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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Bias Correcting NOAA's High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) Wind Resource Data for Grid Integration Applications [Slides]

Many weather years of high-quality wind data are widely accepted in the grid integration community to be important for studying wind energy technical potential, energy system operations, and grid resilience. NREL makes high-quality wind and solar resource data available. NREL's Grid-Atmosphere workshop (March 2024) identified NREL National Solar Radiation Database as widely used in grid integration modeling, but there is less agreement on commonly used wind datasets. One important factor identified by ESIG's 2023 report 'Weather Dataset Needs for Planning and Analyzing Modern Power Systems' for gold standard wind data is regular updates. To address the need for regular updates, NREL's team can now process all currently available and regularly updated High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) outputs. HRRR is an hourly-updated operational forecast product produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (Dowell et al., 2022). One barrier to NREL using HRRR is systematic bias and consistency with NREL's existing wind datasets (e.g. WIND Toolkit, 'WTK') across weather years. To address this barrier, we show that the HRRR can be interpolated and bias-corrected to be consistent with NRE's existing datasets. We call the new dataset BC-HRRR (bias-corrected HRRR). As with historical datasets like the WTK, BC-HRRR is intended for use in grid integration modeling (e.g., capacity expansion, production cost, and resource adequacy modeling). BC-HRRR's (2015-present) consistency with WTK (2007-2013) allows NREL to extend internal grid integration tooling with 15+ weather years of wind data with low-overhead extensibility to future years as they are made available by NOAA. The rest of this slide deck documents the BC-HRRR processing methods, validation, and its implications for intended use.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimal hybrid power plants for electric vehicle charging demand

Transmission constraints, increasing motivations to decarbonize, and concerns over peak electric vehicle (EV) load impacts on local grids have driven electric customers to consider behind-the-meter, hybrid power plant generation and storage at the distributed-grid level for EV charging. In this study, we develop capabilities to optimize hybrid power plant component capacities for EV charging. We then demonstrate these capabilities in a case study for Boulder, Colorado, using public EV charging data as well as wind and solar resource data. Our results show system designs that balance the cost of energy with load-meeting and peak shaving performance. Within the case study, systems designed for wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and storage resulted in lower cost of energy than those optimized for PV and storage only. This indicates that in areas where wind resource exists, hybrid power plants that include wind, PV, and battery assets can better meet EV charging loads (including peak loads that are prone to overloading local grids) than PV and battery assets alone. Future work to address limitations in this paper include extending cost modeling to include performance losses (e.g., based on operations or weather) and charging station costs to estimate levelized cost of charging, and quantifying uncertainty and error in our aggregation methods for estimating EV charging loads at the hourly timescale.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Development of a 95-Year Solar Dataset for Resource Adequacy Studies

Long-term high-resolution solar data provides enhanced understanding of variability of solar generation and enhances our ability to develop strategies for a resilient and reliable electric grid under high deployment of solar energy. Therefore, it is important to develop long-term synthetic datasets that can provide multiple occurrences of various severe weather scenarios that are expected to test the limits of resource adequacy under scenarios contain various energy generation sources. Examples of such scenarios could be long periods of high temperatures when demand for electricity is high or periods where high winds could lead to a shut-down of transmission lines for long periods of time to ensure fire safety. NREL has developed the first version of such a dataset covering a 95-year period covering 2006-2100 at a 4km hourly resolution. This dataset contains all variables necessary to calculate solar generation. During development of this dataset, we focused on creating unbiased, high-resolution solar irradiance through statistical downscaling methods, using Regional Climate Model (RCM) simulations from the North American Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (NA-CORDEX) as input. The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) containing over 25 years of observations was used to calibrate the statistical downscaling models. This presentation will outline the primary steps in developing this dataset, including (1) regridding RCM data to a common grid at 20-km resolution, (2) correcting RCM biases with NSRDB, (3) applying temporal and spatial downscaling methods to generate high-resolution (4-km, hourly) solar and ancillary data. Additionally, we will present an evaluation of the downscaled data against the NSRDB across various zones in the CONUS. Lastly, we will present a user guide for accessing the datasets.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1974

Space satellite power system

The concept of a satellite solar power station was studied. It is shown that it offers the potential to meet a significant portion of future energy needs, is pollution free, and is sparing of irreplaceable earth resources. Solar energy is converted by photovoltaic solar cell arrays to dc energy which in turn is converted into microwave energy in a large active phased array. The microwave energy is beamed to earth with little attenuation and is converted back to dc energy on the earth. Economic factors are considered.

Glaser, P. E.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Data for "Implications of Zoning Ordinances for Rural Utility-Scale Solar Deployment and Power System Decarbonization in the Great Lakes Region".

