Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Final Technical Report”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Final Technical Report for DE-FG02-86ER45268

This work addresses several key issues for understanding the unusual superconductivity in IBS, already shown to be technologically useful materials. 1a). Are reactive gasses like fluorine, chlorine, or water vapor behaving simply as electron donors to cause the superconductivity (at T conset =21 K) in undoped IBS like BaFe 2 As 2 ? 1b). Does exposure to fluorine increase T c in electron-doped IBS materials that are underdoped, e. g. Ba(Fe 0.96 Co 0.04 ) 2 As 2 ? 1c). Can fluorine as a reactive electron-donor, with its relatively greater ease of introduction into the lattice, be used as a rapid tool to search for superconductivity in new materials under investigation? Method of investigation: Using electron probe microanalysis, x-ray photoemission spectroscopy, and dynamical mean field theory calculations, we found that fluorine substitutes for As in the BaFe 2 As 2 lattice, and should therefore behave as an electron donor. We will F-dope Ba(Fe 0.96 Co 0.04 ) 2 As 2 and several new compounds under investigation for superconductivity upon doping to determine fluorine’s effect. Potential impact: If – like for fluorine - a brief exposure to hydrogen indeed causes superconductivity to a depth of 10 microns, this technique could be useful in creating long lengths of superconducting tape without the chemical aggressiveness of fluorine. Using the F ion, which substitutes for As - away from the Fe planes, in underdoped IBS like Ba(Fe 0.96 Co 0.04 ) 2 As 2 may form optimally doped IBS with less impurity scattering of the superconducting Fe 3d electrons resulting in improved superconducting properties. Another potential impact is the speed of checking for superconductivity in new materials under investigation for superconductivity upon doping. 2. What are the effects of Be substitution into IBS, beginning with FeSe and its derivatives (FeSe 1-x S x and FeSe 1-x Te x ) and BaFe 2-x Co x As 2 ? Method of investigation: We recently succeeded in adding Be to the FeSe lattice and found, surprisingly, a factor of four improvement of the low temperature residual resistivity ratio, consistent with improved electronic ordering. Using single crystal x-ray diffraction and x-ray dispersive spectroscopy, determine the concentration and location of the Be dopant. Using resistivity, determine if there is improvement in the residual resistivity achieved by Be doping in the FeSe derivatives (using AlCl 3 :KCl flux growth) and Co-doped BaFe 2 As 2 (using self-flux single crystal growth). Measuring resistivity under strain, determine the changes of the nematic susceptibility at the structural ordering transition causes by the increase in electronic order caused by Be doping in FeSe. Potential impact: Further understanding of IBS, including FeSe which - under physical pressure - has a T c increase to 40 K and -prepared as a monolayer - has a T c reported to be over 100 K. 3. In collaboration, prepare light atom compounds involving Be and look for high pressure-induced superconductivity.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Predicting Execution Times for Disk-based and In-Situ Parallel Data Analytics (Final Technical Report)

In recent years, there has been a significant amount of interests in in-situ analytics on simulation programs. For a variety of reasons, it is desirable to be able to predict the execution time of an analytics program. At the same time, frameworks such as MapReduce have become popular for scientific data analytics. This paper focuses on developing performance models for predicting execution time of parallel data analytics, with a special emphasis on in-situ analytics. We take two distinct approach towards performance prediction. We first expand SKOPE (a SKeleton framewOrk for Performance Exploration) with performance models for disk data read, cache performance, and page fault penalty. Second, an analytical performance model is also developed. We have evaluated our performance prediction framework as well as the analytical model on three hardware setups with well-known data mining algorithms implemented in three programming paradigms, MapReduce, MATE (a MapReduce-like parallel system with an alternate API for multi-core environments) and Smart (a MapReduce-like framework for in-situ analytics). Results show that our performance prediction framework along with the incorporated performance models are capable of accurately predicting execution times for parallel scientific analytics on different hardware setups.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Liquid helium fluid dynamics studies. Final Technical Report

