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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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At least 271 records · Page 15

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2021

Deployable Wind-Hybrid Power Systems for Defense and Disaster Response Applications

This report presents an analysis of the performance of deployable energy systems comprised of wind energy systems integrated with diesel generators, photovoltaic systems, and battery storage to meet the load requirements of a representative U.S. Army forward operating base. The analysis is conducted using HOMER, a microgrid analysis software that can search through a wide range of parameters to design and optimize microgrid power systems. The search parameters include the system architecture, the wind and solar resources, and the availability of diesel fuel. The results of the analysis measure the relative performance of the different systems and environments in terms of the overall transportation cost to deploy the system and the ability to provide resilience in terms of meeting mission critical loads.

02 PETROLEUM↗

DOE OSTI2024

Evaluating Impacts of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production with CO2-to-Fuels Technologies on High Renewable Share Power Grid

This paper investigates the impact of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production using CO 2 -to-Fuels technologies on a future power grid with a high share of renewable energy. We focus on understanding the implications of the 2050 SAF production goal on the U.S. power system's long-term planning, encompassing generation, transmission, and cost analysis. Via the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, we developed a detailed SAF electricity demand model based on a low-temperature electrolysis-syngas fermentation-ethanol pathway. Four SAF target scenarios which aim to meet 10%, 15%, 20%, and 27% of SAF demand by 2050. These scenarios are exhaustively simulated to assess their impact on the power grid. Our results reveal that increasing SAF demand will result in higher electricity requirements, as well as expanded generator and transmission capacities, leading to an overall rise in system costs. However, these impacts are manageable within the broader context of U.S. capacity expansion plans. This study provides valuable insights into incorporating the CO 2 -to-Fuels electricity demand model and other carbon capture technologies into power system planning, emphasizing their significance in shaping a sustainable energy future.

capacity expansion model↗

DOE OSTI2024

Evaluating Impacts of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production with CO2-to-Fuels Technologies on High Renewable Share Power Grids

This paper investigates the impact of Sustainable Aviation Fuel production using CO2-to-Fuels technologies on a future power grid with a high share of renewable energy. We focus on understanding the implications of the 2050 SAF production goal on the U.S. power system's long-term planning, encompassing generation, transmission, and cost analysis. Via the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, we developed a detailed SAF electricity demand model based on a low-temperature electrolysis-syngas fermentation-ethanol pathway. Four SAF target scenarios which aims to meet 10%, 15%, 20%, and 27% of SAF demand by 2050. These scenarios are exhaustively simulated to assess their impact on the power grid. Our results reveal that increasing SAF demand will result in higher electricity requirements, as well as expanded generator and transmission capacities, leading to an overall rise in system costs. However, these impacts are manageable within the broader context of U.S. capacity expansion plans. This study provides valuable insights into incorporating the CO2-to-Fuels electricity demand model and other carbon capture technologies in power system planning, emphasizing their significance in shaping a sustainable energy future.

BIOMASS FUELS,POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2024

Evaluating Impacts of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production with CO2-to-Fuels Technologies on High Renewable Share Power Grid: Preprint

This paper investigates the impact of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production using CO2-to-Fuels technologies on a future power grid with a high share of renewable energy. We focus on understanding the implications of the 2050 SAF production goal on the U.S. power system's long-term planning, encompassing generation, transmission, and cost analysis. Via the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, we developed a detailed SAF electricity demand model based on a low-temperature electrolysis-syngas fermentation-ethanol pathway. Four SAF target scenarios which aimto meet 10%, 15%, 20%, and 27% of SAF demand by 2050. These scenarios are exhaustively simulated to assess their impact on the power grid. Our results reveal that increasing SAF demand will result in higher electricity requirements, as well as expanded generator and transmission capacities, leading to an overall rise in system costs. However, these impacts are manageable within the broader context of U.S. capacity expansion plans. This study provides valuable insights into incorporating the CO2-to-Fuels electricity demand model and other carbon capture technologies into power system planning, emphasizing their significance in shaping a sustainable energy future.

