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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Power and Natural Gas Systems Interface Study

Power systems worldwide are becoming more reliant on energy from natural gas, wind, and solar, posing potential reliability and coordination challenges from the tighter coupling of these infrastructure systems. This paper proposes a framework for the market-based coordination of electricity and natural gas system operations. The proposed framework includes a power system model that accounts for flexibility in the commitment of power plants with short start-up and shut-down times, coupled with a dynamic gas model that simulates when gas cannot be delivered to generators. The capabilities of the framework are illustrated using real-world electric power and gas systems, including scenarios around wind and solar penetrations and the analysis of time-variant, “shaped flow” gas nominations. Our results indicate that coordination between power and gas systems improves total gas delivery and reduces out-of-merit order dispatch in the electricity system, and that shaped flows may reduce unserved gas in systems with high penetrations of wind and solar.

coordinated operation↗
DOE OSTI2020

Making Northway, Alaska Resilient and Sustainable Through Energy Efficiency and Solar Power

This project implemented energy efficiency measures and installed 6 kW solar arrays on three community buildings in Northway, Alaska, in a collaboration between the Department of Energy - Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, the Northway Village Council (NVC), the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC), and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC). Northway is a small community in interior Alaska, close to the Canadian border, with high fuel and energy costs: $3.00 per gallon of diesel and $0.56 per kWh, respectively, in 2016, when the project began. The energy efficiency and solar power installation plans aligned with Northway’s long-term energy goals of increasing renewable energy and decreasing reliance on fossil fuels, per the Northway Community Energy Action Plan, the Alaska Interior Regional Energy Plan, and TCC Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. The project focused on three buildings: (1) the community hall (and later office) building, (2) the washeteria building, and (3) the water/sewer garage. It included multiple directions for energy efficiency measures, such as installing LED lighting upgrades, programmable thermostats, vending machine energy misers, efficient pumps, and adding glycol loops at the water/sewer plant. Since the village has a high potential for solar energy, in order to increase resilience and decrease costs, solar systems were installed on three community buildings. Later, a battery was installed in the community hall to capture solar power produced but not used during the day, and allow the flexibility to use that power during evening and night, further decreasing the reliance on grid power for that building. Electricity savings realized by the village between 2011-2012 and 2018-2019 by improving energy efficiencies in the buildings and adding solar was 23%. This is despite the community hall doubling in size during the same time period. If that is taken into consideration (by adding community hall usage into the 2011-2012 usage one additional time), the energy savings from 2011-2012 to 2018-2019 was 37%.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Solar wind contributions to Earth’s oceans

The isotopic composition of water in Earth’s oceans is challenging to recreate using a plausible mixture of known extraterrestrial sources such as asteroids—an additional isotopically light reservoir is required. The Sun’s solar wind could provide an answer to balance Earth’s water budget. Here, we used atom probe tomography to directly observe an average ~1 mol% enrichment in water and hydroxyls in the solar-wind-irradiated rim of an olivine grain from the S-type asteroid Itokawa. We also experimentally confirm that H + irradiation of silicate mineral surfaces produces water molecules. These results suggest that the Itokawa regolith could contain ~20 l m -3 of solar-wind-derived water and that such water reservoirs are probably ubiquitous on airless worlds throughout our Galaxy. The production of this isotopically light water reservoir by solar wind implantation into fine-grained silicates may have been a particularly important process in the early Solar System, potentially providing a means to recreate Earth’s current water isotope ratios.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Enabling Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FPV) Deployment: FPV Technical Potential Assessment for Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia (SE Asia) is a region with growing energy demand and increasing development of floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) systems, which can help meet countries' renewable energy and energy security goals. This study uses a high-level geospatial assessment methodology to estimate the technical potential for monofacial and bifacial FPV on reservoirs and natural waterbodies in the ten countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Technical potential consists of the suitable waterbody area for FPV development (km2), the capacity of FPV that could be installed on this suitable area (MW), and the annual energy that could be generated from these installations (GWh/year). This first-of-its-kind FPV technical potential assessment for SE Asia can help policymakers and planners better understand the role that FPV could play in meeting regional energy demand and can ultimately guide investment decisions. Although this work focuses on SE Asia, the methodology may also be applicable for countries in other regions, with adaptations. The FPV technical potential results are also integrated into the Renewable Energy (RE) Data Explorer online tool (https://www.re-explorer.org/).

bifacial↗
DOE OSTI2020

Precursor Reaction Method With High Ga Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)$_{2}$ to Achieve Increased Open-Circuit Voltage

