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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 OSTI2023

Los Angeles Air Force Base Vehicle-to-Grid Demonstration (Final Project Report)

Electrification of non-tactical vehicle fleets represents a key efficiency and energy security objective for the United States Department of Defense. To achieve electrification, the department targeted vehicle-to-grid services as a way to decrease the overall cost of operating the vehicle fleet and achieve rough parity with traditional internal combustion engine vehicle fleets. This report describes efforts to aggregate a fleet of bi-directional electric vehicles and charging stations to provide regulation up and regulation down in the California Independent System Operator ancillary services market. A 29-vehicle electric vehicle demonstration fleet, consisting of mixed purpose and duty vehicles such as sedans, pickups, vans, and medium-duty trucks, was deployed at the Los Angeles Air Force base. The fleet provided frequency regulation to the California Independent System Operator’s wholesale electricity market to determine the capability of recouping some of the additional costs of procuring electric vehicles and their supporting infrastructure. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with its partner Kisensum, LLC, developed the fleet scheduling, optimization, and control software to allow the vehicle fleet at the air force base to participate in the ancillary services markets. This report focuses on the control software and market interactions, the significant challenges faced and solutions devised to address them, and examines the potential of using the electric vehicle fleet as an energy storage resource for the base buildings, an application known as vehicle-tobuilding, in providing demand response and emergency backup power. The report discusses key findings related to providing frequency regulation to the California Independent System Operator market, electric vehicle fleet performance, compatibility of varying resource parameters of vehicle fleet aggregation, the need for automated methods for communicating hour-ahead energy bidding, challenges related to battery capacity and charge/discharge rates, and monthly settlement revenue.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

The locational value of distributed energy resources: A parcel-level evaluation of solar and wind potential in New York state

We report distributed energy resources (DERs) are poised to play a significant role in evolving power systems because of their flexibility to be sited in areas of high value to the grid. Traditional DER compensation frameworks, specifically net energy metering (NEM), inadequately communicate differences in the locational and temporal value of DER generation to the grid. As a transition from NEM, New York State's (NYS's) Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) framework provides a methodology for calculating different value components that DERs offer the grid. To study the impacts of VDER frameworks on DER deployment, we developed a model to assess the value of distributed solar and wind systems configured as either a behind-the-meter system or a front-of-the-meter system for each parcel of land in NYS. Using parcel-level granularity, we can closely evaluate DER locational value and siting availability, particularly in urban and suburban settings. Our analysis finds while most DER generators would be modestly compensated for deferred transmission and distribution infrastructure upgrades (~0.01 $\$$/kWh for solar PV), a subset of projects receive significant value from this component (0.035 to 0.089 $\$$/kWh for top 5% of parcels for solar PV). Finally, our analysis finds VDER provides less overall compensation than NEM to the average DER generator, however, it increases access to compensation for front-of-the-meter DERs - a large and emerging market.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Leveraging graph clustering techniques for cyber‐physical system analysis to enhance disturbance characterisation

Abstract Cyber‐physical systems have behaviour that crosses domain boundaries during events such as planned operational changes and malicious disturbances. Traditionally, the cyber and physical systems are monitored separately and use very different toolsets and analysis paradigms. The security and privacy of these cyber‐physical systems requires improved understanding of the combined cyber‐physical system behaviour and methods for holistic analysis. Therefore, the authors propose leveraging clustering techniques on cyber‐physical data from smart grid systems to analyse differences and similarities in behaviour during cyber‐, physical‐, and cyber‐physical disturbances. Since clustering methods are commonly used in data science to examine statistical similarities in order to sort large datasets, these algorithms can assist in identifying useful relationships in cyber‐physical systems. Through this analysis, deeper insights can be shared with decision‐makers on what cyber and physical components are strongly or weakly linked, what cyber‐physical pathways are most traversed, and the criticality of certain cyber‐physical nodes or edges. This paper presents several types of clustering methods for cyber‐physical graphs of smart grid systems and their application in assessing different types of disturbances for informing cyber‐physical situational awareness. The collection of these clustering techniques provide a foundational basis for cyber‐physical graph interdependency analysis.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

