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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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184 records · Page 11

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DOE OSTI2022

Application of Manufacturing Quality Management Principles to PV System Installations

To help SETO/DOE achieve its goals, the IBTS team proposed a project addressing system reliability by improving installation standards and quality management. The proposed approach was designed to help achieve measurable reductions in installation defect density and improvements in the performance of PV systems by optimizing design and installation of residential and commercial PV systems. This approach addressed the soft costs associated with installations and quality management. The project demonstrated improved system reliability and reduced PV system installation costs. The software developed improved operations, decreased risk, and increased the overall value of PV systems across their lifecycle. The project used several data collection methods, including extensive industry surveys, face-to-face high-level interviews at industry conferences, stakeholder teleconferences, and in-depth interviews conducted by IBTS staff. Results from the research found the industry needs a uniform assessment method for national providers to be more efficient; the software should support both code officials and installers; most industry stakeholders would find value in a centralized software system that allows them to collect, report, and review information on in-process and completed solar installations; and mobile solutions that bridge existing knowledge gaps with inspectors and integrate with existing methodologies (such as permitting software) are of great value. The software solution developed is web-based, allowing for national access, and is built on a Google Firebase platform that can handle significant users and data. It can be used onsite or remotely, allowing for code compliance to continue despite ongoing pandemic related delays or shutdowns for local economies. The information provided by the software tool allows users to uniformly assess a system for compliance and use that aggregated data to identify training topics or create internal process designed to improving issues and reducing occurrence. This solution has multiple benefits in managing quality at time of use and promoting an increase in future safety and quality through education. Perhaps most importantly, this software increases public safety by ensuring compliance of installed systems and allows for local AHJs to remotely engage specialized and qualified solar specific expertise for oversite of the installation in their jurisdictions. Data analysis provides the quality feedback loop identifying the root cause of failure and drives installation practices to improve through training and education, resulting in systems with higher performance, greater reliability, and reduced operations and maintenance costs. With the successful completion of this project, the industry can expect reduced soft costs and increased performance and safety and will ultimately benefit from longer performing systems that cost less to operate.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Achieving Integrated Daylighting and Electric Lighting Systems: Current State of the Art and Needed Research

This paper presents the results of a multi-disciplinary scoping study, the goals of which were to see the seamless integration and application of light in buildings, regardless of source, that is purposely modulated to illuminate surfaces and designed in a way that is comfortable, healthy, pleasing, cost effective, and energy efficient. The scoping study was performed in order to set the stage for transforming the design and realization of lighting systems integration (daylight and electric). This, in turn, will support achieving the the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) long-term energy savings goals. Holistic lighting systems of the future should include components that are adaptable to change, resilient to disruption, and robust. The system of codes, standards, guidelines, and contracts employed to design and implement lighting systems should be structured to help them to flourish, rather than being barriers to realization. Finally, the research thrusts and mechanisms should be engaged with these goals in mind. While integrated lighting systems may reduce lighting energy use in buildings, a broader web of non-energy impacts affecting occupant’s overall health, comfort, and satisfaction may also guide technology investment goals when the entire lighting systems lifecycle is considered. Daylighting systems are separated from electric lighting systems, and both are characteristically detached from other systems such as safety, security, communications, and information systems. Being disconnected from the inputs and outputs of other building systems precludes the ability to acquire and utilize information about occupation, status of systems, and interior and exterior environmental conditions. The outcome of this separation is that the standard building is not fulfilling the potential for creating dynamic and holistic lighting for building occupants.

Davis, Robert G.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Short-Lived Modules Need to be Efficient, Lightweight, and Circular for the Energy Transition

Deployment projections for decarbonizing the grid predict 1.75 TW of PV is needed in the United States by 2050. This entails a cumulative demand of 97 million metric tonnes of virgin materials for c-Si modules. These material needs are extraction and energy intensive, making them a key target for improving PV sustainability. Emerging PV technologies, such as perovskites, are targeting 15-year modules, high efficiencies, and circular designs. Previous analysis found that by just modifying the life expectancy to 15 years (keeping target c-Si efficiencies and BOM), an additional 1.4 TW of replacement modules are required to maintain capacity, increasing virgin material demand by 1.75x unless >95% closed-loop recycling is maintained. This study examines the effect of achieving higher efficiencies with thin-film designs and a 15-year expectancy. Higher efficiencies and thin film designs can decrease deployment and material demands, making the level of circularity more attainable. If BOM mass is reduced by 50%, closed-loop recycling rates need to be >80% to reduce virgin material demands compared to a 35-yr c-Si module. If module efficiencies are 30%, closed-loop recycling rates can be reduced to 65%. This efficiency increase also reflects that 1500 million fewer modules can be deployed, however, this is still 2000 million more modules than a 35-year module needs to deploy to achieve energy transition targets, and no PV technology is closed-loop recycled for all component materials.

circular economy↗

DOE OSTI2023

A Comprehensive Assessment Tool for Low-TRL Current Energy Converters

Along with a market-competitive levelized cost of energy, a current energy converter technology strongly benefits from an extensive consideration of socioeconomic, environmental, and regulatory factors early in the design process. As part of a technology performance level assessment, a series of assessment questions and guidance are developed and presented to evaluate an early-stage current energy technology on holistic criteria considering the entire device lifecycle. The assessment represents an accumulation of industry and research experience to date and relies on regular updates to ensure alignment with industry best-practices, regulatory requirements, and up-to-date technical understanding. A cradle-to-grave (materials, manufacturing, installation and deployment, operations and maintenance, and end-of-life) assessment of capabilities and functional requirements (i.e., high, medium, and low) performance criteria for current energy converters deployed in tidal, ocean current, and/or river applications. Key considerations related to manufacturing and installation include supply chain robustness, manufacturability and related job creation in the end-user and/or adjacent communities, and the time-to-repayment of the embodied energy debt. During deployment and maintenance operations, the safety of the device and subsystems during disconnect or grid failure, the difficulty and frequency of offshore heavy-lift activities, the avoidance or mitigation of area-use conflicts, the sea-states and weather conditions that permit maintenance access, and the availability of contingency plans (should conditions change unexpectedly) are a portion of the considered assessment criteria. Results include the potential impact of early-stage design decisions on the socioeconomic, environmental, and regulatory performance of a technology that allows developers to increase the product value and probability of success, and minimize costly late-stage design iterations through early and broad consideration of factors affecting overall performance and acceptability.

life cycle analysis↗