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At least 235 records · Page 13

PVMapper: Report on the Second Public Opinion Survey

This report has been developed as an integral part of the PVMapper project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s SunShot program. The objective of the SunShot program is to reduce the total costs of solar energy systems. The scope of PVMapper is to develop a geographic information system (GIS) based project planning tool to identify optimal utility-scale solar facility sites. The specific objectives of the project are to 1) develop the software on an open-source platform; 2) integrate the appropriate data sets and GIS layers; 3) include a measure of social risk and public acceptance; 4) enable customization of variable weights; 5) provide a free and accessible platform for software download; and 6) provide a sustainability plan to ensure future relevance of the software. When completed, PVMapper is intended to be used by solar developers, Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs), and other interested parties. This project supports SunShot’s objective by reducing the non-hardware balance of system costs (“soft costs”) for utility-scale solar project development. In order to accomplish the third project objective – including a measure of social risk and public acceptance within PVMapper – the project team has developed a time-series public opinion survey, administered yearly over the course of the three-year project. This report highlights the results and preliminary analyses from the second survey in this series. While the results of this survey are valuable to both PVMapper and future utility-scale solar development, the time-series design is extremely important. The completion of the series enables the extension of the dataset to much richer information. For example, the research team altered this iteration to sharpen the focus on specific topics (those posing potentially higher risks) and target specific locations in the oversample (such as communities near existing facilities). Using similar approaches for each iteration leads to an increasingly greater amount of detail regarding siting risks. The need for this extended dataset to aid in siting utility-scale solar projects is evident, as developers continue to scale back initial plans due to unidentified or incorrectly quantified social risks. It should be noted that this report provides the complete dataset from the survey, encompassing the wide-ranging responses from all of the survey questions. Although the methods used to integrate these data into PVMapper’s siting algorithms is not the purpose of this report, allusions to integration can be found in the discussions surrounding the design of questions and types of data to be used.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Low earth orbital atomic oxygen simulation for materials durability evaluation

The erosion yields of numerous materials have been evaluated in low earth orbital space tests. There appears to be three classes of materials: materials of high erosion yield which include most of the hydrocarbon organic materials; materials which either do not react with atomic oxygen or form self-protecting oxides which allow the underlying material to appear durable to atomic oxygen, and materials with low but nonnegligeable erosion yields, such as fluoropolymers. A NASA atomic oxygen effects test program has been established to utilize collective data from a multitude of simulation facilities to promote an understanding of mechanism and erosion yield dependencies. Atomic oxygen protective coatings for Kapton polymide solar array blankets, fiberglass-epoxy composite mast structures, and solar dynamic power system concentrator surfaces have been identified and evaluated under atomic oxygen exposure in RF plasma asher laboratory tests. The control of defect density in protective coatings appears to be the key to the assurance of long-term protection of oxidizable materials in low earth orbit.

Banks, Bruce A.↗

The Road to Launch and Operations of the Spitzer Space Telescope

Spitzer Space Telescope, the fourth and final of NASA's Great Observatories, and the cornerstone to NASA's Origins Program, launched on 25 August 2003 into an Earth-trailing solar orbit to acquire infrared observations from space. Spitzer has an 85cm diameter beryllium telescope, which operates near absolute zero utilizing a liquid helium cryostat for cooling the telescope. The helium cryostat, though designed for a 2.5 year lifetime, through creative planning now has an expected lifetime of 5.5 years. Spitzer has completed its in-orbit checkout/science verification phases and the first two years of nominal operations, becoming the first mission to execute astronomical observations from a solar orbit. Spitzer was designed to probe and explore the universe in the infrared utilizing three state of the art detector arrays providing imaging, photometry, and spectroscopy over the 3-160 micron wavelength range...

infrared↗

Performance Targets for Perovskite Photovoltaic Research, Development, and Demonstration Programs

On October 15, 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) released the Performance Targets for Perovskite Photovoltaic Research, Development, and Demonstration Programs Request for Information (RFI) for public response and comment. The RFI sought feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on efficiency, stability and replicability performance targets for perovskite (PVSK) photovoltaic devices that could be utilized to align community efforts, ensure relevance of potential future funding programs, and accelerate technical and commercial development and de-risking of perovskite technologies. The RFI included the following proposed target matrix for power conversion efficiency (PCE), area, stability, and sample sizes, and included questions on relevance, completeness, and challenges.