Future high energy physics accelerators depend on a number of advanced technologies to open the many doors of scientific discovery. Among these advanced technologies, superconducting magnets and superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities are the backbone of the accelerator and detector systems. But all these low temperature systems depend critically on successful and reliable operation of their supporting technologies, among which the liquid helium cooling system is of the utmost importance. To improve the quality of these systems both in terms of efficiency and reliability, a robust helium cryogenics research and development (R&D) effort is required. The proposed research to be conducted by the FSU cryogenics group aims to produce fundamental knowledge that meets this R&D need. The projects that we have completed over the past grant period at Florida State University consist of experimental research on liquid helium fluid dynamics and heat transfer problems relevant to the development of future superconducting particle physics accelerators. Liquid helium is the coolant used in all such facilities and in many of these facilities He II (the low temperature phase of liquid helium also known as superfluid helium) is preferred due to its outstanding heat transfer characteristics. The work consists of two main experimental studies that probe both fundamental as well as practical aspects of liquid helium cooling. The first is a broad and fundamental study of the heat and mass transfer processes that can occur during a sudden catastrophic loss of vacuum (SCLV) incident in a superconducting accelerator. SCLV refers to the remote but extremely critical accident scenario where atmospheric pressure air is allowed to flood into the insulating vacuum system and impinge on the liquid helium cooled surfaces in the accelerator. Safe performance and recovery from such accidents is essential to the reliable operation of superconducting accelerators. The dynamics of this process is quite complex and so our approach is to conduct a series of well-orchestrated experiments that probe the various physical phenomena that can occur during an SCLV event. The experiments are coupled with analytic and numerical analysis in an effort to develop a general understanding of the process and to assist with future accelerator design and development. The second activity is directed toward fundamental understanding of heat and mass transfer in He II, which is essential to the design of superconducting magnets and radio frequency cavities in accelerators. The work consists of flow visualization of the dynamics of He II using laser assisted techniques. Two complementary techniques are used to study the fundamentals of the turbulent state. The first technique uses neutrally buoyant solid hydrogen particles to probe the flow fields of the superfluid and normal fluid components. The other technique uses laser excited He2* molecules as tracers of the normal fluid motion within the He II. The activities also included an effort to use visualization techniques to locate transient hot spots in radio frequency superconducting cavities. Such work provides valuable information about the heat transfer process in He II and its impact on the performance of superconducting devices. The research effort at Florida State University is not directly in support of a specific high energy physics experiment or facility. Rather, the work is general and coordinated with HEP accelerator laboratories to provide valuable insight that can assist with future accelerator development.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Phase I Final Technical Report on Energy-Efficient Reconfigurable Universal Accelerator Interconnect

It is well known that application specific computing systems, optimally designed and configured for a given workload, offer much higher energy-efficiency and throughput than general purpose systems. In modern computing systems, heterogeneous computing systems have emerged that exploit the energy and performance benefits of combining various different domain-specific processor architectures. Application domains such as high-performance computing and machine learning now process terabyte-sized data sets, requiring enormous processing and memory resources. These applications have very high-power consumption due to bottlenecks in the electrical interconnection between processing units. This project aims to reduce both communication energy and latency by integrating universally available accelerators with silicon photonics. It also aims to increase system throughput by exploiting emerging technologies in silicon photonic reconfigurable interconnects; this will allow the system to balance itself in real time to accommodate changes in workloads and data flows.

2.5D/3D integration↗
DOE OSTI2020

Nuclear Theory (Final Technical Report)

This Grant spans a period of 29 years. Achievements of the principal investigator for Task A (F. Iachello), and of the principal investigator for Task B (Y. Alhassid) during this period. Because of the large span in years, the achievements of the P.I. are many, both within the realm of Nuclear Physics and in Interdisciplinary subjects (Hadronic Physics, Molecular Physics, Crystal Physics and Mathematical Physics).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dryland feedbacks to future climate change: how species mortality and replacement will affect coupled biogeochemical cycles and energy balance (Final Technical Report)

