The Solar Advisor Model (SAM) provides a consistent framework for analyzing and comparing power system costs and performance across the range of solar technologies and markets, from photovoltaic systems for residential and commercial markets to concentrating solar power and large photovoltaic systems for utility markets. This manual describes Version 2.0 of the software, which can model photovoltaic and concentrating solar power technologies for electric applications for several markets. The current version of the Solar Advisor Model does not model solar heating and lighting technologies.

This report describes a model Transport Processes Investigation (TPI) where field-scale vadose zone flow and transport processes are identified and verified through a systematic field investigation at a contaminated DOE site. The objective of the TPI is to help with formulating accurate conceptual models and aid in implementing rational and cost effective site specific characterization strategies at contaminated sites with diverse hydrogeologic settings. Central to the TPI are Transport Processes Characterization (TPC) tests that incorporate field surveys and large-scale infiltration experiments. Hypotheses are formulated based on observed pedogenic and hydrogeologic features as well as information provided by literature searches. The field and literature information is then used to optimize the design of one or more infiltration experiments to field test the hypothesis. Findings from the field surveys and infiltration experiments are then synthesized to formulate accurate flow and transport conceptual models. Here we document a TPI implemented in the glacial till vadose zone at the Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) in Fernald, Ohio, a US Department of Energy (DOE) uranium processing site. As a result of this TPI, the flow and transport mechanisms were identified through visualization of dye stain within extensive macro pore and fracture networks which provided the …

To find routes to achieving nearly 10% power conversion efficiency based on a new generation of organic photovoltaic cells using vapor-deposited, small-molecular-weight organic materials.

This report examines the problem of an antenna radiating from a cylindrical hole in the earth and the subsequent far-zone field produced in the upper air half space. The approach used for this analysis was to first examine propagation characteristics along the hole for surrounding geologic material properties. Three cases of sand with various levels of moisture content were considered as the surrounding material to the hole. For the hole diameters and sand cases examined, the radiation through the earth medium was found to be the dominant contribution to the radiation transmitted through to the upper half-space. In the analysis presented, the radiation from a vertical and a horizontal dipole source within the hole is used to determine a closed-form expression for the radiation in the earth medium which represents a modified element factor for the source and hole combination. As the final step, the well-known results for a dipole below a half space, in conjunction with the use of Snell's law to transform the modified element factor to the upper half space, determine closed-form expressions for the far-zone radiated fields in the air region above the earth.

This case study describes how the Industrial Technologies Program helps steel companies find ways to improve the efficiency of energy-intensive process heating and steam systems by performing Save Energy Now energy assessments.

The 2008 Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) was held in Washington, D.C., from March 4-6, 2008, and involved nearly 9,000 people from 125 countries. The event brought together worldwide leaders in renewable energy (RE) from governments, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to discuss the role that renewables can play in alleviating poverty, growing economies, and passing on a healthy planet to future generations. The conference concluded with more than 140 governments, international organizations, and private-sector representatives pledging to advance the uptake of renewable energy. The U.S. government authorized the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to estimate the carbon dioxide (CO2) savings that would result from the pledges made at the 2008 conference. This report describes the methodology and assumptions used by NREL in quantifying the potential CO2 reductions derived from those pledges.

The TOUGH family of codes is a suite of computer programs for the simulation of multiphase fluid and heat flows in porous and fractured media with applications to geothermal reservoir engineering, nuclear waste disposal in geologic formations, geologic carbon sequestration, gas hydrate research, vadose zone hydrology, environmental remediation, oil and gas reservoir engineering, and other mass transport and energy transfer problems in complex geologic settings. TOUGH has been developed in the Earth Sciences Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Many modifications and enhancements have been made to TOUGH (at LBNL and elsewhere) from the time it was first released in 1987. TOUGH and its various descendants (such as iTOUGH2, T2VOC, TMVOC, EWASG, TOUGHREACT, TOUGH+ and many more) are currently in use in approximately 300 research laboratories, private companies, and universities in 33 countries. The LBNL group, headed by Karsten Pruess, serves as custodian of the code. The TOUGH simulators were developed for problems involving strongly heat-driven flow. To describe these phenomena a multi-phase approach to fluid and heat flow is used, which fully accounts for the movement of gaseous and liquid phases, their transport of latent and sensible heat, and phase transitions between liquid and vapor. TOUGH takes …