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Final Technical Report for Automated Manufacturing of Innovative CPV/PV Modules

Cogenra’s Dense Cell Interconnect system was designed to use traditional front-contact cells and string them together into high efficiency and high reliability “supercells”. This novel stringer allows one to take advantage of the ~100 GW/year of existing cell production capacity and create a solar product for the customer that will produce more power and last longer than traditional PV products. The goal for this program was for Cogenra Solar to design and develop a first-of-kind automated solar manufacturing line that produces strings of overlapping cells or “supercells” based on Cogenra’s Dense Cell Interconnect (DCI) technology for their Low Concentration Photovoltaic (LCPV) systems. This will enable the commercialization of DCI technology to improve the efficiency, reliability and economics for their Low Concentration Photovoltaic systems. In this program, Cogenra Solar very successfully designed, developed, built, installed, and started up the ground-breaking manufacturing tools required to assemble supercells. Cogenra then successfully demonstrated operation of the integrated line at high yield and throughput far exceeding expectations. The development of a supercell production line represents a critical step toward a high volume and low cost Low Concentration Photovoltaic Module with Dense Cell Interconnect technology and has enabled the evaluation of the technology for reliability and yield. Unfortunately, performance and cost headwinds on Low Concentration Photovoltaics systems including lack of diffuse capture (10-15% hit) and more expensive tracker requirements resulted in a move away from LCPV technology. Fortunately, the versatility of Dense Cell Interconnect technology allows for application to flat plate module technology as well and Cogenra has worked with the DOE to utilize the learning from this grant to commercialize DCI technology for the solar market through the on-going grant: Catalyzing PV Manufacturing in the US With Cogenra Solar’s Next-Generation Dense Cell Interconnect PV Module Manufacturing Technology. This program is now very successfully building off of this work and commercializing the technology to enable increased solar adoption.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Re-Defining Photovoltaic Efficiency Through Molecule Scale Control. Final Report