This dataset includes the Energy Zoning Database and geographic shapefiles used to identify suitable rural areas for utility-scale solar development. Additionally, it contains the input data required for the capacity expansion model, including information on existing electric generators and their associated costs, solar resource potential, and transmission infrastructure data. These datasets collectively support the analysis presented in the paper, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of zoning regulations, land suitability, and the economic and technical feasibility of solar deployment in rural areas.

Owusu-Obeng, Papa Yaw (ORCID:0000000334385183)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Photovoltaic and Cost Analysis for Winston-Salem, North Carolina

This study assesses the feasibility of solar installations at various sites in Winston-Salem, focusing on factors such as solar resource availability, electricity costs, and rooftop area for photovoltaic systems. The analysis begins by estimating daily energy requirements based on annual electricity use, followed by adjusting for seasonal and operational fluctuations. Using regional solar data from the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB), we calculate average peak sun hours to determine effective system sizing. A parametric approach using the System Advisor Model (SAM) refines this sizing process, incorporating a safety margin of 1.2 to address demand peaks. Each PV system is designed to fit available rooftop space, and a coverage threshold of 70% is identified as optimal for maximizing cost savings and sustainability. This threshold allows installations to meet substantial energy demands, supporting energy resilience and enhancing economic returns.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Distributed Wind for Commercial Loads

Distributed wind can help meet on site energy and resilience needs for a wide variety of commercial loads .While it is a variable resource, it has predictable daily and annual production trends. The presence of on-site renewable generation can enhance resilience, supplying power for long periods of time without worrying about conserving fuel supply. The addition of properly sized storage or complementary solar resources can further reduce the challenges of intermittency and reduce the need for fuel-limited backup power during outage situations. This fact sheet explores further the energy and resilience requirements of commercial loads and how distributed wind may be a good match to meet their load needs.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Feasibility Analyses for the Microgrid of the Mountain in the Cordillera Central Region of Puerto Rico

Distributed energy resource (DER) development can benefit communities through improvement of access to reliable electricity and a resilient energy system. Many place-specific considerations must be accounted for when designing electrical systems with co-located generation and loads. This paper presents an overview of four studies focusing on different aspects for regional DER development in the Cordillera Central region of Puerto Rico, including a grid and load stability study with the introduction of solar energy generation, microgrid design based on the solar resource in the area, resilience considerations during power outage scenarios, and qualitative risk aspects for components in the microgrid. Additionally, a conceptual substation microgrid analysis is conducted using the Microgrid Design Toolkit (MDT) to evaluate trade-offs between cost and energy availability, providing insights into optimal design strategies. A microgrid resilience assessment is performed using the Resilient Nodal Cluster Analysis Tool (ReNCAT) to identify critical loads and evaluates their accessibility during outages, emphasizing the importance of community needs. Finally, a qualitative risk assessment utilizing Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) methods highlights potential hazards and mitigations for microgrid components, ensuring robust system design and operation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Gaps in PV-Coupled Battery Modeling

With the rapid increase in battery attachment rates for PV systems and the continued qualification of storage for the ITC under OBBB, accurately characterizing PV-coupled batteries is becoming increasingly critical for the PV industry. This presentation will explore the key gaps in current best practices for modeling PV-coupled battery storage, including challenges such as battery thermal conditioning, the influence of dispatch strategies on battery value, the limitations of oversimplified degradation and performance models, and the absence of a centralized database containing sufficient battery parameters for accurate modeling. For behind-the-meter applications, we will also address issues like mismatched solar resource and load profiles, as well as uncertainties in future utility rates. Where applicable, we will quantify the impacts of these gaps on the accuracy and uncertainty of modeling efforts and highlight ongoing research aimed at addressing these challenges.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2010

Optimized O'Neill/Glaser Model for Human Population of Space and its Impact on Survival Probabilities

Two contemporary issues foretell a shift from our historical Earth based industrial economy and habitation to a solar system based society. The first is the limits to Earth's carrying capacity, that is the maximum number of people that the Earth can support before a catastrophic impact to the health of the planet and human species occurs. The simple example of carrying capacity is that of a bacterial colony in a Petri dish with a limited amount of nutrient. The colony experiences exponential population growth until the carrying capacity is reached after which catastrophic depopulation often results. Estimates of the Earth s carrying capacity vary between 14 and 40 billion people. Although at current population growth rates we may have over a century before we reach Earth s carrying limit our influence on climate and resources on the planetary scale is becoming scientifically established. The second issue is the exponential growth of knowledge and technological power. The exponential growth of technology interacts with the exponential growth of population in a manner that is unique to a highly intelligent species. Thus, the predicted consequences (world famines etc.) of the limits to growth have been largely avoided due to technological advances. However, at the mid twentieth century a critical coincidence occurred in these two trends humanity obtained the technological ability to extinguish life on the planetary scale (by nuclear, chemical, biological means) and attained the ability to expand human life beyond Earth. This paper examines an optimized O Neill/Glaser model (O Neill 1975; Curreri 2007; Detweiler and Curreri 2008) for the economic human population of space. Critical to this model is the utilization of extraterrestrial resources, solar power and spaced based labor. A simple statistical analysis is then performed which predicts the robustness of a single planet based technological society versus that of multiple world (independent habitats) society.

