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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Pollinator habitat in solar facilities has potential to support high diversity of bee species

Conversion of agricultural and degraded lands to solar energy production provides opportunities to support diverse bee communities—and their pollination services—by creating habitat at solar facilities. Habitat restoration for bees at solar facilities follows the general principle of installing a diverse flowering plant community and assuming bees will come. However, selecting seed mixes for solar facilities is challenging because selected plants need to establish in the unique abiotic conditions of solar facilities and not interfere with solar energy production (tall plants may shade panels). Recent research tested commercially available and bespoke pollinator mixes for establishment success in Minnesota solar facilities and identified 14 forb species that established successfully over three years of the experiment. We ask an important follow-up question: how many native bee species, and which bee species, are these 14 plant species capable of supporting? We used a plant-bee interaction data set from Minnesota to calculate the number of bee species that would be supported by the 14 plant species for the duration of their flight seasons using a published bee species richness function. We found 122 unique bee species (24% of Minnesota diversity) may be supported for their entire flight seasons by the 14 focal plants.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Performance Evaluation and Optimal Design Analysis of Continuous-Operation Solar-Driven Cooling Absorption Systems With Thermal Energy Storage

A solar absorption cooling system consisting of a flat plate collector, thermal energy storage tank, and absorption chiller is analyzed in this work. A dimensionless model is developed from the energy balance on each component and the chiller's characteristic performance curves. The model is used to determine the interaction and influence of different parameters such as tank size, solar collector area, chiller size, cooling load, cooling temperature, heat loss, and mass flow rates on the performance. From the analysis, smaller solar collector areas are required for lower cooling loads and smaller tank volumes. A specific cooling load of 1 x 10^-5 will require a specific solar collector area between two and six times larger, depending on the initial tank temperature, than the area required for a baseline system that considers typical commercial design and operation parameters. A similar behavior was observed for the specific tank volume. For the baseline system, the minimum specific area of the collector of 9.57 is achieved for an initial tank temperature of 1.19. For a cooling load of 1 x 10^-5, the optimum initial tank temperature will be 1.11 that results in a minimum specific solar collector area of 25.26. A specific tank volume of 4 x 10^-4 will also have an optimum initial tank temperature of 1.11 that minimizes the specific solar collector area to a value of 28.18. The approach and analysis in this work can be used to determine design parameters for solar absorption cooling systems based on a proper relation among system's dimensions to achieve optimum operation.

cooling load↗
DOE OSTI2020

Removing solar artifacts from Geostationary Lightning Mapper data to document lightning extremes

Here, we compare the performance of three different filters that identify solar artifacts in the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) data. These filters differ in their complexity and intended use. We use the most appropriate filters to document the severity of GLM solar contamination and to compute the frequency of extreme Americas lightning. Solar artifacts occur at an average rate of one every ~8 min. Due to their continuous emissions across a portion of the GLM CCD array, these events disproportionately contribute to the GLM event and group rates. Up to 40% of all events recorded between 10:00 and 12:00 local time during 2018 were solar artifacts. The frequency-domain solar filter also reveals a carrier wave at 50 to 60 Hz in some lightning flashes and solar episodes that appears to be anthropogenic in origin. Removing the relatively frequent solar artifact cases reveals rare cases of extreme lightning flashes. Exceptional flashes on the order of 500+ km in length and 10+ s in duration only occur a few times per year and are produced by storms that are predisposed for exceptional lightning rather than as single random occurrences.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Distributed Solar Quality and Safety in India: Key Challenges and Potential Solutions

The quality and safety of solar systems and their installation has become a concern for investors, regulators, consumers, and Discoms in India. The push for low prices and lack of quality standards are driving project developers to install low quality products, with poor system design and execution on-site. Existing literature and stakeholder interviews point to the rampant use of low quality, sub-standard solar products in India. These products deliver less energy than expected, or have high detrition rates, or have lower product life–all of which are serious issues for developers whose return on investment depend on the amount of power generation from these solar systems for the expected life of the project. Equipment which does not conform to the minimum quality standards also creates safety risks for the distribution network. Performance and safety concerns lower investor and consumer confidence in solar products with the potential to threaten market development. This report formulates a set of recommendations to concerned authorities in India to improve the quality and safety of rooftop solar systems. Primary and secondary sources are employed to understand the current solar quality and safety scenario in India to provide the basis for future recommendations. An overview of international experiences and lessons learned on solar quality and safety issues is also conducted to understand potential solutions for India.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Residential Solar-Adopter Income and Demographic Trends: 2022 Update

