Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Zero point energy”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Modeling of injected current stream-induced 3D perturbations in local helicity injection plasmas

Solenoid-free tokamak startup techniques are essential for spherical tokamaks and offer a pathway to cost reduction and design simplification in fusion energy systems. Local helicity injection (LHI) is one such approach, employing compact edge current sources to drive open field line current that initiates and sustains tokamak plasmas. The recently commissioned Pegasus-III Experiment provides a platform for advancing this and other solenoid-free startup methods. This study investigates the effect of LHI on magnetic topology in Pegasus-III plasmas. A helical filament model represents the injected current, and the linear plasma response to its three-dimensional field is calculated with M3D-C1. Poincaré mapping reveals substantial flux surface degradation in all modeled cases. The onset of overlapping magnetic structures and large-scale surface deformation begins near Ψ N ≈ 0.37, indicating a broad region of perturbed topology extending toward the edge. In rotating plasmas, both single-fluid and two-fluid models exhibit partial screening of the n = 1 perturbation, with two-fluid calculations showing stronger suppression near the edge. In contrast, the absence of rotation leads to strong resonant field amplification in the single-fluid case, while the two-fluid case with zero electron rotation mitigates this amplification and preserves edge screening. Magnetic probe measurements indicate that modeling the stream with spatial spreading—representing distributed current and/or oscillatory motion—better reproduces measured magnetic power profiles than a rigid filament model. The results underscore the role of rotation and two-fluid physics in screening stream perturbations and point to plasma flow measurements and refined stream models as key steps toward improving predictive fidelity.

Schaefer, Carolyn E. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison,↗
DOE OSTI2023

Collective excitations of a bound-in-the-continuum condensate

Spectra of low-lying elementary excitations are critical to characterize properties of bosonic quantum fluids. Usually these spectra are difficult to observe, due to low occupation of non-condensate states compared to the ground state. Recently, low-threshold Bose-Einstein condensation was realised in a symmetry-protected bound state in the continuum, at a saddle point, thanks to coupling of this electromagnetic resonance to semiconductor excitons. While it has opened the door to long-living polariton condensates, their intrinsic collective properties are still unexplored. Here we unveil the peculiar features of the Bogoliubov spectrum of excitations in this system. Thanks to the dark nature of the bound-in-the-continuum state, collective excitations lying directly above the condensate become observable in enhanced detail. We reveal interesting aspects, such as energy-flat parts of the dispersion characterized by two parallel stripes in photoluminescence pattern, pronounced linearization at non-zero momenta in one of the directions, and a strongly anisotropic velocity of sound.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

To dee or not to dee: costs and benefits of altering the triangularity of a steady-state DEMO-like reactor

Shaping a tokamak plasma to have a negative triangularity may allow operation in an edge-localized mode-free L-mode regime and with a larger strike-point radius, ameliorating divertor power-handling requirements. However, the shaping has a potential drawback in the form of a lower no-wall ideal beta limit, found using the MHD codes CHEASE and DCON. Using the new fusion systems code FAROES, we construct a steady-state DEMO2 reactor model. This model is essentially zero-dimensional and neglects variations in physical mechanisms like turbulence, confinement, and radiative power limits, which could have a substantial impact on the conclusions deduced herein. Keeping its shape otherwise constant, we alter the triangularity and compute the effects on the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). If the tokamak is limited to a fixed B field, then unless other means to increase performance (such as reduced turbulence, improved current drive efficiency or higher density operation) can be leveraged, a negative-triangularity reactor is strongly disfavored in the model due to lower β N limits at negative triangularity, which leads to tripling of the LCOE. However, if the reactor is constrained by divertor heat fluxes and not by magnet engineering, then a negative-triangularity reactor with higher B 0 could be favorable: we find a class of solutions at negative triangularity with lower peak heat flux and lower LCOE than those of the equivalent positive triangularity reactors.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

To dee or not to dee: costs and benefits of altering the triangularity of a steady-state DEMO-like reactor