Curreri, Peter A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Optimized O'Neill/Glaser Model for Human Population of Space and its Impact on Survival Probabilities

Two contemporary issues foretell a shift from our historical Earth based industrial economy and habitation to a solar system based society. The first is the limits to Earth s carrying capacity, that is the maximum number of people that the Earth can support before a catastrophic impact to the health of the planet and human species occurs. The simple example of carrying capacity is that of a bacterial colony in a Petri dish with a limited amount of nutrient. The colony experiences exponential population growth until the carrying capacity is reached after which catastrophic depopulation often results. Estimates of the Earth s carrying capacity vary between 14 and 40 billion people. Although at current population growth rates we may have over a century before we reach Earth s carrying limit our influence on climate and resources on the planetary scale is becoming scientifically established. The second issue is the exponential growth of knowledge and technological power. The exponential growth of technology interacts with the exponential growth of population in a manner that is unique to a highly intelligent species. Thus, the predicted consequences (world famines etc.) of the limits to growth have been largely avoided due to technological advances. However, at the mid twentieth century a critical coincidence occurred in these two trends humanity obtained the technological ability to extinguish life on the planetary scale (by nuclear, chemical, biological means) and attained the ability to expand human life beyond Earth. This paper examines an optimized O Neill/Glaser model (O Neill 1975; Curreri 2007; Detweiler and Curreri 2008) for the economic human population of space. Critical to this model is the utilization of extraterrestrial resources, solar power and spaced based labor. A simple statistical analysis is then performed which predicts the robustness of a single planet based technological society versus that of multiple world (independent habitats) society.

Curreri, Peter A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Optimized O'Neill/Glaser Model for Human Population of Space and its Impact on Survival Probabilities

Two contemporary issues foretell a shift from our historical Earth based industrial economy and habitation to a solar system based society. The first is the limits to Earth s carrying capacity, that is the maximum number of people that the Earth can support before a catastrophic impact to the health of the planet and human species occurs. The simple example of carrying capacity is that of a bacterial colony in a Petri dish with a limited amount of nutrient. The colony experiences exponential population growth until the carrying capacity is reached after which catastrophic depopulation often results. Estimates of the Earth s carrying capacity vary between 14 and 40 billion people. Although at current population growth rates we may have over a century before we reach Earth s carrying limit our influence on climate and resources on the planetary scale is becoming scientifically established. The second issue is the exponential growth of knowledge and technological power. The exponential growth of technology interacts with the exponential growth of population in a manner that is unique to a highly intelligent species. Thus, the predicted consequences (world famines etc.) of the limits to growth have been largely avoided due to technological advances. However, at the mid twentieth century a critical coincidence occurred in these two trends humanity obtained the technological ability to extinguish life on the planetary scale (by nuclear, chemical, biological means) and attained the ability to expand human life beyond Earth. This paper examines an optimized O'Neill/Glaser model (O Neill 1975; Curreri 2007; Detweiler and Curreri 2008) for the economic human population of space. Critical to this model is the utilization of extraterrestrial resources, solar power and spaced based labor. A simple statistical analysis is then performed which predicts the robustness of a single planet based technological society versus that of multiple world (independent habitats) society.

Curreri, Peter A.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Impact of Siting Ordinances on Land Availability for Wind and Solar Development

In the United States, many siting regulations for wind and solar developments are created at the county or township level. Here we survey local zoning ordinances across the contiguous United States to understand the types and frequency of ordinances that might impact wind and solar development. We identify over 1,800 ordinances for wind and more than 800 ordinances for solar in 2022. To understand the impact of ordinances on anticipated land availability, we use spatial modelling on the setbacks specified in the ordinances. Extrapolating the setbacks throughout the country can reduce wind and solar resources by up to 87% and 38%, respectively, depending on the size of the setbacks applied. These results indicate the importance of capturing setback ordinances in resources assessments so as to not overstate resource potential.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Multi-agent voltage control in distribution systems using GAN-DRL-based approach

