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DOE OSTI2023

Quick Talk: Resilient Communities, Maryland

Groundswell, Inc., in partnership with the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), Ayika Solutions, the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), and the Baltimore Office of Sustainability, is advancing a vision for resilient, community-centered energy systems in Maryland. This effort aligns with Groundswell's commitment to a clean energy economy that equitably benefits all communities, closing gaps in representation, wages, and access to wealth generation, savings, and local jobs within a diverse energy supply chain. Project Vision and Objectives The project emphasizes "energy resilience," defined as a community’s capacity to anticipate, adapt to, and swiftly recover from power disruptions through inclusive planning and technical solutions. The approach centers on Resilience Hubs—designated community facilities equipped to support residents before, during, and after power-related disruptions. These hubs offer emergency resources, coordinate communications, and deliver essential services while reducing carbon emissions, ultimately enhancing residents' quality of life. Additionally, Resilience Hubs foster social connections, support disaster preparedness, and provide spaces for community programming and everyday use. The goals of Resilient Communities Maryland include: Developing a replicable framework for community energy resilience, applicable beyond Maryland. Defining community-led indicators of social impact and resilience. Establishing equitable decision-making processes in project design and implementation. Informing MEA of practical, community-based resilience strategies to shape future state initiatives. Approach Groundswell and its partners prioritize collaborative engagement with local stakeholders, ensuring that solutions are responsive to each community's unique needs. By integrating feedback from residents, local organizations, and government entities, the team has developed a holistic model for resilience that balances immediate benefits, such as improved emergency response, with long-term gains in social equity and environmental sustainability. Key Outcomes This initiative has produced valuable resources and insights, including: A Community Energy Resilience Framework: Designed to guide other communities in establishing energy resilience strategies tailored to their specific needs. Case Studies: Documenting best practices and lessons learned from pilot projects to serve as models for future resilience efforts. Community-Driven Impact Metrics: Highlighting the positive social impacts that resilience initiatives can bring, such as improved social connectedness and local decision-making power. Recommendations for MEA: Offering evidence-based insights to inform policies and funding opportunities that support resilient energy infrastructure in vulnerable communities. Next Steps Groundswell's final report will detail findings, including the potential for scaling resilience hubs across Maryland and other regions, with a focus on equitable access and community-driven outcomes. This project underscores the importance of aligning energy resilience with social equity, reinforcing community agency, and building systems that withstand and recover from future challenges effectively and sustainably.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electricity Markets Design Challenge [Slides]

Electricity markets are at a crossroads - join the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for an exclusive one-hour workshop where you'll engage directly with the project team and help shape the rules for a potential prize. This competition could redefine how electricity markets support renewables and storage resources and create innovative solutions for the challenges ahead. NREL has also issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather feedback and gauge interest in this potential prize. Whether or not you attend the workshop, we encourage you to review the brief presentation and share your thoughts through the RFI.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2024

Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project: Bainbridge Island, Washington: Cohort 2 Technical Assistance: Improving Resilience

The City of Bainbridge Island (COBI) applied for and received technical assistance from the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Program (ETIPP) in part to achieve their goal of 100% renewable electricity generation by 2040, five years ahead of the Washington State goal. Their second goal of increasing energy resilience is discussed in this report. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) completed the technical analysis aspects of the project, supported by the community partner Spark Northwest and the program administrator, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). PNNL worked with the Community Lead and stakeholders to ensure selection of hazards and energy infrastructure of highest priority and integration of existing expertise into the analysis. We have also worked to align analysis with current activities conducted by Puget Sound Energy (PSE), and other efforts within the Bainbridge Island community around resilience. This report, conducted under the ETIPP project in partnership with COBI, aims to build on this existing knowledge base with a specific energy focus, to identify hazards and threats to critical energy infrastructure, summarize the risk, and identify and analyze remaining resilience gaps.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Heliostat Consortium Annual Report: 2024