Shaping a tokamak plasma to have a negative triangularity may allow operation in an ELM-free L-mode regime and with a larger strike-point radius, ameliorating divertor power-handling requirements. However, the shaping has a potential drawback in the form of a lower no-wall ideal beta limit, found using the MHD codes CHEASE and DCON. Using the new fusion systems code FAROES, we construct a steady-state DEMO2 reactor model. This model is essentially zero-dimensional and neglects variations in physical mechanisms like turbulence, confinement, and radiative power limits, which could have a substantial impact on the conclusions deduced herein. Keeping its shape otherwise constant, we alter the triangularity and compute the effects on the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). If the tokamak is limited to a fixed B field, then unless other means to increase performance (such as reduced turbulence, improved current drive efficiency or higher density operation) can be leveraged, a negative-triangularity reactor is strongly disfavored in the model due to lower \beta_N limits at negative triangularity, which leads to tripling of the LCOE. However, if the reactor is constrained by divertor heat fluxes and not by magnet engineering, then a negative-triangularity reactor with higher B0 could be favorable: we find a class of solutions at negative triangularity with lower peak heat flux and lower LCOE than those of the equivalent positive triangularity reactors.

CHEASE↗
DOE OSTI2021

A hub and spoke approach to optimizing energy wheeling of renewable resources

The deployment of zero carbon renewable energy sources needs to increase significantly to support the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. At the same time energy end use needs to decarbonize. This will change both energy supply and energy demand patterns, requiring the energy delivery infrastructure (grid-based transmission circuits) to become increasingly flexible to maintain security of supply everywhere and always. The integration of zero carbon renewable energy requires cross-border and cross energy system coupling and a fit-for-purpose design. Nowadays, energy systems are planned, designed and operated in silos with a strong national focus. However, large-scale offshore wind production needs to be transported to deep inland locations, across country borders. The increased peak generation capacity of renewable energy sources will, at times, significantly exceed demand (Matthew Langholtz, 2020). The traditional solution of continuously reinforcing and extending the electricity grid is not sustainable from a cost and societal perspective. This paper will, however, propose a deterministic approach on how networked (interconnected grid) Points of receipt (POR) to Points of Delivery (POD) can be optimized for wheeling renewable energy resources while minimizing energy cost with a hub and spoke approach. The statistical approach will be done via using existing daily energy market clearing prices, available transmission capacity and firm daily transmission prices in open access energy markets. Renewable energy targets, including specific offshore wind targets, need to be in line with the ramp-up as implied by the Paris Agreement. These targets are required to provide industry with a secure market outlook that allows them to build up supply chains accordingly. Optimizing wheeled energy paths from carbon neutral resources such as renewables make them not only cost competitive on the unit commitment stack, but also more accessible on the dispatch stack to other carbon heavy forms of generation such as coal and natural gas turbines (Matthew Langholtz, 2020). This correlates to maximizing renewable resource inertia (wind, solar, biomass) within an interconnected grid without having to consider additional expansion of resources via land purchases and de-forestation.

Mukherjee, Srijib↗
DOE OSTI2020

Distinguishing the gapped and Weyl semimetal scenario in ZrTe 5 : insights from an effective two-band model

In this work, we study the static and dynamic transport properties of a low-energy two-band model proposed previously in Martino et al. [PRL 122, 217402 (2019)], with an anisotropic in-plane linear momentum dependence and a parabolic out-of-plane dispersion. The model is extended to include a negative band gap, which leads to the emergence of a Weyl semimetal (WSM) state, as opposed to the gapped semimetal (GSM) state when the band gap is positive. Furthermore, we calculate and compare the zero- and finite-frequency transport properties of the GSM and WSM cases. The DC properties that are calculated for the GSM and WSM cases are Drude spectral weight, mobility, and resistivity. We determine their dependence on the Fermi energy and crystal direction. The in- and out-of-plane optical conductivities are calculated in the limit of the vanishing interband relaxation rate for both semimetals. The main common features are an ω 1/2 in-plane and ω 3/2 out-of-plane frequency dependence of the optical conductivity. We seek particular features related to the charge transport that could unambiguously point to one ground state over the other, based on the comparison with the experiment. Differences between the WSM and GSM are in principle possible only at extremely low carrier concentrations and at low temperatures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ultrabroadband THz conductivity of gated graphene in- and out-of-equilibrium

