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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 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Development of a site analysis tool for distributed wind projects

The Cadmus Group, Inc., in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Encraft, was awarded a grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a site analysis tool for distributed wind technologies. As the principal investigator for this project, Mr. Shawn Shaw was responsible for overall project management, direction, and technical approach. The product resulting from this project is the Distributed Wind Site Analysis Tool (DSAT), a software tool for analyzing proposed sites for distributed wind technology (DWT) systems. This user-friendly tool supports the long-term growth and stability of the DWT market by providing reliable, realistic estimates of site and system energy output and feasibility. DSAT-which is accessible online and requires no purchase or download of software-is available in two account types; Standard: This free account allows the user to analyze a limited number of sites and to produce a system performance report for each; and Professional: For a small annual fee users can analyze an unlimited number of sites, produce system performance reports, and generate other customizable reports containing key information such as visual influence and wind resources. The tool’s interactive maps allow users to create site models that incorporate the obstructions and terrain types present. Users can generate site reports immediately after entering the requisite site information. Ideally, this tool also educates users regarding good site selection and effective evaluation practices.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

RESCue Model (RESCue Experiment and Model) [SWR-24-84]

The Renewable Energy and Storage Cybersecurity Research (RESCue) project is a collaborative effort aimed at securing the rapidly growing deployment of transmission-connected hybrid renewable energy systems, consisting of a combination of wind, solar, and/or energy storage equipment, against escalating cyber threats. This project brings together major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of wind, solar, and energy storage, along with major asset owners and DOE National Laboratories, to collectively identify cyber threats, assess risks, and develop robust cybersecurity strategies and solutions. The development of hybrid reference architectures has provided comprehensive blueprints for the secure design and integration of hybrid renewable energy systems, accounting for their unique characteristics and interdependencies. Additionally, NREL has created a cyber-resilient design framework that integrates cybersecurity considerations from the start of the system lifecycle, ensuring security is "baked in" from the initial design phase. The research thrusts for the project included (i) development of hybrid reference architectures and (ii) a cyber-resilient design framework for hybrid energy systems. The reference architectures has provided comprehensive blueprints for the secure design and integration of hybrid renewable energy systems, accounting for their unique characteristics and interdependencies. Additionally, NREL has created a cyber-resilient design framework that integrates cybersecurity considerations from the start of the system lifecycle, ensuring security is "baked in" from the initial design phase. A demonstration experiment was developed for one of the architectures using NREL's Cyber Range resources. This experiment configuration, deployable using open-source tools, is provided here in this repository. Additional models were developed for the wind and solar architectures as well, however the configurations for only the Energy Storage scenario are provided here: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy24osti/89921.pdf

Hasandka, Adarsh↗
DOE OSTI2021

Clean Energy Transformation in Bangladesh

Since 2011, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have partnered to support Bangladesh’s energy transition by enabling the deployment of advanced energy systems. The USAID-NREL Partnership launched the Reinforcing Advanced Energy Systems (RAES) program in May 2021 as a mechanism for providing a broader array of technical assistance to the Government of Bangladesh in support of their goal to promote renewable energy development to stimulate private sector investment, rural economic development, and to meet growing energy demand through domestic energy resources. This fact sheet reviews how USAID and NREL collaborate in Bangladesh to improve energy access and security and stimulate economic growth through the deployment of advanced energy systems.

