The objective is to assist the Department of Energy in the development of a low cost, reliable and high performance air compressor/expander. Technical Objective 1: Perform a turbocompressor systems PEM fuel cell trade study to determine the enhanced turbocompressor approach. Technical Objective 2: Using the results from technical objective 1, an enhanced turbocompressor will be fabricated. The design may be modified to match the flow requirements of a selected fuel cell system developer. Technical Objective 3: Design a cost and performance enhanced compact motor and motor controller. Technical Objective 4: Turbocompressor/motor controller development.

The project description is R and D activities at NREL and Sandia aimed at lowering the delivered energy cost of parabolic trough collector systems and FOA awards to support industry in trought development. The primary objectives are: (1) support development of near-term parabolic trought technology for central station power generation; (2) support development of next-generation trought fields; and (3) support expansion of US trough industry. The major FY08 activities were: (1) improving reflector optics; (2) reducing receiver heat loss (including improved receiver coating and mitigating hydrogen accumulation); (3) measuring collector optical efficiency; (4) optimizing plant performance and reducing cost; (5) reducing plant water consumption; and (6) directly supporting industry needs, including FOA support.

In order to keep the electricity grid stable and the lights on, the power system relies on certain responses from its generating fleet. This presentation evaluates the potential for wind turbines and wind power plants to provide these services and assist the grid during critical times.

A discussion of the tools and resources on the Clean Cities, Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center, and the FuelEconomy.gov Web sites that can help vehicle fleet managers make informed decisions about implementing strategies to reduce gasoline and diesel fuel use.

This analysis evaluates CSP with TES in a scenario where California derives 33% of its electricity from renewable energy sources. It uses a commercial grid simulation tool to examine the avoided operational and capacity costs associated with CSP and compares this value to PV and a baseload generation with constant output. Overall, the analysis demonstrates several properties of dispatchable CSP, including the flexibility to generate during periods of high value and avoid generation during periods of lower value. Of note in this analysis is the fact that significant amount of operational value is derived from the provision of reserves in the case where CSP is allowed to provide these services. This analysis also indicates that the 'optimal' configuration of CSP could vary as a function of renewable penetration, and each configuration will need to be evaluated in terms of its ability to provide dispatchable energy, reserves, and firm capacity. The model can be used to investigate additional scenarios involving alternative technology options and generation mixes, applying these scenarios within California or in other regions of interest.

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This presentation provides an overview of the Built Environment Energy Analysis Tool, which is designed to assess impacts of future land use/built environment patterns on transportation-related energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The tool can be used to evaluate a range of population distribution and urban design scenarios for 2030 and 2050. This tool was produced as part of the Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project, a Department of Energy-sponsored multi-agency project initiated to pinpoint underexplored strategies for abating GHGs and reducing petroleum dependence related to transportation.

Because of the sensitivity of some photovoltaic devices to moisture-induced corrosion, they are packaged using impermeable front- and back-sheets with an edge seal to prevent moisture ingress. Evaluation of edge seal materials can be difficult because of the low permeation rates involved and/or non-Fickian behavior. Here, using a Ca film deposited on a glass substrate, we demonstrate the evaluation of edge seal materials in a manner that effectively duplicates their use in a photovoltaic application and compare the results with standard methods for measuring water vapor transport. We demonstrate how moisture permeation data from polymer films can be used to estimate moisture ingress rates and compare the results of these two methods. Encapsulant materials were also evaluated for comparison and to highlight the need for edge seals. Of the materials studied, dessicant-filled polyisobutene materials demonstrate by far the best potential to keep moisture out for a 20 to 30 year lifetime.

This presentation describes the choices available and requirements for batteries for electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Electric-drive vehicles enabled by power- and energy-dense batteries promise to improve vehicle efficiency and help reduce society's dependence on fossil fuels. Next generation plug-in hybrid vehicles and battery electric vehicles may also enable vehicles to be powered by electricity generated from clean, renewable resources; however, to increase the commercial viability of such vehicles, the cost, performance and life of the vehicles batteries must be further improved. This work illustrates a virtual design process to optimize the performance and life of large-format lithium ion batteries. Beginning with material-level kinetic and transport properties, the performance and life of multiple large-format cell designs are evaluated, demonstrating the impact of macroscopic design parameters such as foil thickness, tab location, and cell size and shape under various cycling conditions. Challenges for computer-aided engineering of large-format battery cells, such as competing requirements and objectives, are discussed.