This Facility Closure Report (FCR) has been prepared to document the actions taken to permanently close the remaining accessible areas of U12t-Tunnel (T-Tunnel) in Area 12 of the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The closure of T-Tunnel was a prerequisite to transfer facility ownership from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO). Closure of the facility was accomplished with the cooperation and concurrence of both NNSA/NSO and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP). The purpose of this FCR is to document that the closure of T-Tunnel complied with the closure requirements specified in the Facility Closure Plan for N- and T-Tunnels Area 12, Nevada Test Site (Appendix D) and that the facility is ready for transfer to NNSA/NSO. The Facility Closure Plan (FCP) is provided in Appendix D. T-Tunnel is located approximately 42 miles north of Mercury in Area 12 of the NTS (Figure 1). Between 1970 and 1987, T-Tunnel was used for six Nuclear Weapons Effects Tests (NWETs). The tunnel was excavated horizontally into the volcanic tuffs of Rainier Mesa. The T-Tunnel complex consists of a main access drift with two NWET containment structures, a Gas …

This document describes the testing and facility requirements to support the Yucca Mountain Project long-term corrosion testing needs. The purpose of this document is to describe a corrosion testing program that will (a) reduce model uncertainty and variability, (b) reduce the reliance upon overly conservative assumptions, and (c) improve model defensibility. Test matrices were developed for 17 topical areas (tasks): each matrix corresponds to a specific test activity that is a subset of the total work performed in a task. A future document will identify which of these activities are considered to be performance confirmation activities. Detailed matrices are provided for FY08, FY09 and FY10 and rough order estimates are provided for FY11-17. Criteria for the selection of appropriate test facilities were developed through a meeting of Lead Lab and DOE personnel on October 16-17, 2007. These criteria were applied to the testing activities and recommendations were made for the facility types appropriate to carry out each activity. The facility requirements for each activity were assessed and activities were identified that can not be performed with currently available facilities. Based on this assessment, a total of approximately 10,000 square feet of facility space is recommended to meet all future testing …

Xantrex Technology accomplished subcontract goals of reducing parts cost, weight, and size of its 500-kW inverter by 25% compared to state-of-the-art PV inverters, while extending reliability by 25%.

This Post-Closure Inspection and Monitoring Report provides the results and inspections and monitoring for Corrective Action Unit 110: Area 3 Waste Management Division U-3ax/bl Crater, Nevada Test Site, Nevada. This report includes an analysis and summary of the site inpsections, repairs and maintenance, meteorological information, and soil moisture monitoring data obtained at Corrective Action Unit 110, for the annual period July 2005 thrugh June 2006.

Horizontal and vertical PC 3 (2,500 yr) Soil Design Basis Earthquake (DBE) 5% damped spectra, corresponding time histories, and strain-compatible soil properties were developed for the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU). The IWTU is located at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Mean and 84th percentile horizontal DBE spectra derived from site-specific site response analyses were evaluated for the IWTU. The horizontal and vertical PC 3 (2,500 yr) Soil DBE 5% damped spectra at the 84th percentile were selected for Soil Structure Interaction (SSI) analyses at IWTU. The site response analyses were performed consistent with applicable Department of Energy (DOE) Standards, recommended guidance of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Standards, and recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Panel (BRP) and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB).

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a challenge to the homebuilding industry to build 220,000 high-performance homes by 2012. To qualify, homes must meet the requirements of a performance path, prescriptive path, or participating in a partner program.

Room temperature cavitation tests of vacuum annealed type 316LN stainless steel were performed in pure Hg and in Hg with various amounts of metallic solute to evaluate potential mitigation of erosion/wastage. Tests were performed using an ultrasonic vibratory horn with specimens attached at the tip. All of the solutes examined, which included 5 wt% In, 10 wt% In, 4.4 wt% Cd, 2 wt% Ga, and a mixture that included 1 wt% each of Pb, Sn, and Zn, were found to increase cavitation-erosion as measured by increased weight loss and/or surface profile development compared to exposures for the same conditions in pure Hg. Qualitatively, each solute appeared to increase the post-test wetting tenacity of the Hg solutions and render the Hg mixture susceptible to manipulation of droplet shape.