BIOMASS FUELS,ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS1979

Laser power conversion system analysis, volume 2

The orbit-to-ground laser power conversion system analysis investigated the feasibility and cost effectiveness of converting solar energy into laser energy in space, and transmitting the laser energy to earth for conversion to electrical energy. The analysis included space laser systems with electrical outputs on the ground ranging from 100 to 10,000 MW. The space laser power system was shown to be feasible and a viable alternate to the microwave solar power satellite. The narrow laser beam provides many options and alternatives not attainable with a microwave beam.

Jones, W. S.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Selection of Global Climate Model Data for Downscaling With Generative Machine Learning and Use in the Power Planning for Alignment of Climate and Energy Systems Project

The range of results from climate models and scenarios is important to the understanding of uncertainty in power planning analysis. A U.S. Department of Energy-funded analytic project called Power Planning for Alignment of Climate and Energy Systems is developing data and analytic methods to reflect the effects of climate change on key variables for power system planning, as part of the Grid Modernization Lab Consortium. This project will select and prepare global climate model results for use in power system planning models. A related report (Evaluation of Global Climate Models for Use in Energy Analysis) assesses the performance of various global climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 data archive for their historical skill with respect to energy system performance and for their future projections under multiple climate change scenarios. Building from that report, we describe the selection of a climate scenario (Shared Socioeconomic Pathway [SSP] 2-4.5) and five climate models: TaiESM1, EC-Earth3-CC, GFDL-CM4, EC-Earth3-Veg, and MPI-ESM1-2-HR. We describe the model selection criteria, which were based on the quality of the match between model results under historical conditions and on the representation of the range of future values for several variables. These results will be downscaled via an open-source generative machine learning method called Super-Resolution for Renewable Energy Resource Data with Climate Change Impacts.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2023

FY19-FY21 Concentrating Solar Power Systems Analysis Final Report

This technical report summarizes work done by NREL over a 3-year period for the Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Systems Analysis project for fiscal years 2019-2021 (FY19-FY21) in support of the Solar Energies Technology Office of the U.S. Department of Energy. The goal of the CSP Systems Analysis project is to provide timely and accurate CSP cost data to the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) and to project the performance and cost of emerging CSP technologies to inform research directions and industry investment.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Artificial Intelligence for Enhancing Multiscale Analysis: Buildings Focus

This project aims to develop multi-scale building energy data, potentially improving the representation of the U.S. buildings sector in GCAM-USA, an U.S.-focused human-energy-Earth systems model. Existing building energy datasets are typically limited to national or regional levels, which constrains the ability of models to capture fine-scale human-energy-Earth systems interactions and reduces their relevance for decision-making on issues such as energy security, resilience, and energy planning. By leveraging AI and advanced data integration methods, this work fuses multiple existing datasets to enhance the physical and geographic representation of both residential and commercial building energy use. So far, progress includes processing residential building data, designing the data structure for commercial buildings, and testing AI approaches for integrating datasets and addressing spatial-temporal gaps. This effort can not only advances GCAM-USA’s capability in modeling the buildings sector but also supports broader DOE missions, such as developing digital testbeds, enhancing grid resilience analysis, and improving building–energy system modeling at decision-relevant scales.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Simulation-Based Design and Optimization of Waste Heat Recovery Systems

This fact sheet features an R&D project that will develop a modeling platform that can quantify the value of a district energy system and its potential for waste heat recovery. The new software analysis platform will evaluate and optimize district energy systems to better utilize low-temperature waste heat from nearby commercial and industrial buildings. The platform will help project developers and engineers easily quantify the potential value and cost savings of community energy systems for both producers and consumers of waste heat.