The overall goal of the dryland climate manipulation experiment is to improve our understanding and ability to forecast dryland responses to increasing temperatures and altered precipitation regimes. Drylands cover over 40% of Earth’s terrestrial surface and are predicted to increase in size 11-23% by 2100. Yet our understanding of this vast biome, which exchanges enormous amounts of CO 2 and energy with the atmosphere, is exceedingly poor. This project aims to transform and improve that understanding in order to reduce uncertainty and increase the confidence with which we can make global predictions of future climate. We focus on both above- and belowground processes, and explore temperature controls over critical aspects of carbon and nutrient cycling for dryland plants, soil, and microbes. We have 60 climate manipulation plots where plants (from above the canopy) and soils are warmed using infrared lamps and where precipitation has been altered using targeted watering regimes. We have measured myriad aspects of plant physiology, morphology, carbon exchange, energy exchange, and phenology, as well as analogous climate-induced changes to biological soil crusts and soil microbial communities. Our goals are to investigate temperature responses and acclimation potential of dryland plant and soil processes. Concurrent soil incubation experiments complement the in-situ soil warming component and enable more controlled mechanistic investigations of temperature response on microbial function. Automated soil CO 2 efflux chambers within the plots provide phenomenal opportunity to improve our understanding of dryland CO 2 exchange with the atmosphere and are coupled with plant CO 2 exchange measurements. The project has been exceptionally successful, with 35 peer-reviewed publications (and more in review), including in high-profile journals such as Nature Climate Change and PNAS. We have given over fifty presentations on the work and it has been featured in many high-profile media outlets, such as Discover Magazine and on NPR.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

W.A. Parish Post-Combustion CO 2 Capture and Sequestration Demonstration Project (Final Technical Report)

The Petra Nova Project (Project) is a commercial scale post-combustion carbon capture project developed by a joint venture between NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) and JX Nippon Oil Exploration (EOR) Limited (JX). The Project is designed to separate and capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from an existing coal-fired unit’s flue gas slipstream at NRG’s W.A. Parish Electric Generating Station (WAP) located southwest of Houston, Texas. The captured CO2 is dried, compressed, and transported via an 81-mile pipeline to the West Ranch oilfield (West Ranch) in Jackson County, Texas, where it is injected to boost oil production. The Project, which is partially funded by a grant (Grant) from the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) under the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) Round 3, uses the Kansai Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery advanced amine-based CO 2 absorption technology (KM-CDR Process®), which was jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and the Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc., to treat and capture at least ninety percent (90%) of the CO 2 from a 240-megawatt equivalent (MWe) flue gas slipstream off of Unit 8 at WAP. When operating at full capacity, the Project captures approximately 5,200 short tons of CO 2 per day, which would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere, representing the largest commercial scale deployment of post-combustion CO2 capture technology at a coal power plant to date. Under the Grant, the Project was managed in 3 phases: (1) Phase 1: Project Definition / Front End Engineering Design (FEED) (2) Phase 2: Detailed Engineering, Procurement & Construction (3) Phase 3: Demonstration and Monitoring. On December 29, 2016, commercial operation of the Project was achieved, ending Phase 2 and starting Phase 3, a 3-year demonstration period running from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2019. The key objectives of Phase 3 were to (a) demonstrate the specific advanced technologies constructed during Phase 2 and (b) monitor the injected CO 2 at West Ranch to demonstrate technologies and protocols for monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA). As of the end of Phase 3, Petra Nova captured 3,904,978 short tons of CO 2 (3,542,537 metric tons) that was transported to West Ranch. To support the DOE obligation to monitor, verify, and account for the sequestered CO 2 at West Ranch, Petra Nova contracted with the Bureau of Economic Geology (in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin) to (a) design a monitoring program, (b) draft an MVA Plan for DOE review and approval, and (c) working with Petra Nova and the operator of West Ranch to manage and report on the MVA activity. This report discussed the technical aspects of the project during each of the 3 phases of the project as identified above.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2020

Final Technical Report for project entitled Highly Active, Durable, and Ultra-Low PGM NSTF Thin Film ORR Catalysts and Support