The RHIC Retreat 2007 took place on July 16-17 2007 at the Foxwoods Resort in CT, about 3 weeks after the end of the RHIC Run-7. The goal of the Retreat is traditionally to plan the upcoming run in the light of the results from the previous one, by providing a snapshot of the present understanding of the machine and a forum for free and frank discussion. A particular attention was paid to the challenge of increasing the time at store, and the related issue of system reliability. An interesting Session covered all new developments aimed to improve the machine performance and luminosity. In Section 2 we summarize the results from Run-7 for RHIC and the injectors and discuss the present objectives of the RHIC program and performance. Sections 3-6 are summaries of the Retreat sessions focused on preparation for deuteron gold and polarized protons, respectively, machine availability and new developments.

In 2005 the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) proposed that the PATTON Alliance provide assistance in evaluating and obtaining the Integrated Gazetteer Database (IGDB), developed for the Naval Space Warfare Command Research group (SPAWAR) under Advance Research and Development Activity (ARDA) funds by MITRE Inc., fielded to the text-based search tool GeoLocator, currently in use by NGIC. We met with the developers of GeoLocator and identified their requirements for a better gazetteer. We then validated those requirements by reviewing the technical literature, meeting with other members of the intelligence community (IC), and talking with both the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), the authoritative sources for official geographic name information. We thus identified 12 high-level requirements from users and the broader intelligence community. The IGDB satisfies many of these requirements. We identified gaps and proposed ways of closing these gaps. Three important needs have not been addressed but are critical future needs for the broader intelligence community. These needs include standardization of gazetteer data, a web feature service for gazetteer information that is maintained by NGA and USGS but accessible to users, and a common forum that brings together IC stakeholders and federal agency …

Back-contact crystalline-silicon photovoltaic solar cells and modules offer a number of advantages, including the elimination of grid shadowing losses, reduced cost through use of thinner silicon substrates, simpler module assembly, and improved aesthetics. While the existing edge tab method for interconnecting and stringing edge-connected back contact cells is acceptably straightforward and reliable, there are further gains to be exploited when you have both contact polarities on one side of the cell. In this work, we produce 'busbarless' emitter wrap-through solar cells that use 41% of the gridline silver (Ag) metallization mass compared to the edge tab design. Further, series resistance power losses are reduced by extraction of current from more places on the cell rear, leading to a fill factor improvement of about 6% (relative) on the module level. Series resistance and current-generation losses associated with large rear bondpads and busbars are eliminated. Use of thin silicon (Si) wafers is enabled because of the reduced Ag metallization mass and by interconnection with conductive adhesives leading to reduced bow. The busbarless cell design interconnected with conductive adhesives passes typical International Electrotechnical Commission damp heat and thermal cycling test.

The Systems Analysis Programs for Hands-on Integrated Reliability Evaluations (SAPHIRE) software performs probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) calculations. SAPHIRE is used in support of NRC’s risk-informed programs such as the Accident Sequence Precursor (ASP) program, Management Directive 8.3, “NRC Incident Investigation Program,” or the Significance Determination Process (SDP). It is also used to develop and run the Standardized Plant Analysis Risk (SPAR) models. SAPHIRE Version 8 is a new version of the software with an improved interface and capabilities to support risk-informed programs. SAPHIRE Version 8 is designed to easily handle larger and more complex models. Applications of previous SAPHIRE versions indicated the need to build and solve models with a large number of sequences. Risk assessments that include endstate evaluations for core damage frequency and large, early release frequency evaluations have greatly increased the number of sequences required. In addition, the complexity of the models has increased since risk assessments evaluate both potential internal and external events, as well as different plant operational states. Special features of SAPHIRE 8 help create and run integrated models which may be composed of different model types. SAPHIRE 8 includes features and capabilities that are new or improved over the current Version 7 to …