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The project overview of this presentation is: (1) description--(a) laboratory R and D in advanced heat transfer fluids (HTF) and thermal storage systems; (b) FOA activities in solar collector and component development for use of molten salt as a heat transfer and storage fluid; (c) applications for all activities include line focus and point focus solar concentrating technologies; (2) Major FY08 Activities--(a) advanced HTF development with novel molten salt compositions with low freezing temperatures, nanofluids molecular modeling and experimental studies, and use with molten salt HTF in solar collector field; (b) thermal storage systems--cost analysis and updates for 2-tank and thermocline storage and model development and analysis to support near-term trought deployment; (c) thermal storage components--facility upgrade to support molten salt component testing for freeze-thaw receiver testing, long-shafted molten salt pump for parabolic trough and power tower thermal storage systems; (d) CSP FOA support--testing and evaluation support for molten salt component and field testing work, advanced fluids and storage solicitation preparation, and proposal evaluation for new advanced HTF and thermal storage FOA.

The Department of Energy's Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) provides RD&D funding for geothermal exploration technologies with the goal of lowering the risks and costs of geothermal development and exploration. In 2012, NREL was tasked with developing a metric to measure the impacts of this RD&D funding on the cost and time required for exploration activities. The development of this metric included collecting cost and time data for exploration techniques, creating a baseline suite of exploration techniques to which future exploration and cost and time improvements could be compared, and developing an online tool for graphically showing potential project impacts (all available at <a href="http://en.openei.org/wiki/Gateway:Geothermal">http://en.openei.org/wiki/Gateway:Geothermal</a>). The conference paper describes the methodology used to define the baseline exploration suite of techniques (baseline), as well as the approach that was used to create the cost and time data set that populates the baseline. The resulting product, an online tool for measuring impact, and the aggregated cost and time data are available on the Open EI website for public access (<a href="http://en.openei.org">http://en.openei.org</a>).

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This project supports the Solar America Initiative by: (1) assistance to SAI Incubators (Primestar Solar, AvA Solar); (2) providing industry with baseline understanding of CdS/CdTe device formation and reliability--incorporation of low-cost, high quality TCOs, functionality and options for buffer layers, effect of various CdS options, effect of and importance CdSTe alloy formation, effect and options for CdCl{sub 2} treatment, effect and options for back contact, and effect of residual impurities during all stages of device formation; (3) understanding modes and mechanisms of cell-level stability; and (4) establishment of CdTe PDIL Tool for rapid material and process screening.

This project supports the Solar America Initiative by carrying out work on target topics identified for Photovoltaic Systems: (1) Improving cell and module efficiency of thin film Cu(In,Ga)Se2 materials; (2) Implementing the Science and Technology Facility (S&amp;TF) and the Process Development and Integration Laboratory (PDIL) to facilitate laboratory/industry interaction in developing PV manufacturing technologies; (3) Addressing industrial issues in materials and manufacturing processes with the objective to lower the cost of PV power; (4) Providing technology transfer efforts to accelerate transition of thin film PV technology to market and deployment; (5) Assisting R&amp;D efforts to asses and improve reliability and stability of thin film PV products; and (6) Assist the SAI TPPs in technical matters related to CIGS PV technology.

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This presentation is a series of slides showing the accuracy of hourly data on direct and diffuse irradiance in the central U.S. derived from a satellite.

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This study estimates the magnitude of geothermal energy from fifteen major known US sedimentary basins and ranks these basins relative to their potential. Because most sedimentary basins have been explored for oil and gas, well logs, temperatures at depth, and reservoir properties are known. This reduces exploration risk and allows development of geologic exploration models for each basin as well as a relative assessment of geologic risk elements for each play. The total available thermal resource for each basin was estimated using the volumetric heat-in-place method originally proposed by Muffler (USGS). Total sedimentary thickness maps, stratigraphic columns, cross sections, and temperature gradient Information were gathered for each basin from published articles, USGS reports, and state geological survey reports. When published data was insufficient, thermal gradients and reservoir properties were derived from oil and gas well logs obtained on oil and gas commission websites. Basin stratigraphy, structural history, and groundwater circulation patterns were studied in order to develop a model that estimates resource size and temperature distribution, and to qualitatively assess reservoir productivity.

This presentation discusses estimating heat and mass transfer processes in green roof systems: current modeling capabilities and limitations. Green roofs are 'specialized roofing systems that support vegetation growth on rooftops.'

This presentation discusses the evaluation of a lower-energy energy storage system for full-hybrid electric vehicles.

The Jefferson Lab Angular Momentum (JAM) collaboration is a new initiative aimed to the study of the angular-momentum-dependent structure of the nucleon. First results on the determination of spin-dependent parton distribution functions from world data on polarized deep-inelastic scattering will be presented and compared with previous determinations from other groups. Different aspects of global QCD analysis will be discussed, including effects due to nuclear structure, higher twist, and target-mass corrections, as well as the impact of different data selections.