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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Femtosecond timing distribution and control for next generation accelerators and light sources

Femtosecond Timing Distribution At LCLS Free-electron-lasers (FEL) have the capability of producing high photon flux from the IR to the hard x-ray wavelength range and to emit femtosecond and eventually even attosecond pulses. This makes them an ideal tool for fundamental as well as applied re-search. Timing precision at the Stanford Linear Coherent Light Source (LCLS) between the x-ray FEL (XFEL) and ultrafast optical lasers is currently no better than 100 fs RMS. Ideally this precision should be much better and could be limited only by the x-ray pulse duration, which can be as short as a few femtoseconds. An increasing variety of science problems involving electron and nuclear dynamics in chemical and material systems will become accessible as the timing improves to a few femtoseconds. Advanced methods of electron beam conditioning or pulse injection could allow the FEL to achieve pulse durations less than one femtosecond. The objective of the work described in this proposal is to set up an optical timing distribution system based on mode locked Erbium doped fiber lasers at LCLS facility to improve the timing precision in the facility and allow time stamping with a 10 fs precision. The primary commercial applications for optical timing distributions systems are seen in the worldwide accelerator facilities and next generation light sources community. It is reasonable to expect that at least three major XFELs will be built in the next decade. In addition there will be up to 10 smaller machines, such as FERMI in Italy and Maxlab in Sweden, plus the market for upgrading already existing facilities like Jefferson Lab. The total market is estimated to be on the order of a 100 Million US Dollars. The company owns the exclusive rights to the IP covering the technology enabling sub-10 fs synchronization systems. Testing this technology, which has set records in a lab environment, at LCLS, hence in a real world scenario, is an important corner stone of bringing the technology to market.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Improved Biomass Cooking Stoves and Improved Stove Emission Equipment

In developing countries, there is an urgent need for access to safe, efficient, and more affordable cooking technologies. Nearly 2.5 billion people currently use an open fire or traditional cookstove to prepare their meals, and recent models predict that use of biomass for cooking will continue to be the dominant energy use in rural, resource-poor households through 2030. For these families, cooking poses serious risks to health, safety, and income. An alarming 4 million people, primarily women and children, die prematurely each year from indoor and outdoor exposure to the harmful emissions released by solid fuel combustion. Use of traditional stoves can also have a significant impact on deforestation and climate change. This dire situation creates a critical need for cookstoves that significantly and verifiably reduce fuel use and emissions in order to reach protective levels for human health and the environment. Additionally, advances in the scientific equipment needed to measure and monitor stove fuel use and emissions have not kept pace with the significant need within the industry. While several testing centers in the developed world may have hundred thousand-dollar emissions testing systems, organizations in the field have had little more than a thermometer, a scale, and subjective observations to quantify the performance of stove designs. There is an urgent need for easy-to-use, inexpensive, accurate, and robust stove testing equipment for use by laboratory and field researchers around the world. ASAT and their research partner, Aprovecho Research Center (ARC), have over thirty years of experience addressing these two needs, improved cookstoves and emissions monitoring equipment, with expertise spanning the full spectrum of development from conceptual design to product manufacturing and dissemination. This includes: 1) research, design, and verification of clean biomass cookstove technology and emissions monitoring equipment; 2) mass production of quality-controlled stove and emissions equipment at levels scalable to meet global demand; and 3) global distribution through a variety of channels and partners. ARC has been instrumental in designing and improving more than 100 stove designs over the past thirty years. In the last four years, ASAT and ARC have played a key role in the production and sales of over 200,000 improved stoves in the developed and developing world. The ARC-designed emissions equipment is currently used by researchers in laboratories and field studies on five continents. During Phase I of the DOE STTR grant, ASAT and ARC worked together to apply their wealth of product development experience towards creating the next generation of improved cookstoves and emissions monitoring equipment. Highlights of Phase I for the biomass cookstove project include 1) the development of several new stove technologies that reached the DOE 50/90 benchmark; 2) fabrication of new stove prototypes by ASAT’s manufacturing partner, Shengzhou Stove Manufacturing (SSM); 3) field testing of prototype stoves with consumers in Puerto Rico and the US; and 4) the selection of three stove prototypes for further development and commercialization during Phase II. Highlights of Phase I for the emissions monitoring equipment project include: 1) creation of a new emissions monitoring equipment product, the Laboratory Emissions Monitoring System (LEMS 2) the addition of gravimetric PM measurements to the stove testing systems to meet International Standards Organization criteria; 3) the addition of a CO{sub 2} sensor and wireless 3G capability to the IAP Meter; and 4) and the improvement of sensors and signal quality on all systems. Twelve Regional Testing and Knowledge Centers purchased this equipment during the Phase I project period.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2013

