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This technical presentation provides an update on the major trends that occurred in the solar industry in Q4 2017 and Q1 2018. Major topics of focus include global and U.S. supply and demand, module and system price, investment trends and business models, and updates on U.S. government programs supporting the solar industry.
A workshop on Pathways to Success for Supersized Wind Turbine Blades was conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the Kimpton Hotel Palomar in Washington D.C., on March 6-7, 2018. Approximately 40-50 experts and industry stakeholders came together for the event, including manufacturers, transportation specialists, project developers, operators, engineering firms, consultants, and university researchers. Technical experts from the national laboratories and WETO were also present to engage in discussions about solving the challenges faced by supersized wind turbine blades. The workshop attendees participated in evaluating the current status of wind turbine blade design, manufacture, transportation, erection and operation, identifying constraints to cost-effective application of current technologies and methods for blades of increasing size, and discussing needs and opportunities for research, development and deployment of materials, manufacturing, structural configuration, and transportation. The workshop was one step within a larger initiative to identify specific R&D opportunities DOE could pursue to address technical barriers or implementation challenges faced by the U.S. wind energy industry to achieve continued decreases in LCOE. Following a plenary session, the 2-day workshop featured three group discussion sessions, with each session focusing on a specific “pathway” to enabling LCOE reductions for rotor blades of increasing size. The three pathways considered were “on-site manufacture,” “transport,” and “hybrid and alternative,” which included various options involving central manufacturing of sub-elements following on-site assembly. Each of the pathway group discussions was opened with a short presentation from one or more invited speakers, followed by an open discussion with balanced input from stakeholder groups and individuals. Participation among the workshop attendees was considered highly productive. Experts and stakeholders were engaged throughout the sessions and offered significant insights into the challenges and potential enabling technologies for supersized blades. Discussion highlights and take-aways for the three pathways are described.
In this Technical Report, the chemical and radionuclide contaminant results from the First Quarter Calendar Year 2018 (CY18) sample of Tank 50 salt solution are presented in tabulated form. The information from this characterization will be used by Savannah River Remediation (SRR) for the transfer of aqueous waste from Tank 50 to the Saltstone Production Facility, where the waste will be treated and disposed of in the Saltstone Disposal Facility. This Technical Report compares results, where applicable, to Saltstone Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) limits and targets. The chemical and radionuclide contaminant results from the characterization of the First Quarter CY18 sampling of Tank 50 were requested by SRR personnel via a Task Technical Request (TTR) 2 and details of the testing are presented in the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL)Task Technical and Quality Assurance Plan (TT QAP). This Technical Report is part of Deliverable 2 relating to Task 1 from the SRR request. 2 Data pertaining to the regulatory limits for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) metals will be documented at a later time per the TTQAP for the Tank 50 Saltstone task.
This publication includes 22 composite data products (CDPs) produced in Spring 2018 for fuel cell electric vehicle performance in the categories of deployment, driving behavior, fuel economy, fueling behavior, and hydrogen performance.
Consistent cost and performance data for various electricity generation technologies can be difficult to find and may change frequently for certain technologies. With the Annual Technology Baseline (ATB), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory annually provides an organized and centralized set of such cost and performance data. The ATB uses the best information from the Department of Energy national laboratories' renewable energy analysts as well as information from the Energy Information Administration for fuel-based technologies. The ATB has been reviewed by experts and it includes the following electricity generation technologies: land-based wind, offshore wind, utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV), commercial-scale solar PV, residential-scale solar PV, concentrating solar power, geothermal power, hydropower, coal, natural gas, nuclear, and conventional biopower. This webinar presentation introduces the 2018 ATB.
The review team convened at the University of Utah March 7-8, 2018, to review the Carbon Capture Multidisciplinary Science Center (CCMSC) funded by the 2 nd Predictive Science ASC Alliance Program (PSAAP II). Center leadership and researchers made very clear and informative presentations, accurately portraying their work and successes while candidly discussing their concerns and known areas in need of improvement.