MFC 5.0: An exascale many-physics flow solver

Many problems of interest in engineering, medicine, and the fundamental sciences rely on high-fidelity flow simulation, making performant computational fluid dynamics solvers a mainstay of the open-source software community. Previous work MFC 3.0 was made a published, documented, and open-source solver via Bryngelson et al. Comp. Phys. Comm. (2021) with numerous physical features, numerical methods, and scalable infrastructure. MFC 5.0 is a significant update to MFC 3.0, featuring a broad set of well-established and novel physical models and numerical methods, as well as the introduction of GPU and APU (or superchip) acceleration. Here, we exhibit state-of-the-art performance and ideal scaling on the first two exascale supercomputers, OLCF Frontier and LLNL El Capitan. Combined with MFC’s single-accelerator performance, MFC achieves exascale computation in practice, and achieved the largest-to-date public CFD simulation at 200 trillion grid points as a 2025 ACM Gordon Bell Prize finalist. New physical features include the immersed boundary method, N-fluid phase change, Euler–Euler and Euler–Lagrange sub-grid bubble models, fluid-structure interaction, hypo- and hyper-elastic materials, chemically reacting flow, two-material surface tension, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), and more. Numerical techniques now represent the current state-of-the-art, including general relaxation characteristic boundary conditions, WENO variants, Strang splitting for stiff sub-grid flow features, and low Mach number treatments. Weak scaling to tens of thousands of GPUs on OLCF Summit and Frontier and LLNL El Capitan achieves efficiencies within 5% of ideal to over 90% of their respective system sizes. Strong scaling results for a 16-times increase in device count show parallel efficiencies over 90% on OLCF Frontier. MFC’s software stack has undergone further improvements, including continuous integration, which ensures code resilience and correctness through over 300 regression tests; metaprogramming, which reduces code length while maintaining performance portability; and code generation for computing chemical reactions

Computational fluid dynamics↗
DOE OSTI2026

Accelerating computing for the future electric grid (CRADA Final Report)

As a participant in the Cyclotron Road Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP), Vellex Computing, Inc. has successfully validated the "Vellex Computing Stack," a breakthrough Analog Neural Computer (ANC) specifically designed for high-performance edge optimization. This project achieved critical milestones in mixed-signal circuit stability and software-hardware co-design, directly addressing national priorities in semiconductor resiliency. The success of this work is deeply rooted in the support from the Cyclotron Road LEEP, which provided the essential "hard tech" runway—funding, mentorship, and access to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s world-class characterization facilities—allowing Vellex to overcome the "Valley of Death" often faced by deep-tech hardware startups. By leveraging LBNL’s advanced testing infrastructure, Vellex was able to rigorously benchmark the ANC architecture against state-of-the-art digital solutions, a feat that would have been resource-prohibitive independently. This collaboration has not only advanced American leadership in analog computing but has also matured Vellex’s technology to a stage ripe for private sector commercialization.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Adoption of Plug-in Electric Vehicles: Local Fuel Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Across the U.S.

The dependence on gasoline-powered light-duty automobiles has made U.S. households vulnerable to the burden of fuel costs. Tailpipe emissions from these vehicles constitute 58% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S., which are damaging to the environment (EPA, 2023). The adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) has been shown to effectively reduce fuel costs and GHG emissions. However, local effects on these benefits are not well understood by American consumers, potentially limiting adoption and therefore the realization of PEV benefits at scale (MacInnis & Krosnick, 2020; EY Americas, 2023). To fill this research gap, this study estimates the fuel cost savings and GHG emission reductions at the state and ZIP code levels by considering local fuel prices, vehicle class preference, average vehicle model year, fuel efficiencies, and driving intensities. The study's findings reveal that the adoption of PEVs can yield substantial benefits in terms of fuel cost savings and GHG emission reductions nationwide. Specifically, driving a battery electric vehicle (BEV) is estimated to result in annual savings of up to $\$2,200$, while driving a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) can lead to savings up to $\$1,500$, when compared to an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) of equivalent size. Moreover, using population-weighted averages by ZIP code, BEVs and PHEVs show the potential to save 400 and 200 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per mile, respectively, compared to a representative ICEV of the same class. The magnitude of fuel cost savings and emissions reduction vary by region due to various factors. Generally, regions with high gasoline prices, low electricity prices, preferences for larger vehicles, and high driving intensities tend to see relatively large fuel savings. The emissions reductions are more pronounced in areas with clean grids where consumer preferences lie with large vehicles. This regional variability underscores the importance of considering local contextual factors when assessing the potential benefits of PEV adoption. In more than 99% of U.S. ZIP codes, PEVs result in overall savings in fuel use (and subsequent costs) and GHG emissions. While not a central focus of this analysis, reductions in GHG tailpipe emissions from PEV adoption would also come with reductions in criteria pollutant emissions, contributing to improved local air quality depending on the PEV penetration, population density, and electricity generation infrastructure in the locality.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
NASA NTRS2017