nuSTORM Costing document

Detailed costing of the nuSTORM conventional facilities has been done by the Fermilab Facilities Engineering Services Section (FESS) and is reported on in the nuSTORM Project Definition Report (PDR) 6-13-1. Estimates for outfitting the primary proton beam line, the target station, the pion capture/transport line and decay ring are based on either experience from existing Fermilab infrastructure (NuMI) or is based on the detailed costing exercises for DOE CD-1 approval for future experiments (mu2e and LBNE). The detector costing utilized the Euronu costing for the Neutrino Factory Magnetized Iron Neutrino Detector (MIND), extrapolations from MINOS as-built costs and from recent vendor quotes. Costs included all manpower and are fully burdened (FY2013 dollars). The costs are not escalated, however, beyond the 5-year project timeline, since a project start for nuSTORM is unknown. Escalation can be estimated from various models (see Figure 1). LBNE has used the Jacob’s model to determine their cost escalation.

Bross, Alan D.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Cryptographic Key Management and Critical Risk Assessment

The Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (DOE-OE) CyberSecurity for Energy Delivery Systems (CSEDS) industry led program (DE-FOA-0000359) entitled "Innovation for Increasing CyberSecurity for Energy Delivery Systems (12CSEDS)," awarded a contract to Sypris Electronics LLC to develop a Cryptographic Key Management System for the smart grid (Scalable Key Management Solutions for Critical Infrastructure Protection). Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Sypris Electronics, LLC as a result of that award entered into a CRADA (NFE-11-03562) between ORNL and Sypris Electronics, LLC. ORNL provided its Cyber Security Econometrics System (CSES) as a tool to be modified and used as a metric to address risks and vulnerabilities in the management of cryptographic keys within the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) domain of the electric sector. ORNL concentrated our analysis on the AMI domain of which the National Electric Sector Cyber security Organization Resource (NESCOR) Working Group 1 (WG1) has documented 29 failure scenarios. The computational infrastructure of this metric involves system stakeholders, security requirements, system components and security threats. To compute this metric, we estimated the stakes that each stakeholder associates with each security requirement, as well as stochastic matrices that represent the probability of a threat to cause a component failure and the probability of a component failure to cause a security requirement violation. We applied this model to estimate the security of the AMI, by leveraging the recently established National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report (NISTIR) 7628 guidelines for smart grid security and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 63351, Part 9 to identify the life cycle for cryptographic key management, resulting in a vector that assigned to each stakeholder an estimate of their average loss in terms of dollars per day of system operation. To further address probabilities of threats, information security analysis can be performed using game theory implemented in dynamic Agent Based Game Theoretic (ABGT) simulations. Such simulations can be verified with the results from game theory analysis and further used to explore larger scale, real world scenarios involving multiple attackers, defenders, and information assets. The strategy for the game was developed by analyzing five electric sector representative failure scenarios contained in the AMI functional domain from NESCOR WG1. From these five selected scenarios, we characterized them into three specific threat categories affecting confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA). The analysis using our ABGT simulation demonstrated how to model the AMI functional domain using a set of rationalized game theoretic rules decomposed from the failure scenarios in terms of how those scenarios might impact the AMI network with respect to CIA.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure↗
DOE OSTI2014

Centralized Cryptographic Key Management and Critical Risk Assessment - (CRADA Final Report)

The Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (DOE-OE) Cyber Security for Energy Delivery Systems (CSEDS) industry led program (DE-FOA-0000359) entitled "Innovation for Increasing Cyber Security for Energy Delivery Systems (12CSEDS)," awarded a contract to Sypris Electronics LLC to develop a Cryptographic Key Management System for the smart grid (Scalable Key Management Solutions for Critical Infrastructure Protection). Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Sypris Electronics, LLC as a result of that award entered into a CRADA (NFE-11-03562) between ORNL and Sypris Electronics, LLC. ORNL provided its Cyber Security Econometrics System (CSES) as a tool to be modified and used as a metric to address risks and vulnerabilities in the management of cryptographic keys within the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) domain of the electric sector. ORNL concentrated our analysis on the AMI domain of which the National Electric Sector Cyber security Organization Resource (NESCOR) Working Group 1 (WG1) has documented 29 failure scenarios. The computational infrastructure of this metric involves system stakeholders, security requirements, system components and security threats. To compute this metric, we estimated the stakes that each stakeholder associates with each security requirement, as well as stochastic matrices that represent the probability of a threat to cause a component failure and the probability of a component failure to cause a security requirement violation. We applied this model to estimate the security of the AMI, by leveraging the recently established National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report (NISTIR) 7628 guidelines for smart grid security and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 63351, Part 9 to identify the life cycle for cryptographic key management, resulting in a vector that assigned to each stakeholder an estimate of their average loss in terms of dollars per day of system operation. To further address probabilities of threats, information security analysis can be performed using game theory implemented in dynamic Agent Based Game Theoretic (ABGT) simulations. Such simulations can be verified with the results from game theory analysis and further used to explore larger scale, real world scenarios involving multiple attackers, defenders, and information assets. The strategy for the game was developed by analyzing five electric sector representative failure scenarios contained in the AMI functional domain from NESCOR WG1. From these five selected scenarios, we characterized them into three specific threat categories affecting confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA). The analysis using our ABGT simulation demonstrated how to model the AMI functional domain using a set of rationalized game theoretic rules decomposed from the failure scenarios in terms of how those scenarios might impact the AMI network with respect to CIA.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2014

Discussion Regarding Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor (AHR) Benchmarks

“Characteristics of Fissile Solution Systems”, LA-UR-14-21513, published by the same authors, detailed the behavior of the subject systems that distinguishes them from those employing solid fuels. This Report, a companion to the presentation by the same name published by the authors as LA-UR-14- 21529, extends that discussion to illustrate this behavior with reference to the operation of historic aqueous homogeneous reactors (AHR). In this report the term “benchmark” refers to those systems for which it is judged that sufficient experimental data exists to serve as a reference for the behavior of the class of fissile solution systems called AHR. As has been discussed in the previous report, AHR exhibit a range of modes of operation generally determined by the amount of excess reactivity inserted into the system from a steady-state condition, such as sub-critical startup, and the rate of that insertion. The amount of reactivity inserted may fall in the range of $\$0.00$ < Reactivity ≤ $\$1.00$, in the usual units of “dollars” and “cents” or > $\$1.00$. The initial region is called “delayed critical” while the latter is referenced as “super prompt critical”. Excess reactivity may be inserted in rates ranging from slow ramp to step, which drives system dynamics; however, regardless of either of these factors, amplitude or rate of insertion, the ultimate result will be steady-state operation.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Economic Impacts from Indiana's First 1,000 Megawatts of Wind Power

The magnitude of Indiana's available wind resource indicates that the development of wind power infrastructure has the potential to support millions of dollars of economic activity in the state. The Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) models, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, are tools used to estimate some of the economic impacts of energy projects at the state level. JEDI calculates results in the form of jobs, earnings, and economic output in three categories: project development and onsite labor, local revenue and supply chain, and induced impacts. According to this analysis, the first 1,000 MW of wind power development in Indiana (projects built between 2008 and 2011): supported employment totaling more than 4,400 full-time-equivalent jobs in Indiana during the construction periods; supports approximately 260 ongoing Indiana jobs; supported nearly $570 million in economic activity for Indiana during the construction periods; supported and continues to support nearly $40 million in annual Indiana economic activity during the operating periods; generates more than $8 million in annual property taxes; generates nearly $4 million annually in income for Indiana landowners who lease their land for wind energy projects.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reference Model 6 (RM6): Oscillating Wave Energy Converter.