Combined heat and power, CHP, District energy, Was↗

DOE OSTI2026

Powered By ERAD [Slides]

Energy Resilience Analysis for Distribution Power System (ERAD) is a free, open-source Python toolkit for estimating the energy and service impacts of hazards like earthquakes and flooding. It uses a graph-based approach to capture high resolution connectivity among the grid, critical services, and customers and rapidly compute household level metrics and aggregated statistics across large distribution systems. It uses asset fragility curves that relate hazard severity to survival probability for power system equipment including cables, transformers, substations, etc. The tool is designed to be modular and extensible, allowing it to interface with third-party hazard simulators and integrate into broader resilience analysis workflows. ERAD enables researchers, students, communities, distribution utilities, and other stakeholders to understand hazard impacts and evaluate the effectiveness of different programs to improve energy resilience. The webinar was hosted by NLR researcher Aadil Latif.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2025

Virtual Cable Impedance based Load Sharing in a Microgrid for Parallel Connected Grid Forming Converters

This paper presents a novel approach to power sharing between direct connected grid-forming converters, utilizing virtual cable impedance and droop-based outer loop control. To enhance stability, resistive droop is implemented, while virtual cable impedance with non-zero resistive and inductive components ensures improved power sharing. The inner loop controller employs a Lyapunov energy function to achieve superior dynamic performance. The proposed control architecture is validated through comprehensive modeling and real-time processor-in-the-loop simulations, demonstrating its robustness and efficiency under various operating conditions. The results highlight the potential of this control strategy to improve the reliability and efficiency of renewable energy systems. Additionally, a comparative analysis with traditional methods underscores the advantages of the proposed approach in terms of stability and performance. The proposed control architecture offers a scalable and flexible solution for grid-forming converters, enabling seamless integration of renewable energy sources. Its robustness and adaptability make it an attractive solution for real-world applications. Furthermore, the approach can be extended to other power electronic systems, enhancing overall system performance and efficiency. By providing a reliable and efficient control strategy, this paper contributes to the advancement of renewable energy systems and their adoption in the energy sector. The proposed control strategy has far-reaching implications for the widespread adoption of renewable energy sources, enabling a more sustainable and efficient energy future. The overall system is modeled in MATLAB/Simulink and PLECS software domain.

grid forming converters (GFM)↗

DOE OSTI2023

Cost and Performance Analysis for Five Existing Geothermal Heat Pump-Based District Energy Systems in the United States

District energy systems supplied by geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) have been deployed across the United States for both heating and cooling end uses. To better understand their performance and potential, the geothermal research team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory analyzed cost and performance of five existing GHP-based district energy systems in the United States. The five systems selected are Ball State University in Indiana, Colorado Mesa University in Colorado, Miami University in Ohio, West Union in Iowa, and Whisper Valley in Texas. The necessary information, including district size, operation period, GHP performance, and costs, was collected through literature review and interviews. The survey results indicated the five systems studied consist of geothermal borehole field(s) and ground loop(s) connected to central loop. While the GHPs were in central plants at Ball State University and Miami University, the central loops at Colorado Mesa University, West Wood, and Whisper Valley were connected through service lines to individual heat pumps in each building. Our analysis indicates the systems have been operating reliably and cost-effectively and contributed to a reduction in carbon emissions.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmarks, With Minimum Sustainable Price Analysis: Q1 2023

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) aims to accelerate the advancement and deployment of solar technology in support of an equitable transition to a decarbonized economy no later than 2050, starting with a decarbonized power sector by 2035. Its approach to achieving this goal includes driving innovations in technology, hardware, and soft cost reductions to make solar affordable and accessible for all. As part of this effort, SETO must track solar cost trends so it can focus its research and development (R&D) on the highest-impact activities. The benchmarks in this report are bottom-up cost estimates of all major inputs to PV and energy storage system installations. Bottom-up costs are based on national averages and do not necessarily represent typical costs in all local markets. Like last year's report, this year's report includes two distinct sets of benchmarks: minimum sustainable price (MSP) benchmarks and modeled market price (MMP) benchmarks. MSP benchmarks can be interpreted as the minimum price a company needs to charge to remain financially solvent in the long term based on the minimum sustainable prices of all inputs including minimum sustainable profit margins. MMP benchmarks can be interpreted as the actual cash sales price a company charges in the given benchmark period. These simplified estimates are useful for tracking technological progress, but they do not reflect all experiences. In fact, no individual estimate under any approach can reflect the diversity of the PV and storage manufacturing and installation industries. Our residential MMP benchmark ($2.90 per watt direct current [Wdc]) is 24% higher than the MSP benchmark ($2.34/Wdc) and 9% lower than our MMP benchmark ($3.18/Wdc) from Q1 2022 in 2022 U.S. dollars (USD). For community solar, our MMP benchmark ($1.75/Wdc) is 18% higher than our MSP benchmark ($1.49/Wdc). Our Q1 2022 benchmark report has no community solar system for comparison. For utility-scale systems with one-axis tracking, our MMP benchmark ($1.17/Wdc) is 22% higher than our MSP benchmark ($0.96/Wdc) and 10% higher than its counterpart ($1.07/Wdc) in Q1 2022 in 2022 USD.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Q1 2023 U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmarks With Minimum Sustainable Price Analysis Data File

