Describes results of a sample survey of the quality of B20, a biodiesel blend, collected from U.S. public pumps and fleets as part of a joint effort by NREL, the NBB, and engine manufacturers.

Presentation on renewable energy innovations and policies by Dr. Dan Arvizu of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Presentation on renewable energy innovations and policies by Dr. Dan Arvizu of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

This presentation summarizes the approach used to update the U.S. geothermal supply curve.

This presentation covers modeling metal fatigue as a key step in photovoltaic (PV) module lifetime predictions. Described are time-dependent and time-independent case studies.

This presentation outlines the modeling of thermal fatigue in concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) assemblies.

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The inclusion of interlinked temporal and spatial elements within integrated sensor data enables a tremendous degree of flexibility when analyzing multi-component datasets. The presentation illustrates how to warehouse, process, and analyze high-resolution integrated sensor datasets to support complex system analysis at the entity and system levels. The example cases presented utilizes in-vehicle sensor system data to assess vehicle performance, while integrating a map matching algorithm to link vehicle data to roads to demonstrate the enhanced analysis possible via interlinking data elements. Furthermore, in addition to the flexibility provided, the examples presented illustrate concepts of maintaining proprietary operational information (Fleet DNA) and privacy of study participants (Transportation Secure Data Center) while producing widely distributed data products. Should real-time operational data be logged at high resolution across multiple infrastructure types, map matched to their associated infrastructure, and distributed employing a similar approach; dependencies between urban environment infrastructures components could be better understood. This understanding is especially crucial for the cities of the future where transportation will rely more on grid infrastructure to support its energy demands.

Concentrating solar power (CSP) deployed with thermal energy storage (TES) provides a dispatchable source of renewable energy. The value of CSP with TES, as with other potential generation resources, needs to be established using traditional utility planning tools. Production cost models, which simulate the operation of grid, are often used to estimate the operational value of different generation mixes. CSP with TES has historically had limited analysis in commercial production simulations. This document describes the implementation of CSP with TES in a commercial production cost model. It also describes the simulation of grid operations with CSP in a test system consisting of two balancing areas located primarily in Colorado.

This PowerPoint presentation summarizes a proposed methodology for LEED baseline refrigeration modeling. The presentation discusses why refrigeration modeling is important, the inputs of energy models, resources, reference building model cases, baseline model highlights, example savings calculations and results.

Medium Cr steels have been used in fossil fired power plants for many years because of their excellent high temperature stability and mechanical properties. The environment in a fossil fired power plant is extremely aggressive in terms of corrosion, especially oxidation. This is only accelerated as the operating temperature increases to 650C and beyond. For any new steel to be qualified for power plant use, in addition to adequate strength at the operating temperature, material wastage from all corrosion processes must be kept to a minimum acceptable level. The use of medium Cr steels provides a means to improve overall corrosion resistance. Three medium Cr are under development for use as high temperature power plant steels: 0.08C-(9-12)Cr-1.2Ni-0.7Mo-3.0Cu-3.0Co-0.5Ti. Oxidation tests were performed on the steels for times greater than 1000 hours in order to determine the oxidation kinetics and extent of material wastage. Also, rare earth oxides were incorporated into the outer surface layers of the steels to see if the oxidation resistance could be improved. These results will be compared to current power plant steels.

Requirements for a standard test to rate the durability of photovoltaic (PV) modules at system voltage are discussed.

This presentation discusses the Building America Program. This presentation discusses the background and goals of the program. A few hot topic technologies are discussed. Outreach activities are discussed as well.

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With support from General Motors, NREL researchers converted and tested a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) with three energy storage configurations: a nickel metal-hydride battery and two ultracapacitor (Ucap) modules. They found that the HEV equipped with one Ucap module performed as well as or better than the HEV with a stock NiMH battery configuration. Thus, Ucaps could increase the market penetration and fuel savings of HEVs.

EERE's Solar Energy Technologies Program is charged with leading the Secretary's SunShot Initiative to reduce the cost of electricity from solar by 75% to be cost competitive with conventional energy sources without subsidy by the end of the decade. As part of this Initiative, the program has funded the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop module manufacturing and solar PV system installation cost models to ensure that the program's cost reduction targets are carefully aligned with current and near term industry costs. The NREL cost analysis team has leveraged the laboratories' extensive experience in the areas of project finance and deployment, as well as industry partnerships, to develop cost models that mirror the project cost analysis tools used by project managers at leading U.S. installers. The cost models are constructed through a "bottoms-up" assessment of each major cost element, beginning with the system's bill of materials, labor requirements (type and hours) by component, site-specific charges, and soft costs. In addition to the relevant engineering, procurement, and construction costs, the models also consider all relevant costs to an installer, including labor burdens and overhead rates, supply chain costs, and overhead and materials inventory costs, and assume market-specific profits.

Degradation modes in photovoltaic modules under system bias voltage stress are described and classified.

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This presentation for the January Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach webinar outlines the expanded need for workers in the wind industry and provides an overview of the DOE Wind Competition (to be held in May 2014) and the guiding principles of the competition.

The ability to accurately predict power delivery over the course of time is of vital importance to the growth of the photovoltaic (PV) industry. Two key cost drivers are the efficiency with which sunlight is converted to power and secondly how this relationship develops over time. The accurate knowledge of power decline over time, also known as degradation rates, is essential and important to all stakeholders--utility companies, integrators, investors, and scientists alike. Different methods to determine degradation rates and discrete versus continuous data are presented, and some general best practice methods are outlined. In addition, historical degradation rates and some preliminary analysis with respect to climate are given.

This presentation discusses the utilization of molten salt as the heat transfer fluid in a parabolic trough solar field to improve system performance and to reduce the levelized electricity.

Recently there has been an interest in the use of thermoplastic encapsulant materials in photovoltaic modules to replace chemically crosslinked materials, e.g., ethylene-vinyl acetate. The related motivations include the desire to: reduce lamination time or temperature; use less moisture-permeable materials; or use materials with better corrosion characteristics. However, the use of any thermoplastic material in a high-temperature environment raises safety and performance concerns, as the standardized tests currently do not expose the modules to temperatures in excess of 85C, yet modules may experience temperatures above 100C in operation. Here we constructed eight pairs of crystalline-silicon modules and eight pairs of glass/encapsulation/glass mock modules using different encapsulation materials of which only two were designed to chemically crosslink. One module set was exposed outdoors with insulation on the back side in Arizona in the summer, and an identical set was exposed in environmental chambers. High precision creep measurements and performance measurements indicate that despite many of these polymeric materials being in the melt state at some of the highest outdoor temperatures achievable, very little creep was seen because of their high viscosity, temperature heterogeneity across the modules, and in the case of the crystalline-silicon modules, the physical restraint of the backsheet. These …

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.