In this project, the objective was to develop new oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) which could exceed all of the Department of Energy (DOE) 2020 targets listed in DE-FOA-0001224, Subtopic 1b, Table I. The expected outcome was development of one or more electrocatalysts which are substantially improved over the current state-of-the-art in terms of overall activity, durability, and cost, and are suitable for automotive traction and stationary fuel cell applications. This report summarizes this project’s progress towards meeting the stated objectives and includes a summary of key findings and conclusions. The development activities towards new highly active and durable thin film electrocatalysts has led to the discovery of several electrocatalysts which approached or exceeded several DOE 2020 targets for activity, durability, and performance in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs). In this project, electrocatalyst development focused on systematic physical and electrochemical characterization of electrocatalyst activity, durability, and performance in MEAs as a function of electrocatalyst fabrication, compositional and structural variables. The project approach was to develop relationships between the catalyst functional responses (activity, durability and performance) with catalyst physical properties and catalyst fabrication methods. Additionally, the thin film catalysts were integrated onto the unique and durable 3M Nanostructured Thin Film (NSTF) support, consisting of arrays of self-assembled organic crystalline whiskers. The catalysts were evaluated against the project targets via extensive electrochemical characterization in MEA format at 3M, advanced structural and compositional microscopy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and atomic structure analysis via XAFS at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The extensive electrochemical and physical characterization resulted in development of several trends which correlate the catalysts’ electrochemical properties to their physical properties, including composition, structure, and method of fabrication. The development was guided by density functional theory (DFT) modeling at Purdue University and kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) modeling at Johns Hopkins University. The catalyst simulations provided key insights into the observed experimental activity and durability trends, and additionally were utilized to assess new electrocatalyst concepts prior to or coincident with physical catalyst development. This development has led to several electrocatalyst candidates with activity and durability which approach or exceed DOE targets. One class of catalysts, based on nm-scale thin layers of Pt on Ir, met or exceeded 6 of the 6 DOE targets the project addressed.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2020

Final-Technical Report for DE-FG02-98ER14888

This report describes the history and accomplishments of DE-FG02-98ER14888. The project focuses on synthesis and characterization of self-assembled ionophores for remediation and separation of various cations and anions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Beam-ion Studies in NSTX and NSTX-U (Final Technical Report)

The confinement of high energy "fast ions" is crucial for the success of magnetic fusion as a practical energy source. The research performed by UC Irvine on NSTX and NSTX-U provided new information about this important topic in the configuration known as a "spherical tokamak." Injected neutral beams provided the fast ions (also known as "beam ions"). There were five overarching goals of the research. One objective was to measure the confinement of beam ions in order to ascertain if they were accomplishing their desired purpose of transferring their energy to the bulk plasma. A second goal was to better understand instabilities that are driven unstable by the fast ions. A related goal was to use the similarities and differences between NSTX and the DIII-D conventional tokamak to better understand the fast-ion driven instabilities. A fourth goal was to develop new instruments to measure fast ions and techniques that facilitate analysis of the data. The fifth objective was to measure and understand acceleration of beam ions by RF waves. Much was accomplished in all of these five areas. In the first, it was shown that the large magnetic moment of the beam ions did not harm confinement but instabilities known as the "sawtooth" and "long-lived mode" do. In the second area, much attention was devoted to the fast-ion instabilities known as "Alfvén eigenmodes." In particular, Alfvén eigenmode "avalanches" can cause ~ 30% of the fast ions to be lost in a single explosive burst. The comparative studies with DIII-D showed that an instability discovered on NSTX is also important in conventional tokamaks. In the fourth category, several instruments were developed, a number of effects that complicate interpretation of the data were understood, and progress toward a new method to infer the fast-ion distribution function from the data was made. In the fifth category, the measured profile of accelerated fast ions was initially much broader than theoretical predictions but subsequent improvements in the theoretical modeling achieved good agreement with the data.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Harnessing the Hydroelectric Potential of Engineered Drops (Final Technical Report)

The potential for low-head hydropower in the engineered drops in both federal and private irrigation system is well known and significant. The environmental and socio/recreational impacts of harnessing this renewable energy resource in man-made conduits are much less, and often insignificant, compared with comparable hydro-electric potential in natural water features on rivers, lakes, and streams. Yet, few new plants have been commissioned in more than two decades. Over the same time period, low head hydro installations in Germany have more than doubled. The challenge is in finding economical ways to harness the hydro-electric potential in the engineered drops, and efficiently deliver the power to the grid. The objectives of Percheron Power, LLC's (Percheron Power) Project were to design, develop, permit, and operate an innovative low-head hydro-electric generation facility on an existing engineered drop of a large irrigation canal system. The hydro-electric generation facility was designed to employ a new type of turbine and technology, called an Archimedes Hydrodynamic Screw (AHS), to harness the existing potential of the engineered drop. The goal was to demonstrate the new lower cost AHS technology system to federal agencies, irrigation districts and other system owners and to support further development of new small hydropower projects at previously marginal low-head sites in the U.S. The objective of this funding opportunity of the Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office was to reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for small hydropower to less than ${$}$0.07/kWh (${$}$70/MWh) to be competitive with existing base-load power sources such as coal-powered power plants.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Structure and Dynamics of Domains in Ferroelectric Nanostructures – Phase-Field Modeling (Final Technical Report)