Challenges in Obtaining and Visualizing Satellite Level 2 Data in GIS

Satellite data products are important for a wide variety of applications that can bring far-reaching benefits to the science community and the broader society. These benefits can best be achieved if the satellite data are well utilized and interpreted. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, despite the abundance and relative maturity of numerous satellite data products provided by NASA and other organizations. One way to help users better understand the satellite data is to provide data along with Images, including accurate pixel coverage area delineation, and science team recommended quality screening for individual geophysical parameters. However, there are challenges of visualizing remote sensed non-gridded products: (1) different geodetics of space-borne instruments (2) data often arranged in a long-track and a cross-track axes (3) spatially and temporally continuous data chunked into granule files: data for a portion (or all) of a satellite orbit (4) no general rule of resampling or interpolations to a grid (5) geophysical retrieval only based on pixel center location without shape information. In this presentation, we will unravel a new Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) Level 2 (L2) visualization on-demand service. The service's front end provides various visualization and data accessing capabilities, such as overlay and swipe of multiply variables and subset and download of data in different formats. The backend of the service consists of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard-compliant Web Mapping Service (WMS) and Web Coverage Service. The infrastructure allows inclusion of outside data sources served in OGC compliant protocols and allows other interoperable clients, such as ArcGIS clients, to connect to our L2 WCS/WMS.

GI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Remote Hardware-in-the-Loop Approach for Microgrid Controller Evaluation: Preprint

Utilities have been installing microgrids due to the advancements in the distributed energy resources technologies. Microgrids also improve the resiliency of the system due to their capability to isolate themselves from the grid and run in islanded mode of operation. Microgrid controllers are management systems that can run the microgrids under varied operating condition and enable the smooth operation of microgrids under various system conditions. It is of high value to de-risk the installation of such controllers. Hardware-in-the-loop evaluation is used by controller developers and utilities to evaluate the controllers under stressful conditions to understand the performance and to understand the necessary improvements to the microgrid controller. In this research work, the team has leveraged the existing infrastructure of real-time simulation at the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) and the capability of the microgrid controller to control assets over the Internet Protocol (IP) to evaluate a university developed microgrid controller in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The full paper will provide the complete setup, the experimental use cases and the results. In this abstract, one use case will be expalined, and the results from the use case is provided.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

FLC Award: QED: Quantum Ensured Defense of the Smart Electric Grid

A reliable electric power supply is crucial for modern day life as well as national security, economic productivity, and life-and-death essentials. During the COVID pandemic, internet and cell communications became a “must-have” for government and business operations, education, and communicating COVID testing for vaccine information. Loss of electric power quickly leads to human health and national security emergencies. When a major winter storm hit Texas in mid-February 2021, the system was overwhelmed and over 4M people lost power. Although this crisis arose from an unprecedented weather event - not a cyberattack - it serves as a vivid illustration of the impact power disruption can have on our American way of life. The recent cyberattack on the Colonial Oil Pipeline also provides a stark reminder that infrastructure supporting our daily lives has vulnerabilities.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

SOLAr Critical Infrastructure Energization (SOLACE): Leveraging Distributed Energy Resources to Provide Local Power

