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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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36 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Community Resilience Options: A Menu for Enhancing Local Energy Resilience

This document highlights areas of potential community resilience improvements, especially those that relate to clean energy deployment for communities and municipalities. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) defines resilience as "a system's ability to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to changing conditions and withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions through sustainable, adaptable, and holistic planning and technical solutions." This document introduces 10 categories of resilience-enhancing projects at a high level, intended for community members and decision-makers new to the topic to build their understanding of which solutions fit their community best. These categories focus primarily on community-scale measures and different options may be available at larger scales. Full implementation of the measures described here requires in-depth, site-specific considerations that go beyond the scope of this document.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Solar HBCU Innovation in Microgrids & Resiliency with Solar + Storage

The Breaking Barriers project was designed to improve electricity resilience at four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in West Atlanta, as well as within the surrounding energy-burdened community. To do so, the project undertook work to design and construct innovative urban energy resiliency hubs integrating microgrid technology, solar generation, and energy storage in these West Atlanta colleges and communities. The hubs will help Atlanta HBCUs and the energy-burdened broader community be more resilient, in addition to informing new course curricula at Atlanta University Center campuses and inspiring similar efforts at other HBCUs and beyond.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Community Planning for Solar: Conducting a Solar Resource and Infrastructure Assessment

This guide describes how to conduct a Solar Resource and Infrastructure Assessment. The guide is designed to assist community officials, volunteers, and regional planning agency staff in conducting a preliminary assessment for a municipality, community, or other jurisdiction, based primarily on a desktop analysis of existing documents and data. The guide provides a process that can be used to inventory and describe existing infrastructure, community needs, and resources from the perspective of solar development planning.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solar Finance and Ownership Options

Communities facing specific solar project development opportunities or proactively planning their solar development strategies will need to have a basic understanding of solar financing and ownership options. How solar is financed and owned has large implications on how the solar project impacts local economic benefits, risk, and capital needs. This fact sheet provides a brief introduction to these considerations for local officials and community constituents to familiarize them with how local benefits and risks contrast across the basic ownership structures available.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Navigating Options for Transportation Electrification and Solar Charging: Steps and Lessons Learned in Montana Communities

This document is intended to assist communities who are considering investing in electric transportation. It can assist communities engage stakeholders, prioritize community goals, assess electric transportation options, and navigate complex decisions about deploying zero emission electric transportation in their community. It covers technological, economic and environmental aspects of the transition to electric vehicles (EV), and highlights the specific considerations related to the deployment of renewable energy technologies (e.g., distributed solar) in combination with EV supply equipment (EVSE, e.g., charging stations). There are many important decisions to make and questions for communities to ask themselves as they consider electric vehicle types, charging infrastructure, and electricity generation options. This guide will help communities assess: (1) Which stage in the decision-making process they are in with respect to EV deployment; (2) Questions they can explore to guide their decisions about EV deployment; (3) How to engage key stakeholders on EV deployment options; (4) Tradeoffs and benefits of various electric transportation options and; (5) Synergies of pairing electric vehicle charging and renewable energy generation technologies. The analysis and lessons learned presented in this roadmap are intended to serve as a template and guide for similarly situated communities across the country who want to prepare for and play a role in the electrified transportation future.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Charting a Path for Reliable, Resilient and Affordable Clean Energy: A Roadmap for Three Communities in Utah

The roadmap identifies strategies to align deployment of distributed energy resources with the continued growth of utility-scale solar. The strategies outlined in the roadmap have been developed through collaborative discussions with project partners, but may not represent the opinions of, or positions of, all partner organizations and parties involved in the "Renewable Energy Impacts and Solutions in Utah" project. Rather, the strategies outlined in this Roadmap represent a suite of tools and actions that Salt Lake City, Park City, and the City of Moab can consider as each city works towards their community renewable electricity goals. While this Roadmap was developed to inform three communities as they progress towards their specific community energy goals, much of the analysis presented in the roadmap was conducted for Utah as a whole. Other communities in Utah can use the scenarios and strategies outlined in the roadmap to leverage the full potential of distributed energy resources to provide benefits to the community.