This report summarizes the development and evaluation of higher-bandgap absorbers in the CIS alloy system. The major effort focused on exploring suitable absorbers with significant sulfur alloying in collaboration with Shafarman's group at the Institute of Energy Conversion. Three series of samples were examined; first, a series of quaternary CuIn(SeS)2-based devices without Ga; second, a series of devices with pentenary Cu(InGa)(SeS)2 absorbers in which the Se-to-S and In-to-Ga ratios were chosen to keep the bandgap nearly constant, near 1.52 eV. Third, based on the most-promising samples in those two series, we examined a series of devices with pentenary Cu(InGa)(SeS)2 absorbers with roughly 25 at.% S/(Se+S) ratios and varying Ga fractions. We also characterized electronic properties of several wide-bandgap CuGaSe2 devices from both IEC and NREL. The electronic properties of these absorbers were examined using admittance spectroscopy, drive-level capacitance profiling, transient photocapacitance, and transient photocurrent optical spectroscopies. The sample devices whose absorbers had Ga fraction below 40 at.% and S fractions above 20 at.% but below 40% exhibited the best electronic properties and device performance.

Improving our ability to identify the top quark pair (t{bar t}) primary vertex (PV) on an event-by-event basis is essential for many analyses in the lepton-plus-jets channel performed by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) Collaboration. We compare the algorithm currently used by CDF (A1) with another algorithm (A2) using Monte Carlo simulation at high instantaneous luminosities. We confirm that A1 is more efficient than A2 at selecting the t{bar t} PV at all PV multiplicities, both with efficiencies larger than 99%. Event selection rejects events with a distance larger than 5 cm along the proton beam between the t{bar t} PV and the charged lepton. We find flat distributions for the signal over background significance of this cut for all cut values larger than 1 cm, for all PV multiplicities and for both algorithms. We conclude that any cut value larger than 1 cm is acceptable for both algorithms under the Tevatron's expected instantaneous luminosity improvements.

Current industry and NRC guidance documents such as IEEE 7-4.3.2, Reg. Guide 1.152, and IEEE 603 do not sufficiently define a level of detail for evaluating interdivisional communications independence. The NRC seeks to establish criteria for safety systems communications that can be uniformly applied in evaluation of a variety of safety system designs. This report focuses strictly on communication issues related to data sent between safety systems and between safety and nonsafety systems. Further, the report does not provide design guidance for communication systems nor present detailed failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) results for existing designs. This letter report describes communications between safety and nonsafety systems in nuclear power plants outside the United States. A limited study of international nuclear power plants was conducted to ascertain important communication implementations that might have bearing on systems proposed for licensing in the United States. This report provides that following information: 1.communications types and structures used in a representative set of international nuclear power reactors, and 2.communications issues derived from standards and other source documents relevant to safety and nonsafety communications. Topics that are discussed include the following: communication among redundant safety divisions, communications between safety divisions and nonsafety systems, control of …

This report covers the challenges to building an infrastructure for hydrogen, for use as transportation fuel. Deployment technologies and policies that could quicken deployment are addressed.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) supports the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in assessing the impact of using intermediate ethanol blends (E10 to E30) in the legacy fleet of vehicles in the U.S. fleet. The purpose of this report is to: (1) identify the issues associated with intermediate ethanol blends with an emphasis on the end-use or vehicle impacts of increased ethanol levels; (2) assess the likely severity of the issues and whether they will become more severe with higher ethanol blend levels, or identify where the issue is most severe; (3) identify where gaps in knowledge exist and what might be required to fill those knowledge gaps; and (4) compile a current and complete bibliography of key references on intermediate ethanol blends. This effort is chiefly a critical review and assessment of available studies. Subject matter experts (authors and selected expert contacts) were consulted to help with interpretation and assessment. The scope of this report is limited to technical issues. Additional issues associated with consumer, vehicle manufacturer, and regulatory acceptance of ethanol blends greater than E10 are not considered. The key findings from this study are given.

A principal measure of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image quality is the manifestation in the SAR image of a spatial impulse, that is, the SAR's Impulse Response (IPR). IPR requirements direct certain design decisions in a SAR. Anomalies in the IPR can point to specific anomalous behavior in the radar's hardware and/or software.