We employ ultrabroadband terahertz (THz) spectroscopy to expose the high-frequency transport properties of Dirac fermions in monolayer graphene. By controlling the carrier concentration via tunable electrical gating, both equilibrium and transient optical conductivities are obtained for a range of Fermi levels. The frequency-dependent equilibrium response is determined through a combination of time-domain THz and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy for energies up to the near-infrared, which also provides a measure of the gate-voltage dependent Fermi level. Transient changes in the real and imaginary parts of the graphene conductivity are electro-optically resolved for frequencies up to 15 THz after near-infrared femtosecond excitation, both at the charge-neutral point and for higher electrostatic-doping levels. Modeling of the THz response provides insight into changes of the carrier spectral weights and scattering rates, and reveals an additional broad-frequency ($$\approx$$ 8 THz) component to the photo-induced response, which we attribute to the zero-momentum mode of quantum-critical transport observed here in large-area CVD graphene.

Coslovich, G↗
DOE OSTI2026

Global anomalies of Green's function zeros.

We study global anomalies of nonlocal effective theories proposed to describe symmetry-preserving Luttinger surfaces, i.e., the momentum-space manifolds of Green’s function zeros (GFZs) at zero energy, in strongly interacting fermionic systems. In particular, we focus on the simplest possible cases associated with a gapless Dirac zero, which is the counterpart of the gapless Dirac quasiparticle in weakly interacting systems. These theories may be derived by integrating out low-energy degrees of freedom that do not couple to the relevant gauge field. We discuss the global anomaly, the bulk-boundary correspondence, and the constraint on phases consistent with the anomaly, such as non-Fermi liquids and emergent gapless quasiparticles on Luttinger surfaces. Failing to avoid spontaneous symmetry breaking in the thermodynamical limit inevitably leads to unstable GFZs. We also provide some perspective on why the related nonlocal fermionic effective theory studied recently is not a suitable starting point for a symmetrically gapped phase

Su, Lei↗
DOE OSTI2025

Observation of Unprecedented Fractional Magnetization Plateaus in a New Shastry-Sutherland Ising Compound

Geometrically frustrated magnetic systems, such as those based on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice (SSL), offer a rich playground for exploring unconventional magnetic states. The delicate balance between competing interactions in these systems leads to the emergence of novel phases. We present the characterization of Er 2 ⁢Be 2⁢ GeO 7 , an SSL compound with Er 3+ ions forming orthogonal dimers separated by nonmagnetic layers whose structure is invariant under the 𝑃⁢$\bar{4}21$⁢𝑚 space group. Neutron scattering reveals an antiferromagnetic dimer structure at zero field, typical of Ising spins on that lattice and consistent with the anisotropic magnetization observed. However, magnetization measurements exhibit fractional plateaus at 1/4 and 1/2 of saturation, in contrast to the expected 1/3 plateau of the SSL Ising model. By comparing the energy of candidate states with ground-state lower bounds we show that this behavior requires spatially anisotropic interactions, leading to an anisotropic Shastry-Sutherland Ising model symmetric under the 𝐶⁢𝑚⁢𝑚⁢2 space group. This anisotropy is consistent with the small orthorhombic distortion observed with single-crystal neutron diffraction. The other properties, including thermodynamics, which have been investigated theoretically using tensor networks, point to small residual interactions, potentially due to further couplings and quantum fluctuations. This study highlights Er 2 ⁢Be 2 ⁢GeO 7 as a promising platform for investigating exotic magnetic phenomena.