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) funded the formation of the Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon), a five-year consortium designed to advance U.S. heliostat technologies by engaging industry, subject matter experts, and general stakeholders for direct project-level collaboration, external consulting, and mission-specific panels and workshops. HelioCon is led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories, in partnership with the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute. This report describes HelioCon's activities and impact in fiscal year 2024.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Testing of a Whole Home Energy Management System (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report)

NREL and B&B Technology Solutions Inc. will perform verification testing to demonstrate the effectiveness of our whole home energy management system. This energy management system will allow the electrification of various styles of homes reducing the emissions of CO2 by replacing existing fossil fuel-based home systems. CRADA benefit to DOE, Participant, and US Taxpayer: assists laboratory in achieving programmatic scope, and/or uses the laboratory's core competencies, and/or enhances U.S. competitiveness by utilizing DOE developed intellectual property and/or capabilities.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project: Bainbridge Island, Washington - Cohort 2 Technical Assistance: Pathways to 100% Renewable Energy

The City of Bainbridge Island (COBI) applied for and received technical assistance from the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Program (ETIPP) in part to achieve their goal of 100% renewable electricity generation by 2040, five years ahead of the Washington State goal, and to increase its energy resilience in the face of natural disasters. To help address these goals, the City of Bainbridge Island (COBI) applied for and received technical assistance from the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Program (ETIPP) during 2022-2024. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, ETIPP provides technical assistance to remote coastal and island communities interested in approaches to renewable and resilient energy transitions. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) completed the technical analysis aspects of the project, supported by the community partner Spark Northwest and the program administrator, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). This report begins by describing the approach to technical assistance in the ETIPP project, followed by the development of future scenarios for electric demand based on current use. Potential pathways to 100% renewable energy are identified and analyzed by technology contributions from solar energy, anaerobic biodigestion, distributed wind, and marine energy. The combinations of these technologies and contributions to meet demand are discussed, along with potential policies and programs for implementation of the most relevant technologies moving forward. The report concludes with recommendations for next steps for COBI to meet the goal of 100% renewable energy generation by 2040 on- and off-island, and key caveats to consider.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Digital Twin + AI: Control Room of the Future [Slides]

The control room functions as the central brain of the grid, essential for balancing supply and demand and ensuring moment-to-moment grid reliability. Like the human brain, which processes sensory data to make decisions, control room operators analyze operational data from power generation, transmission, and distribution to make informed decisions. Currently, decision-making primarily rests with operators due to hardware and software limitations. However, with technological advancements, Digital Twins and AI are becoming high interest points in the control room's decision-making pilot programs. NREL is developing a comprehensive decision-making platform that integrates Digital Twins, AI, and advanced visualization techniques. As this integration progresses, the role of Digital Twins will evolve from conducting automated simulations to serving as a Trustworthy AI enabler, offering verification and validation of AI-generated response for power systems or providing physics-aware synthetic data of AI pre-training.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Generative AI for Power Grid Operations

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has captured into the mainstream, demonstrating capabilities that once belonged solely to the realm of human cognition. From defeating world champions in complex games to generating human-quality text and images, Generative AI has proven its potential to revolutionize countless industries. The electric power grid is no exception. Generative AI's ability to process vast amounts of data rapidly, assist decision support and identify patterns could significantly enhance power grid operations. For example, Generative AI could improve state estimation where measurements are not available or integrate renewable energy sources more efficiently with probabilistic forecasting. The key contributions of this whitepaper are outlined below: (1) Comprehensive overview of Generative AI's applications in power grid operations: It highlights the opportunities in areas such as forecasting, state estimation, and demonstrating the potential for enhancing efficiency, reliability, and resilience. (2) Expanding Generative AI's impact through synergies with emerging technologies: The paper introduce NREL developed eGridGPT and explores how AI orchestration, multi-agent systems, and Digital Twins can collaborate to optimize grid operations, addressing the complexities of a decarbonized and electrified future. (3) In-depth analysis of challenges in implementing Generative AI: This includes considerations like data availability and quality, model validation, certification, and ethical concerns, ensuring responsible AI deployment. (4) Emphasizing human-AI collaboration: The whitepaper underscores the importance of trustworthy, transparency, and explainability in AI systems to promote seamless interaction between human operators and AI, ultimately improving decision-making. (5) Exploring future research and development: It identifies critical areas for further advancement to fully realize Generative AI's potential in power grid operations. This whitepaper serves as a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers looking to harness Generative AI for a more reliable, stable, and cost-effective power grid.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Encapsulation Materials Tailored to Perovskite Photovoltaics