Bangladesh↗
NASA NTRS1992

The Global Ocean Observing System

A Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) should be established now with international coordination (1) to address issues of global change, (2) to implement operational ENSO forecasts, (3) to provide the data required to apply global ocean circulation models, and (4) to extract the greatest value from the one billion dollar investment over the next ten years in ocean remote sensing by the world's space agencies. The objectives of GOOS will focus on climatic and oceanic predictions, on assessing coastal pollution, and in determining the sustainability of living marine resources and ecosystems. GOOS will be a complete system including satellite observations, in situ observations, numerical modeling of ocean processes, and data exchange and management. A series of practical and economic benefits will be derived from the information generated by GOOS. In addition to the marine science community, these benefits will be realized by the energy industries of the world, and by the world's fisheries. The basic oceanic variables that are required to meet the oceanic and predictability objectives of GOOS include wind velocity over the ocean, sea surface temperature and salinity, oceanic profiles of temperature and salinity, surface current, sea level, the extent and thickness of sea ice, the partial pressure of CO2 in surface waters, and the chlorophyll concentration of surface waters. Ocean circulation models and coupled ocean-atmosphere models can be used to evaluate observing system design, to assimilate diverse data sets from in situ and remotely sensed observations, and ultimately to predict future states of the system. The volume of ocean data will increase enormously over the next decade as new satellite systems are launched and as complementary in situ measuring systems are deployed. These data must be transmitted, quality controlled, exchanged, analyzed, and archived with the best state-of-the-art computational methods.

Kester, Dana↗
NASA NTRS2015

Spillage of Lunar Polar Crater Volatiles onto Adjacent Terrains: The Case for Dynamic Processes

We present an investigation of the release and transport of lunar polar crater volatiles onto topside regions surrounding the cold traps. The volatiles are liberated via surface energization processes associated with the harsh space environment, including solar wind plasma sputtering and impact vaporization. We find that some fraction of these volatiles can migrate from crater floors onto topside regions (those regions directly adjacent to and above the polar crater floors), and that these surrounding terrains should contain a sampling of the material originating within the crater itself. It is concluded that the nature of the volatile content on crater floors can be obtained by sampling the surface volatiles that have migrated or "spilled out" onto the adjacent terrain. This "spillage" effect could make human or robotic prospecting for crater resources significantly easier, since an assessment may not require direct entry into the very harsh polar crater environment. We also suggest that there are dynamic processes actively operating on the crater floors, and we estimate their source rates assuming dynamic equilibrium of the observed water frost and our modeled loss rates.

Vaporization↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Antarctic Meteorites: A Statistical Look at a Uniquely Valuable Resource

As of the 2019-20 field season, the U.S. Antarctic meteorite program has collected >23,000 meteorites. The U.S. collection is valuable in that it is classified in its entirety. The systematic collection methods employed have pro-vided meteorites of >40 types, many of which are the first of their type ever recognized. One of the early drivers for characterization of the entire U.S. Antarctic collection was to allow statistical comparisons. Early statistical assessments examined mass distributions and the relative frequency of meteorite types as well as comparisons to a defined set of modern falls. Using these statistics some have argued that the flux of H chondrites changed over time. Harvey used model size distributions to deconstruct the contribution of wind movement, meteorite supply and search losses to the Antarctic collection. Mass-based statistics and size distribution comparisons were examined, including comparison with modern falls/Saharan finds. Focus has been on geospatial statistics, with a comprehensive overview of the statistics of the Antarctic collections provided from the first 35 seasons of U.S. collection by ANSMET, as well as more recent assessments.

Antarctic meteorite↗
DOE OSTI2021

Wind power costs driven by innovation and experience with further reductions on the horizon

The costs of wind power have declined to levels on par with or below those of conventional sources in many parts of the world. Wind power has become one of the fastest-growing sources of new electricity generation. We take stock of wind power cost evolution over the past 20 years, review methodologies commonly used for cost assessment, discuss the potential for continued cost reduction, and identify anticipated cost and value drivers. Our scope includes both onshore and offshore wind technologies. We draw from a vast body of literature on these topics to highlight key trends, approaches, and limitations. Furthermore, we discuss strategies for wind power assets to enhance their marginal economic value to the broader power system and consumers. We identify a myriad of factors that are expected to influence the future cost and value of wind power, including siting, project scale, turbine size, operational synergies, commodity prices, advancements in turbine technologies, enhanced management of the wind resource, and novel control technologies that provide value for the electricity grid. Because the common methods for forecasting future costs each have their own strengths and weaknesses, we find the best insights are elicited from a combination of methods. Overall, researchers and analysts anticipate further sizable cost reductions for onshore and offshore wind. Midrange forecasts for levelized cost of energy in 2050 are generally between $20 and $30/MWh for onshore wind and $40 and $60/MWh for offshore wind, a reduction to approximately half of today's levels. Optimistic forecasts anticipate these levels as early as 2030.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Unified 0.25-degree gridded infrastructure-critical extreme weather for the United States from 1979 to 2100