The report describes income, demographic, and other socio-economic trends among U.S. residential rooftop solar adopters. The report is based on data for roughly 1.9 million residential rooftop solar systems installed through 2019, representing 82% of all U.S. systems. With its unique size, geographic scope, and level of detail, this report is intended to serve as a foundational reference document for policy-makers, industry stakeholders, and researchers. Key findings include the following: -Solar adopters generally skew towards higher incomes, though that trend continues to diminish over time. -Solar adopter incomes vary considerably and encompass many low-to-moderate income (LMI) households. -Solar-adopter incomes are consistently higher for systems paired with battery storage, for host-owned systems, and for systems installed on single-family homes. -Solar adopters differ from the broader U.S. population in terms of a variety of other demographic and socioeconomic measures. -State-level comparisons indicate that solar-adopters tend to live in neighborhoods with relatively high non-Hispanic White and Asian populations, and with relatively low Hispanic and Black populations.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Computational and Experimental Validation of Fractal-Fin, Dimpled Solar Heat Collector

A 3 foot x 3 foot x 3 foot aluminum solar collector was manufactured using computer numerical control. The interior of the device included six triangular dimpled fins for enhanced heat transfer. The interior vertical wall on the south side was also dimpled. The solar collector working fluid was based on water, and the collector consisted solely of passive heat transfer mechanisms (no moving parts), making it ideal for off-the-grid and rural applications. Two types of heat transfer experiments were conducted. One experiment had external flat heaters attached on the top and the front side, while the other four sides were insulated. Except for the bottom surface, the second experiment had all its exterior surfaces sprayed with black solar paint to collect as much solar heat as possible. Temperature data as a function of time was collected using 14 thermocouples spread strategically throughout the solar collector. In addition, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted using the dynamic Smagorinsky large eddy simulation turbulence model. The first simulation considered that both the top and front surfaces were exposed to a fixed temperature of 313.7 K (105 °F), while the remaining four surfaces were insulated. For the second simulation, all conditions were the same, except that the temperature for both heated surfaces was raised to 350 K (170.3 °F). The two temperatures are expected to bound the solar collector operational temperature during the late- Spring, Summer, and early-Fall months. The solar collector design, experimental data, CFD output, and a discussion of five manufacturing approaches and costs are documented in this report.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Solar PV on U.S. Houses of Worship: Overview of Market Activity and Trends [Slides]

Rooftop solar photovoltaic systems on houses of worship can provide unique community benefits and can raise local awareness and acceptance of solar energy. Recognizing that potential, a stakeholder team selected under DOE’s Solar Energy Innovation Network is working to develop a scalable model for recruiting and installing solar PV on houses of worship in underserved communities. Berkeley Lab is providing analytical support to this stakeholder team through several work products, including this report, which provides a data-oriented overview of market activity and trends related to solar PV installations on U.S. houses of worship (HoW). Drawing on Berkeley Lab’s project-level dataset of U.S. solar PV installations, the report describes: -market size and growth trends for PV on HoW -demographic characteristics of the communities in which HoW with PV are located, including income, race and ethnicity, and educational levels -key characteristics of the PV systems installed on HoW, including system size, installed costs, prevalence of third-party ownership, and pairing with storage -characteristics of the installer network servicing PV installations on HoW The purpose of the market overview is to inform business development and policy-making efforts aimed at supporting solar adoption by HoW.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solar and Wind Forecast Error Reserve Sharing in a Multi-Utility Region

