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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 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Interconnect architecture for three-dimensional processing systems

A processing system includes a plurality of processor cores formed in a first layer of an integrated circuit device and a plurality of partitions of memory formed in one or more second layers of the integrated circuit device. The one or more second layers are deployed in a stacked configuration with the first layer. Each of the partitions is associated with a subset of the processor cores that have overlapping footprints with the partitions. The processing system also includes first memory paths between the processor cores and their corresponding subsets of partitions. The processing system further includes second memory paths between the processor cores and the partitions.

Jayasena, Nuwan S.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Boards having solderless interconnects

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to printed circuit boards. In one aspect, a device includes a first board and a second board. The first board includes at least two pins defined at an end of the first board. The first pin and the second pin are positioned along a first line and parallel to the first line. The second board includes at least two slots defined at an end of the second board. The first slot and the second slot are positioned along a second line and are angled from the second line by about ±10° to 15°. Each of the pins in the first board is engaged with each of the slots in the second board and forms an electrical connection between the first pin and the first slot and the second pin and the second slot.

Wielandt, Stijn↗
DOE OSTI2023

Enabling Interconnected Science Workflows through an Adapter Approach

The INTERSECT Software framework project aims to create an open federated library that connects, coordinates, and controls systems in the scientific domain. It features the Adapter, a flexible and extensible interface inspired by the Adapter design pattern in object-oriented programming. By utilizing Adapters, the INTERSECT SDK enables effective communication and coordination within a diverse ecosystem of systems. This adaptability facilitates the execution of complex operations within the framework, promoting collaboration and efficient workflow management in scientific research. Additionally, the generalizability of Adapters and their patterns enhances their utility in other scientific software projects and challenges.

McGaha, Jesse↗
DOE OSTI2020

Low Cost (CAPEX and variable): Tool design for cell and module fabrication with thin, free-standing silicon wafers

This project aimed to develop technologies that can potentially enable free-standing thin (<80 μm) wafer in today’s manufacturing lines with high production yield, and thereby reduce capex barriers of silicon photovoltaics cells and modules. One of the major benefits is that thin wafer dramatically reduces the amount of polysilicon required. As a result, it can lead to reduction in the capital expenditures associated with polysilicon refining and wafer fabrication, which together are more than half of the total capital expenditure to manufacture Si PV module. We focused our efforts on developing the tools needed to enable high yield fabrication of wafer, cell, and module with thin silicon wafers. However, as the wafer thickness reduces, the major challenge is that wafer breakage increases significantly. Three technological areas were explored in this project to improve the production yield of the silicon wafer, namely detection of edge cracks via dark-field near-infrared (NIR) scattering; (2) wafer handling using controlled temperature profiles; (3) manufacturable low-stress cell interconnection for multiwire. First, the formation of wafer cracks in submillimeter length is one of the reasons that causes wafer breakages. Crack detection tools are needed to enable us to locate and track the wafer crack during manufacturing, so that we can improve the process to reduce initialization. The state-of-the-art crack detection technique cannot fulfill the need for measuring submillimeter edge cracks detrimental for thin wafers. The prototype developed in this project demonstrates the scanning of microcracks near wafer edges. With a semi-automatic laboratory setup, the submillimeter cracks were reliably detected near the edges in multi-Si wafers. The smallest detectable crack is 200 µm in length in slow scans; and submillimeter cracks are detected in high-throughput scans at the scan speed of >0.5 m/s, which is compatible with the inline detection of a manufacturing line at least 1 sec/wafer. This detection limit is a significant advancement in comparison to the benchmarked industrial tool. Second, wafer handling with the well-controlled temperature profile was thought to be the solution to reduce crack initiation and propagation during the manufacturing. However, without crack detection being widely adopted in production line, we did not find a strong industrial pull toward this technology. We did an initial literature survey and then diverted our efforts to the other tasks. Third, the innovation on low-stress multi-wire interconnection tackles a fundamental problem in the standard interconnection scheme. The standard over-under “zig-zag” interconnection induces a significant amount of stress into the soldering point on the cell whenever PV module is under stress, e.g., thermal cycling, transportation, and installation. Therefore, the interconnection process was re-designed in this project to allow for significant movement between adjacent solar cells, e.g., due to thermal expansion, without building up stresses on the solar cells or solder joints. The new interconnection method with the cross-connect wire also simplifies the tabbing and stringing process by replacing the standard over-under method with an off-cell interconnect from top to bottom. A manual tabbing and stringing tool for this new process was prototyped in the lab to demonstrate the fabrication of this new interconnection design. During the test with brass sheets as our “testing cells”, it was found that the mechanical cycling test only broke the interconnection after more than 50,000 cycles, which is equivalent to more than 130 years of the day-and-night thermal cycles. Lastly, throughout the project, we continuously analyzed the PV market with techno-economic analysis to identify the opportunity for thin Si adoption. Even though the drastic cost reduction has already happened in the past five years, our analysis results indicated that we can still save quite significantly in both manufacturing cost and factory capex, Particularly, in order to grow the PV manufacturing capacity to multi-terawatt level, reducing the thickness of silicon wafer is one of the most effective ways to quickly reduce factory capex, and sustain the high growth rate. The technologies developed in this project are readily available to provide some assistances in tackling the production yield problem.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Grid connection barriers to renewable energy deployment in the United States

