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Award-Winning Etching Process Cuts Solar Cell Costs (Fact Sheet)

Description: NREL scientists have invented the 'black silicon' nanocatalytic wet-chemical etch, an inexpensive, one-step process that literally turns the solar cells black, allowing them to absorb more than 98% of incident sunlight. The process costs just a few cents per watt of solar-cell power-producing capacity. Increases in manufactured cell efficiencies of up to 0.8% are possible because of the reduced reflectance of black silicon. This would reduce silicon solar module costs by $5-$10 per module.
Date: August 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Case Study Leads to International Partnership (Fact Sheet)

Description: In 2012, NREL analysts produced a case study, "Integrating Variable Renewable Energy in Electric Power Markets: Best Practices from International Experience," which drew upon dozens of interviews with international experts involved in crafting effective policies and markets. The report proposed a cross-cutting initiative to transform the world's power systems by implementing two complementary strategies: the large‐scale deployment of renewable energy, and a combination of comprehensive en… more
Date: December 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Collaborative Improves the Reliability of Wind Turbine Gearboxes (Fact Sheet)

Description: Gearbox failures have a significant impact on the cost of wind farm operations. To help minimize gearbox failures, in 2007 the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) initiated the Gearbox Reliability Collaborative (GRC), which consists of manufacturers, owners, researchers, and consultants. Based on all the lessons learned from the past five years, the GRC has now produced a new and improved design, which is projected to yield an operating lifetime of 12 years, more than triple that of the… more
Date: September 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Develops OpenEI.org, a Public Website Where Energy Data can be Generated, Shared, and Compared (Fact Sheet)

Description: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed OpenEI.org, a public, open, data-sharing platform where consumers, analysts, industry experts, and energy decision makers can go to boost their energy IQs, search for energy data, share data, and get access to energy applications. The free site blends elements of social media, linked open-data practices, and MediaWiki-based technology to build a collaborative environment for creating and sharing energy data with the world. The result… more
Date: December 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Energy Models Examine the Potential for Wind and Solar Grid Integration (Fact Sheet)

Description: As renewable energy generating sources, such as wind turbines and solar power systems, reach high levels of penetration in parts of the United States, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is helping the utility industry to peer into the future. Using software modeling tools that the lab developed, NREL is examining the future operation of the electrical grid as renewable energy continues to grow.
Date: November 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Innovations Help Drive Wind Industry Transformation (Fact Sheet)

Description: For nearly 30 years, NREL has helped the wind turbine industry through design and research innovations. The comprehensive capabilities of the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC), ranging from specialized computer simulation tools to unique test facilities, has been used to design, develop, and deploy several generations of advanced wind energy technology.
Date: August 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Invention Speeds Solar Cell Quality Testing for Industry (Fact Sheet)

Description: A solid-state optical system, invented by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), measures solar cell quantum efficiency (QE) in less than a second, enabling a suite of new capabilities for solar cell manufacturers. QE is a measurement of how cells respond to light across the solar spectrum, but traditional methods for measuring QE had been too slow, limiting its application to small samples pulled from the production line and analyzed in laboratories. NREL's technique, commercialized … more
Date: August 1, 2013
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open access

NREL-Led Team Improves and Accelerates Battery Design (Fact Sheet)

Description: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is leading some of the best minds from U.S. auto manufacturers, battery developers, and automotive simulation tool developers in a $20 million project to accelerate the development of battery packs and thus the wider adoption of electric-drive vehicles. The Computer-Aided Engineering for Electric Drive Vehicle Batteries (CAEBAT) collaboration is developing sophisticated software tools to help improve and accelerate battery design and boost the per… more
Date: November 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Produces Ethylene via Photosynthesis; Breakthrough Offers Cleaner Alternative for Transportation Fuels (Fact Sheet)

Description: NREL scientists have demonstrated a way to produce ethylene through photosynthesis, a breakthrough that could lead to more environmentally friendly ways to produce a variety of materials, chemicals, and transportation fuels. The scientists introduced a gene into a cyanobacterium and demonstrated that the organism remains stable through at least four generations, producing ethylene gas that can be easily captured. In the laboratory, the organism, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, produced 720 milligra… more
Date: August 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Proves Cellulosic Ethanol Can Be Cost Competitive (Fact Sheet)

Description: Ethanol from non-food sources - known as "cellulosic ethanol" - is a near-perfect transportation fuel: it is clean, domestic, abundant, and renewable, and it can potentially replace 30% of the petroleum consumed in the United States, but its relatively high cost has limited its market. That changed in 2012, when the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) demonstrated the technical advances needed to produce cellulosic ethanol at a minimum ethanol selling price of $2.15/gallon (in 2007 doll… more
Date: November 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Recommends Ways to Cut Building Energy Costs in Half (Fact Sheet)

Description: Building designers and operators could cut energy use by 50% in large office buildings, hospitals, schools, and a variety of stores -- including groceries, general merchandise outlets, and retail outlets -- by following the recommendations of NREL researchers. The innovative energy-saving recommendations are contained in technical support documents and Advanced Energy Design Guides compiled by NREL.
Date: August 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Software Aids Offshore Wind Turbine Designs (Fact Sheet)

Description: NREL researchers are supporting offshore wind power development with computer models that allow detailed analyses of both fixed and floating offshore wind turbines. While existing computer-aided engineering (CAE) models can simulate the conditions and stresses that a land-based wind turbine experiences over its lifetime, offshore turbines require the additional considerations of variations in water depth, soil type, and wind and wave severity, which also necessitate the use of a variety of supp… more
Date: October 1, 2013
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open access

NREL Spurred the Success of Multijunction Solar Cells (Fact Sheet)

Description: Many scientists once believed that high-quality gallium indium phosphide (GaInP) alloys could not be grown for use as semiconductors because the alloys would separate. However, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) thought differently, and they employed GaInP in a material combination that allowed the multijunction cell to flourish. The multijunction cell is now the workhorse that powers satellites and the catalyst for renewed interest in concentrator photovoltaic produ… more
Date: August 1, 2013
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open access

Quantum Dots Promise to Significantly Boost Solar Cell Efficiencies (Fact Sheet)

Description: In the search for a third generation of solar-cell technologies, a leading candidate is the use of 'quantum dots' -- tiny spheres of semiconductor material measuring only about 2-10 billionths of a meter in diameter. Quantum dots have the potential to dramatically increase the efficiency of converting sunlight into energy -- perhaps even doubling it in some devices -- because of their ability to generate more than one bound electron-hole pair, or exciton, per incoming photon. NREL has produced … more
Date: August 1, 2013
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open access

Reducing Enzyme Costs Increases the Market Potential of Biofuels (Fact Sheet)

Description: Cellulosic ethanol prices depend heavily on the cost of the cellulase enzymes used to break down the biomass into fermentable sugars. To reduce these costs, NREL partnered with two leading enzyme companies, Novozymes and Genencor, to engineer new cellulase enzymes that are exceptionally good at breaking down cellulose. Genencor is now part of DuPont Industrial Biosciences.
Date: August 1, 2013
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