The precursor reaction process for the fabrication of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells potentially allows for low-cost fabrication and scalable processing for manufacturing. Additionally, this process has yielded record efficiencies in lab-scale experiments. Thus far, research on the precursor reaction method has been restricted to relatively low Ga compositions with Ga/(In+Ga) ≈ 25%. By increasing the ratio of Ga, it is possible to increase the bandgap, and thus, increase the open-circuit voltage. This work develops and characterizes the precursor reaction process for use with Ga/(In+Ga) ≈ 50%, with the goal of improving the open-circuit voltage and efficiency. It is shown that with an increased Ga ratio, increased V ∞ is achieved, but the rate of conversion from the precursor to absorber phases is decreased. Additionally, increased Ga improves the film adhesion at increased selenization temperatures as well as improving the film morphology.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Enabling Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FPV) Deployment: FPV Technical Potential Assessment for Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia (SE Asia) is a region with growing energy demand and increasing development of floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) systems, which can help meet countries' renewable energy and energy security goals. This study uses a high-level geospatial assessment methodology to estimate the technical potential for monofacial and bifacial FPV on reservoirs and natural waterbodies in the ten countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Technical potential consists of the suitable waterbody area for FPV development (km 2 ), the capacity of FPV that could be installed on this suitable area (MW), and the annual energy that could be generated from these installations (GWh/year). This first-of-its-kind FPV technical potential assessment for SE Asia can help policymakers and planners better understand the role that FPV could play in meeting regional energy demand and can ultimately guide investment decisions. Although this work focuses on SE Asia, the methodology may also be applicable for countries in other regions, with adaptations.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Interregional Renewable Energy Zones in National Transmission Analysis

This report describes the interregional renewable energy zone (IREZ) methodology for national application in the United States. The aim is to develop a data-driven, replicable methodology for use in long-term regional and interregional transmission planning. An IREZ is best understood as a conceptual transmission collection point that is easily accessible to a very high volume of low-cost developable wind and solar energy potential. The objective is to identify opportunities for new high-volume long-distance interregional transmission corridors: a limited number of lines with higher voltages, with reduced total cost per megawatt of transfer capability.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

USAID Colombia Young Leaders Workforce Training Program Action Plans: Forecasting Distributed Photovoltaic Adoption in Barranquilla, Colombia

As part of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Young Leaders Workforce Training Program in Colombia, the Association of Renewable Energies Colombia (SER) participants leveraged their training and professional experience to develop an action plan for modeling the projected adoption of distributed solar photovoltaics (PV) out to 2050 for the city of Barranquilla, Colombia. This case study provides an overview of the key activities and outcomes of the Distributed Generation Market Demand Model (dGen™) Colombia project.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Puerto Rico Historical Climate Analysis: A closer look at complex tropical terrain

Small tropical islands like Puerto Rico are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts, yet are often underrepresented in most datasets because the spatial resolution is too coarse to sufficiently cover their complex terrain. This study was done to better understand how the climate has changed in the various regions of Puerto Rico, which will support a transition to renewable energy and aid in projecting future climate impacts on the residents and land they live on. This study used multiple datasets including Daymet, a daily surface weather and climatological summary; European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis version 5 (ERA5); and station observations. The climate variables examined here include minimum and maximum near-surface air temperature, daily precipitation, incident shortwave radiation, and large-scale upper atmosphere conditions. The time periods cover the years 1950–2019. Results in both Daymet and station observations show long-term warming trends throughout every season. In particular, the minimum winter temperatures increased the most compared with maximum and mean air temperature. Northeast Puerto Rico, where the majority of the island’s population is located, experienced the largest warming. Summertime precipitation has decreased over time, and spring and fall precipitation has increased. The largest increase in fall is because there has been more available precipitable water, lower sea-level pressure, and favorable cyclonic circulations from the trade winds over the past seven decades. Overall, wet days are getting wetter, while dry days are getting drier. While there are good solar energy potential, we see a long-term decreasing trend in shortwave radiation over time in all seasons across entire island, possibly due to the increase of cloud cover.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Weather Analysis for Xcel Energy's 2030 Colorado Preferred Plan

The Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), a subsidiary of Xcel Energy (Xcel), plans to meet its target of an 80% reduction in CO 2 emissions over 2005 levels by 2030 through its Preferred Plan1,2 that includes increasing the wind and solar energy on its system, reducing coal, and adjusting the operation and dispatch of new and existing thermal generation. The objective of our analysis reported here is to identify how the PSCo generation and transmission of its Preferred Plan might operate in the face of specific weather events. We investigate weather events that currently cause stress to PSCo’s system, such as winter storms and extreme heat. In addition, we explore how the future system responds to scenarios that may be considered normal weather conditions today, but that have a large impact on wind and solar generation potential.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Interregional Renewable Energy Zones

Interregional Renewable Energy Zones (IREZs) are a component of the National Transmission Planning Study (NTPS), which analyzes strategies for building out transmission infrastructure to support decarbonizing the electricity sector by 2035. In particular, IREZs envision long-distance transmission corridors for moving large amounts of low-cost renewable energy. An IREZ is a transmission collection point that is easily accessible to a very high volume of low-cost developable wind and solar energy potential. This dataset includes 155 IREZs identified across the continental United States where each IREZ is characterized by its primary and secondary resource.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

A New Era for Solar and Storage: Partnering for Continued Success

Solar energy has grown faster than experts projected. Energy storage technologies are poised to repeat that success, enabling a partnership to keep the lights on even after the sun sets. As current impacts and growing threats of climate change become more visible and the world accelerates efforts to adopt new clean-energy technology, electricity generation from solar and wind is playing an increasing role in the energy system. However, it can be confusing - we hear that solar has great potential, but we also hear that solar and wind are too small to make a meaningful difference, providing just 3% and 6% of the world's electricity in 2020, respectively (1). What is the reality and what can we expect in the coming years? This article focuses on solar, but wind has an equally impressive and interesting story. This article reviews how prices for solar have dropped dramatically and deployment has increased correspondingly to the point where solar is almost half of the new electricity generating capacity being installed globally today. It shows how solar-generated electricity has grown to the point where we need to pair it with storage or other strategies for balancing electricity supply and demand. The article also explores how lithium-ion batteries are replicating solar technology's big success and discusses new storage technologies that are being developed.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Into the net zero emissions and climate change control: From solid carbon waste to effective solar convertors

Here, in this work, we demonstrate the potential for solar-to-heat conversion of carbon byproducts and their outstanding effects to reduce anthropogenic emissions. Those carbon byproducts are soots (biomass, evaporated carbon, etc.) as well as morphed graphenes. Our results cover optical characterization to demonstrate their suitability as heat capacitors and solar-to-heat convertors. Our raw materials are sustainable and currently considered environmental pollutants that require true attention to minimize global warming effects. Fortunately, they are ideal candidates to reduce the carbon footprints and can contribute towards a true net-zero environmental transition. We explore and demonstrate that soots are among the most competitive materials to transform solar energy into heat due to their absorption capacity, and durability. These materials are more competitive than commercial products and other known solar convertors demonstrating the superior thermosolar benefits. The best candidate is biomass with solar absorptivity, light emission, and cost reduction of 96, 85% and 15-fold, respectively, when compare to commercial products. Biomass and soot have comparable or better solar conversion characteristics, and sustainability than pristine carbon nanostructures and they are up to 3 orders of magnitude cheaper.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Techno-Economic Analysis and Market Potential of Geological Thermal Energy Storage (GeoTES) Charged With Solar Thermal and Heat Pumps into Depleted Oil/Gas Reservoirs and Shallow Reservoirs: A Technology Overview: Preprint

Depleted oil/gas reservoirs represent a waste of underground resources and investments of drilling, and also a potential risk to the earth's environment. Geologic thermal energy storage (GeoTES) is proposed as a solution to convert depleted oil/gas reservoirs into long-term seasonal energy storage. GeoTES can be hybridized with other techniques for viable commercial deployment, such as 1) concentrating solar power (CSP) collectors and 2) heat pumps with excess renewable energy. Here, a technology overview is given on the two GeoTES technologies, which includes system overview, techno-economic models, and case study. Both GeoTES technologies show great potential in the economics of individual project deployment and applicability across the US.

concentrating solar power↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solar Photovoltaics and Land-Based Wind Technical Potential and Supply Curves for the Contiguous United States (2023 Edition)