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

FORCE Output Data Visualization

The Framework for Optimization of ResourCes and Economics (FORCE) is a collection of software tools, models, and datasets acquired and developed under the Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program to enable analysis of technical and economic viability of myriad IES configurations. Idaho National Laboratory is hosting a training session for FORCE users and developers, which is "Integrated Energy Systems Tools FORCE Overview and Training 2023." We will present data output visualization results with FORCE scenarios as examples and show how does the new design improve existing automated visualization for analysis results.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

NASA NTRS1978

Collection, processing and dissemination of data for the national solar demonstration program

A national solar data system developed for the DOE by IBM provides for automatic gathering, conversion, transfer, and analysis of demonstration site data. NASA requirements for this system include providing solar site hardware, engineering, data collection, and analysis. The specific tasks include: (1) solar energy system design/integration; (2) developing a site data acquisition subsystem; (3) developing a central data processing system; (4) operating the test facility at Marshall Space Flight Center; (5) collecting and analyzing data. The systematic analysis and evaluation of the data from the National Solar Data System is reflected in a monthly performance report and a solar energy system performance evaluation report.

Day, R. E.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Providencia Island High-Level Power System Capacity Expansion Analyses [Slides]

Results of a high level cost-benefit analysis using HOMER Pro software are presented for Providencia Island, Colombia. The analysis focuses on integrating solar photovoltaics (PV) and a battery energy storage system (BESS) into an existing diesel-only remote power system. The analysis uses fuel costs and discount rates provided by the stakeholders and NREL-derived capital cost estimates.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Photometry of Outer Solar System Objects from the Dark Energy Survey. II. A Joint Analysis of Trans-Neptunian Absolute Magnitudes, Colors, Light Curves and Dynamics

For the 696 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with absolute magnitudes 5.5 < H r < 8.2 detected in the Dark Energy Survey, we characterize the relationships between their dynamical state and physical properties—namely H r , indicating size; colors, indicating surface composition; and flux variation semiamplitude A, indicating asphericity and surface inhomogeneity. We seek “birth” physical distributions that can recreate these parameters in every dynamical class. We show that the observed colors of these TNOs are consistent with two Gaussian distributions in griz space, “near-infrared bright” (NIRB) and “near-infrared faint” (NIRF), presumably an inner and outer birth population, respectively. We find a model in which both the NIRB and NIRF H r and A distributions are independent of current dynamical states, supporting their assignment as birth populations. All objects are consistent with a common rolling p(H r ), but NIRF objects are significantly more variable. Cold classicals (CCs) are purely NIRF, while hot classical (HC), scattered, and detached TNOs are consistent with ≈ 70% NIRB and the resonance NIRB fractions show significant variation. The NIRB components of the HCs and of some resonances have broader inclination distributions than the NIRFs, i.e. their current dynamics retains information about birth location. We find evidence for radial stratification within the birth NIRB population, in that HC NIRBs are on average redder than detached or scattered NIRBs; a similar effect distinguishes CCs from other NIRFs. We estimate total object counts and masses of each class within our H r range. These results will strongly constrain models of the outer solar system.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