This report is an addendum to SAND2013-9040: Methodology for Design and Economic Analysis of Marine Energy Conversion (MEC) Technologies. This report describes an Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter reference model design in a complementary manner to Reference Models 1-4 contained in the above report. In this report, a conceptual design for an Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter (WEC) device appropriate for the modeled reference resource site was identified, and a detailed backward bent duct buoy (BBDB) device design was developed using a combination of numerical modeling tools and scaled physical models. Our team used the methodology in SAND2013-9040 for the economic analysis that included costs for designing, manufacturing, deploying, and operating commercial-scale MEC arrays, up to 100 devices. The methodology was applied to identify key cost drivers and to estimate levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for this RM6 Oscillating Water Column device in dollars per kilowatt-hour ($/kWh). Although many costs were difficult to estimate at this time due to the lack of operational experience, the main contribution of this work was to disseminate a detailed set of methodologies and models that allow for an initial cost analysis of this emerging technology. This project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Wind and Water Power Technologies Program Office (WWPTO), within the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE). Sandia National Laboratories, the lead in this effort, collaborated with partners from National Laboratories, industry, and universities to design and test this reference model.

Bull, Diana L↗
DOE OSTI2014

Jointly Sponsored Research Program on Energy Related Research

Cooperative Agreements, DE-FC26-08NT43293, DOE-WRI Cooperative Research and Development Program for Fossil Energy-Related Resources began in June 2009. The goal of the Program was to develop, commercialize, and deploy technologies of value to the nation’s fossil and renewable energy industries. To ensure relevancy and early commercialization, the involvement of an industrial partner was encouraged. In that regard, the Program stipulated that a minimum of 20% cost share be achieved in a fiscal year. This allowed WRI to carry a diverse portfolio of technologies and projects at various development technology readiness levels. Depending upon the maturity of the research concept and technology, cost share for a given task ranged from none to as high as 67% (two-thirds). Over the course of the Program, a total of twenty six tasks were proposed for DOE approval. Over the period of performance of the Cooperative agreement, WRI has put in place projects utilizing a total of $\$$7,089,581 in USDOE funds. Against this funding, cosponsors have committed $\$$7,398,476 in private funds to produce a program valued at $\$$14,488,057. Tables 1 and 2 presented at the end of this section is a compilation of the funding for all the tasks conducted under the program. The goal of the Cooperative Research and Development Program for Fossil Energy-Related Resources was to through collaborative research with the industry, develop or assist in the development of innovative technology solutions that will: • Increase the production of United States energy resources – coal, natural gas, oil, and renewable energy resources; • Enhance the competitiveness of United States energy technologies in international markets and assist in technology transfer; • Reduce the nation's dependence on foreign energy supplies and strengthen both the United States and regional economies; and • Minimize environmental impacts of energy production and utilization. Success of the Program can be measured by several criteria. Using the deployment of the federal funding with industrial participation as a performance criterion, over the course of the program, the cosponsors contributed more dollars than the federal funds. As stated earlier, a little more than half of the funding for the Program was derived from industrial partners. The industrial partners also enthusiastically supported the research and development activities with cash contribution of $\$$4,710,372.67, nearly 65% of the required cost share. Work on all of the tasks proposed under the Cooperative Agreement has been completed. This report summarizes and highlights the results from the Program. Under the Cooperative Agreement Program, energy-related tasks emphasized petroleum processing, upgrading and characterization, coal and biomass beneficiation and upgrading, coal combustion systems development including oxy-combustion, emissions monitoring and abatement, coal gasification technologies including gas clean-up and conditioning, hydrogen and liquid fuels production, and the development of technologies for the utilization of renewable energy resources. Environmental-related activities emphasized cleaning contaminated soils using microbial fuel cells, development of processes and sorbents for emissions reduction and recovery of water from power plant flue gas, and biological carbon capture and reuse. Technology enhancement activities included resource characterization studies, development of improved methods, monitors and sensors. In general the goals of the tasks proposed were to enhance competitiveness of U.S. technology, increase production of domestic resources, and reduce environmental impacts associated with energy production and utilization. Technologies being brought to commercialization as a result of the funds provided by the Cooperative Agreement contribute to the overall goals of the USDOE and the nation. Each has broad applicability both within the United States and abroad, thereby helping to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. energy technologies in international markets and assisting in technology transfer. Under the Cooperative Agreement Program, WRI has furthered the development of two different coal upgrading technologies. River Basin Energy technology was scaled-up and demonstrated at a nominal 40 tpd size. Similarly, WRI’s patented mercury removal technology further developed into WRITE Coal technology which was then integrated into oxy-combustion and gasification systems for IGCC and fuels production. Integrated systems with WRITE Coal technology applied at the front end represent substantial environmental and efficiency gains. A variation of the RBE coal upgrading technology is being commercialized as a torrefaction technology for woody biomass. WRI worked with EPRI and NIST to develop and improve mercury calibration standards for emissions monitoring. Working with Chart Energy and Chemicals, WRI scaled-up compact reactor technology for the synthesis of fuels and chemicals from syngas. Compact reactor technology represents a five-fold increase in productivity over conventional reactors making smaller-scale distributed synthesis plants an economical viability. Similarly, WRI's patented mixed alcohol synthesis catalyst production is being scaled-up in collaboration with a commercial catalyst manufacturer.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2014