Bulk-power grid connection is an emerging bottleneck to the entry of wind, solar, and storage but has been understudied due to a lack of data. We create and analyze two novel interconnection datasets with more than 38,000 project-level observations that provide new information documenting interconnection challenges in the United States. Active grid connection requests are more than double the total installed capacity of the US power plant fleet (2,600 vs. 1,280 GW). The time required to secure a connection has increased by 70% over the last decade, and withdrawal rates remain high at 80%, suggesting a constrained transmission system that jeopardizes energy transition targets. Wide distributions of interconnection costs indicate the inherent uncertainty of the interconnection process. Interconnection requests that identify large transmission upgrades tend to withdraw from the process. These findings suggest the need for interconnection reforms, tighter links between long-term transmission planning and project-level interconnection processes, and more interconnection outcome transparency.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

CERF: IM3 Projected Western US Power Plant Locations

Overview The Capacity Expansion Regional Feasibility (CERF) model is an open-source geospatial python package that provides new power plant locations at a 1km resolution. The model ingests U.S. state or regional-scale electricity system capacity expansion plans, such as those produced by the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM-USA), and identifies feasible, site-specific locations for individual new power plants (renewable and non-renewable). CERF combines high-resolution geospatial suitability analyses with an economic algorithm that selects individual plant siting locations based on grid interconnection costs and the locational marginal value of new generation. The model incorporates a wide range of dynamic constraints and opportunities, such as protected lands, population density, existing infrastructure, and water availability. This dataset provides CERF power plant siting results for IM3 Phase 2 simulations across eight different scenarios for the Western US through 2055. The scenarios include combinations of two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP3 and SSP5) with four high-resolution climate projections specific to the United States (see, https://tgw-data.msdlive.org/). These climate projections include "hotter" and "cooler" variants for two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). The resulting eight simulations are: rcp45cooler_ssp3 rcp45cooler_ssp5 rcp45hotter_ssp3 rcp45hotter_ssp5 rcp85cooler_ssp3 rcp85cooler_ssp5 rcp85hotter_ssp3 rcp85hotter_ssp5 CERF siting results in this dataset correspond to capacity expansion plans in the GCAM-USA IM3 Phase 2 simulation data and are available for each of the above scenarios. Data Details Temporal Range: 2015-2055 in 5-year timesteps. Note that 2015 is the experiment base year and 2020 and beyond represent model simulation years. Spatial Range: Plant locations are provided for the eleven states in the Western US including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Spatial Resolution: 1 km-squared, provided in x and y coordinates Geospatial Projection: Albers Equal Area Conic (ESRI:102003) File Type: csv The dataset contains subdirectories for each of the eight scenarios described in the overview. Each scenario folder contains two subfolders with the following information: 1. Power Plant Data This directory contains a single .csv file of power plant locations for both pre-existing (non-CERF sited plants in operation in 2015) and new (CERF-sited) power plants across the temporal range along with additional CERF model output parameters for CERF-sited plants. Plant with a siting year earlier than 2020 correspond to facilities that are operational leading into the first timestep CERF simulation. For a more detailed description of CERF model output parameters, see the CERF model