100% renewable↗
DOE OSTI2020

Advancing Electric System Resilience with Distributed Energy Resources: A Review of State Policies

Severe weather, cyber-attacks, geomagnetic disturbances, and other hazards and threats have caused or have the potential to cause substantial levels of damage to electricity infrastructure and the global economy. Growth in distributed energy resources (DERs) and increasing attention to the resilience of the electric grid - its ability to "anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and/or rapidly recover" from disruptions, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, 2018) - have created an opportunity for energy stakeholders to develop and deploy "resilient DERs," resources in the distribution grid that improve the ability of a customer, critical facility, and/or the distribution system in general to anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and/or rapidly recover from disruptions. This paper explores how existing state regulations intersect with resilience and highlights opportunities where state regulators can employ DERs to advance resilience.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Advancing Electric System Resilience with Distributed Energy Resources: Key Questions and Resources

This resource has two complementary parts: (1) A list of questions that offers an initial starting point for state public utility commissions (commissions) to frame how they review proposed utility investments and considerations that could offer resilience benefits; (2) A list of relevant resources to improve a regulator's ability to oversee resilience investments and obtain the best possible solutions for customers. The list of resources includes a synopsis of relevant topics covered in each resource. This document is not intended to offer a complete picture of resilience literature, but instead suggests strategies for state regulators to convene conversations and make decisions to achieve better resilience outcomes for customers. It is meant to serve as a starting point for commissions to understand and incorporate resilience into regulatory processes. The list of questions and resources will not be perfectly suited to the particular needs of each commission. As the resilience conversation advances, regulators will need to take advantage of available resources to build their capacity to assess resilience risks, compare investment options, and evaluate performance.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Solar Power + Electric Vehicle Charging: Capturing Synergies in Minnesota

Despite the state policy support, significant market barriers to decarbonization of transportation remain. Analysis conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and others confirm that without routine access to charging infrastructure, both at home and in non-residential locations, bullish market forecasts are unlikely to materialize. Similarly, the expansion of EV charging and variable renewable energy deployment each have potentially disruptive and costly effects on the distribution grid. Finally, electrification of passenger vehicles is not enough to decarbonize transportation without pathways to carbon-free electrification, linking EV charging and clean energy generation. This document examines the opportunity to jointly deploy solar energy and EV charging infrastructure to capture synergistic value, mitigate for risks associated with integrating and scaling both solar and EV charging, and accelerate their mutual deployment.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

State Strategies for Valuing Distributed Energy Resources in Cost-Effective Locations

The deployment of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), small-scale electricity generation sources or controllable loads connected to the distribution system or a facility served by the distribution system, can have wide-ranging and positive impacts for the electricity grid. Interconnecting a DER in a high-value location on the grid can unlock benefits beyond those that accrue to the off-taker or asset owner. When DERs are deployed optimally, not only can the individual consumer benefit, but the local utility, the electricity system, and other ratepayers can benefit as well. By engaging in locational DER planning, states can help protect their communities and ratepayers and can help ensure the reliability and resilience of the electricity system. This report explores states' role in better integrating locational value into DER siting and development. It first outlines some of the benefits that can be achieved through the deployment of DERs in high-value locations. It then looks at state policy and regulatory roles and the tools states can use to influence the location of DER development. The report next examines the challenges of locational DER planning, with a particular focus on the challenges that states face in influencing the location of DER development. It highlights three case studies from states that engaged in locational DER planning through the Multistate Initiative to Develop Solar in Locations that Provide Benefits to the Grid and then presents several lessons learned from these efforts. The final section of this report summarizes some recent publications related to locational value of DERs in the form of an abbreviated literature review.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Community Planning for Solar: Defining Realistic Solar Development Options

This guide is designed to aid in assessing community preferences for solar development and financing alternatives. To evaluate community preferences regarding solar, it is necessary to define the range of realistic options for solar development possible in a community, including potential future targets for solar capacity, the mixes of development possible based on the solar resources available, and potential community benefits and solar ownership structures. This guide can help community officials, volunteers, and regional planning agency staff in constructing a realistic suite of options for solar development, based on existing state and local laws, available solar resources and infrastructure, and economic and financial considerations.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Assessing Community Preferences Regarding Solar Development

Preparing a plan regarding solar development in your community requires bringing together people from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives, who often have strong feelings and preferences about the amount and location of local solar PV projects developed in their community. The planning process should be designed in an inclusive way, where meaningful community engagement is prioritized. With a topic such as solar development, which can elicit strong reactions among community members, proactive community engagement that is perceived as fair will likely lead to more favorable outcomes. Whether your community hosts large tracts of forest, brownfields, residential neighborhoods, and/or large buildings and parking lots, there are a variety of ways community members might envision growth of solar energy. The engagement process can help clarify how and where solar is preferred, so that local government can respond to future solar development requests or to initiate solar projects that are preferred by the community.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Community Planning for Solar: Conducting Focus Groups for Solar Planning

