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13 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Distributed Embedded Energy Converter Technologies (DEEC-Tec)

Distributed Embedded Energy Converter Technologies (also known as DEEC-Tec) is based upon the amalgamation and combining of numerous, relatively small, distributed embedded energy converters (DEECs) that, in aggregate, can form a larger overall energy harvesting-converting structure. Such DEEC-Tec based structures can be employed to harvest and convert marine renewable energy - e.g., ocean waves - into more desirable forms such as electricity. In this way, the DEEC-Tec hierarchy can be viewed via three different technology levels: (1) individual distributed embedded energy converters, (2) DEEC-Tec metamaterials (pseudo-materials made from the interconnection of many DEECs), and (3) DEEC-Tec-based marine energy converters built from DEEC-Tec metamaterials.

BFSF↗
DOE OSTI2025

InDEEP, DEEC-Tec, and Direct Generation Synergies for Ocean Wave Energy: Wave Energy Scotland's Direct Generation Programme Review

The presentation highlights: (i) how DEEC-Tec, advanced through the U.S. DOE's InDEEP Prize, holds the potential to redefine ocean wave energy conversion through modular, embedded energy conversion; (ii) a global scan that identified 158 participants and 35 promising concepts, showcasing strong international momentum; (iii) InDEEP's innovation-first approach and how it complements Wave Energy Scotland's structured Direct Generation research; and (iv) the ongoing and possible future collaborative pathways for co-funded trials, joint metric/standards developments, and maturation of these technologies toward and real-world deployment.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2026

Innovating Distributed Embedded Energy Prize (InDEEP): A Lessons Learned Report

The U.S. Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) launched the Innovating Distributed Embedded Energy Prize (InDEEP) in March 2023 to accelerate innovation in Distributed Embedded Energy Conversion Technologies (DEEC-Tec) for ocean wave energy. Administered by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) with technical support from Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), InDEEP focused on the development of small, distributed, and embeddable energy converters (DEECs) and their integration into scalable DEEC-Tec metamaterials for marine renewable energy applications. Spanning three phases over two years, InDEEP awarded approximately $2.3 million to teams from academia, industry, and startups. Phase I emphasized conceptual design. Phase II moved into the prototyping of individual DEECs. Phase III required integration into functional DEEC-Tec metamaterial prototypes. Across 60 submissions, teams explored a wide range of energy conversion mechanisms - including piezoelectric, variable-capacitance, ionic, and inductive methods. Note, the prize did not include the design nor demonstration of ocean wave energy conversion systems. Rather, the prize only required participants to design and demonstrate individual DEECs and corresponding DEEC-Tec metamaterials. This prize utilized a mix of novel and proven techniques to attract participants from outside marine energy, including an engagement leaderboard, robust recruitment, technical expert mentorship, and a suite of technical trainings. Key insights from the competition emphasized that DEEC-Tec metamaterials must be intentionally designed to produce beneficial emergent behaviors - advantages that go beyond simply combining multiple DEEC units. Top-performing teams showed that thoughtful design of system architecture, coordinated deformation, and systems adaptabilities could unlock meaningful performance gains both at the DEEC system level and DEEC-Tec metamaterial system level. A critical realization was that many DEEC-Tec metamaterials could benefit from being designed to accept lower-frequency energy inputs and shift those into higher-frequencies per each DEEC making up the respective DEEC-Tec metamaterial. Other important takeaways included the need for rigorous and quantitative performance testing, effective integration of power conditioning electronics, and the pivotal role of material science in enabling innovative, adaptive DEEC-Tec-based energy conversion designs. InDEEP also helped establish a growing DEEC-Tec community of practitioners, attracting participants from beyond traditional marine energy sectors. Through a strong support infrastructure, InDEEP fostered early-stage innovation and laid a foundation for future DEEC-Tec-based ocean wave energy conversion solutions - positioning DEEC-Tec as a promising pathway toward scalable, resilient ocean wave energy conversion. Through focused R&D of individual DEECs and their integration into DEEC-Tec metamaterials, alongside a growing, multidisciplinary community catalyzed by InDEEP, there is a strong opportunity to drive a disruptive shift in ocean wave energy conversion design and development. This convergence of novel architectures, emergent behaviors, and collaborative innovation positions DEEC-Tec as a transformative approach, moving the field from rigid, centralized energy conversion-based designs to resilient, modular systems highly adaptable for real-world ocean wave energy conversion applications.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2023

Distributed Embedded Energy Converter Technologies for Marine Renewable Energy (A Technical Report)

