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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Driving Affordable Energy Through Utility Program Design

The presentation is aimed to teach participants about achieving affordable energy through utility program design. Learning objectives include: identify key utility program characteristics that support affordability and consumer choice; apply best practices in outreach, eligibility, and evaluation to improve program design; and evaluate strategies for aligning program design with customer needs and regulatory goals.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Community Solar Program Design Considerations & Modeling Inputs

Designing and modeling a community solar (CS) program is a complex process with numerous variable inputs that are interconnected. Modeling a CS program can be useful to inform the programs design itself while also providing stakeholders of all types with information. Accurate data inputs and assumptions are key to ensuring that a model is informative and as representative of real market conditions as possible. This report is an exploration of community solar program modeling considerations, especially as it relates to data inputs such as capital costs, administrative fees, and subscription size, using a CS program in North Carolina as a case study.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Driving Uptake for Energy Efficiency Financing Programs: Marketing and Outreach, Partnership Networks, and Program Design Considerations

Many energy efficiency financing programs could achieve greater uptake and impact by more effectively recruiting participants. This report examines some of the primary factors that have contributed to high participant uptake among successful financing programs. We review best practices in partnerships (Chapter 2), direct marketing (Chapter 3), and program design (Chapter 4) that facilitate robust participation. This report is primarily designed for state and local governments that have established energy efficiency financing programs or are considering doing so and are seeking insight into how they can ramp up program participation. In disseminating lessons learned from well-established programs that have experienced success in their target markets, the objective is to help scale up the large number of energy efficiency financing programs that seek to replicate these successes. This report can inform states, local governments, and other entities that will establish or expand clean energy financing programs with funding made available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Driving Affordable Decarbonization: Inclusive Utility Program Designs for Disadvantaged Communities

Our research team worked with 17 utility partners from various U.S. regions to study current utility program practices. We identified the key characteristics of these programs and the challenges and opportunities in implementing them. Through our research, we provide a pragmatic, design-oriented, and customer-centered perspective for effective program design and implementation. We identify 13 successful characteristics of program design that may be considered by utility partners.

disadvantaged communities↗
DOE OSTI2024

Utility Programs Supporting Customer-Sited Battery Storage: Program Design to Ensure Mutual Benefits

Behind-the-meter (BTM) battery storage, when paired with solar, can benefit customers, utilities, and the electric grid. Some utility-sponsored programs have been implemented offset the cost of customer-owned batteries and recognize the value of batteries to the utility and the grid. This factsheet summarizes existing utility-sponsored battery programs and the value to the stakeholders. It then highlights Wattsmart, the customer-owned battery program offered by Rocky Mountain Power in Utah, and provides lessons-learned from a close look at the impact of the program design on commercial customer participation.

battery↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solar-Plus-Storage Program Design: Frameworks and Examples [Slides]

The Columbia River Treaty Tribes in the Pacific Northwest - the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Yakama - hold treaty-reserved fishing rights for the Columbia River, the largest river in North America flowing into the Pacific Ocean. The four Tribes, through the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC), prepared a vision for a more harmonized energy and water system in their 2022 Energy Vision for the Columbia River Basin. In it, the four Tribes envision a future where the Columbia Basin electric power system supports healthy and harvestable fish and wildlife populations, protects Tribal treaty and cultural resources, and provides clean, reliable, and affordable electricity. To help realize the Energy Vision, CRITFC received technical assistance from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) through the Communities Local Energy Action Program (LEAP) pilot with the goal of ensuring that the Tribes are fully informed and prepared to integrate their interests into regional power system planning. This resource aims to provide an overview of program and policy design frameworks for behind-the-meter (BTM) energy storage and solar-plus-storage programs and examples from across the United States. This information is intended to build CRITFC's understanding of potential policies and program designs that could support the deployment of solar photovoltaics (PV) and energy storage in the Pacific Northwest.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

An Atlas of Current Customer-Facing Utility Program Designs and Pricing

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Kevala conducted a targeted literature review and leveraged extensive expertise, including team members with four decades of experience in the utility sector, to characterize utility programs and rate designs. This analysis delves into the motivations behind these programs and the various hurdles they face. Through this in-depth study, the team provides critical insights into the operational dynamics of utility programs, identifying key drivers and barriers that influence their effectiveness and implementation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Lessons from Artist in Residence Program Design and Impact

As a national laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) seeks to be on the leading edge of public interest research and deliver innovation, a core value of the institution. Through the support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office, PNNL has convened a workshop entitled Advancing Energy Futures through Art in Seattle, Washington, on August 19th and 20th, 2024. An explicit focus on Artist in Residence (AiR) programs initiates the discussion, as this is one of the few clear places where public interest research, artistic engagement, and energy futures have aligned. The workshop proposes to hear from program managers of successful AiR programs, scientists, and artists who work in the energy futures space, to discuss AiR program models and successful modalities for art and storytelling. This paper is provided as background context for workshop participants.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2026