The direct conversion of sunlight into electricity represents one of the most important general means for sustainable energy production. Most modern photovoltaic cells are based on some form of semiconductor material such as silicon that is described by a characteristic energy or ''bandgap''. For solar rays with photon energy lower than the bandgap no absorption occurs and thus no energy is generated. For solar rays with photon energy greater than the bandgap, light may be absorbed to create a pair of electrical charges but only one bandgap of energy is created, leaving any additional energy lost as heat. Thus low bandgap materials can use a great part of the spectrum but can lose much of that energy; high bandgap materials fail to capture much of the spectrum. Thus there is a limit to the efficiency of such a solar cell that turns out to be about 32%. This limit is known as the Shockely-Queisser Limit. The Columbia EFRC program is dedicated to exploration of concepts that in principle can provide for efficiencies beyond this limit. One concept that this EFRC has explored for enhancing the efficiency of solar photovoltaic cells is called “Singlet Fission.” In this concept the absorption of light rays with photon energy at least twice the value of the basic bandgap for the system can produce two pairs of electrical charge carriers. If properly implemented this in principle can significantly reduce the energy lost as heat and give rise to solar cell efficiencies greater than the Shockley-Queisser limit. The problem is that there are virtually no materials that can undergo this process effectively. We have developed new materials that have demonstrated singlet fission efficiencies of almost 100%. We understand how these materials work and we have learned how to design many more systems in the future. So far we have only demonstrated the basic capability for efficient singlet fission. Much more work will be required to design and engineer specific materials that can be used practically in a solar cell system. In addition much work will be required to envision and demonstrate effective device structures that can utilize this concept. However these discoveries do provide the basis for an entirely new set of opportunities for more efficient solar energy generation moving beyond the Shockley-Queisser limit. A second part of the EFRC research program has been to investigate the material and device properties of an entirely new set of materials based on two-dimensional sheets (“ultra-thin”) with thicknesses of only one atom, or a single molecule or just a few atoms. These materials can exhibit conducting, insulating, and semiconducting character and thus they can form the basis for entirely new types of electrical devices. Recent fundamental investigations of these materials, at Columbia and elsewhere, demonstrate clearly that the flow of electrical charges in these systems is fundamentally different from the nature of electrical current flow in conventional materials. This fact presents many possibilities for new photovoltaic device concepts. The EFRC research team has achieved world leadership in the creation and understanding of these materials and in developing the fabrication techniques necessary to create useful devices from them. We have developed the basic fabrication methodology to build structures of these materials into complex device structures, layer by layer. Our EFRC research team has pioneered the synthesis and understanding for graphene, perhaps the simplest of these materials. Graphene can function as a highly transparent conducting material, capable of funneling an electrical charge over reasonable distances without significant energy loss. The EFRC program has also pioneered the development of ultra-thin sheets that function in a way analogous to semiconductor materials as well as sheets that act as electrical insulators. These developments therefore enable the construction of solar cells based on totally different physics from conventional cells. Because the electrons in these ultra-thin sheets interact strongly they will exhibit behaviors quite different from conventional materials with potential to operate at efficiencies beyond the Shockley-Queisser limit. In our EFRC program we have laid out many of the fundamental properties of these materials including the development of unique fabrication techniques. We discovered several new effects that demonstrate strong electron coupling. We have demonstrated the first solar cell that can actually generate electrical power at a high basic efficiency from these fundamentally new materials. There is much more science and technology required before these devices can become practical, but there is also very strong activity worldwide to build electronic devices from these materials, thus providing infrastructure and technical capability to develop these concepts.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG)- Better Buildings Neighborhood Program Final Report

The original BetterBuildings for Greensboro grant program included an outreach campaign to inform 100% of the Greensboro community about the benefits of reducing energy use; a plan to reduce energy consumption in at least 34% of the homes and 10% of the other buildings in the east Greensboro target area; and a plan to create and retain jobs in the energy conservation industry. Under the original program structure the City of Greensboro planned to partner with local and regional lenders to create a diversified portfolio of loan products to meet the needs of various income levels and building types. All participants would participate in the loan programs as a method of meeting the program’s 5 to1 private capital match/leverage requirements. In June 2011 the program was restructured to include partnerships with large commercial and multifamily projects, with these partners providing the greater portion of the required match/leverage. The geographic focus was revised to include reducing energy consumption across the entire City of Greensboro, targeting neighborhoods with high concentrations of low-moderate income households and aged housing stock. The community outreach component used a neighborhood-based approach to train community residents and volunteers to conduct door-to-door neighborhood sweeps; delivered high quality information on available program resources; helped residents to evaluate alternative energy efficiency measures and alternative financing sources; assisted with contractor selections and monitoring/evaluation of work; coordinated activities with BetterBuildings program partners; and collected data required by the Department of Energy. Additionally, HERO (Home Energy Response Officers) delivered intro packages (energy efficiency information and products) to thousands of households at the initial point of contact. A pilot program (Early Adopters) was offered from March 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011. The Early Adopters program was designed to offer immediate assistance to property owners ready and able to make their homes more energy efficient, by offering a rebate on their energy assessment and on the cost of upgrades installed. Eligible energy efficient upgrades were inclusive of basic level insulating and weather-stripping, HVAC system and water heater upgrades, to whole home upgrades that include the replacement of windows, doors and appliances. Renewable energy systems such as solar hot water systems were also eligible for the rebate program.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Photovoltaic design optimization for terrestrial applications

As part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Low-Cost Solar Array Project, a comprehensive program of module cost-optimization has been carried out. The objective of these studies has been to define means of reducing the cost and improving the utility and reliability of photovoltaic modules for the broad spectrum of terrestrial applications. This paper describes one of the methods being used for module optimization, including the derivation of specific equations which allow the optimization of various module design features. The method is based on minimizing the life-cycle cost of energy for the complete system. Comparison of the life-cycle energy cost with the marginal cost of energy each year allows the logical plant lifetime to be determined. The equations derived allow the explicit inclusion of design parameters such as tracking, site variability, and module degradation with time. An example problem involving the selection of an optimum module glass substrate is presented.