Extreme weather events can severely disrupt critical infrastructure, triggering cascading effects on power, transportation, and essential services. However, standard weather and climate datasets often lack specialized variables necessary for hazard assessments. We present a unified dataset of infrastructure-critical weather and climate variables across the United States at 0.25° resolution, covering daily or sub-daily intervals from 1979 to 2100. The dataset includes temperature, dew point, wind gusts, precipitation partitioned by rain, snow, and freezing rain or ice pellets, lightning, and wildfire metrics. Historical conditions (1979-2023) are synthesized from observations and reanalysis products, while future projections are derived from 14 CMIP6 global climate models (historical, SSP245, and SSP585 experiments). Physically based and data-driven methods are used to estimate variables not directly provided by existing models. By integrating these variables into a single unified dataset, we enable consistent, high-resolution assessments of weather-related infrastructure risks across past and future periods, supporting wide-ranging applications in energy, transportation, water resources, emergency management, and beyond.

Climate and Earth system modelling↗
DOE OSTI2021

Assessing the Key Requirements for 450 GW of Renewable Capacity in India by 2030

In this policy brief, we assess the prerequisites for India to achieve 450 GW of solar and wind cumulative installed capacity by 2030. We examine requirements such as availability of land, new transmission buildout, financing and pace of deployment, as well as the impact on grid reliability and cost of generation. We also examine the impact of policies promoting domestic manufacturing. Deploying 307 GW of solar and 142 GW of wind capacity would use only about 1.25% of land that is categorized as barren or waste, which is equivalent to about 0.22% of the total land area in India. Because of the good solar resource across large swaths of India, the solar energy buildout—and thus the land use—potentially can be spread out. India would need about 280 GW of new interstate transmission capacity by 2030, a little over double the transmission expansion that has already been planned through 2025. However, most of the new transmission buildout is driven by the near doubling of electricity demand between 2020 and 2030. The total investment needed (in generation and storage resources) to realize this target is around USD 26.5 billion annually, which is 20% lower than the annual investment in India’s power sector across all generation resources between 2015 and 2019. We estimate that using domestically manufactured panels instead of imported panels may increase solar PPA prices by about 10%–15% in the medium term, but solar power would still be a cost-effective way to meet growing demand instead of building new fossil fuel-based power plants, because the price of electricity from solar plants has fallen below the variable cost of most existing coal units. To reach this target, India would need to build about 35–40 GW of solar and wind capacity every year in this decade. India’s power sector achieved a pace of capacity addition of 22 GW per year in the previous decade (including thermal and renewable). Policy and regulatory measures would be needed to increase the pace of deployment.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

An Evaluation of Advanced Tools for Distributed Wind Turbine Performance Estimation: Preprint

We evaluate various classes of distributed wind turbine performance tools across two sites in the USA. The tools class ranges from the simple mass conservation model to coupled Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model, all initiated by the WIND Toolkit dataset. The resource estimation at the site is evaluated against measured data at the mast location. Taking a sample 100 kW wind turbine and constant losses, we evaluate Openwind, Continuum, and WindNinja tools and document Annual Energy Production (AEP) and time series statistics associated with the performance estimation of the wind turbine. Using a methodology that is consistent and unbiased across the three advance options currently available in the industry, we elaborate results at the two sample locations and discuss the probable sources of discrepancy in the AEP estimates. The discussion includes additional values these tools may bring into the energy assessment process to enhance the owners' confidence over the distributed wind power systems.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Solar Resource and Meteorological Assessment Project (SOLRMAP): Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (RSR); Escalante Tri-State - Prewitt, New Mexico (Data)