The Dark Energy Bedrock All-sky Supernova Program: Motivation, Design, Implementation, and Preliminary Data Release

Precise measurements of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at low redshifts (z) serve as one of the most viable keys to unlocking our understanding of cosmic expansion, isotropy, and growth of structure. The Dark Energy Bedrock All-Sky Supernovae (DEBASS) program will deliver a uniformly calibrated low-z dataset of more than 400 spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia in the Southern Hemisphere. DEBASS utilizes the Dark Energy Camera to image supernovae in conjunction with the Wide-Field Spectrograph to gather comprehensive host-galaxy information. By using the same photometric instrument as both the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey, DEBASS not only benefits from a robust photometric pipeline and well-calibrated images across the Southern sky, but can replace the historic and external low-z samples that were used in the final DES supernova analysis. In this paper, along with a companion paper, we present an early data release of 77 DEBASS SNe within the DES footprint. We introduce the DEBASS program, discuss its scientific goals and the advantages it offers for supernova cosmology, and present our initial results demonstrating data quality. With this early data release, we find a robust median absolute standard deviation of Hubble diagram residuals of ∼0.10 mag and an initial measurement of the host-galaxy mass step of 0.06 ± 0.04 mag, both before performing bias corrections. This low scatter shows the promise of a low-z SN Ia program with a well-calibrated telescope and high signal-to-noise ratio across multiple bands.

Sherman, Nora F. [Boston U.] (ORCID:00000001539901↗
DOE OSTI2026

Design trade-offs for residential retail tariffs and virtual power plants

Retail rate design and virtual power plants (VPPs) have the potential to shift customer electricity demand and provide economic benefits to utility customers. As the adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) and flexible loads increases, retail tariff and program design can impact Bonbright's rate design principles including affordability, fairness, and economic efficiency. We model the effects of residential retail rates and VPP programs on power system costs in Massachusetts under a potential future system with high renewable energy and DER adoption. We model interactions among retail rate design, demand flexibility, and utility costs and identify trade-offs across different rate designs and VPP programs. We estimate that time-of-use (TOU) rates and VPP programs designed to avoid critical peak rates can lower overall system costs by 3.5 %-4.8 %. These lower costs translate to lower electricity bills for 62 %-91 % of customers, depending on the scenario. Although TOU rates with a critical peak VPP program can benefit all customer segments and are economically efficient, a VPP program with flat rates leads to the lowest overall bills for customers. We find that customers with loads that align with peak demand and who participate in critical peak VPP programs can underpay for their contribution to utility costs and shift costs to other customers. While our assumptions about mandatory TOU and/or critical peak pricing likely impact the magnitude of the results, the results highlight the trade-offs of these tariffs and programs and the importance of tariff and program design as demand becomes more flexible and responsive.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Barriers and Opportunities for Energy Technology Adoption in Juneau, Alaska

This report presents findings from a qualitative study examining barriers and opportunities for air source heat pump (ASHP) and electric vehicle (EV) adoption in Juneau, Alaska, with a particular focus on manufactured and multifamily housing. The analysis draws on community insights from end users and middle actors to better understand how technology adoption unfolds in contexts with distinct logistical, infrastructural, and housing constraints. The report is organized according to key barriers and opportunities identified through stakeholder input, providing a structured understanding of adoption dynamics across technologies and housing types. These insights are intended to inform program design and support more effective electrification strategies tailored to local conditions. The study team employed qualitative methods to capture both in-depth and high-level perspectives on technology adoption. Data collection included: 1) two 2-hour focus groups with a total of five end users and seven middle actors, enabling detailed and structured discussion and 2) ten semistructured interviews with manufactured home owners, multifamily landlords, and one tenant, providing complementary insights across housing contexts. Focus groups captured accounts of shared challenges and opportunities while interviews offered more concise reflections on individual experiences. Together, these methods enabled a more comprehensive understanding of both systemic barriers and lived experiences with ASHPs and EVs. The findings reveal that adoption of electrification technologies is shaped by a combination of economic, logistical, and informational factors that vary across housing types, technology characteristics, user groups, and other demographic factors. Addressing these factors requires tailored strategies that reflect local conditions and user experiences. The insights in this report can provide a foundation for organizations such as AEL&P to refine program design, support more effective outreach, and anticipate shifts in energy demand associated with increased electrification. More broadly, the study highlights the importance of incorporating community perspectives when developing electrification initiatives to ensure they are both practical and responsive to real-world constraints.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