As electricity systems transition to higher levels of solar and wind generation, electric system operators will likely need to hold additional reserves to manage solar and wind forecast error. Because solar and wind forecast errors tend to be weakly correlated across space, system operators can reduce their reserve requirements by sharing reserves. This paper examines the benefits of forecast error reserve sharing among balancing areas in the Southeastern United States, in scenarios in which solar and wind generation ranges from 34% to 65% of total generation. It finds that day-ahead forecast error reserve requirements increase linearly with growth in solar and wind generation capacity (6%-10% of total capacity), but that reserve sharing can significantly reduce these requirements (by 6%-29%). It finds that, in economic terms, the value of forecast error reserve sharing ($\$$0.09-$\$$1.24 billion per year, $\$$0.12-$\$$1.68/MWh of load across scenarios) tends to decline with higher levels of solar and wind generation, due to lower reserve and energy prices. Even with declines in reserve prices, forecast error reserve sharing can still provide substantial value, though with higher levels of solar, wind, and electricity storage this value is increasingly tied to avoiding scarcity prices.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solar Design/Install Labor Quantification (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report)

The goals of this project were to quantify the rate and/or total expected labor expenditure of engineers designing solar arrays and electricians installing solar across a spectrum of project sizes and configurations. Specifically, procuring and analyzing labor data from solar engineering firms relating to the amount of time it takes an engineer to design a solar project, the amount of time it takes an engineer to perform a wiring or stringing design, the amount of time it takes an electrician to install a solar project and the amount of time it takes electricians to install the strings of a solar array. Then these details could be analyzed to evaluate labor intensity for solar design/installation. These goals were unable to be completed because the participant was unable to collect the necessary data for analysis.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Overview of Solar Panel Recycling for Indigenous Communities

In recent years, Native tribes across the country have embraced solar energy to power their communities. However, in approximately 25-30 years after installation, the solar panels will enter end-of-life (EOL) status, meaning that they will begin to operate less efficiently than upon initial implementation. At this point, tribes can determine the outcome: they can continue to operate the array, or they can dispose of the panels. Recycling is an option that promotes the use of high-value recyclable materials in solar panels in the circular economy. There are several companies across the US that offer recycling of solar panels, but at various costs. It is important that a hazardous waste expert makes an initial assessment of the solar array to identify any solar panels that cannot be recycled. Currently, recycling solar panels is not cost-effective or environmentally sustainable, but significant research into improving the cost and carbon footprint is ongoing.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Low-Cost Sulfur Thermal Storage for Solar Industrial Process Heat Applications

Industrial process heat (IPH) is one of the largest energy demands in U.S., representing about 10% of all domestic energy consumption. Fuel costs to generate this industrial process heat are generally a top three cost for industry, a major component in American manufacturing competitiveness. Roughly 60% of US IPH demand (about 6,500 TBtu annually) falls in the medium-temperature range of 100–250 °C. While concentrated solar thermal (CST) technologies can provide a cost-effective source of heat in this temperature range, solar intermittency limits their adoption in industries that operate 24/7. Element 16 Technologies, Inc. developed a low-cost sulfur thermal energy storage (TES) technology to bridge this gap by capturing excess solar heat during the day and dispatching it reliably during non-solar hours. The core innovation is the use of sulfur, an abundant, industrial waste byproduct that costs ten times less than molten salt used in commercial TES systems. The overall goal of the project was to advance the design and development of molten sulfur TES to a manufacturing-relevant prototype stage for solar industrial process heat applications, while establishing and validating a realistic pathway to commercial success. Key tasks included corrosion and mechanical durability testing to identify cost-effective materials, design investigations using physics-based simulation tools, techno-economic evaluations of system lifetime costs, and pilot-scale testing for performance verification. Corrosion testing of steel alloys under cyclic molten sulfur conditions showed that austenitic stainless steels in the 300 series performed particularly well, with no structural degradation of welds or joints. Thermal cyclic testing of pilot sulfur TES units up to 1.5 MWh quantified charge/discharge rates, heat losses, round-trip efficiency and validated the system's capability to operate effectively under intermittent charging conditions. A techno-economic model, informed by sulfur TES performance model validated using pilot test data, showed that hybrid solar+sulfur TES+NG boiler systems are economically competitive with incumbent natural gas boilers for multiple locations in the southwest US. In summary, this project established molten sulfur TES as a technically viable pathway to improve economic competitiveness of American manufacturing by lowering the cost of solar industrial process heat.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evaluation of Thermal & Mechanical Properties of Additively Manufactured Monolithic SiC for Solar Receiver Applications