Ross, R. G., Jr.↗

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Annual Report for FY2013

This report presents a summary of the activities of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) during Fiscal Year 2013 (FY2013). In FY2013, ARPA-E issued funding solicitations and selected projects for three new programs covering a broad array of energy technologies, including: $36 million to develop transformational energy storage technologies for electric vehicles; $32 million to develop cost-effective, energy-efficient manufacturing techniques for processing and recycling lightweight metals; and $34 million to develop transformational biological technologies to convert natural gas to liquids for transportation fuels. ARPA-E announced two additional funding opportunities in FY2013 with project selections that were ultimately announced in FY2014. These programs include $27 million to develop next-generation power switching devices that improve energy efficiency in a wide range of applications – including new lighting technologies, computer power supplies, industrial motor drives, and automobiles – and $30 million to advance solar energy beyond current photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies. Altogether, technologies funded through these five programs have the potential to transform the way we generate, use, and store energy. In September 2013, ARPA-E also began utilizing Innovative Development in Energy-Related Applied Science (OPEN IDEAS), a rolling open solicitation that will allow ARPA-E to quickly support innovative applied energy research that has the potential to lead to new focused programs. In addition to these new programs, ARPA-E hosted the fourth annual Energy Innovation Summit from February 25-27, 2013. The Summit brought together leaders from academia, government, and business to discuss the foremost energy issues, showcase the latest technology innovations, and cultivate relationships to help advance cutting-edge technologies to market. The event drew over 2,200 attendees from 49 states and 26 countries and featured over 150 speakers and keynote addresses. At the Summit, ARPA-E recognized several preliminary indicators of likely project success, including that 17 projects had attracted over $450 million in private sector follow-on funding after ARPA-E's initial investment of approximately $70 million. Finally, ARPA-E continued to focus on providing awardees with practical training and critical business information as part of the Agency's Technology-to-Market program. This support equips projects with a clear understanding of market needs to guide technical development and help projects succeed.

Martin, C.↗

The Skylab Medical Operations Project: Recommendations to Improve Crew Health and Performance for Future Exploration Missions

From May of 1973 to February of 1974, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration conducted a series of three manned missions to the Skylab space station, a voluminous vehicle largely descendant of Apollo hardware, and America s first space station. The crewmembers of these three manned missions spent record breaking durations of time in microgravity (28 days, 59 days and 84 days, respectively) and gave the U.S. space program its first experiences with long-duration space flight. The program overcame a number of obstacles (including a significant crippling of the Skylab vehicle) to conduct a lauded scientific program that encompassed life sciences, astronomy, solar physics, materials sciences and Earth observation. Skylab has more to offer than the results of its scientific efforts. The operations conducted by the Skylab crews and ground personnel represent a rich legacy of operational experience. As we plan for our return to the moon and the subsequent manned exploration of Mars, it is essential to utilize the experiences and insights of those involved in previous programs. Skylab and SMEAT (Skylab Medical Experiments Altitude Test) personnel have unique insight into operations being planned for the Constellation Program, such as umbilical extra-vehicular activity and water landing/recovery of long-duration crewmembers. Skylab was also well known for its habitability and extensive medical suite; topics which deserve further reflection as we prepare for lunar habitation and missions beyond Earth s immediate sphere of influence. The Skylab Medical Operations Summit was held in January 2008. Crewmembers and medical personnel from the Skylab missions and SMEAT were invited to participate in a two day summit with representatives from the Constellation Program medical operations community. The purpose of the summit was to discuss issues pertinent to future Constellation operations. The purpose of this document is to formally present the recommendations of the Skylab and SMEAT participants.