This document is a technical report based on a large-scale DOE-funded project conducted between 2019 and 2022. The project, called SOLAr Critical infrastructure Energization (SOLACE), is aimed at leveraging distributed energy resources (DERs) to provide local power to communities, feeders, or other regions. The project included a particular focus on high-value critical loads such as municipal water supply, telecommunication hubs, and disaster shelters. The key developments of the project were: (1) A comprehensive pre-event power system analysis methodology that identifies and characterizes the viable local power options. (2) A DMS-based example control system for activating and operating the local power solution during a time of crisis. (3) Grid-forming inverter technology to enable isolated local power operation and black-starting. (4) Cyber-security considerations for isolated systems when wider-area communication may be offline. This report describes the overall process that identifies and assesses the viable DER-based local power solutions for a given facility, region, or community. The report documents the process, including the key analysis steps, tools required, data requirements, and recommended pass/fail criteria for each step. It also provides a sample implementation of this process through a test case. Finally, it provides details of how a viable pre-event plan can be selected and activated at go-time when an event has occurred.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Sicangu Village Solar Project

The Sicangu Village Solar Project, spearheaded by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in partnership with GRID Alternatives, aimed to enhance energy sustainability within the community through the installation of a 149 kW community solar Photovoltaic (PV) array and 13 residential rooftop solar PV systems. Located in Todd County, South Dakota, the project addresses longstanding challenges of rising electricity costs and economic disparities faced by the Tribe. By leveraging solar energy production, the project not only reduces electricity expenses for the community, but also serves as a pivotal step towards achieving the Tribe's energy sovereignty goals. Despite encountering interconnection challenges and delays, particularly exacerbated by regulatory and infrastructure complexities, the project has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of solar energy deployment within the community.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Digital Assurance for Grid Reliability in the Era of Large Load Growth

The rapid expansion of large electric loads is reshaping the operational and regulatory landscape of the U.S. electric grid. These facilities are reaching new scales of expansion, now exceeding a gigawatt per site, and their highly sensitive, digitally driven behaviors introduce new reliability risks. Recent grid events, including large load losses following routine transmission disturbances, highlight the consequences of limited ride-through capability, inconsistent protection settings, inadequate modeling, and lack of behind-the-meter visibility. Parallels to earlier integration challenges of new grid technologies suggest that the grid’s existing processes, standards, and interconnection frameworks are no longer adequate for emerging large loads. This brief synthesizes lessons from the evolution of inverter-based resource regulation and applies them to large-load integration. It identifies critical gaps in modeling accuracy, interconnection processes, performance standards, and compliance mechanisms. Technical recommendations emphasize advanced monitoring, improved modeling, coordinated communication protocols, modernized substations, and structured behind-the-meter control schemes. Collectively, these measures provide a roadmap to maintain bulk power system reliability while enabling the continued growth of large, electrified digital infrastructure.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Congestion Management Solutions for Enhanced Distribution System Operations with Aggregated Distribution Grid Resources Providing Grid Services and Market Participation

Microgrids and other aggregations of distribution grid resources (DGRs) are poised to actively participate in electricity markets and provide essential grid services in the coming years. In fact, DGRs already play such a role through behind-the-meter (BTM) demand response programs and small-scale BTM dispatchable generation initiatives. At the same time, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency datacenters imposes significant, often unpredictable, demands on the power distribution system. Aggregated DGRs can serve as flexible resources that help mitigate these pressures by using available transmission and distribution capacity more efficiently, supporting resource adequacy and other reliability services, and providing bridge strategies while long-term transmission infrastructure is being developed. The impacts this activity will have on distribution networks are not fully understood and could present significant challenges for distribution utilities due to capacity constraints and the need for congestion management. Technical issues include reverse power flow, variability and possible degradation of equipment integrity, voltage violations, and customer power quality concerns. These issues will likely intensify as electricity market operators across the United States implement Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order 2222 over the next few years.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Transmission and Distribution Real-Time Analysis Software for Monitoring and Control: Design and Simulation Testing

The US electric grid is facing operational, stability, and security challenges. Transmission system operators need some measure of visibility into distribution system renewable generation. Distribution system generation needs to support transmission system voltage. The grid is experiencing an expansion in measurement systems. How to take full advantage of this expansion and defend against attacks, both cyber and physical, poses additional challenges. This paper introduces software designed to meet these challenges. At the center of the software is an Integrated System Model (ISM) that spans from transmission to secondary distribution. The ISM is employed in real-time abnormality detection, voltage stability forecasting, and multi-mode control. The software architecture along with selected analysis modules is presented. Testing results are presented for: 1—attacks on utility infrastructure; 2—energy savings from optimal control; 3—distribution system control response during a low voltage transmission system event; 4—cyber-attacks on PV inverters, where physical inverters are used in hardware-in-the-simulation-loop studies. Contributions of this work include real-time analysis that spans from three-phase transmission through secondary distribution; an approach for detecting abnormalities that employs measurements from three independent measurement systems; and a multi-mode distribution system control that responds to cyber-attacks, physical attacks, equipment failures, and transmission system needs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Solar Photovaltaics Durability and Resilience - A Win-Win