Increasing the operating temperatures of solar receivers is paramount to the efficiency of concentrated solar thermal (CST) and solar power (CSP) systems. Owing to its high temperature stability combined with excellent thermal and optical properties, SiC has been the material of choice for application in high-temperature solar receivers. State-of-the-art SiC volumetric concentrating solar air receivers such as the honeycomb design have successfully demonstrated in field exit air temperatures approaching 800oC. However, a successful application of CST systems for the decarbonization of heat reliant industrial sectors requires significant increases in the temperature capability of SiC receiver technology. Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office (SETO), US Department of Energy (DOE), GE Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc, is engaged in the development of an ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR) enabled by additive manufacturing. The program objective is to design and demonstrate a techno-economically viable SiC air receiver technology that can achieve exit air temperatures up to 1100oC for CST applications. We report and discuss the results of our testing and evaluation of thermal and mechanical properties of reaction-bonded SiC fabricated via binder jet printing to support the receiver component design, development, and analyses.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Parameterization of Sub-grid Topographical Effects on Solar Radiation in the E3SM Land Model (Version 1.0): Implementation and Evaluation Over the Tibetan Plateau

Topography exerts significant influences on the incoming solar radiation at the land surface. A few stand-alone regional and global atmospheric models have included parameterizations for sub-grid topographic effects on solar radiation. However, nearly all Earth System Models (ESMs) that participated in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) use a plane-parallel (PP) radiative transfer scheme that assumes the terrain is flat. In this study, we incorporated a well-validated sub-grid topographic (TOP) parameterization in the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) Land Model (ELM) version 1.0 to quantify the effects of sub-grid topography on solar radiation flux, including the shadow effects and multi-scattering between adjacent terrain. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data was used to evaluate the performance of ELM. We studied the role of sub-grid topography by performing ELM simulations with the PP and TOP schemes over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). Additional ELM simulations were performed at multiple spatial resolutions to investigate the role of spatial scale on sub-grid topographic effects on solar radiation. When compared to MODIS data, incorporating the sub-grid topographic effects overall reduces the biases of ELM in simulating surface energy balance, snow cover and surface temperature especially in the high-elevation and snow-cover regions over the TP. Topography has non-negligible effects on surface energy budget, snow cover, and surface temperature over the TP. The absolute differences in surface energy fluxes for net solar radiation, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux between TOP and PP exceed 20 W/m 2 , 10 W/m 2 , and 5 W/m 2 , respectively. The differences in land surface albedo, snow cover fraction, and surface temperature between TOP and PP exceed 0.1, 20%, and 1K, respectively. The magnitude of the sub-grid topographic effects is dependent on seasons and elevations, and is also sensitive to the spatial scales. Although the sub-grid topographic effects on solar radiation are more significant with more spatial details at finer spatial scales, they cannot be simply neglected at coarse spatial scales. The inclusion of sub-grid topographic effects on solar radiation parameterization in ELM will contribute to advancing our understanding of the role of the surface topography on terrestrial processes over complex terrain.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Why Plan for Utility-Scale Solar?

The Solar@Scale project is a DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office-funded collaboration between the American Planning Association and International City/County Management Association (ICMA) to provide best practices and guidance for local communities in planning for large-scale PV development. As a member of the Solar@Scale advisory committee, I have been asked to present on trends and land use projections for large-scale solar to demonstrate why local governments will likely see growing demand for solar energy development. These slides represent an introduction to projections from NREL's Standard Scenarios, Cambium, LBNL's Utility-Scale Solar report, and other data sources on the level of solar energy development that can be expected across the country.