This report includes the results of the E Tunnel Wastewater Disposal System (ETDS) inspections and monitoring for April, May and June 2018. Monitoring and sampling activities were performed in accordance with the requirements of Water Pollution Control Permit NEV 96021, Revision 1, effective October 1, 2013.
This report presents the Technical Program Plan for FY 2018 for the Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program – Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control (II&C) Systems Technologies research pathway. A summary of the vision and strategy is provided to explain how this program addresses key issues and barriers for implementing digital instrumentation and control technologies in domestic nuclear power plants. The report describes 20 pilot projects that have been formulated to develop and validate enabling technologies over a 16 year period that will result in digital alternatives to the legacy analog II&C systems in place today. This will allow much needed modernization of these systems to address reliability and obsolescence problems, as well as serve as a platform for substantial operational improvement. The report further describes key project resources and cooperative relationships, including the Electric Power Research Institute, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO)the Nuclear Energy Institute )NEI), the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), the IFE Halden Reactor Project, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and industry suppliers, that are instrumental to the success of the program. The report also lists the schedule for all program products, including the titles and report numbers for all published reports under this program.
We describe progress developing the Device for Indirect Capture Experiments on Radionuclides (DICER) on flight path 13 at the Lujan Center at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). This capability is being developed to tightly constrain neutron-capture cross section on short-lived radioactive nuclides of high importance to weapons-program sponsors via neutron total cross section measurements on the same nuclides. In this report, we describe progress in this endeavor during October 2017 through September 2018.
This three-year effort started in FY17 with the primary objective of detailing the environmental compliance costs and lessons learned from U.S. based MHK projects that have gone through the permitting and compliance process. The project goal is to find ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the permitting and compliance process that reduce deployment uncertainties and associated risks/costs; ultimately encouraging investment in MHK projects. The project team is composed of Sandia National Laboratories, H. T. Harvey & Associates, Integral Consulting, and Kearns & West. Step one of the project process, collect data to determine permitting and compliance costs, was a focus during 2017, but is an ongoing process to ensure the project team is working with the most recent and accurate data as possible. Currently, the project team is focusing on step two of the project process, identify cost reduction pathways. Step three, develop cost reduction strategies, will follow during Fall 2018 and Winter 2019. Each step is envisioned as an iterative approach working with industry and regulators to best meet the project goal.
This three-year effort started in FY17 with the primary objective of detailing the environmental compliance costs and lessons learned from U.S. based MHK projects that have gone through the permitting and compliance process. The project goal is to find ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the permitting and compliance process that reduce deployment uncertainties and associated risks/costs; ultimately encouraging investment in MHK projects. The project team is composed of Sandia National Laboratories, H. T. Harvey & Associates, Integral Consulting, and Kearns & West. Step one of the project process, collect data to determine permitting and compliance costs, was a focus during 2017, but is an ongoing process to ensure the project team is working with the most recent and accurate data as possible. Currently, the project team is focusing on step two of the project process, identify cost reduction pathways. Step three, develop cost reduction strategies, will follow during Fall 2018 and Winter 2019. Each step is envisioned as an iterative approach working with industry and regulators to best meet the project goal.
The aqueous waste from Tank 50 (salt solution) is sampled quarterly for transfers to the Saltstone Production Facility (SPF). Salt solution is treated at SPF and disposed of in the Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF). A SDF waste form (saltstone) was prepared in the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) from the Tank 50 Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) sample and Z-Area premix material for the first quarter of calendar year 2018 (1QCY18). Results from this memorandum support Task 2: ‘Grout Leaching Analyses’ of the Task Technical Request (TTR). After a 28 day cure, a sample of the SDF waste form was collected and shipped to a certified laboratory for analysis using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). The 1QCY18 saltstone sample met the South Carolina (SC) Code of Regulations for Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (HWMR) 61-79.261.24 and 61-79-268.48 requirements for a non-hazardous waste form with respect to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) metals and Underlying Hazardous Constituents (UHCs), and also met the Saltstone WAC.