The work combines NREL as the world leader in perovskite and polymeric materials, and teams them up with The Dow Chemical Company, the world leader in commercial production of PV encapsulation materials. The team will design and evaluate encapsulation materials that are tailored to perovskite photovoltaics. Demonstration of polyolefin-based encapsulants for perovskite PV will be impactful for a number of reasons: 1) There is no clear-cut choice for encapsulation for perovskite PV to date. 2) There is high synthetic control of the material properties for future perovskite module designs. 3) Among the candidate materials, they have the highest barrier properties, 4) Polyolefins are the most prevalent (>20 million metric tons consumed in the US alone) and inexpensive (<1.5 $USD/kg) polymers used worldwide. 5) They are recyclable and may play a role in future of circular PV materials. 6) They are manufactured domestically. The work also highlights careful design of perovskite transport layer materials for surviving vacuum encapsulation.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

A New State of the Art: Zero Energy Modular Multifamily Construction

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office (BTO) launched the Advanced Building Construction (ABC) Initiative. This initiative aimed to integrate energy efficiency into high-production construction practices. One focus area of the initiative is off-site construction, an approach that may achieve scalable, efficient, and high-performing construction buildings through process standardization. This report presents the findings and recommendations from our ABC Initiative project: A New State of the Art: Zero-Energy Modular Multifamily Construction System. The objectives of the BTO-funded project are to: 1) Achieve energy performance 50% better than the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). 2) Achieve this level of energy performance at no additional cost VEIC worked with Louisiana State University (LSU), National Renewal Energy Lab (NREL), [the project team], and industry partners at the Mod Coach, KBS, and Solar Home Factory to identify and analyze multifamily business designs and modular construction practices. These designs and processes hold the promise of achieving the goals set out by the DOE.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Visioning Energy: Science Fiction Author-Energy Researcher Collaboration Workshop Recap

The Visioning Energy: Science Fiction Author-Energy Researcher Collaboration Workshop brought together speculative fiction authors and NREL researchers to examine possible scenarios of the future. The goals of the workshop were to support out-of-the-box thinking and creative future visioning for the researchers and to provide authors with insights into the latest clean energy technologies and their potential. This report outlines the proceedings of the workshop and insights from the collaborative brainstorming activity, highlighting themes and opportunities for further exploration.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Damage Assessment After Typhoon Mawar: Findings and Recommendations for Resilient PV on Guam

A team from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) visited Guam in August 2023 to assess failure modes of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems after Typhoon Mawar and to provide recommendations to increase the resilience of PV systems on Guam. The team visited 30 systems: commercial and utility scale, and rooftop and ground-mounted. The team observed systems with no apparent damage, as well as systems that were completely lost. Systems fared very well overall. The average failure rate of rooftop systems was 18%, with a median failure rate of 2%, meaning the few systems that suffered total loss pulled up the average. Only eight 8 of the 25 rooftop systems suffered more than 5% damage. All ground-mounted systems suffered less than 0.5% damage, aside from a carport that lost 16% of its modules. PV systems at Andersen Air Force Base suffered 5% damage on average, with a median system failure of 0.6%. In almost all cases, failures were the result of: (1) Inadequate clamping of the module frame to the mount, (2) Module mounting clamps rotating out of underlying support rail (i.e., T-bolt that rotates free at less than 60 degrees of rotation), (3) An object hitting the panel resulting in a fracture, and in some cases leading to a cascading failure of several more panels, and (4) Excessive tilt angle (in Guam, greater than 5 degrees can be a risk due to wind speed, and power production trade-offs are insignificant).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Object-Oriented Controllable High-Resolution Residential Energy (OCHRE) (TM) Model