48 EE - Weatherization and Intergovernmental Progr↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Future of Building Science Education with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon: Preprint

Experience the future of Building Science Education with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, from community-focused designs to real-life innovative zero energy buildings constructed by students. In this paper, we will introduce the Solar Decathlon programs and a reimagined Building Science Education curriculum that is transforming education to inspire future building design professionals and bring sustainable, equitable design and construction strategies to the real world. The Solar Decathlon is a collegiate-level building design competition that challenges students in 10 Contests, from embodied environmental impact to affordability and resilience. We will cover the structure of the competition and its two Challenges - the Build Challenge and the Design Challenge - as well as additional programs that impact all aspects of the buildings industry. These programs include the Solar Decathlon Building Science Education course, a free online video series that provides students and working professionals with building science fundamentals; the Design Partners Program, which connects innovative student design teams and local building owners seeking low-risk, low-cost opportunities to incorporate sustainable design alternatives into their building portfolio; and Solar Decathlon Pro, a program piloted in 2021 that brings Solar Decathlon resources to design professionals. The Solar Decathlon's effective approach to bringing real-world solutions to building science empowers future professionals to do impactful work.

buildings↗
DOE OSTI2022

Building the Next Generation Through 20 Years of Solar Decathlon: From Collegiate Prize to Multifaceted Clean Energy Workforce Program: Preprint

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, initiated in 2002 as a collegiate competition that challenges student teams to design and build high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewables, has always been about developing students to be the next generation of buildings professionals. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Solar Decathlon in 2022, this paper highlights its evolution from a singular prize to a multi-faceted platform preparing the broader buildings workforce to address the challenges of climate change. The original program challenged students to design and construct a residence. To improve the accessibility of the competition, the Design Challenge -- a 1-2 semester design-only competition-- was added to the Solar Decathlon platform. The Solar Decathlon has also scaled globally with events in Europe, the Middle East, China, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and India. In 2021, the Solar Decathlon broadened its reach once again by introducing Solar Decathlon Pro, a zero-energy design practicum for professional architects and engineers. This paper utilizes participation data, surveys, alumni profiles, project submissions, and more to understand how changes to the program have expanded program reach to minority-serving institutions, environmental justice communities, and impacted the building industry's capacity to construct high performance and zero energy buildings. As one of the oldest federal government prizes, the Solar Decathlon offers a roadmap for dramatically increasing prize impact and demonstrates that it continues to push boundaries to tackle decarbonization and environmental justice.

build↗
DOE OSTI2024

Austin Solar Guide (Flyer)

This flyer was developed to guide homeowners on their solar journey and expand the benefits of solar to local residents. The guide is an overview of various energy and solar programs and services through the Austin Energy utility with tips for spotting scams, a summary of common terms when designing a solar system, and considerations when searching for a solar contractor.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Self-aligned concentrating immersion-lens arrays for patterning and efficiency recovery in scaffold-reinforced perovskite solar cells

In contrast to existing silicon, CIGS, and multi-junction cells that exhibit remarkable mechanical durability, perovskite solar cells have been shown to delaminate when subjected to the mechanical loads that occur during processing and field exposures, limiting their potential as a reliable solar technology. Mechanical reinforcement is thus essential for durable and reliable perovskite technologies. One current strategy to overcome the thermomechanical fragility of perovskite solar cells is to extrinsically shield them by introducing reinforcing scaffolds which partition the cell into many distinct microcells, but improvements in mechanical stability coincide with a reduced device efficiency due to parasitic absorption by the scaffold. We address this reduced efficiency by integrating concentrating immersion-lens arrays (CILAs) into scaffold-reinforced solar cells. These scaffolds are lithographically patterned by a maskless process, in which ultraviolet light is used to pattern the scaffolds through the CILAs, ensuring self-alignment and optical contact with the microcells. Perovskite devices are deposited into the microcells, and during operation, light is concentrated into the microcells and away from the insulating scaffolds, resulting in mechanically resilient solar cells with efficiencies comparable to planar devices. The CILAs also exhibit passive tracking of incident light—verified experimentally and with ray-tracing simulations—which is critical for optimal power output as the sun moves across the sky during the day. The simplicity of the fabrication process and the efficiency of the resulting scaffolded devices show that a lens-integrated scaffold-reinforced structure is a potential pathway to high-performance, robust, commercially viable perovskite solar cells.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