The aqueous waste from Tank 50 (salt solution) is sampled quarterly for transfers to the Saltstone Production Facility (SPF). Salt solution is treated at SPF and disposed of in the Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF). A SDF waste form (saltstone) was prepared in the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) from the Tank 50 Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) sample1 and Z-Area premix material for the first quarter of calendar year 2018 (1QCY18). 2,3 Results from this memorandum support Task 2: ‘Grout Leaching Analyses’ of the Task Technical Request (TTR). 2 After a 28 day cure, a sample of the SDF waste form was collected and shipped to a certified laboratory for analysis using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). 4 The 1QCY18 saltstone sample met the South Carolina (SC) Code of Regulations for Hazardous Waste Management Regulations (HWMR) 6 1-79.261.24 and 61-79-268.48 requirements for a non-hazardous waste form with respect to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) metals and Underlying Hazardous Constituents (UHCs), and also met the Saltstone WAC.
During acceptance testing at Nuclear Filter Technologies (NFT) in May, 2018 of a batch of 150 SAVY-4000 containers (3 Qt), 89 containers were rejected due to failing and higher than normal helium leakage test results (see attachment NC#18-033). A total of 56 of those rejected failed the maximum allowed helium leakage rate criterion of 1.0E-05 std cc/sec specified in 55Y-002926 Rev. G, SAVY-4000 fabrication Specification. In addition, 33 containers were also rejected by the manufacturer with helium leakage rates measured between 1.0E-05 and 1.0E-06 std cc/sec (NFT NC# 18-033) because the containers were manufactured from the same lot of base material and the helium leakage rates were outside of the expected range. Upon discovery of the helium leakage test failures of the 3 Qt SAVY’s, NFT pulled the inventory of containers that failed the helium leakage tests and performed a detailed inspection of the lid assemblies. Small voids were discovered by visual inspection on opposing sides of the lids.
This documents the National Diagnostic Plan as of September 2018, resulting from an August meeting of the NDP leadership group. The substance of the changes in this plan from the NDP document issued in 2017 is in the new schedules and text for the eight national transformative diagnostics - section III, and the many local diagnostics for our three Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) facilities; NIF, Z and OMEGA - section V.
This brief is a compilation of data points and market insights that reflect the state of the project finance market for solar photovoltaic (PV) assets in the United States as of the third quarter of 2018. This information can generally be used as a simplified benchmark of the costs associated with securing financing for solar PV as well as the cost of the financing itself (i.e., the cost of capital). This work represents the third DOE sponsored effort to benchmark financing costs across the residential, commercial, and utility-scale PV markets, as part of its larger effort to benchmark the components of PV system costs. capital). This work represents the third DOE sponsored effort to benchmark financing costs across the residential, commercial, and utility-scale PV markets, as part of its larger effort to benchmark the components of PV system costs.
Maintaining stable and effective deterrence requires nuclear forces that are structured and postured to respond to potential futures challenges as well as deter today’s potential adversaries under present circumstances. The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) establishes a strategy for hedging against uncertainty that prioritizes the ability to sustain five key force attributes in the face of technological or geopolitical challenges. Using these key attributes, one can analyze the current and planned U.S. nuclear force structures, as well as various alternatives that have or may be proposed. This analysis is based on the ability of force structures to provide key attributes and combinations of attributes, and their ability to preserve those attributes and combinations when potential challenges arise.
In FY 2018, Los Alamos National Laboratory carried out 21 shot days on the OMEGA and OMEGA-EP laser facilities in the areas of High Energy Density (HED) Science and Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). Our focus areas were on radiation flow, hydrodynamic turbulent mix and burn, and coupled Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH)/Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability growth including in convergent geometry. We also had several focused shot days on transport properties in the kinetic regime. We continue to develop advanced diagnostics such as Neutron Imaging , and performed tests of a new imaging concept to be installed on NIF. We executed experiments in support of our double-shell campaign, and we began initial experiments using the new Revolver platform. Below is a summary of our campaigns, their motivation, and main results from this year.