This presentation describes the OCHRE model as part of NREL's Powered By webinar series. OCHRE is a building energy modeling tool designed to model flexible loads in residential buildings. OCHRE includes detailed models and controls for flexible devices including HVAC equipment, water heaters, electric vehicles, solar PV, and batteries. It is designed to run in co-simulation with custom controllers, aggregators, and grid models.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

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

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

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tough Break: Many Factors Make Glass Breakage More Likely

We have seen cases of glass in PV modules breaking differently, and more often, than it did five years ago. There have been many changes to PV module design and materials in that time. But there is probably no single change that is responsible for the problem. Here we summarize the current thinking on PV glass breakage in utility-scale power plants. We share insights from multiple still-running projects at NREL.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Business Opportunities in Clean Energy Supply Chains: Guidebook for Small and Medium-Sized Automotive Suppliers

This is the final report for the referenced TCF award which ran from Oct. 2019 through Jan. 2024 in conjunction with the industry partner Swift Solar. The long duration of the program was due to several factors including the pandemic and a technical work stoppage due to changes in the scope. Additionally, Swift’s business focus shifted during the course of the program. As a result of these factors, this program underwent two distinct modifications that dramatically changed the work scope. The following report is organized into three separate sections, each of which addresses a distinct work scope. Those scope changes, what necessitated them, and any new tasks/milestones are given, briefly, at the top of each section. The work performed was research on the hybrid halide perovskites (HHP), both the absorber material itself as well as other material layers that are required in a full device stack. At the start of the period of performance, there were two distinct challenges that we sought to address: (1) a wide band gap absorber (>1.6 eV), and (2) a recombination layer for tandem devices that provided good sequestration of the individual cell absorber materials in their respective device layers. NREL had previously published, and patented, advancements in both of these areas and they were the focus of much of the work throughout the program. The auto manufacturing space is evolving quickly. Sales of various electrified vehicles (xEVs) continue to grow steadily, which has medium to long-term ramifications for the thousands of U.S. manufacturers and hundreds of thousands of workers that contribute to the domestic automotive supply chain. In tandem with this growth in xEV sales, domestic clean energy manufacturing is surging (both for the xEV supply chain and other technologies), with public incentives spurring billions in private sector investment. Moreover, the next 2–3 years will see new and expanded industrial facilities come online to make products like hydrogen electrolyzers, solar panels, batteries, advanced electronics—and will create new supply chain needs and business opportunities as they do. DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) and Argonne National Laboratory developed this report to help automotive manufacturers—alongside various business support partners— understand these trends and their response options, and to make the most of current federal assistance programs for manufacturers. These market changes may create opportunities for small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) to expand production, grow profit margins, and diversify their businesses. For instance, SMMs could take advantage of engineering and process design similarities with new end-use industries that might enable greater business growth and stability as markets continue to change.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

EV Champion Training Webinar 1: ZEV and EV Charging Fundamentals [Slides]

The Electric Vehicle (EV) Champion Training Series, hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is tailored for fleet managers, facility managers, and other stakeholders involved in the deployment of EVs and charging stations. This series equips participants with the skills and knowledge necessary to become subject matter experts in EV implementation. This is the first training in a four-part series and serves as an introductory training. This training covers fundamental topics such as EV and charging technology, utility basics, and financial considerations for EVs. Additionally, this session introduces the Federal Fleet ZEV Ready Center framework, a one-stop location for federal fleet electrification resources. Participants will gain a solid foundation to support the effective deployment and management of EVs and their infrastructure. Visit the Federal Fleet ZEV Ready Center website to learn more about the ZEV Ready Center process. EV Champion Training Webinar 1: ZEV and EV Charging Fundamentals will enable attendees to: Identify EV and EV charging technology fundamentals; Recognize EV market and GSA Schedule options; Identify utility basics, incentives, and rates as they relate to EV charging; and Identify methods to calculate life cycle costs for EVs and gasoline vehicles.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