Domain pattern formation is one of the most common phenomena in nature and is a topic of immense interest in many fields ranging from materials science and physics to chemistry and biology. This DOE sponsored research project explored the basic science concerning the thermodynamic stability of mesoscale polarization domain patterns and their temporal evolution mechanisms during formation and subsequent switching in ferroelectric nanostructures and heterostructures. The project employed the computational phase-field method in combination of microelasticity and electrostatic theories. The research was carried out in close collaboration with a number of experimental groups who used High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), in situ TEM with Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM), or Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM) to characterize the domain structures and dynamics of ferroelectric thin films and heterostructures and who grow high-quality ferroelectric and multiferroic thin films using advanced growth techniques such as Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLLD), and sputtering. The research efforts of the project help establish the phase-field method as the most powerful method for understanding and predicting domain structures in ferroelectric thin films and nanostructures. The findings of the project led to the basic understanding of stability and switching mechanisms of ferroelectric domains under different mechanical boundary conditions and under either homogeneous capacitor configurations or local fields using metallic probes as electrodes and the emergence of charged domain walls during domain switching. The project predicted the spatial length scales, temperature ranges, and electromechanical conditions for different polar states in heterostructures and guided the discovery of both transient and stable novel polarization states containing vortex lattices in oxide superlattices. The project resulted in 134 journal publications and 6 PhD theses with all the PhD graduates currently working in either academia or industry within the United States. The basic understanding on the stability of mesoscale polar states and pattern evolution achieved by the project improved our ability to control and engineer properties of ferroelectric thin films and heterostructures for potential applications in nanoscale electronic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Programmable Dynamic Self-Assembly of DNA Nanostructures (Final Technical Report)

This technical report summarizes our research toward the synthesis of active biomolecular materials that take advantage of the biological properties of DNA and RNA, but can operate in non-biological contexts. Our approach takes inspiration from the dynamic assembly and disassembly of cytoskeletal filaments inside cells, and focuses on the generation of artificial filaments with comparable adaptation and responsiveness. We report the construction of DNA nanotube systems that assemble and disassemble reversibly in response to a variety of molecular stimuli including other nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), enzymes, and pH, as well as our progress on developing a reaction network framework to regulate self-assembly. Our DNA polymers are active in that they rely on the programmable energetics of hybridization and on the kinetics of enzymatic reactions to perform assembly and disassembly. Results include experiments and computational models. The research described here was performed between June 15, 2016 and June 15, 2019 at the University of California at Riverside with the support of the collaborative award DE-SC0010595 to PI Elisa Franco at UC Riverside and PI Rebecca Schulman at Johns Hopkins. The report focuses on the research performed by the team of PI Franco. The report also details work performed during a no-cost extension (June 15, 2019 - December 15, 2019) awarded to PI Guillermo Aguilar and PI Franco.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

First Look West (FLoW 2.0) (Final Technical Report for Closeout)

DOE’s Cleantech UP was an annual business plan competition, operating nationally between 2015 and 2018 through eight regional nodes that included Caltech’s FLOW. Cleantech UP focused on supporting university students at all levels creating cleantech startups. FLOW operated nationally with a focus on California. In support of the DOE’s objectives FLOW developed an immersive five point program that targeted major gaps in the educational support and practical resources available to scientists and engineers starting their first cleantech companies that prevented such young innovators from becoming entrepreneurs. Specifically, the FLOW program augmented the number of participants entering the energy entrepreneurship pipeline via the Cleantech UP competition; helped the US remain competitive by increasing the viability and financing potential of these cleantech companies started by young academics; and helped build the regional, state and national infrastructure that spurs and supports entrepreneurship. Each year the FLOW featured two major judging rounds for candidates drawn from as many as 80 applicants annually, providing essential experience and feedback that helped define the direction of these young entrepreneurs. The FLOW winners competed at the DOE’s national event, and FLOW companies took the top prize twice in the total history of the DOE program which was started in 2011.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Putting Data to Work (Final Technical Report)

The Putting Data to Work project was designed to pilot and summarize the use of building energy performance data to improve energy efficiency program design and delivery in DC and NYC. By doing this, the project aimed to expand the market for energy efficiency in multifamily and commercial buildings by producing a toolkit of resources for other jurisdictions to replicate the successes found in the project cities.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Investigation of spin and magnetism in two dimensional materials with atomic-scale spatial resolution (Final Technical Report)