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory collaborates with the solar industry to establish high quality solar and meteorological measurements. This Solar Resource and Meteorological Assessment Project (SOLRMAP) provides high quality measurements to support deployment of power projects in the United States. The no-funds-exchanged collaboration brings NREL solar resource assessment expertise together with industry needs for measurements. The end result is high quality data sets to support the financing, design, and monitoring of large scale solar power projects for industry in addition to research-quality data for NREL model development. NREL provides consultation for instrumentation and station deployment, along with instrument calibrations, data acquisition, quality assessment, data distribution, and summary reports. Industry participants provide equipment, infrastructure, and station maintenance.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Wind Energy Accomplishments and Year-End Performance Report: Fiscal Year 2023

As the United States' largest source of renewable energy, wind is already playing a vital role in the nation's shift to electricity generated from sustainable resources. Scientists, engineers, and analysts at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are propelling our country closer to this clean energy future with new efficient, reliable, and cost-competitive wind technologies and deployment strategies. In Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 2023), NREL received national acclaim for recent wind technology breakthroughs, applauded sustained decades of progress in wind energy research, and heralded new initiatives to support the next generation of wind development. This report and NREL's achievements of the last year set the stage for innovative research to come. Two NREL software innovations used to assess wind technology options were recognized with R&D 100 Awards. The Renewable Energy Potential (reV) model helps planners, developers, and researchers calculate wind energy capacity, generation, and cost for specific facilities, fleets and scenarios. NREL's Simulation and Emulation for Advanced Systems validates transmission and distribution solutions to minimize implementation risks. Both of these tools can be applied to a range of renewable solutions to cut costs and improve the reliability of systems in even the most remote locations. The laboratory commemorated landmark anniversaries for wind energy research facilities and programs managed by NREL. The National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) celebrated 30 years as a world-class hub for renewable energy research. An important component of the NWTC on NREL's Flatirons Campus, the one-of-a-kind 7-megawatt (MW) Controllable Grid Interface wind energy research apparatus, turned 10 this year. The Collegiate Wind Competition completed its tenth annual competition in May 2023. Six years after the grand challenges in wind energy science were first compiled, NREL brought together more than 100 wind energy experts from 15 countries to revisit the field's most pressing research needs. Other key new research initiatives examined ways to simultaneously address the needs for skilled wind energy workers and equitable job opportunities. NREL released the first national-level report evaluating offshore wind industry workforce gaps and ways to build a large, diverse pool of job candidates. The lab also co-hosted the International Partnering Forum's Offshore Wind Workforce Summit as part of its ongoing efforts to address the special challenges of that industry sector. NREL research and development (R&D) for the DOE Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) continues to build momentum in its efforts to combat climate change, create clean energy jobs, and promote energy justice. This report provides more detail on these top achievements and other accomplishments made by NREL and its partners during FY 2023 (between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023).