The State of Demand Flexibility Programs and Rates

This report provides foundational data on programs and rates that promote demand flexibility in residential and commercial buildings in the United States. Leveraging a dataset of 148 programs and 94 rates collected through a review of utility websites, published electricity tariffs, and a database of demand-side programs, we describe the structure of demand flexibility events and the types and levels of incentives offered. For the two most common program types in our dataset—Wi-Fi thermostat and battery storage programs—we provide additional details on program designs. We also report data on program outcomes, including enrollment and participation, energy and demand savings, and costs. Furthermore, we describe the structure of dynamic rate events, report prices for critical peak pricing and variable peak pricing rates, and describe features of technology rates.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Scan2Sim: Software to Convert Network Scans to Emulations

Within operational technology (OT) systems design, the construction of testing environments for simulation is often a tedious, manual process that slows down safety and security evaluations. This document details the design and functionality of Scan2Sim, a program designed to construct high-fidelity topological schematics for OT systems without significant manual human input. Scan2Sim may take as input a detailed network scan of a system, and produces an instruction set to re-create the original scanned network within a virtualized simulation network. This construction is achieved via heuristic methods of machine template selection, which allows for a fast, performant approach to automated environment construction. The current tool is designed to produce topology schematics compatible with the Minimega, a tool designed by Sandia National Laboratories for repeatable experimentation management.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Community Solar for All: Key Findings for State Energy Offices and State LIHEAP Agencies from the Inclusive Shared Solar Initiative

Despite the significant potential for community solar to reduce energy burdens and costs, it has largely remained out of reach for low-income households. While the U.S. community solar market has grown considerably over the last decade, as of December 2022 low to moderate-income (LMI) community solar represented just 2% of the overall market. Effective community solar policies and program decisions can help address this dynamic. State laws, policies, and program rules are critical to the development of community solar programs and projects that are affordable for and cater to the needs of LMI utility customers, who often face disproportionately high energy costs relative to their incomes. This report explores how two sets of state agencies in particular — State and Territory Energy Offices and State Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Agencies —can help to streamline and prioritize the delivery of affordable and accessible shared solar. State Energy Offices are often involved in community solar policy and program design from inception, whether by supporting the enactment of enabling legislation or informing the development of program rules and regulations. State Energy Offices may also be charged with administering or overseeing the implementation of statewide community solar programs and, through the U.S. State Energy Program and other sources of funding, can provide resources and loans that enhance community, developer, and utility confidence and capacity to build, host, and derive value from projects. Relatedly, as implementers of federal LIHEAP block grants, State LIHEAP Agencies have a deep understanding of the needs of lower-income households and can help inform the design and delivery of community solar programs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

The forward physics facility: Physics opportunities and conceptual design

The Forward Physics Facility (FPF) is a proposed extension of the HL-LHC program designed to exploit the unique scientific opportunities offered by the intense flux of high energy neutrinos, and possibly new particles, in the far-forward direction. Located in a well-shielded cavern 627 m downstream of one of the LHC interaction points, the facility will support a broad and ambitious physics program that significantly expands the discovery potential of the HL-LHC. Equipped with four complementary detectors -- FLArE, FASER$ν$2, FASER2, and FORMOSA -- the FPF will enable breakthrough measurements that will advance our understanding of neutrino physics, quantum chromodynamics, and astroparticle physics, and will search for dark matter and other new particles. With this Letter of Intent, we propose the construction of the FPF cavern and the construction, integration, and installation of its experiments. We summarize the physics case, the facility design, the layout and components of the detectors, as well as the envisioned collaboration structure, cost estimate, and implementation timeline.

Astroparticle physics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dataset for: Rooftop solar and energy storage programs can remediate energy-limiting behaviors of energy insecure households

Energy insecurity affects most low-income households in the United States. Energy insecurity, which is characterized by a household’s inability to afford their energy needs, often leads to risky choices, causing other forms of insecurity including food and health. Although there are government programs designed to provide relief to low-income households that face energy insecurity, eligibility for these programs is usually determined by household income, and those with incomes close to the threshold face uncertainty or may be left out. In many cases, these households turn to energy-limiting behaviors as a strategy to lower their electric utility bills. This paper explores the relationship between energy insecurity and energy-limiting behaviors to investigate alternative solutions that target the households that may fall out of available energy assistance programs. We explore the role of battery energy storage systems and rooftop solar photovoltaics in improving energy affordability. The results show that residential rooftop solar and behind-the-meter energy storage can offset two-thirds of the bill savings that households attain through energy-limiting behavior. Household renewable energy systems could complement existing energy assistance programs to provide long-term bill relief, enabling occupants to live in their homes with comfort and dignity. This dataset is intended to allow readers to reproduce and customize the analysis performed in this work to their benefit.

Kerby, Jessica [Pacific Northwest National Laborat↗