Yadav, Lalit [Duke University, Durham, NC (United ↗
DOE OSTI2020

Factors Impacting Nuclear Energy Share in U.S. Energy Markets

The purpose of this report is to collate information and findings from recent studies conducted by national and international bodies/institutes to identify approaches for maintaining/enhancing the role of nuclear energy in the current and future energy mix of the United States. This report shows how nuclear generation grew quickly to provide 20% of U.S. electricity, sustaining that level for three decades without the benefit of new construction, but is now projected to decline going forward. Nuclear construction costs in the U.S. spiraled out of control, ending construction for two decades and the recent resumption of construction has continued the pattern of schedule delays and cost overruns. However, nuclear operations exhibited strong learning, achieving and sustaining the highest capacity factor of any electricity generation technology and license extensions and uprates have sustained nuclear market share. The share of nuclear energy in the U.S. electricity market is projected to decline by ~1/3rd over the next 30 years The report provides an overview of how the markets work in theory and in practice. It indicates how market deregulation and clean energy policies have created conditions where nuclear plants are being retired for economic rather than technical reasons. The report also shows how many of the markets do not in practice have free competition but instead have outcomes that are being determined more and more by policy instead of market forces. While electricity costs from existing nuclear plants are low, electricity from new builds is projected to be too expensive to be competitive head-to-head with natural gas, even for nth-of-a-kind costs. Wind and solar energy have enjoyed an extended period of sustained subsidy. This protected environment has resulted in a sustained reduction in plant level costs to the point that some of these Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) technologies are becoming competitive even if their direct subsidies are removed. But plant level costs underestimate total VRE costs which include a number of system-level externalities. The incremental system value of additional VRE capacity was shown to decline as market share increases, with solar value declining more quickly than wind. The report closes with examination of a possible future for nuclear generation as part of deep decarbonization of the electricity sector. This approach avoids direct competition with natural gas. The two options for achieving 100% decarbonization are to use only renewables or to use all zero emissions technologies, and the report shows the second approach is much less expensive than the first.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Effect of Soluble Corrosion Products on Electrical Double Layer in LiCl-KCl Molten Salts

Corrosion in molten salts greatly hampers the application for renewable energy applications like molten salt reactors. To develop effective strategies for corrosion mitigation, understanding the interfacial structures and properties such as specific ion adsorption and electrical double layer capacitance are crucial. Using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, we systematically studied the interfaces on various model electrodes including W (solid), Bi (liquid), and the stainless steel 316 in LiCl-KCl eutectic molten salts with the addition of corrosion species CrCl 2 and FeCl 2 . Both Cr 2+ and Fe 2+ ions increased electrical double layer capacitance, with Cr 2+ showing specific adsorption behavior and shifting the potential of zero charge, while Fe 2+ had minimal effect on point of zero charge. Two-working electrode measurements revealed increasing open-circuit potential and electrical double layer capacitance during the exposure of stainless steel 316, indicating its progressive corrosion and ion accumulation at the interface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman confirmed Cr enrichment at the interface. This work highlights the strong correlation between electrical double layer behavior and corrosion dynamics in molten salts and suggests electrical double layer capacitance as a sensitive, in situ indicator for corrosion monitoring.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Zero-field J-spectroscopy of quadrupolar nuclei

Abstract Zero- to ultralow-field nuclear magnetic resonance (ZULF NMR) allows molecular structure elucidation via measurement of electron-mediated spin-spinJ-couplings. This study examines zero-fieldJ-spectra from molecules with quadrupolar nuclei, exemplified by solutions of various isotopologues of ammonium cations. The spectra reveal differences between various isotopologues upon extracting preciseJ-coupling values from pulse-acquire measurements. A primary isotope effect,$$\triangle J=\left({\gamma }_{{}^{14}{{{{{\rm{N}}}}}}}/{\gamma }_{{}^{15}{{{{{\rm{N}}}}}}}\right){J}_{{}^{15}{{{{{\rm{N}}}}}}{{{{{\rm{H}}}}}}}-{J}_{{}^{14}{{{{{\rm{N}}}}}}{{{{{\rm{H}}}}}}}\approx -58$$ △ J = γ 14 N / γ 15 N J 15 N H − J 14 N H ≈ − 58 mHz, is deduced by analysis of the proton-nitrogenJ-coupling ratios. This study points toward further experiments with symmetric cations containing quadrupolar nuclei, promising applications in biomedicine, energy storage, and benchmarking quantum chemistry calculations.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Gravitational waveforms: A tale of two formalisms

We revisit the quantum-amplitude-based derivation of the gravitational waveform emitted by the scattering of two spinless massive bodies at the third order in Newton’s constant, ℎ ∼ 𝐺 + 𝐺 2 + 𝐺 3 (one-loop level), and correspondingly update its comparison with its classically derived multipolar-post-Minkowskian counterpart. A spurious-pole-free reorganization of the one-loop five-point amplitude substantially simplifies the post-Newtonian expansion. We find complete agreement between the two results up to the fifth order in the small velocity expansion after taking into account three subtle aspects of the amplitude derivation: (1) in agreement with [A. Georgoudis et al., J. High Energy Phys. 03 (2024) 089], the term quadratic in the amplitude in the observable-based formalism [D. A. Kosower et al., J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2019) 137] generates a frame rotation by half the classical scattering angle; (2) the dimensional regularization of the infrared divergences of the amplitude introduces an additional (𝑑 − 4)/(𝑑 − 4) finite term; and (3) zero-frequency gravitons are found to contribute additional terms both at order ℎ ∼ 𝐺 1 and at order ℎ ∼ 𝐺 3 when including disconnected diagrams in the observable-based formalism.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Neutron scattering study of magnetic anisotropy in the tetragonal antiferromagnet Bi 2 CuO 4