The domain of distributed embedded energy converter technologies (DEEC-Tec) is a nascent and underexplored paradigm for harvesting and converting marine renewable energy. The paradigm distinguishes itself through its use of many small distributed embedded energy converters (DEECs) that, ultimately, are assembled through the creation of "DEEC-Tec metamaterials" to create an overall larger marine renewable energy harvesting and converting structure. As an example, such a structure could be an ocean wave energy converter - a converter whose structure is made from various types of DEEC-Tec metamaterials that harvests ocean wave energy and converts that energy into something more useful such as electricity. To that end, DEEC-Tec can be viewed at three different technology levels: (1) individual distributed embedded energy converters, also known as DEECs; (2) DEEC-Tec metamaterials-essentially, pseudo-materials made from the interconnection of many DEECs; and (3) overall larger complete marine renewable energy harvesting-converting structures-these structures being made from DEEC-Tec metamaterials. Arising directly from the application of DEEC-Tec to harvest and convert ocean wave energy are several noteworthy benefits, some of which include: (1) the lack of load concentrations into singular components or subsystems, (2) broad-banded ocean wave energy frequency harvesting and conversion, and (3) inherent redundancy-failure of some individual DEECs does not represent a failure of an entire DEEC-Tec-based WEC. This report describes DEEC-Tec by way of descriptions of those three technology levels: individual DEECs, DEEC-Tec metamaterials, and DEEC-Tec-based WECs. Moreover, the report describes corresponding research approaches and methodologies for related concepts such as DEEC-Tec-based WEC topologies and morphologies in addition to manufacturing and fabrication techniques found suitable for the application of DEEC-Tec within the general domain of marine renewable energy-moving beyond only ocean wave energy conversion.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hexagonal Distributed Embedded Energy Converters (HexDEECs)

Distributed Embedded Energy Converter Technologies (DEEC-Tec) is a new domain for marine renewable energy research that utilizes a conglomeration of small distributed embedded energy converters (DEECs) that, in aggregate, form larger metamaterial frameworks. These resulting DEEC-Tec metamaterials can then, in turn, be used to construct flexible ocean wave energy converters called flexWECs. DEEC-Tec enables flexWECs: (i) to be inherently broad-banded ocean wave frequency energy converters and (ii) to have an inherent lack of highly loaded rigid bodies. The DEEC-Tec domain also benefits the marine renewable energy domain by inherently availing ways that marine energy can be harvested and converted that heretofore has not yet been considered possible: real-time execution of transforming topologies (e.g., actively changing a flexWEC's shape and form) and morphologies (e.g., actively changing a flexWEC's stiffness and damping throughout its entire structure). Presented, is one specific type of DEEC, a HexDEEC, that shows promise in aiding the adoption and further development of the DEEC-Tec domain - it is a small energy transducer being developed by the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The HexDEEC is a small (characteristic length approximating a centimeter) energy transducer that converts the dynamic deformations of an elastomer into electricity through a charging-discharging cycle of a capacitor whose capacitance is varied by those elastic deformations. The HexDEEC is composed of a hyperelastic hexagonal housing (nominally silicon rubber) with six electrodes on its inner faces. The upper three electrodes share the same charge while the lower three electrodes oppose the upper electrode charges. Externally, the HexDEEC has two arms extending away from the middle vertices of the hexagon. Via principles governing the relationship between electrical capacitance and electrical potential (voltage and charge), electricity is generated when the HexDEEC's arms are dynamically pulled or released under tensile loading as doing so causes the distance between the upper and lower sets of electrodes to change - varying the energy converter's overall capacitance. Analytical and numerical modeling have already been used to estimate the electrical energy produced by a HexDEEC. The cursory models approximate the HexDEEC as a parallel plate variable capacitor - simplifying from six to two opposing plates with a constant dielectric volume between those two plates. To account for the elastic HexDEEC material properties, software such as SolidWorks and STAR-CCM+ have been used to generate hyperelastic models; notably, Mooney-Rivlin based models. Individual HexDEECs have been fabricated by drawing uncured liquid silicon rubber into molds via vacuum pressure. To simplify manufacturing, HexDEEC sub-components - e.g., electrodes, wires - can be placed within those molds such that they are directly embedded into the hexagonal housing during the curing process. Furthermore, DEEC-Tec metamaterials can be created by interweaving or sequentially layering multiple HexDEEC strands together. The HexDEEC based metamaterial could then generate electricity through its gross deformations. Ultimately, HexDEECs represent a specific type of energy transducer that can be leveraged, by the DEEC-Tec domain, to create metamaterials used to construct novel flexWECs.