Estimates of the potential of renewable energy are essential for understanding how we can decarbonize our electric grid and economy. They provide key data for policymakers, land managers, and energy modelers by defining the quantity, quality, and cost of renewable resources. However, estimating renewable energy potential is challenging and requires frequent updates because of rapid advances in technology, cost reductions, and uncertainty about developable land that are due to social, regulatory, and environmental factors. Additionally, the complex processes involved in renewable energy development require regular reviews of methods and assumptions, which can also impact our understanding of renewable potential. In this, the 2023 edition of this annual report, we present new estimates of the technical potential for land-based wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) for the contiguous United States (CONUS). We also provide cost estimates for the available resources, presenting representative supply curves that can be used in downstream modeling and analysis. Additionally, we introduce the new methodologies used to estimate wind capacity, wind energy losses, transmission cost and representation, updated technology cost and design, and scenarios of siting constraints designed to help bound the uncertainty of renewable potential.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Potential for Electrons to Molecules Using Solar Energy

Solar photovoltaics (PV) do and will continue to play an important role in the electric power sector and can potentially support other sectors that are in need of decarbonized energy sources. Chemicals such as hydrogen, ammonia, and hydrocarbons including ethylene are currently produced from natural gas and crude oil. Thus, processes to produce them emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases both directly and in upstream feedstock recovery processes. Electrons-to-molecules (E2M) technologies are being developed to convert carbon dioxide, water, and atmospheric nitrogen to desired chemical products and they are large electricity loads. Thus, they are emerging as a potential applications for PV. In its essence, they can act as electrochemical energy storage, thereby providing a means to further utilize the energy generated from PV and store it in molecular form. E2M systems offer an array of potential products and system designs that can be tailored to different end-uses and applications. It involves electrochemical conversion which uses electricity to break molecular bonds and produce new molecules. Various electrochemical conversion technologies split water into hydrogen and oxygen, reduce carbon dioxide into other hydrocarbon molecules, and several other possible combinations. While this Chapter does not attempt to provide an exhaustive summary or analysis of the potential products from E2M systems, it does provide an initial overview of the potential opportunities and challenges for PV and E2M systems in this space. This Chapter considers the potential for E2M to produce key chemicals and fuels that currently rely on hydrocarbons for production, either as a reactant or a source of high-grade heat.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

System and technoeconomic analysis of solar thermochemical hydrogen production

Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier that can be obtained from various feedstocks using renewable energy sources. Direct solar thermochemical hydrogen (STCH) production by water splitting can utilize the full spectrum of solar radiation and has the potential to achieve high solar energy conversion efficiencies. Currently STCH research areas focus on material discovery. This paper evaluates the performance of various STCH materials in the context of a system platform to assess techno-economic benefits and gaps in the path to STCH scale-up. Additionally, to analyze the hydrogen production cost, a concentrating solar thermal (CST) system is introduced as a platform for integrating STCH materials and accommodating generalized thermochemical processes. The thermochemical process is based on a two-step STCH cycle using metal oxide that consists of a high temperature step for metal oxide reduction, followed by an oxidation step for water splitting at a lower temperature. A preferred configuration is to have the high temperature step occurring in a directly irradiated solar receiver reactor. To this end, we conceptualized a receiver design and associated solar field layout and investigated STCH operational boundaries, component costs and sensitivity parameters on the $2/kgH 2 goal of hydrogen production. The study explored system-related variables and factors associated with scaling up. The CST platform allows more comprehensive studies that encompass aspects of STCH materials and systems such as cost, hydrogen productivity and replacement frequency, alongside other system components like heliostat field, tower, and potential receiver costs.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2021

Isotopic signatures as tools to reconstruct the primordial architecture of the Solar System

The significant reorganization of the early Solar System due to giant planet migration has hampered our understanding of where planetary bodies formed. Previously employed proxies for reconstructing the primordial planetary architecture, such as water content or oxidation state, are complicated by post-accretionary processes. Furthermore we investigate basaltic achondrites for their nucleosynthetic isotope signatures in the elements neodymium (Nd) and zirconium (Zr) and show that they are—similar to previously investigated chondritic meteorites—characterized by a relative deficit in isotopes produced by the s-process of nucleosynthesis. Importantly, these data are well correlated with nucleosynthetic signatures observed in other elements, demonstrating that s-process matter was heterogeneously distributed throughout the early Solar System. By comparing these isotopic signatures with potential proxies for Solar System reconstruction and computer modeling, we here argue that this isotopic heterogeneity in bulk meteoritic materials is linked to the original heliocentric distance of formation. Such scaling of nucleosynthetic signatures with heliocentric distance could permit reconstruction of the primordial architecture of the Solar System by ‘cosmolocating’ the accretion orbits of meteoritic parent bodies as a function of incorporated s-process matter.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