NREL Archives – The Green Optimistic

The Coming Solar Age – Elon Musk

Benji Jerew — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 16:57:21 +0000

Renewable energy, such as wind power, solar power, and hydro, has been becoming less expensive and more efficient, so how soon will it take over? Over the last thirty years or so, thanks to renewable energy adoption, the power grid is ever so slowly becoming decentralized. Whereas public utility companies have long been the center […]

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Thin Film Solar Cells to Get Printed on Water: New Technology

Benji Jerew — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:20:37 +0000

With the ability to put solar power anywhere just like a bumper sticker, the possibilities for solar power just expanded. Thin-film solar power, it was thought, were as thin as could be, but a combination of processes developed jointly between Stanford University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory [NREL] is bringing thin-ness to a whole […]

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Nanowire-Embedded Quantum Dots Break Solar Cell Efficiency Records

Mila Luleva — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:20:15 +0000

An international team of scientists from Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and the US established a process through which quantum dots can self-assemble at optimal locations in nanowires. This discovery might just be the key to improving not only solar cells, but also quantum computing and lighting devices. A press release by NREL from last week, stated […]

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Researchers at NREL Striving to Increase EV Adoption

Benji Jerew — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:37:47 +0000

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory [NREL] have set a goal, “to target the key innovations necessary to accelerate the rate of adoption for electric drive vehicles. In addition, our efforts are focused on scenarios that will incorporate expanded use of renewable energy resources to charge those vehicles.” – Bob Rehn, […]

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NREL’s AMPED Project Boosts Battery Efficiency by Better Management

Benji Jerew — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 07:31:18 +0000

The three main factors that affect the life of a rechargeable battery, any rechargeable battery, is chemistry, management, and usage. The same goes for the massive batteries that we find in hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] and electric vehicles [EV]. For the most part, regarding chemistry, Toyota is sticking with tried-and-true nickel-metal hydride [NiMH] battery packs, […]

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NREL Investigates Methane to Diesel Process

Benji Jerew — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:30:14 +0000

One of the by-products of petroleum extraction and refining is natural gas. The main component, methane [CH4], is often simply vented into the atmosphere or burned off as waste. The problem with these disposal methods, though, is that CH4 is about 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide is. Researchers estimate […]

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Record Breaking Solar Cell Efficiency of 44% Achieved at NREL

Mila Luleva — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 17:53:45 +0000

The world record for energy efficiency of photovoltaic cells has been broken again. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), together with their partner Solar Junction, reported the incredible 44% efficiency achieved through improvement of the already existing multi-junction PV cells. The layered semiconductors used in the cells were previously optimized to capture various wavelengths of […]

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NREL’s New Hi-Tech Software to Improve Wind Farm Performance

Janina Lazo-Cruz — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 17:20:06 +0000

It is fascinating to see wind turbines carefully planted in an array on a refreshing landscape and running along with strong winds in a seemingly serene and consistent manner; but behind this perceptively simplicity of wind farms is the complexity of their interactions with one another and the nature as well. Various factors contribute to […]

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Study Describes Wind Power Dependence on Atmospheric Stability

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:34:53 +0000

Scientists from LLNL, University of Colorado at Boulder and the NREL have recently assessed the performance figures of a wind turbine producing energy on the East Coast, and found how power depends on atmospheric stability. “The dependence of power on stability is clear, regardless of whether time periods are segregated by three-dimensional turbulence, turbulence intensity […]

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Planar Energy's New Printing Process to Improve Solid-State Batteries

Mike Sandru — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:13:42 +0000

Orlando-based startup Planar Energy, a spin-off from the National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL), found a new method that could improve the lifetime and stability of batteries used in electric vehicles. The company has created a new printing process of solid-state lithium-ion batteries. Unlike liquid lithium-ion batteries, this process can be used to print solid-state batteries that offer three times more storage.

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NREL Building PDIL: Six Automated Robots Helping Solar Industry's R&D

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:50:50 +0000

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has built a robot that will help the R&D of thin film solar cells, analyzing possible defects faster and more accurate than any other existing system. It is called the PDIL (Process Development and Integration Laboratory).

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Vindicator Laser Wind Sensor Increases the Output of Wind Turbines

Mike Sandru — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:14:24 +0000

The Manassas, Virginia-based Catch the Wind has signed an agreement with National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to test the company's Vindicator laser wind sensor that automatically optimizes wind turbine direction to boost its output.

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