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.

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 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.

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%.

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 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.

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.

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.

This is the final report on a field evaluation by the Department of the Navy of twenty 5-kW PEM fuel cells carried out during 2004 and 2005 at five Navy sites located in New York, California, and Hawaii. The key objective of the effort was to obtain an engineering assessment of their military applications. Particular issues of interest were fuel cell cost, performance, reliability, and the readiness of commercial fuel cells for use as a standalone (grid-independent) power option. Two corollary objectives of the demonstration were to promote technological advances and to improve fuel performance and reliability. From a cost perspective, the capital cost of PEM fuel cells at this stage of their development is high compared to other power generation technologies. Sandia National Laboratories technical recommendation to the Navy is to remain involved in evaluating successive generations of this technology, particularly in locations with greater environmental extremes, and it encourages their increased use by the Navy.

As part of the National Security Engineering Institute (NSEI) project, several sensors were developed in conjunction with an assessment algorithm. A camera system was developed in-house to track the locations of personnel within a secure room. In addition, a commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) tracking system developed by TYZX was examined. TYZX is a Bay Area start-up that has developed its own tracking hardware and software which we use as COTS support for robust tracking. This report discusses the pros and cons of each camera system, how they work, a proposed data fusion method, and some visual results. Distributed, embedded image processing solutions show the most promise in their ability to track multiple targets in complex environments and in real-time. Future work on the camera system may include three-dimensional volumetric tracking by using multiple simple cameras, Kalman or particle filtering, automated camera calibration and registration, and gesture or path recognition.

The results on the direct measurements of the W-boson mass and width, based on the data collected by the Tevatron experiments CDF and D{sup -} at Fermilab are summarized and combined. The CDF Run-0 (1988-1889) and Run-I (1992-1995) results have been re-averaged using the BLUE method and combined with Run-I D{sup -} results and the latest published results from CDF taken from the first period of Run-II (2001-2004). The results are corrected to have consistency between the parton distribution functions and electroweak parameters. The resulting Tevatron averages for the mass and total decay width of the W boson are: M{sub W} = 80432 {+-} 39 MeV and {Lambda}{sub W} = 2056 {+-} 62 MeV. The inclusion of a preliminary Run-II measurement of {Lambda}{sub W} from D{sup -}0 gives {Lambda}{sub W} = 2050 {+-} 58 MeV.

The Systems Analysis Programs for Hands-on Integrated Reliability Evaluations (SAPHIRE) is a software application developed for performing a complete probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) using a personal computer. SAPHIRE is primarily funded by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and developed by the Idaho National Laboratory. This report is intended to assist the user to enter PRA data into the SAPHIRE program using the built-in MAR-D ASCII-text file data transfer process. Towards this end, a small sample database is constructed and utilized for demonstration. Where applicable, the discussion includes how the data processes for loading the sample database relate to the actual processes used to load a larger PRA models. The procedures described herein were developed for use with SAPHIRE Version 6.0 and Version 7.0. In general, the data transfer procedures for version 6 and 7 are the same, but where deviations exist, the differences are noted. The guidance specified in this document will allow a user to have sufficient knowledge to both understand the data format used by SAPHIRE and to carry out the transfer of data between different PRA projects.

In this report, the HOM power dissipated to the load in the 56 MHz RF cavity is calculated. The HOM frequencies and Q factors with the inserted HOM damper are obtained from the simulations by MWS and SLAC codes.

The Systems Analysis Programs for Hands-on Integrated Reliability Evaluations (SAPHIRE) is a software application developed for performing a complete probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) using a personal computer (PC) running the Microsoft Windows operating system. SAPHIRE is primarily funded by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and developed by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL's primary role in this project is that of software developer and tester. However, INL also plays an important role in technology transfer by interfacing and supporting SAPHIRE users, who constitute a wide range of PRA practitioners from the NRC, national laboratories, the private sector, and foreign countries. SAPHIRE can be used to model a complex system’s response to initiating events and quantify associated consequential outcome frequencies. Specifically, for nuclear power plant applications, SAPHIRE can identify important contributors to core damage (Level 1 PRA) and containment failure during a severe accident which lead to releases (Level 2 PRA). It can be used for a PRA where the reactor is at full power, low power, or at shutdown conditions. Furthermore, it can be used to analyze both internal and external initiating events and has special features for transforming an internal events model to a model for external events, …