Solar photovoltaics (PV) will play a crucial role in decarbonizing the electrical grid and limit the effects of detrimental climate change. Long lifetimes of PV installations are a win-win situation, as it not only reduces carbon emissions directly through avoidance of fossil fuel emissions but also indirectly, as it reduces the demand of needed materials and potentially recycling. However, during their decades-long lifetime expectations installations are also more commonly exposed to extreme weather events. Building durable solar system to withstand extreme weather events is essential in the electrification of the economy and will save lives, particularly when they power critical infrastructure such as hospitals. As more PV is installed in regions prone to extreme weather events, high-quality materials, installation and monitoring practices can mitigate risk. Evaluating resilience requires combined computational, analytical, and experimental capabilities that are best leveraged by teams working across multiple disciplines.

durability↗
DOE OSTI2024

Exploring the cost and emissions impacts, feasibility and scalability of battery electric ships

The United States’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals, along with targets set by the International Maritime Organization, create an opportunity for battery electric shipping. In this study, we model life-cycle costs and GHG emissions from shipping electrification, leveraging ship activity datasets from across the United States in 2021. We estimate that retrofitting 6,323 domestic ships under 1,000 gross tonnage to battery electric vessels would reduce US domestic shipping GHG emissions by up to 73% by 2035 from 2022 levels. By 2035, electrifying up to 85% of these ships could become cost effective versus internal combustion engine ships if they cover 99% of annual trips and charge from a deeply decarbonized grid. We find that charging demands from electrifying these ships could be concentrated at just 20 of 150 major ports nationwide. This study demonstrates that retrofitting to battery electric vessels has economic potential and could significantly accelerate GHG emission reductions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Decoding Resilience by Modeling Outage and Restoration Processes in Distribution Grids: A Pittsburgh Case Study

Climate-induced extreme weather events, such as floods and heatwaves, pose significant challenges to the resilience of urban power distribution grids. This paper examines the outage and restoration dynamics of Pittsburgh's power grid during the flood event in April 2024 and three heatwaves in June, July, and August 2024. We introduce a comprehensive modeling framework that integrates outage and restoration processes, enabling the quantification of resilience metrics, including total customer-hours of power outage, maximum residual values, and restoration durations across various ZIP codes. Our analysis highlights spatial disparities in outage impacts and restoration efficiencies, with ZIP Code 15222 experiencing the highest cumulative disruptions, while ZIP Code 15217 shows lower susceptibility. By linking statistical trends with weather events, this study underscores the critical need for targeted infrastructure upgrades and advanced restoration strategies. Furthermore, the proposed framework offers valuable insights for planning and managing resilient power systems in the face of increasing climate stress.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Compressed Gas Energy Storage Integrated with Combined Heat and Power Plant

A new energy storage technology, Comrpessed Gas Energy Storage (CGES), seeks to achieve low-cost, long-duration eenrgy storage by combining mature commercially-available technology (compressors, high-pressure gas storage, expander generators) and utilizing existing infrastructure for transportation and distribution of industrial gases. CGES utilizes existing compressors to transform electricity into potential energy (pressure), existing pipelines or underground storage to store said potential energy, and adds new expander generators at pressure reduction points in the networkm to recover part of the energy used in compression and transform it into electricity. By adapting itself to widely available existing infrastructure, CGES recovers energy that is otherwise wasted in the gas value chain, reduces the cost of new facilities, and avoids many of the development huddles typically associated with other long-duration energy storage technologies (e.g., Compressed Air Energy Storage, CAES). This paper discusses the performance and economics associated with CGES as a standalone project and in combination with a thermal power plant, based on a concept for integration of the technology over an existing lateral pipeline transporting natural gas to an 85 MW combined heat and power plant that feeds power to a grid with increasing share of renewable power generation.

03 NATURAL GAS↗