Build a Better Grid
NREL's energy simulator can mimic the grids of the future—and now, this massive, virtual and real-world research platform can simulate water power, too.
Oct. 16, 2024
DOE and NREL Launch Programa Acceso Solar (Solar Access Program) Providing Subsidized Solar Panels and Battery Storage to Puerto Rican Households
After Hurricane Fiona in October 2022, President Biden visited Puerto Rico and pledged to leverage the technical support of federal agencies to improve the archipelago's electric grid.
Oct. 15, 2024
19 Real-World Examples of Geothermal Heat Pumps In Action
Case studies detail geothermal heat pump installations in climate zones across the United States with varying system types, sizes, and end uses.
Oct. 15, 2024
Students Harness Power of New Kestrel Supercomputer for Cutting-Edge Energy Research and Innovation
The U.S. Department of Energy provided students with access to the Kestrel supercomputer, a powerful tool hosted by NREL to advance research in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Oct. 14, 2024
Grad Students, Postdocs, and Early-Career Staff Prepare To Carry Torch of International Research Collaboration
This summer, NREL postdocs and early-career staff participated in multiple events around the globe, including in Italy, Indonesia, Singapore, and stateside in Golden, Colorado.
Oct. 11, 2024
How Industry Partnerships Can Help Tackle Real-World Grid Challenges
Chief Scientist Yonghong Chen shares how her two decades of experience working at an independent system operator is now informing her philosophy on industry collaboration at NREL.
Oct. 10, 2024
Biofuels and Batteries Gain From the System Dynamics Behind the Research
How do researchers examine the relationships between various factors within a given system, how they could change, and how those changes ultimately lead to different behaviors in the system over longer periods of time? The answers to those questions may lie within a sophisticated modeling method known as system dynamics.
Oct. 10, 2024
Go With the (Atmospheric) Flow: A Former NREL Wind Energy Intern Comes Full Circle
Kelly Huang, a previous National Renewable Energy Laboratory Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) Program intern, landed a career in academics.
Oct. 8, 2024
For National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, NREL Spotlights Innovations To Make, Move, Store, and Use Hydrogen
October 8 (10.08) is national hydrogen and fuel cell day—a nod to the atomic weight of the most abundant element in the universe: 1.008.
Oct. 7, 2024
Mobile Homes and Municipalities Find Heat Pumps To Fit Their Needs
Whether it's a sweltering summer or a frigid winter, digging just a few feet into the earth provides relief from the temperatures above.
Oct. 7, 2024
New NREL Tool Estimates Lifetime Greenhouse Gas Emissions of the Most Well-Established Grid-Scale Energy Storage Technology
NREL has developed a first-of-its-kind tool that enables hydropower operators and developers to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with building and operating closed-loop pumped storage hydropower facilities.
Oct. 4, 2024
Reading, Pennsylvania, Finds Value of Energy Savings Performance Contracts Through C2C Program
In the fall of 2024, Reading, Pennsylvania, will break ground on solar installations that will save the city $300,000 a year in energy bills. But it was a long journey to get to this point.
Oct. 3, 2024
National Transmission Analysis Maps Next Chapter of US Grid Evolution
The release of the National Transmission Planning Study shifts the energy transition into high gear.
Oct. 3, 2024
Reeling In Marine Energy Data with Expanded Analysis Tools
The Marine and Hydrokinetic Toolkit (MHKiT) helps researchers and developers harness marine renewable energy by providing standardized tools for data processing and performance evaluation.
Oct. 1, 2024
Introducing the Solar District Cup Class of 2024–2025
Students from 38 schools are entering an ever-widening community of competitors and alumni involved in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar District Cup Collegiate Design Competition.
September 2024
Sept. 30, 2024
Behind the Blades: How Jeremy Stefek Delivers Wind Energy Workforce Solutions To Meet Growing Industry Needs
Jeremy Stefek is working to understand the needs of the growing wind energy industry, raise awareness of wind energy career opportunities, and develop training programs that ensure a skilled workforce is ready to meet future demands.
Sept. 30, 2024
NREL Researchers Survey the State of Smart Charge Management Nationwide
Researchers from NREL and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory broke new ground by surveying the national state of smart charge management strategies.
Sept. 30, 2024
With NREL's Help, GCxN Company Readies for Initial Public Offering
Invizyne is at the stage where it is preparing an IPO, the first company part of the Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL(TM) (GCxN) program to do so.
Sept. 30, 2024
Starting With Safety: NREL Approach Streamlines Early-Stage Battery Development
From current on-road vehicles to future electrified aircraft, the safety and reliability of energy storage systems is critical across battery applications.
Sept. 30, 2024
NREL Selected To Design Next-Generation Power Inverters for US Combat Vehicles
NREL's world-class power electronics researchers are reimagining the propulsion system for U.S. military ground combat vehicles. Their new silicon carbide (SIC)-based inverter design will give military vehicles 200% greater range at a fourth of the size of predecessor technology.
Sept. 26, 2024
How NREL’s Research in Battery Energy Storage Is Helping Advance the Clean Energy Transition
What is the best way to store energy until it is needed? Finding the answer to this question and others surrounding energy storage is at the heart of Nate Blair's work as the group manager for NREL's Distributed Energy Systems and Storage Analysis team.
Sept. 25, 2024
NREL Experts Accelerate Electrification of Department of Defense Nontactical Fleets
As electric vehicles (EVs) continue to grow their share of the market, several federal agencies are transitioning their own fleets to EVs, too.
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