accomplishments↗
DOE OSTI2015

Controlling Subsurface Fractures and Fluid Flow: A Basic Research Agenda

From beneath the surface of the earth, we currently obtain about 80-percent of the energy our nation consumes each year. In the future we have the potential to generate billions of watts of electrical power from clean, green, geothermal energy sources. Our planet’s subsurface can also serve as a reservoir for storing energy produced from intermittent sources such as wind and solar, and it could provide safe, long-term storage of excess carbon dioxide, energy waste products and other hazardous materials. However, it is impossible to underestimate the complexities of the subsurface world. These complexities challenge our ability to acquire the scientific knowledge needed for the efficient and safe exploitation of its resources. To more effectively harness subsurface resources while mitigating the impacts of developing and using these resources, the U.S. Department of Energy established SubTER – the Subsurface Technology and Engineering RD&D Crosscut team. This DOE multi-office team engaged scientists and engineers from the national laboratories to assess and make recommendations for improving energy-related subsurface engineering. The SubTER team produced a plan with the overall objective of “adaptive control of subsurface fractures and fluid flow.”This plan revolved around four core technological pillars—Intelligent Wellbore Systems that sustain the integrity of the wellbore environment; Subsurface Stress and Induced Seismicity programs that guide and optimize sustainable energy strategies while reducing the risks associated with subsurface injections; Permeability Manipulation studies that improve methods of enhancing, impeding and eliminating fluid flow; and New Subsurface Signals that transform our ability to see into and characterize subsurface systems. The SubTER team developed an extensive R&D plan for advancing technologies within these four core pillars and also identified several areas where new technologies would require additional basic research. In response, the Office of Science, through its Office of Basic Energy Science (BES), convened a roundtable consisting of 15 national lab, university and industry geoscience experts to brainstorm basic research areas that underpin the SubTER goals but are currently underrepresented in the BES research portfolio. Held in Germantown, Maryland on May 22, 2015, the round-table participants developed a basic research agenda that is detailed in this report. Highlights include the following: -A grand challenge calling for advanced imaging of stress and geological processes to help understand how stresses and chemical substances are distributed in the subsurface—knowledge that is critical to all aspects of subsurface engineering; -A priority research direction aimed at achieving control of fluid flow through fractured media; -A priority research direction aimed at better understanding how mechanical and geochemical perturbations to subsurface rock systems are coupled through fluid and mineral interactions; -A priority research direction aimed at studying the structure, permeability, reactivity and other properties of nanoporous rocks, like shale, which have become critical energy materials and exhibit important hallmarks of mesoscale materials; -A cross-cutting theme that would accelerate development of advanced computational methods to describe heterogeneous time-dependent geologic systems that could, among other potential benefits, provide new and vastly improved models of hydraulic fracturing and its environmental impacts; -A cross-cutting theme that would lead to the creation of “geo-architected materials” with controlled repeatable heterogeneity and structure that can be tested under a variety of thermal, hydraulic, chemical and mechanical conditions relevant to subsurface systems; -A cross-cutting theme calling for new laboratory studies on both natural and geo-architected subsurface materials that deploy advanced high-resolution 3D imaging and chemical analysis methods to determine the ;rates and mechanisms of fluid-rock processes, and to test predictive models of such phenomena. Many of the key energy challenges of the future demand a greater understanding of the subsurface world in all of its complexity. This greater under- standing will improve the ability to control and manipulate the subsurface world in ways that will benefit both the economy and the environment. This report provides specific basic research pathways to address some of the most fundamental issues of energy-related subsurface engineering.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electrical Fault and Power Quality Detection Algorithms and Customer-Owned DERs Monitoring with a Cyber Grid Guard System and DLT

In this study, the electrical fault and power quality detection algorithms and customer-owned DERs monitoring use cases were implemented, with a Cyber Grid Guard system and DLT. Electrical utilities continue to deploy more intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) inside and outside electrical substations, and are associated with customer-owned distributed energy resources (DERs). Data from these IEDs, such as power meters and protection relays, must be kept confidential and of high integrity. Blockchain technology has the potential to increase microgrid resilience by enhancing data sharing security. The growing use of IEDs and customer-owned renewable energy sources (DERs) may make it necessary to connect Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) with power system applications. We implemented the electrical faulted phase detection and power quality monitoring algorithms with a Cyber Grid Guard (CGG) system using DLT. In addition, the DERs (wind turbine farms) use case and protective relay cyber-event tests were assessed, by using the CGG system with DLT. In the experimental model, the testbed was created by using a real-time simulator and CGG system with power meters/ protective relays in the loop. The data collected from the CGG system and IEDs were compared with the same time stamp source. These results showed the successful assessment of protection, control and monitoring applications using a CGG system with DLT. In the future, power system applications for the ESGT with DERs and the CGG system will be based on executing smart contracts between electrical utilities and customer-owned DERs.