U.S. Residential Photovoltaic (PV) System Prices, Q4 2013 Benchmarks: Cash Purchase, Fair Market Value, and Prepaid Lease Transaction Prices

The price of photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States (i.e., the cost to the system owner) has dropped precipitously in recent years, led by substantial reductions in global PV module prices. This report provides a Q4 2013 update for residential PV systems, based on an objective methodology that closely approximates the book value of a PV system. Several cases are benchmarked to represent common variation in business models, labor rates, and module choice. We estimate a weighted-average cash purchase price of $3.29/W for modeled standard-efficiency, polycrystalline-silicon residential PV systems installed in the United States. This is a 46% decline from the 2013-dollar-adjusted price reported in the Q4 2010 benchmark report. In addition, this report frames the cash purchase price in the context of key price metrics relevant to the continually evolving landscape of third-party-owned PV systems by benchmarking the minimum sustainable lease price and the fair market value of residential PV systems.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Potential for the Use of Energy Savings Performance Contracts to Reduce Energy Consumption and Provide Energy and Cost Savings in Non-Building Applications

The findings of this study indicate that potential exists in non-building applications to save energy and costs. This potential could save billions of federal dollars, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, increase energy independence and security, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal Government has nearly twenty years of experience with achieving similar energy cost reductions, and letting the energy costs savings pay for themselves, by applying energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) in its buildings. Currently, the application of ESPCs is limited by statute to federal buildings. This study indicates that ESPCs can be a compatible and effective contracting tool for achieving savings in non-building applications.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Estimating customer electricity savings from projects installed by the U.S. ESCO industry

The U.S. energy service company (ESCO) industry has a well-established track record of delivering substantial energy and dollar savings in the public and institutional facilities sector, typically through the use of energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) (Larsen et al. 2012; Goldman et al. 2005; Hopper et al. 2005, Stuart et al. 2013). This ~$6.4 billion industry, which is expected to grow significantly over the next five years, may play an important role in achieving demand-side energy efficiency under local/state/federal environmental policy goals. To date, there has been little or no research in the public domain to estimate electricity savings for the entire U.S. ESCO industry. Estimating these savings levels is a foundational step in order to determine total avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from demand-side energy efficiency measures installed by U.S. ESCOs. We introduce a method to estimate the total amount of electricity saved by projects implemented by the U.S. ESCO industry using the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) /National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO) database of projects and LBNL’s biennial industry survey. We report two metrics: incremental electricity savings and savings from ESCO projects that are active in a given year (e.g., 2012). Overall, we estimate that in 2012 active U.S. ESCO industry projects generated about 34 TWh of electricity savings—15 TWh of these electricity savings were for MUSH market customers who did not rely on utility customer-funded energy efficiency programs (see Figure 1). This analysis shows that almost two-thirds of 2012 electricity savings in municipal, local and state government facilities, universities/colleges, K-12 schools, and healthcare facilities (i.e., the so-called “MUSH” market) were not supported by a utility customer-funded energy efficiency program.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2014

SECA Coal-Based Systems - FuelCell Energy, Inc.