DEEC-Tec↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hexagonal Distributed Embedded Energy Converters (HexDEECs)

The HexDEEC is a small, characteristic length approximating a centimeter, energy transducer that converts the dynamic deformations of its elastomer housing into electricity through a variable capacitance charging-discharging cycle. This device is a type of Distributed Embedded Energy Converter Technology (DEEC-Tec), a new domain for marine renewable energy research that utilizes a conglomeration of small distributed embedded energy converters (DEECs) that, in aggregate, form larger metamaterial frameworks. These resulting DEEC-Tec metamaterials can then, in turn, be used to construct flexible ocean wave energy converters called flexWECs, which can utilize a broad band of ocean wave frequencies and lack highly loaded rigid bodies. These systems also provide new avenues of wave energy harvesting such as actively transforming topologies (e.g., shape and form) and morphologies (e.g., stiffness and damping throughout its entire structure) in real time. Presented, is one specific type of DEEC: the HexDEEC, which is currently being developed by the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This transducer shows promise in aiding the adoption and further development of the DEEC-Tec domain. The following presentation focuses on the promise of this technology and current work being done to analyze the performance of an individual HexDEEC design. The HexDEEC is composed of a hyperelastic hexagonal housing, nominally silicon rubber, with six electrodes on its inner faces. The upper three electrodes share the same charge while the lower three electrodes oppose the upper electrode charges. Externally, the HexDEEC has two arms extending away from the middle vertices of the hexagon. Via principles governing the relationship between electrical capacitance and electrical potential (voltage and charge), electricity is generated when the HexDEEC's arms are dynamically pulled or released under tensile loading, as doing so causes the distance between the upper and lower sets of electrodes to change - varying the energy converter's overall capacitance. Analytical and numerical modeling is being used to evaluate the mechanics and electrical energy generated by the HexDEEC. Equations to describe the capacitance and electrostatic forces acting on this unique system have been developed and implemented into the numerical modeling software STAR-CCM+, along with models to describe its hyperelastic material, such as the Mooney-Rivlin 3-parameter model. So far, an initial design has been analyzed and we plan to further optimize it to increase power production. Individual HexDEECs have been fabricated by drawing uncured liquid silicon rubber into molds via vacuum pressure. To simplify manufacturing, HexDEEC sub-components - e.g., electrodes, wires - can be placed within those molds such that they are directly embedded into the hexagonal housing during the curing process. Furthermore, DEEC-Tec metamaterials can be created by interweaving or sequentially layering multiple HexDEEC strands together. The HexDEEC based metamaterial could then generate electricity through its gross deformations. Ultimately, HexDEECs represent a specific type of energy transducer that can be leveraged, by the DEEC-Tec domain, to create metamaterials used to construct novel flexWECs.

DEEC-Tec↗
DOE OSTI2024

General Testing Setup for Hyperelastic Transducers-DEEC-Tec & Marine Renewable Energy: Preprint

Distributed embedded energy conversion technologies (DEEC-Tec), an emerging domain for ocean wave energy conversion technology, is showing promise for a range of applications. Research is being conducted at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that leverages this domain to investigate the potential of ocean wave energy converters (WECs) constructed from hyperelastic forms of distributable and embeddable energy transducers. These transducers are available in forms such as disks, rectangles, or hexagons and can be combined in various ways to form energy-producing metamaterials and flexible WECs. DEEC-Tec, therefore, could open doors that enhance ocean wave energy conversion in ways not previously thought possible by allowing for many WEC topologies and morphologies. However, the same diversity and adaptability pose challenges for the development of these DEEC-Tec-oriented hyperelastic transducers. A commercial tensile testing setup was not found that was adaptable enough to accommodate the varied transducers while providing precise force control, range of motion, and noncontact data collection. Because of this lack, a comprehensive test rig was designed in house to be used with a 3D laser scanning device-providing contactless measurements while also allowing for different geometries and various uniaxial loadings. This paper and presentation will discuss these unique challenges and the processes for overcoming them to provide a robust and general testing setup for hyperelastic transducers, of any form, for the DEEC-Tec marine renewable energy domain.

DEEC-Tec↗
DOE OSTI2024

Smart Adaptive Structures for an Ocean Wave Energy Converter

Ocean wave energy converters face significant challenges including cost-effectiveness, minimizing maintenance requirements, and withstanding extreme conditions. However, by utilizing smart materials, these converters could overcome these challenges. Such energy harvesters could use dielectric elastomer generators to convert ocean wave energy into electricity through their dynamic straining. Conversely, by applying electricity to these generators, they become actuators - dielectric elastomer actuators - thereby enabling them to alter their stiffness and adapt to the ever-changing ocean energy environments. Such active adaptation could enhance the converter's ability to: reach resonance with ocean waves and protect itself from dangerous waves. This study utilizes numerical analyses through the COMSOL software framework to evaluate the potential energy that could be harvested by a conceptual ocean wave energy converter based upon dielectric elastomer generators/actuators. The converter is composed of an external hull (that is a hollow cylinder), an inertial mass (that is a hollow cylinder and concentric with the hull), and 'spokes' - made of dielectric elastomer generators/actuators - that connect the hull to the inertial mass. Results of the numerical analyses include those outcomes arising from the conceptual converter being simulated via a sinusoidal motion analogous to ocean waves. That motion, therefore, causes relative motion between the converter's hull and inertial mass thereby dynamically stretching the corresponding connecting elastomers. The stretching of the elastomers enables them to 'gain elastic strain energy' and is, therefore, considered to be the theoretical limit of possible electrical energy conversion for the dielectric elastomer generator/actuator spokes. Additionally, the elastomer material properties of the spokes were altered to simulate the actuation of those same elastomers; with overall strain energy being subsequently investigated. Ultimately this is a preliminary study exploring the ability of such smart materials - electricity-generating and self-actuating elastomers - to actively adapt an ocean wave energy converter's structure to address and overcome the aforementioned challenges.