Active distribution grids can experience voltage fluctuations and violations due to the high penetration of variable distributed energy resources (DERs). These problems might occur because of the uncertain and variable generation natures of these resources, especially solar photovoltaic resources, during panel shadowing scenarios. Volt-VAR control (VVC) is an efficient method that controls the reactive power set-points of the inverters to regulate the voltage of distribution grids. Although several VVC approaches have been proposed recently, the performance of these approaches degrades significantly if behind-the-meter solar generation data are unobservable/missing. Therefore, it is necessary to impute missing/unobservable PV data accurately to be utilized in VVC approaches. Further, this paper proposes a model-free, data-driven, centrally trained, and decentrally executed multi-agent deep reinforcement learning-based VVC architecture to regulate the voltage of distribution networks. A generative adversarial network (GAN) is incorporated to impute the unobservable PV data accurately, which improves the performance of the proposed control architecture. The proposed multi-agent-soft-actor–critic algorithm (MASAC)-based VVC technique utilizes the actual PV dataset as well as the imputed dataset from the GAN framework to learn the optimal coordinated control policy for controlling the optimal reactive power set-points of PV inverters. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is analyzed on a modified IEEE 34-bus test case with added PV inverters. The results are compared and analyzed with a base case model with no VVC and VVC with a local droop control approach, genetic algorithm optimization, and a centralized soft actor–critic-based approach. Moreover, the performance of the proposed approach is compared with that of a multi-agent VVC framework without using the PV generation data and load information as the system state. The results illustrate that the proposed method with more state input improves the voltage profile and reduces the power loss of the network across various loading and PV generation scenarios.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Technoeconomic analysis of perovskite/silicon tandem solar modules

Tandem photovoltaic (PV) modules offer an opportunity to improve the efficiency and energy yield of available solar resources compared with single-junction devices. Here, we present a cost model and sensitivity analysis of perovskite/silicon (Si) tandem modules to understand how design choices impact overall module costs. We find a minimum sustainable price (MSP) of $\$$0.428/W DC for our baseline two-terminal design and $\$$0.423/W DC for our baseline four-terminal design, each at a module efficiency of 25% and module production of 3 GW per year in the United States. We find that the choice of Si cell architecture, overall module efficiency, and factory throughput have the most significant impacts on cost and competitiveness. The dynamic model provided is designed for researchers, companies, and interested individuals to use and edit as needed to better understand the trade-offs among PV module technologies and enable targeted research to improve module design and fabrication.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Optimizing Renewable Ammonia Production for a Sustainable Fertilizer Supply Chain Transition

Local renewable ammonia production using electrolytic hydrogen is an emerging approach to alleviate emissions attributed to synthetic nitrogen fertilizer production while also insulating against fluctuations in fertilizer prices and mitigating transportation costs and emissions. However, replacing ammonia currently produced using fossil fuels will not be immediate. To this end, we develop a supply chain transition model, which first optimizes the design and hourly operation of new renewable ammonia facilities to minimize production costs and then optimizes the annual installation timing, production scale, and location of these new renewable facilities along with ammonia transportation to meet county resolution demands. The objective is to augment and eventually replace conventional ammonia market imports in an economically competitive manner. We performed a case study for Minnesota's ammonia supply chain and found that a full transition to in-state renewable production by 2032 is optimal. This is incentivized by the U.S. federal government's clean hydrogen production credits. This transition results in 99 % reduction in carbon intensity along with stable supply costs below $475 per metric tonne. New renewable production facilities are an order of magnitude smaller than existing conventional plants. They use both wind and solar resources and operate dynamically to minimize expensive battery and hydrogen storage capacities.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Planning and Operations in Electricity Markets Under System Transformation

United States electricity markets, planning mechanisms, and operational procedures are currently evolving in concert with three key trends. First, a range of new resources—solar, wind, energy storage, hybrid co-located storage, and distributed energy—are coming online and require new solutions to ensure they are efficiently integrated into existing systems. Second, consumers now face more opportunities to participate in markets by providing demand response and engaging in two-way interactions with the grid. Third, there is an increasing need for enhanced coordination between generation and transmission planning as well as across transmission and distribution systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Deer Isle and Stonington Energy Reliability Opportunities

The towns of Deer Isle and Stonington, located on the island of Deer Isle in Maine, partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP) to examine options to enhance energy resilience, reduce dependence on imported fuels, and mitigate high energy costs. With technical support from the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and regional partner the Island Institute, the project focused on evaluation of the local electricity distribution infrastructure, examination of ongoing activities to reduce the frequency of outages, review of the applicable policy and regulatory environment, and identification of potential on-site energy solutions. Key findings revealed the island's reliance on a single distribution line, and limited hosting capacity for additional distributed energy resources. Solar photovoltaics (PV) technology, with and without battery storage, was found to be the most viable technology given economic, technical, and social considerations. While also technically feasible, wind energy faces more difficult siting and less public acceptance compared to PV. Marine energy technologies were determined to be infeasible due to technology immaturity and lengthy permitting timelines. Modeling of potential building-scale PV plus storage systems resulted in successful grant applications for installations at two local facilities. Analysis of community scale energy generation and storage options resulted the local utility, Versant, submitting a grant application for a proposed community-scale battery storage system to increase grid resilience and hosting capacity. This initiative has strengthened the communities' energy planning capabilities and laid the groundwork for future clean energy development.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