documentation. Note that the cerf_plant_id parameter is unique within each scenario file but not across scenario files. Parameter Descriptions scenario - Name of scenario cerf_plant_id - Unique siting identifier cerf_sited - If True, indicates that plant was sited by CERF model. If False, indicates pre-existing facility region_name - Name of region (state) tech_id - Technology ID tech_name - Full generation technology name inclusive of cooling type (if applicable) and additional characteristics tech_simple - Simplified generation technology type unit_size_mw - Power plant unit size (MW) xcoord - X coordinate in the default CRS (meters) ycoord - Y coordinate in the default CRS (meters) index - Index position in the flattend 2D array buffer_in_km - Exclusion buffer around site (km) sited_year - Year of siting retirement_year - Year of retirement lmp_zone - Locational marginal price (LMP) zone ID locational_marginal_price_usd_per_mwh - Locational marginal price ($/MWh) generation_mwh_per_year - Generation output (MWh/yr) operating_cost_usd_per_year - Cost of plant operations ($/yr) net_operational_value - Net operational value based on LMP and and operating costs ($/yr) interconnection_cost - Cost of interconnection for transmission & gas pipeline (if applicable) net_locational_cost -- Difference of interconnection cost and operating value ($/yr) capacity_factor_fraction - Capacity factor (fraction) carbon_capture_rate_fraction - Carbon capture rate (fraction) fuel_co2_content_tons_per_btu - Fuel CO2 content (tons/Btu) fuel_price_usd_per_mmbtu - Fuel price ($/MMBtu) fuel_price_esc_rate_fraction - Fuel price escalation rate (fraction) heat_rate_btu_per_kWh - Heat rate (Btu/kWh) lifetime_yrs - Technology lifetime for annuity (years) operational_life_yrs - Operational lifetime for retirement (years) variable_om_usd_per_mwh - Variable operation and maintenance costs of yearly capacity use ($/MWh) variable_om_esc_rate_fraction - Variable operation and maintenance costs escalation rate (fraction) carbon_tax_usd_per_ton - Carbon tax ($/ton) carbon_tax_esc_rate_fraction - Carbon tax escalation rate (fraction) 2. Storage Data This directory contains information on new and pre-existing energy storage facilities operational in each timestep along with various storage operational parameters. The 2015 timestep provides pre-existing energy storage data and corresponds with facilities that are operational leading into the first model simulation timestep. Note that coordinates in the storage files correspond to the interconnection point on the grid (substation location), not individual energy storage locations. Energy storage is added in a cumulative process at each given interconnection point. That is, each individual file provides the total operational storage capacity interconnected to the specified substation for the given timestep, inclusive of previously installed storage at that location and new storage installed in that timestep at that location. Parameters scenario - Name of scenario timestep - Simulation timestep name - Unique storage identifier s_typ - Type of energy storage technology (battery or pumped storage hydro) s_node - Node ID of interconnecting substation xcoord - X coordinate in the default CRS (meters) ycoord - Y coordinate in the default CRS (meters) charge_rate - Maximum charge rate (power capacity) of storage system (MW) discharge_rate - Maximum discharge rate (power capacity) of storage system (MW) duration - Duration of storage system (hours) max_SoC - Allowed maximum state of charge (energy capacity) of storage system (MWh) min_SoC -Allowed minimum state of charge (energy capacity) of storage system (MWh) charge_eff - Efficiency of charge (fraction between 0 and 1) discharge_eff - Efficiency of discharge (fraction between 0 and 1) Acknowledgment IM3 is a multi-institutional effort led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science as part of research in MultiSector Dynamics, Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling Program.