Spintronics is an approach to energy-efficient electronics beyond silicon CMOS that utilizes the electron’s spin degree of freedom for memory and logic. The record spin diffusion length in graphene has generated considerable interest in two dimensional (2D) materials (i.e. graphene and beyond) as a platform for spintronics. Magnetism in 2D van der Waals materials may offer additional opportunities for tunability via strain, external fields, and layer-dependent quantum effects. The inherently atomic-scale nature of exchange interactions and the inherently all-surface nature of 2D sheets motivate an integrated approach combining atomic-scale magnetic characterization, epitaxial growth, and nanodevice fabrication. The mission of the research is to develop and utilize atomic-scale imaging of spin and magnetism via spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in conjunction with atom-by-atom materials growth via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and nanoscale device fabrication to explore new frontiers of spintronics and quantum science in 2D materials. The PIs are particularly motivated by understanding how the magnetic and spin-dependent properties at the atomic scale lead to interesting and potentially useful phenomena in spintronic devices at the macroscopic scale.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Montana Community-Scale Solar Strategy Project (Final Technical Report)

Grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) development began gradually in Montana, initially taking root in the early 2000s, largely in the form of small residential systems, rarely larger than two kilowatts. Utility support for solar technology through public benefit funding triggered the installation of the state’s first solar PV installations on community-owned facilities including schools, libraries, fire stations and local government buildings in the mid-2000s. By 2016, solar PV installations totaled approximately 28 megawatts of installed capacity, generating less than 0.05% of electricity sold in Montana. Montana’s solar fleet in 2016 included 17 megawatts of utility-scale solar farms, and three shared solar projects developed by rural electric cooperatives that ranged from 25 to 50 kilowatts in size. However, with only 3,000 households utilizing solar PV, either through an on-site installation or participation in a shared solar project, the potential benefits and reach of solar technology was limited. The Montana Solar Community Project (MSCP) was developed by the Montana Energy Office (MEO) at the Department of Environmental Quality in order to implement a “community-scale” solar energy strategy for the state that would cost-effectively expand Montanans’ access to solar PV. This project defines three types of community-scale solar projects: shared solar, community-sited solar, and group purchasing programs. The MSCP project conducted research and stakeholder engagement that helped to inform and develop model community-scale initiatives and an overarching community-scale solar strategy for Montana. Specifically, the project included a solar market assessment, stakeholder meetings across Montana, development of a menu of community-scale solar options, a study of solar potential on schools, community solar market research, and community-scale project implementation support. MSCP activities were successful in implementing solar projects and supporting solar development in communities across Montana. Project activities realized 280 kW of newly installed solar from two solarize programs, a shared solar array at a rural electric cooperative, and a solar array atop a Bozeman high school. The community-scale project implementation support and Solar on Schools components of the project resulted directly in the analysis and design of nearly 2 MW of distributed solar systems across the state. The Solar on Schools analysis alone produced solar designs for 25 schools, representing 920.8 kW of solar potential. Many of the deliverables from this project provide guidance on future development of community-scale solar in Montana, and resulted in a number of important conclusions about community-scale solar in Montana. There is strong interest in community-scale solar in Montana, as noted during stakeholder meetings, in response to solar market research surveys, and as seen by applications for implementation support grants provided by MEO. Project activities also suggest that Montanans demonstrated a desire and need for more information about solar energy technology, solar financing options, and the state’s policy and regulatory framework. Additionally, the project found that schools will be key partners for future community-scale solar programs. In addition to being excellent hosts for solar arrays, schools have the opportunity to use the installation of a solar array to develop educational materials and curricula to educate Montana’s future leaders about these technologies, which can be shared and replicated across the state. Project activities laid a clear path forward for solar energy in Montana. Certain activities have concrete next steps. For example, numerous solar arrays were designed for schools and other public buildings around the state. Many of those designs will be used as soon as funding becomes available. Other activities have less developed next steps, though lay the foundation for future work. The solar market assessment, solar market research, and community stakeholder meetings are good examples. These documents can be used as stepping stones to increase renewable energy education, increase stakeholder outreach, and support communities as they seek to develop community-scale solar projects.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