Piesciorovsky, Emilio↗
DOE OSTI2014

Investigation of Spatial Variation of Sea States Offshore of Humboldt Bay CA Using a Hindcast Model.

Spatial variability of sea states is an important consideration when performing wave resource assessments and wave resource characterization studies for wave energy converter (WEC) test sites and commercial WEC deployments. This report examines the spatial variation of sea states offshore of Humboldt Bay, CA, using the wave model SWAN . The effect of depth and shoaling on bulk wave parameters is well resolved using the model SWAN with a 200 m grid. At this site, the degree of spatial variation of these bulk wave parameters, with shoaling generally perpendicular to the depth contours, is found to depend on the season. The variation in wave height , for example, was higher in the summer due to the wind and wave sheltering from the protruding land on the coastline north of the model domain. Ho wever, the spatial variation within an area of a potential Tier 1 WEC test site at 45 m depth and 1 square nautical mile is almost negligible; at most about 0.1 m in both winter and summer. The six wave characterization parameters recommended by the IEC 6 2600 - 101 TS were compared at several points along a line perpendicular to shore from the WEC test site . As expected, these parameters varied based on depth , but showed very similar seasonal trends.

Dallman, Ann Renee↗
DOE OSTI2024

Assessment and Coordination of DER Cybersecurity Standards

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are becoming increasingly important to the electric grid, including solar energy systems. However, DERs also introduce new cybersecurity risks, including those posed by cloud computing. Standards harmonization is essential for ensuring that DERs are secure and can be safely integrated into the grid. This panel will discuss cyber standards harmonization for solar security. The panel will feature experts from the S2G Program, National Labs and Industry.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Electrical substation grid testbed for DLT applications of electrical fault detection, power quality monitoring, DERs use cases and cyber-events

Electrical utilities continue to deploy more intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) inside and outside electrical substation, and are associated with customer-owned distributed energy resources (DERs). The integrity and confidentiality of data from these IEDs, like power meters and protective relays, is crucial. Blockchain technology could improve the resilience of microgrids by improving the security of data sharing. The penetration of customer-owned DERs (renewable energy sources) and the increasing deployment of IEDs can lead to integrate power system applications with Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). In this study, we implemented the electrical faulted phase detection and power quality monitoring algorithms with a Cyber Grid Guard (CGG) system using DLT. In addition, the DERs (wind turbine farms) use case and protective relay cyber-event tests were assessed, by using the CGG system with DLT. In the experimental model, the testbed was created by using a real-time simulator and CGG system with power meters/ protective relays in-the-loop. The data collected from the CGG system and IEDs were compared with the same time stamp source. These results had shown the successful assessment of protection, control and monitoring applications using a CGG system with DLT. In the future, the ESGT with DERs and the CGG system will be used in other power system applications, based on implementing smart contracts between electrical utilities with customer-owned DERs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Grid Value of Ocean Current Energy in Florida

Ocean current energy technology has been proposed as a potential contributor to Florida's energy portfolio. There has been limited investigation of how this energy would be valued when integrated into the Florida electrical grid. This study assesses three future grid scenarios to evaluate the impact of adding zero-cost ocean current energy to each. The Resource Planning Model, a tool developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is used to identify the least-cost generation mix through 2050, with and without ocean current energy. The first scenario is a base case and assumes existing policies in which the addition of ocean current energy does not retire fossil-based technologies but variable generation technologies. In the second scenario, solar and storage technologies are lower cost, and the addition of ocean current generation enables those technologies along with wind to retire existing natural gas units earlier. In the third scenario, which requires a 95% reduction in carbon emissions from 2020 levels by 2050, ocean current energy can play a role in decarbonization along with other variable generation technologies. This analysis is intended to inform stakeholders on the opportunity, potential challenges, and overall value to the grid of ocean current technology from a reliability and availability focused perspective.

capacity expansion model↗