The overall goal of this U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored project is the development of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cell and stack technology suitable for use in highly-efficient, economically-competitive central generation power plant facilities fueled by coal synthesis gas (syngas). This program incorporates the following supporting objectives: • Reduce SOFC-based electrical power generation system cost to $700 or less (2007 dollars) for a greater than 100 MW Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell (IGFC) power plant, exclusive of coal gasification and CO 2 separation subsystem costs. • Achieve an overall IGFC power plant efficiency of at least 50%, from coal (higher heating value or HHV) to AC power (exclusive of CO 2 compression power requirement). • Reduce the release of CO2 to the environment in an IGFC power plant to no more than 10% of the carbon in the syngas. • Increase SOFC stack reliability to achieve a design life of greater than 40,000 hours. At the inception of the project, the efforts were focused on research, design and testing of prototype planar SOFC power generators for stationary applications. FuelCell Energy, Inc. successfully completed the initial stage of the project by meeting the program metrics, culminating in delivery and testing of a 3 kW system at National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). Subsequently, the project was re-aligned into a three phase effort with the main goal to develop SOFC technology for application in coal-fueled power plants with >90% carbon capture. Phase I of the Coal-based efforts focused on cell and stack size scale-up with concurrent enhancement of performance, life, cost, and manufacturing characteristics. Also in Phase I, design and analysis of the baseline (greater than 100 MW) power plant system—including concept identification, system definition, and cost analysis—was conducted. Phase II efforts focused on development of a ≥25 kW SOFC stack tower incorporating multiple stack building blocks of scaled-up cells, suitable for integration into a large-scale fuel cell power module. Activities in Phase II also included the development of the baseline system, factory cost estimate for the baseline plant’s power block, and conceptual design of a natural gas fueled sub-MW system to be used for testing and verification of the fuel cell stacks in a system environment. The specific objective for Phase III was the validation of the performance and robustness of stacks and scaled stack arrays suitable for use in large-scale power generation systems such as an IGFC with reliable, fail-safe operation being of paramount importance. The work culminated in the verification tests of a 60 kW SOFC stack module in a power plant facility. This final technical report summarizes the progress made during the project period. Significant progress was made in the areas of cell and stack technology development, stack module design, sub-scale module tests, Baseline Power Plant system development and Proof-of- Concept Module unit design. The development of this technology will significantly advance the nation’s energy security and independence interests while simultaneously addressing environmental concerns, including greenhouse gas emissions and water usage.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2012

Tracking the Sun V: An Historical Summary of the Installed Price of Photovoltaics in the United States from 1998 to 2011

As the deployment of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems has increased, so too has the desire to track the installed price of these systems over time and by location, customer type, and system characteristics. This report helps to fill this need by summarizing trends in the installed price of grid-connected PV systems in the United States from 1998 through 2011, with preliminary data for 2012. The analysis is based on project-level data for more than 150,000 individual residential, commercial, and utility-scale PV systems, totaling more than 3,000 megawatts (MW) and representing 76% of all grid-connected PV capacity installed in the United States through 2011. The report describes installed price trends for residential and commercial PV systems, and another set of trends for utility-scale PV. In all cases, installed prices are identified in terms of real 2011 dollars per installed watt (DC-STC), prior to receipt of any direct financial incentives or tax credits.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Program Potential: Estimates of Federal Energy Cost Savings from Energy Efficient Procurement