Polk, James D.↗

Solar Decathlon Education Partner: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon (DOE/SD) is a collegiate competition, comprising 10 contests, that challenges student teams to design and build highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy. The winners will be those teams that best blend architectural and engineering excellence with innovation, market potential, building efficiency, and smart energy production. Solar Decathlon is comprised of two Challenges - Design Challenge (annual) and Build Challenge (biennial). The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provides competition management for Solar Decathlon. NREL and Participant establish this CRADA to enable the success of the Solar Decathlon program in managing sponsorship funds and creating a K12 education program. Participant is to act as an Education Partner to Solar Decathlon, which includes: 1) accepting and dispersing sponsorship funds for DOE/SD; and 2) providing K12 education program to support Solar Decathlon Competition Events in April each year.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Potential benefits from a successful solar thermal program

Solar energy systems were investigated which complement nuclear and coal technologies as a means of reducing the U.S. dependence on imported petroleum. Solar Thermal Energy Systems (STES) represents an important category of solar energy technologies. STES can be utilized in a broad range of applications servicing a variety of economic sectors, and they can be deployed in both near-term and long-term markets. The net present value of the energy cost savings attributable to electric utility and IPH applications of STES were estimated for a variety of future energy cost scenarios and levels of R&D success. This analysis indicated that the expected net benefits of developing an STES option are significantly greater than the expected costs of completing the required R&D. In addition, transportable fuels and chemical feedstocks represent a substantial future potential market for STES. Due to the basic nature of this R&D activity, however, it is currently impossible to estimate the value of STES in these markets. Despite this fact, private investment in STES R&D is not anticipated due to the high level of uncertainty characterizing the expected payoffs.

Terasawa, K. L.↗

Puerto Rico Demand Response Impact and Forecast Tool (PR-DRIFT) - Beta Version [Slides]

Due to high fossil fuel imports, high electricity rates, an unreliable electricity grid, and 100% renewable electricity goals, demand response can play a crucial role for the Puerto Rico electricity grid. The Puerto Rico Demand Response Impact and Forecast Tool (PR-DRIFT) is a spreadsheet-based tool in which users can estimate the potential impacts of demand response, energy efficiency, and VRE and storage adoption in Puerto Rico from 2021 through 2040. The tool includes projections for solar, wind, and battery adoption based on released RFPs and energy targets (including Act-17 2019) to generate a projected net load profile for each hour through 2040. Based on user inputs and default assumptions, the tool also projects load profile impacts of demand response and energy efficiency, and is specifically focused on highlighting projected demand response technical potential. This demand response technical potential can be used by local utilities, regulators, program administrators, or researchers to help design demand response programs for larger impact.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

In Situ Resource Utilization Technologies for Enhancing and Expanding Mars Scientific and Exploration Missions

The primary objectives of the Mars exploration program are to collect data for planetary science in a quest to answer questions related to Origins, to search for evidence of extinct and extant life, and to expand the human presence in the solar system. The public and political engagement that is critical for support of a Mars exploration program is based on all of these objectives. In order to retain and to build public and political support, it is important for NASA to have an integrated Mars exploration plan, not separate robotic and human plans that exist in parallel or in sequence. The resolutions stemming from the current architectural review and prioritization of payloads may be pivotal in determining whether NASA will have such a unified plan and retain public support. There are several potential scientific and technological links between the robotic-only missions that have been flown and planned to date, and the combined robotic and human missions that will come in the future. Taking advantage of and leveraging those links are central to the idea of a unified Mars exploration plan. One such link is in situ resource utilization (ISRU) as an enabling technology to provide consumables such as fuels, oxygen, sweep and utility gases from the Mars atmosphere.