This guide is designed to assist community officials, volunteers, and regional planning agency staff in conducting preliminary community meetings to learn about attitudes towards solar energy in your community. The guide will provide the key steps, timelines, facilitators' guide, and tips for hosting successful focus groups. Focus groups are meetings with a small group that represent a diversity of perspectives in your community. These differ from an open meeting in that focus groups include very specific questions that are prepared in advance, and all participants are given time to respond and understand various perspectives about solar energy. The guide concludes with a suggested template for reporting the results of your focus group or community meeting to your community more broadly. Holding community focus groups is part of assessing community preferences, as part of the Community Planning for Solar toolkit (ag.umass.edu/solarplanning). This guide is designed to help municipalities in Massachusetts and other states proactively plan for solar development in their communities. For more information, visit the UMass Clean Energy Extension (CEE) website (ag.umass.edu/clean-energy).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Community Planning for Solar: Conducting a Community Solar Survey

This guide is designed to assist community officials, volunteers, and regional planning agency staff in conducting a survey of residents to learn about attitudes and development preferences towards solar energy within the community. The guide will provide the key steps, timelines, distribution options, ethics, and considerations that should be made in developing a survey distribution strategy. The guide also contains an overview of various question types and response categories, with considerations for the type of data that are needed for the study. The guide concludes with recommendations for managing data and databases, data visualization, and reporting results. The appendix includes samples of materials used in a solar energy survey, from invitation letters to the survey. This document is intended to provide a practical guide for implementing a survey in communities that are proactively planning for solar development. The guide offers a practical “how-to” plan for conducting a survey. It may be advantageous to consult with an expert in survey development who will be familiar with any methods and techniques described in this guide, but this is not necessary. This guide offers basic considerations and examples of questions and analyses to help a community understand preferences of the community.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Community Planning for Solar: Compiling a Community Solar Action Plan

This document provides an annotated outline for a Community Solar Action Plan. This document is designed to assist community officials, volunteers, and regional planning agency staff in preparing a draft Community Solar Action Plan for a municipality, community, or other jurisdiction. Preparing a Community Solar Action Plan is the fifth step in the Community Planning for Solar process (ag.umass.edu/solarplanning). The plan is intended to be the culmination of the planning process. The contents of the plan will include summaries of information gathered as part of foregoing steps in the process, including completion of a Solar Resource and Infrastructure Assessment, administering of a Community Solar Survey, interpretation of survey results, and review of Solar Financing and Ownership Options and tools. Once the Community Solar Action Plan has been drafted, it should be reviewed by municipal board and commission members and presented at an open community forum. Any important comments or revisions can be incorporated before the final Community Solar Action Plan is approved and implemented. The approved Community Solar Action Plan is a living document that guides community solar planning action over time. As conditions change, new information becomes available, or actions progress over the life of the plan, adjustments may be necessary to maintain the plan's relevance. The Monitoring, Evaluating, and Updating Your Community Solar Action Plan fact sheet (Step 6, Item a) describes some things to consider when updating the Community Solar Action Plan over time.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Monitoring, Evaluating, and Updating Your Community Solar Action Plan

The Community Solar Action Plan is a living document that guides community solar planning action over time. As conditions change, new information becomes available, or actions progress over the life of the plan, adjustments may be necessary to maintain the plan's relevance. This fact sheet describes some things to consider when implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and updating the Community Solar Action Plan over time.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evaluating Utility Costs Savings and Resilience: A Case Study in Port Arthur, Texas

This study evaluates the techno-economic feasibility of integrating solar photovoltaics (PV), battery energy storage systems (BESS), and generators to enhance both cost savings and resilience in critical community facilities in Port Arthur, Texas. Using NREL's REopt model, we analyze four facilities: the Golden Triangle Empowerment Center (GTEC), Lamar State College (LSC), Port Arthur Independent School District (PAISD), and Port Arthur Transit (PAT). A key aspect of the analysis is the incorporation of the Value of Lost Load (VoLL) and microgrid upgrade costs to assess the hidden value of resilience during grid outages. While standalone PV scenarios show moderate cost reductions and a 10-15% decrease in CO2 emissions, the inclusion of resilience measures with BESS and generators significantly increases system costs. However, the hidden value of resilience - quantified through avoided outage costs - leads to a substantial improvement in financial outcomes, resulting in positive Net Present Value (NPV) at many sites. The study demonstrates that resilient solar and storage systems offer both economic and resilience benefits, particularly for underserved communities, by balancing energy savings and enhanced operational continuity during outages.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