In this work, we present a comprehensive study of magnon excitations in the tetragonal easy-plane antiferromagnet Bi 2 CuO 4 using inelastic neutron scattering and spin-wave analyses. The nature of low-energy magnons, and hence the anisotropy in this material, has been controversial. We show unambiguously that the low-energy magnon spectrum consists of a gapped and a gapless mode, which we attribute to out-of-plane and in-plane spin fluctuations, respectively. We modeled the observed magnon spectrum using linear spin-wave analysis of a minimal anisotropic spin model motivated by the lattice symmetry. By studying the magnetic field dependence of the (1,0,0) Bragg peak intensity and the in-plane magnon intensity, we observed a spin-flop transition in the ab plane at ~0.4 T, which directly indicates the existence of a small in-plane anisotropy that is classically forbidden. It is only by taking into account magnon zero-point fluctuations beyond the linear spin-wave approximation that we could explain this in-plane anisotropy and its magnitude, the latter of which is deduced from the critical field of the spin-flop transition. The microscopic origins of the observed anisotropic interactions are also discussed. We found that our data are inconsistent with a large Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, which suggests a potential departure of Bi 2 CuO 4 from the conventional theories of magnetic anisotropy for other cuprates.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Mirror symmetry breaking in a model insulating cuprate

Among the most actively studied issues in the cuprates are the natures of the pseudogap and strange metal states and their relationship to superconductivity. There is general agreement that the low-energy physics of the Mott-insulating parent state is well captured by a two-dimensional spin S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model. However, recent observations of a large thermal Hall conductivity in several parent cuprates appear to defy this simple model and suggest proximity to a magneto-chiral state that breaks all mirror planes that are perpendicular to the CuO 2 layers. Here we use optical second harmonic generation to directly resolve the point group symmetries of the model parent cuprate Sr 2 CuO 2 Cl 2 . We report evidence of an order parameter that breaks all perpendicular mirror planes and is consistent with a magneto-chiral state in zero magnetic field. Although this order is clearly coupled to the antiferromagnetism, we are unable to realize its time-reversed partner by thermal cycling through the antiferromagnetic transition temperature or by sampling different spatial locations. Finally, this suggests that the order onsets above the Neel temperature and may be relevant to the mechanism of pseudogap formation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Probing Electron Correlations in 1D Electronic Materials Using Single Quantum Channels (Final Technical Report)

This research focuses on the investigation of strong electron correlations in quasi-one-dimensional oxide nanostructures. The archetypical system consisting of heterostructures formed from an ultrathin layer of LaAlO 3 and TiO 2 -terminated SrTiO 3 offers a unique laboratory for probing strong correlations due to intrinsic richness of the physical system and its ability to be modulated at extreme nanoscale dimensions. Under suitable conditions, SrTiO 3 is known to exhibit a variety of important properties associated with strong electronic correlations, especially superconductivity, magnetism. Understanding the nature of these electronic correlations at fundamental scales, and in reduced spatial dimensions, will provide the scientific basis for new energy technologies, information technologies, and materials. The research program is motivated by recent discoveries and technical advances in the PIs' lab, specifically, (1) pioneering work to create conductive nanostructures to be created in LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 heterointerfaces with 2 nm spatial resolution, (2) the discovery of a novel correlated electronic phases in which electrons pair without forming a superconductor, and (3) the demonstrated ability to form high-quality quantum point contacts (QPCs) and achieve ballistic electron transport over micrometer-scales in LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 nanowires. The program has three major components. First, we have press forward to develop a full microscopic understanding of the mechanism for electron pairing in LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 nanostructures. Understanding the “glue” that leads to pairing and superconductivity in a doped semiconductor will help to form a scientific basis for the correlated oxide nanoelectronics platform being developed. Second, we have used their ability to create well-defined quantum channels in nanowires allows to allow novel “scattering” experiments to be performed that probe fundamentally new quasiparticle excitations using an unprecedented combination of experimental methodologies. Experiments already underway with artificially defined superlattices (5 nm period) demonstrate the feasibility of this approach. Third, we have investigated 1D correlations in proximally coupled nanowires, which are predicted exhibit Majorana-like zero modes in the absence of superconductivity or spin-orbit coupling. These studies provide insight not only into new and emergent phenomena in the rich class of complex oxides, but also fundamental mechanisms of superconductivity and magnetism. Thematically, the research aims to combine some of the most important and interesting challenges in the physics of semiconductor nanostructures and correlated electronic materials. The increased understanding of electron correlations can pave the way to the development of new materials with outstanding or novel properties, which could be relevant for energy-related technologies such as low-power high performance computing, quantum computation, or the development of novel materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Charge trapping correction and energy performance of the Majorana Demonstrator