Sridhar, K. R.↗

Plant Engineers Solar Energy Handbook: Southern California Region

Discussed in order after the introduction are solar components and systems (collectors, storage, service hot water systems, space heating with liquid and air systems, space cooling, heat pumps and controls); computer programs for system optimization; local solar and weather data; a description of buildings and plants in Southern California applying solar technology; current Federal and California solar legislation; standards, codes and performance testing information; a listing of manufacturers, distributors, and professional services available in Southern California region; and information access. Finally, solar design check lists for those engineers who wish to design their own systems. The program for the Solar Workshop for the Plant Engineer, March 30, 1978, Los Angeles, California is included.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Engaging K-12 Educators, Students, and the General Public in Space Science Exploration

The session "Engaging K-12 Educators, Students, and the General Public in Space Science Exploration" included the following reports:Training Informal Educators Provides Leverage for Space Science Education and Public Outreach; Teacher Leaders in Research Based Science Education: K-12 Teacher Retention, Renewal, and Involvement in Professional Science; Telling the Tale of Two Deserts: Teacher Training and Utilization of a New Standards-based, Bilingual E/PO Product; Lindstrom M. M. Tobola K. W. Stocco K. Henry M. Allen J. S. McReynolds J. Porter T. T. Veile J. Space Rocks Tell Their Secrets: Space Science Applications of Physics and Chemistry for High School and College Classes -- Update; Utilizing Mars Data in Education: Delivering Standards-based Content by Exposing Educators and Students to Authentic Scientific Opportunities and Curriculum; K. E. Little Elementary School and the Young Astronaut Robotics Program; Integrated Solar System Exploration Education and Public Outreach: Theme, Products and Activities; and Online Access to the NEAR Image Collection: A Resource for Educators and Scientists.

Source record↗

Radiation Shielding Plasma Sprayed Coatings Heads to International Space Station for MISSE-17 Experiments

NASA's Artemis program aims to return to the moon in search of scientific discoveries and establish a habitat using in-situ resource utilization. However, the past lunar explorations presented challenges, such as thermal cycles, solar and intergalactic cosmic radiation, and severe abrasive interaction of sharp lunar regolith particles[1]–[4].Dust mitigation and radiation shielding have become the most important concerns for lunar structural components and rovers which can fail abruptly without a protective solution. To counter these threats, Plasma Forming Laboratory(PFL) at Florida International University (FIU), in collaboration with NASA, has developed a novel multi-functional coating to protect the components synergistically against abrasion, erosion ,and radiation. The titanium-boron nitride composite coatings were prepared using the atmospheric plasma spray technique from engineered composite powders [5], [6].The coatings were subjected to extensive characterization and tribological study with lunar mare simulant JSC-1A, which shows tremendous improvement in the wear performance. The coatings subjected to neutron radiation shielding experiments at NASA Langley Research Center exhibited significantly improved neutron attenuation capacity compared to the substrate. The coating is selected to undergo radiation exposure on the International Space Station as a part of MISSE-17 (Materials International Space Station Experiment).

Thermal Spray↗

An Overview of Behind-the-Meter Solar-Plus-Storage Program Design: With Considerations for India

Indian consumers have been deploying behind-the-meter generation (predominantly diesel backup, and, more recently, photovoltaic) and storage systems (predominantly lead-acid and other kinds of batteries as uninterrupted power supplies) by the millions for decades) to address reliability issues within the Indian power system. The same energy storage systems could provide additional services to the consumer and distribution companies if properly regulated and designed from the outset to be grid interactive. Grid-connected distributed solar PV (DPV), or rooftop solar, has also seen wide deployment in India and features prominently in the Government of India’s plans for a transition to clean, reliable, and affordable energy for all. At the same time, many utilities and state governments, as well as the central government in India are currently funding-constrained for both operational and future capital expenditures in the power sector, and some perceive customer-sited resources as exacerbating existing financial challenges. In that context, behind-the-meter energy storage systems paired with distributed photovoltaic (DPV) - with the capability to act as both generation and load - represent a potentially unique and disruptive power sector technology capable of providing a range of important services to customers, utilities, and the broader power system in India. This report aims to offer a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to designing customer programs based on experience in the United States that can help regulators, utilities, and policymakers in India manage the range of challenges and opportunities that increased behind-the-meter energy storage deployment will bring to the power system, in particular when these systems are paired with DPV.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