active materials↗
DOE OSTI2023

Numerical Methods to Evaluate Hyperelastic Transducers: Hexagonal Distributed Embedded Energy Converters

Hexagonal distributed embedded energy converters, also known as hexDEECs, are centimeter-scale energy transducers that leverage variable capacitance to generate electricity when their hyperelastic structure is dynamically deformed. To better understand, characterize, and optimize hexDEEC designs, a series of numerical methods and techniques were developed to model the hyperelastic mechanics of hexDEECs, electrostatic properties, and electricity generation characteristics. The numerical methods developed for the hyperelastic structural analysis were corroborated by empirical results from another study, and the models and equations for capacitance, electrostatic forces, and electrical potential energy were derived from fundamental electrostatic equations. These methods and techniques were implemented within the STAR-CCM+ multiphysics software Version 2020.3 (15.06.008) environment. Results from this analysis revealed methodologies and techniques necessary to model the energy converters, which will enable future exploration and optimization of more specific designs and corresponding applications.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Generating Electricity with Hydraulically Amplified Self-Healing Electrostatic (HASEL) Transducers

This study identifies hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) transducers as electricity generators, contrary to their conventional role as actuators. HASELs are soft, variable-capacitance transducers inspired by biological muscles which were developed to mimic the flexibility and functionality of natural muscle tissues. This research characterizes HASELs as generators by reversing their energy conversion mechanism—generating electricity through mechanical deformation. The study assesses the practical laboratory performance of HASELs by analytic modeling and experimental evaluation. Outcomes of the study include the following: (i) up to 2.5 mJ per cycle per 50 mm wide HASEL pouch of positive net energy generation in experimental testing—corresponding to an energy density of 2.0 mJ cm−3; (ii) a maximum theoretical energy density of 4.2 mJ cm−3; (iii) the electromechanical characteristics governing efficient conversion; and (iv) design considerations to enhance HASEL generator performance in future applications. This study broadens HASEL’s applicability and utility as a multi-functional transducer for renewable energy and general adaptive electricity generation.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

WBS: 2.2.1.407 Flexible Wave Energy Converters (FlexWEC)

Using distributed embedded energy converters (DEECs) to create flexible ocean wave energy converters (flexWECs), could revolutionize how we conceptualize ocean wave energy conversion and how we view and evaluate ocean waves as a viable source of renewable energy. Nevertheless, flexWEC research and development is nascent in nature and needs greater understanding and evaluation of its potential. The overall goals of this project, therefore, are to understand the scientific and engineering merit of flexWECs and to assess how flexWECs could be best utilized to create effective and viable converters of marine renewable energy.

DEEC-Tec↗
DOE OSTI2023

Hexagonal Distributed Embedded Energy Converter (HexDEEC)

Hexagonal Distributed Embedded Energy Converters are relatively small, centimeter scale, energy transducers that leverage variable capacitance to generate electricity when their hyperelastic structure is dynamically deformed. A multitude of HexDEECs can be woven to form construction materials that can be used to build complete energy conversion structures, such as ocean wave energy converters.

BFSF↗
DOE OSTI2024

Investigation of a Multi-Rotor Triboelectric Nanogenerator Using a Modular Flexible Circuit Board Stack

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are a nascent class of energy harvester that are being explored for scavenging energy from small ocean waves. To date, they have been integrated in wave energy converters (WECs) designed to capture random motion caused by the perturbations of the ocean surface. Blue economy applications such as ocean observation can benefit greatly from more substantial wave-derived power, as such, the power output of existing TENG WECs must be increased several-fold to become viable. This study describes the conceptualization of a rotary TENG, and the subsequent efforts to increase its power output by stacking multiple stator and rotor pairs. In the latter part of this study, we introduce a novel means of incorporating a friction element into the design of the TENG by employing flexible printed circuit board (PCB) rotors. At rest, these flexible rotors will contact the stator, building static charges due to friction, at speed, these flexible rotors will be decoupled from the stator, reducing friction and allowing faster rotation. Initial results indicate that the power output of the flexible PCB rotor does not produce more power than a rigid, acrylic disk rotor, however the current output of the prototype is boosted, and the prototype is far more compact, allowing for a higher energy density than the rigid rotor prototype.

bench testing↗