P-type point contact (PPC) high-purity germanium detectors are an important technology in astroparticle and nuclear physics due to their superb energy resolution, low noise, and pulse shape discrimination capabilities. Analysis of data from the Majorana Demonstrator, a neutrinoless double-β decay experiment deploying PPC detectors enriched in 76 Ge, has led to several novel improvements in the analysis of PPC signals. Here, in this work we discuss charge trapping in PPC detectors and its effect on energy resolution. Small dislocations or impurities in the crystal lattice result in trapping of charge carriers from an ionization event of interest, attenuating the signal, and degrading the measured energy. We present a modified digital pole-zero correction to the signal energy estimation that counters the effects of charge trapping and improves the energy resolution of the Majorana Demonstrator by approximately 30 % to around 2.4 keV full width at half-maximum at 2039 keV, the 76 Ge Q value. An alternative approach achieving similar resolution enhancement is also presented.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

First Solar Thermal Energy Planner (STEP 1) and Nationwide Industrial Heat and Power Analysis

The First Solar Thermal Energy Planner (STEP 1) and Nationwide Industrial Heat and Power Analysis (aka the STEP 1 Project or the Project) aimed to (1) developed a brand-new web tool that could provide decision support through free, rapid techno-economic analysis of behind-the-meter solar+storage systems for industrial process heat and (2) conduct high-level analyses of the cost-competitiveness of the same systems across the US in key sectors. The STEP 1 web tool collects key location, land availability, thermal load profile, proccess heat temperature and media, and other key parameters through an easy-to-use user interface (UI). The UI was designed to meet the user at their level of understanding by minimizing the number of required inputs as much as possible while including options for more nuanced inputs if the user desires. STEP 1 advises users on which solar thermal tehcnologies that could fit their needs based on the inputs provided (namely process media and temperature). The tool can model a wide range of solar thermal technologies including flat plate collectors, evacuated tubes, parabolic troughs, linear Fresnel, and molten salt towers all with corresponding thermal energy storage (TES) - solar PV with resistive heating and TES is also included. Once the parameters are collected, a nominal thermal energy production profile for the facility's location is generated using NREL's System Advisory Model (SAM) and then passed to a modified version of NREL's REopt platform to optimize the size (capacity) and dispatch of the solar+storage system to minimize lifecycle costs subject to energy balance, fuel and electricity rates, emission reductions goals, and other constraints. This entire process takes less than 20 minutes, is completely free, requires zero coding skills, and provides the user with a high-level assessment on the techno-economic feasability of deploying solar+storage systems for their energy needs. In addition to the development of the STEP 1 web tool, the project completed two complementary analyses focused on leveraging the backend code of STEP 1, public industrial facility locations and fuel consumption data, and key sector information to assess the economic opportunity of reducing fuel costs at various levels of capacity factor around the US. Both analyses found that there are key markets, locations, industrial sectors (namely food and beverage), and degrees of offset where solar thermal technologies could be cost-effectively deployed, highlighting a key market entry point for these technologies, and assessing deployment potential. In summary, the STEP 1 project improved the opportunities for solar+storage systems to expand into the industrial process heat market through breaking down barriers to assessing these technologies.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