In 2011, energy used by federal buildings cost approximately $7 billion. Reducing federal energy use could help address several important national policy goals, including: (1) increased energy security; (2) lowered emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants; (3) increased return on taxpayer dollars; and (4) increased private sector innovation in energy efficient technologies. This report estimates the impact of efficient product procurement on reducing the amount of wasted energy (and, therefore, wasted money) associated with federal buildings, as well as on reducing the needless greenhouse gas emissions associated with these buildings.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2012

The Future of Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs in the United States: Projected Spending and Savings to 2025

We develop projections of future spending on, and savings from, energy efficiency programs funded by electric and gas utility customers in the United States, under three scenarios through 2025. Our analysis, which updates a previous LBNL study, relies on detailed bottom-up modeling of current state energy efficiency policies, regulatory decisions, and demand-side management and utility resource plans. The three scenarios are intended to represent a range of potential outcomes under the current policy environment (i.e., without considering possible major new policy developments). By 2025, spending on electric and gas efficiency programs (excluding load management programs) is projected to double from 2010 levels to $9.5 billion in the medium case, compared to $15.6 billion in the high case and $6.5 billion in the low case. Compliance with statewide legislative or regulatory savings or spending targets is the primary driver for the increase in electric program spending through 2025, though a significant share of the increase is also driven by utility DSM planning activity and integrated resource planning. Our analysis suggests that electric efficiency program spending may approach a more even geographic distribution over time in terms of absolute dollars spent, with the Northeastern and Western states declining from over 70% of total U.S. spending in 2010 to slightly more than 50% in 2025, with the South and Midwest splitting the remainder roughly evenly. Under our medium case scenario, annual incremental savings from customer-funded electric energy efficiency programs increase from 18.4 TWh in 2010 in the U.S. (which is about 0.5% of electric utility retail sales) to 28.8 TWh in 2025 (0.8% of retail sales). These savings would offset the majority of load growth in the Energy Information Administration’s most recent reference case forecast, given specific assumptions about the extent to which future energy efficiency program savings are captured in that forecast. However, the pathway that customer-funded efficiency programs ultimately take will depend on a series of key challenges and uncertainties associated both with the broader market and policy context and with the implementation and regulatory oversight of the energy efficiency programs themselves.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Summary of Calcine Disposal Development Using Hot Isostatic Pressing

Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, has demonstrated the effectiveness of the hot isostatic press (HIP) process for treatment of hazardous high-level waste known as calcine that is stored at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) at Idaho National Laboratory. HIP trials performed with simulated calcines at Idaho National Laboratory’s Materials and Fuels Complex and an Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization facility from 2007 to 2010 produced a dense, monolithic waste form with increased chemical durability and effective (storage) volume reductions of ~10 to ~70% compared to granular calcine forms. In December 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy signed an amended Record of Decision selecting HIP technology as the treatment method for the 4,400 m3 of granular zirconia and alumina calcine stored at INTEC. Testing showed that HIP treatment reduces the risks associated with radioactive and hazardous constituent release, post-production handling, and long-term (repository) storage of calcines and would result in estimated storage cost savings in the billions of dollars. Battelle Energy Alliance has the ability to complete pilot-scale HIP processing of INTEC calcine, which is the next necessary step in implementing HIP processing as a calcine treatment method.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2014

Design of a Large Diffraction Grating Optical Assembly

The Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC) is a diagnostic system in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) that will enable high-speed imaging of imploding targets in the NIF Target Chamber. NIF is a multi-billion dollar project to focus 192 laser beams onto a small target (approximately the size of a pencil eraser) to generate nuclear fusion. The complete ARC system is composed of approximately 80 modular large optical assemblies known as Line Replaceable Units (LRUs). The total estimated weight of the ARC optics alone is 16,000 lbs, with an average optic weight of 200 lbs. Key to the function and performance of ARC is an optical compressor, which uses diffraction gratings known as Grating LRUs to temporally compress a total of 8 laser beams. The resulting high-power beams are focused onto a back-lighter target to create high-energy xrays for imaging. These Grating LRUs are housed inside vacuum vessels called Compressor Vessels (Figures 1-5). There are a total of 32 Grating LRUs, 16 in each Compressor Vessel.

42 ENGINEERING↗