CERF↗
DOE OSTI2022

Converter-Interfaced CHP Plant for Improved Grid-Integration, Flexibility and Resiliency

GE Research and its partner GE Renewables have proposed the use of an interface converter solution to increase the penetration of small to medium-sized CHP (1MWe to 20MWe) into distribution grids and improve their flexibility and grid support capability. Indeed, the proposed interface converter solution thanks to presence of the grid-ready inverter, allows to streamline the compliance to grid codes requirements, reduce the interconnection delays and costs and ultimately one of the main barriers for CHP adoption by commercial and industrial facilities. An additional benefit provided by the interface converter is the use of the grid-ready inverter for reactive power which eliminates the need of sizing the generator for that capability. These two benefits highly favor the economic feasibility of converter-interfaced CHP. Five user cases, each in one of the leading U.S states for CHP potential reported by the DOE in its estimation of the U.S Technical Potential of CHP, were selected to compare the economic performances of converter-interfaced CHP as compared with directly-coupled. They include a college campus in California, a hospital in New York, a water reclamation plant in Texas, a hotel in Minnesota, and a large office building in Pennsylvania. Results showed that, the presence of the interface converter allows to increase the return on investment (ROI) by 0.5 to 2 percentage points in most of the cases (4 of 5). Indeed, the interface converter by shortening the interconnection process allows to accelerate revenues while reducing interconnection costs. Added to the reduced cost of the required generator these savings trade favorably the capital cost of the converter. The analysis also showed that the profitability of the converter-interfaced CHP is highly sensitive to the energy price, interconnection delay, and converter cost. However, it appears that if the interface converter can shorten the interconnection process by at least 6 months, adopting this solution will be more economically viable than directly-coupled configuration in almost all the +23,000 sites of the U.S Technical Potential CHP. The evaluation of the benefits of a converter-interfaced CHP also showed that it enables higher ROI when coupled with other distributed energy resources (DER) such as battery energy systems (BESS) or solar photovoltaic (PV). Indeed, in those scenario, the grid-ready inverter included in the interface converter eliminates the need of separate inverters if DC-coupling is used. On the technical performance, it has been verified that the presence of the interface converter allows to reduce by 70% to 80% the CHP short-circuit contribution to grid faults. This not only reduces the mechanical and thermal stresses exposed to the CHP electrical components but also increases the grid hosting capacity which ultimately enables higher penetrations CHP. Another key benefit of the interface converter validated with hardware-in-the-loop simulations and testing is its superior capability for reactive power support. Indeed, using a power hardware testbed with two +700kW inverters configured in back-to-back, a microgrid controller and actual facilities loads it was demonstrated that the presence of the interface converter can help maintain a power factor near ~1 or regulate the voltage to ~1.0pu at the point of common coupling. This benefit can be highly valuable if in the future, due to higher penetration of renewable distributed energy resources (DER), utilities start billing demand charge based on kVA instead of kW as currently. It was also validated that converter-interfaced CHP can dispatch heat and power commands and seamlessly switch between the two modes while consistently controlling the power factor or voltage at PCC. Indeed, the power hardware testing showed that grid-connected converter-interfaced CHP can follow either the power or heat demand while maintaining a unity power factor at converter output. This research proved that the adoption of an interface converter as the solution for interconnection of CHP system into the distribution grid can greatly improve the economic feasibility of small to medium-sized CHP as well as the plant power quality, flexibility and resiliency. Additionally, it allows increased penetrations of CHP into the distribution grid, extends their grid support capability, and facilitates the integration of BESS and PV DER by streamlining their collocation within the same facilities. This ultimately provides an opportunity for commercial and small industrial facilities in the U.S to accelerate their energy transition thanks to the high energy efficiency of CHP systems and its reliable, flexible, and resilient microgrid operation when interconnected with an interface converter.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