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) has embarked on a program to develop a methodology to use damage relations techniques (alternative experimental facilities, modeling, and simulation) to understand the time-dependent effects in transistors (and integrated circuits) caused by neutron irradiations in the Sandia Pulse Reactor-III (SPR-III) facility. The development of these damage equivalence techniques is necessary since SPR-III was shutdown in late 2006. As part of this effort, the late time {gamma}-ray sensitivity of a single diffusion lot of 2N2222A transistors has been characterized using one of the {sup 60}Co irradiation cells at the SNL Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF). This report summarizes the results of the experiments performed at the GIF.

This report presents results from a program evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy?s Buildings Technologies Program (BTP) participation in collaborative international technology implementing agreements. The evaluation was conducted by researchers from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the fall of 2007 and winter 2008 and was carried out via interviews with stakeholders in four implementing agreements in which BTP participates, reviews of relevant program reports, websites and other published materials. In addition to these findings, the report includes a variety of supporting materials such that aim to assist BTP managers who currently participate in IEA implementing agreements or who may be considering participation.

Cyber forensics has been in the popular mainstream for some time, and has matured into an information-technology capability that is very common among modern information security programs. The goal of cyber forensics is to support the elements of troubleshooting, monitoring, recovery, and the protection of sensitive data. Moreover, in the event of a crime being committed, cyber forensics is also the approach to collecting, analyzing, and archiving data as evidence in a court of law. Although scalable to many information technology domains, especially modern corporate architectures, cyber forensics can be challenging when being applied to non-traditional environments, which are not comprised of current information technologies or are designed with technologies that do not provide adequate data storage or audit capabilities. In addition, further complexity is introduced if the environments are designed using proprietary solutions and protocols, thus limiting the ease of which modern forensic methods can be utilized. The legacy nature and somewhat diverse or disparate component aspects of control systems environments can often prohibit the smooth translation of modern forensics analysis into the control systems domain. Compounded by a wide variety of proprietary technologies and protocols, as well as critical system technologies with no capability to store significant amounts …

The Systems Analysis Programs for Hands-on Integrated Reliability Evaluations (SAPHIRE) is a software application developed for performing a complete probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) using a personal computer running the Microsoft Windows? operating system. SAPHIRE is primarily funded by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and developed by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The INL's primary role in this project is that of software developer and tester. Using the SAPHIRE analysis engine and relational database is a complementary program called GEM. GEM has been designed to simplify using existing PRA analysis for activities such as the NRC’s Accident Sequence Precursor program. In this report, the theoretical framework behind GEM-type calculations are discussed in addition to providing guidance and examples for performing evaluations when using the GEM software. As part of this analysis framework, the two types of GEM analysis are outlined, specifically initiating event (where an initiator occurs) and condition (where a component is failed for some length of time) assessments.

We propose two distinct atom interferometer gravitational wave detectors, one terrestrial and another satellite-based, utilizing the core technology of the Stanford 10m atom interferometer presently under construction. Each configuration compares two widely separated atom interferometers run using common lasers. The signal scales with the distance between the interferometers, which can be large since only the light travels over this distance, not the atoms. The terrestrial experiment with baseline {approx} 1 km can operate with strain sensitivity {approx} 10{sup -19}/{radical}Hz in the 1 Hz-10 Hz band, inaccessible to LIGO, and can detect gravitational waves from solar mass binaries out to megaparsec distances. The satellite experiment with baseline {approx} 1000 km can probe the same frequency spectrum as LISA with comparable strain sensitivity {approx} 10{sup -20}/{radical}Hz. The use of ballistic atoms (instead of mirrors) as inertial test masses improves systematics coming from vibrations, acceleration noise, and significantly reduces spacecraft control requirements. We analyze the backgrounds in this configuration and discuss methods for controlling them to the required levels.