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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Grid Planning for Building Electrification: A Report by the Energy Systems Integration Group’s Grid Planning for Building Electrification Task Force

The increased electrification of buildings across the United States is being driven by technical advancements, cost reductions for some building technologies, consumer preferences, and policy goals for decarbonization. However, the effects of this load growth on the electric distribution system are often only a minor consideration in policymaking and long-term planning studies. The long lead time and useful life of power system equipment means that the decisions taken today are expected to support our society well into the 2060s and beyond. Distribution planning stakeholders can take steps today to establish a grid foundation that captures the new challenges presented by building electrification. This report focuses on building electrification for the residential and commercial sectors, focusing most heavily on space heating, as this end use stands to most strongly impact demand.1 Across all end uses, building electrification could require somewhere between 10% and 70% more electricity generation capacity than exists today depending on technology adoption and energy efficiency.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Challenges and future perspectives on sodium and potassium ion batteries for grid-scale energy storage

The energy crisis and environmental pollution require the advancement of large-scale energy storage techniques. Among the various commercialized technologies, batteries have attracted enormous attention due to their relatively high energy density and long cycle life. Nevertheless, the limited supply and uneven distribution of lithium minerals, as well as their high cost, has greatly hindered the application of lithium-ion batteries in large-scale energy storage. Therefore, building next-generation alternative rechargeable batteries that feature low cost, long service life, and high safety is of the utmost importance. Over the past several years, we have witnessed many successful research outcomes for sodium and potassium ion batteries (SIBs and PIBs) in regard to electrode and electrolyte materials. In this Perspective, we summarize the current developments on SIBs/PIBs and their challenges when facing practical applications, including their cost, energy density, ion diffusivity in solids/electrolytes/interphases, cycle life, and safety concerns. Furthermore, we provide an overview of strategies to overcome the remaining challenges for achieving better electrochemical performance. Finally, we outline several possible directions for the future development of these two battery chemistries, with the hope of aiding the transition from the laboratory to next-generation practical applications for SIBs/PIBs batteries in grid-scale energy storage.

Energy Storage↗
DOE OSTI2021

Techno-economic comparison of electrification for heavy-duty trucks in China by 2040

We show that electrification of heavy-duty trucks (HDTs) is critical of achieving sustainability and carbon neutrality in road freight. Based on the total cost of ownership and the life-cycle emissions, the study compared the traditional diesel internal combustion engine vehicle technologies with potential electrification options for HDTs in China, including battery electric vehicle, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, and battery electric catenary vehicle. Scenario and sensitivity analysis were explored the life-cycle effects of these electrification options in China from 2020 to 2040. It is found that green electricity and green hydrogen are the most important factors influencing the life-cycle emissions of CO 2 , NO X , and PM 2.5 for different HDTs’ electrification options. The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle of HDTs has shown good performance in terms of total cost and carbon emissions, mainly due to the reduced battery capacity and the current grid mix in China.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2022

WBS 1.2.3.405 - Life Cycle Assessment of Storage Technologies

Recent commitments by the Biden administration have established targets to achieve a net-zero energy system by 2050. Meeting these targets will spur a rapid transition to clean energy technologies and a commensurate need to develop and deploy energy storage technologies at scale. Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) is expected to be part of this solution because its ability to provide grid flexibility and stability and enable the dispatching of disparate variable renewable energy technologies. Despite PSH being a mature technology with a history of deployment dating back several decades, there is very little information on the greenhouse gas (GHG) implications of PSH as compared to other storage technologies. The objective of this project is to perform a full lifecycle assessment (LCA) of new PSH projects in the U.S. This LCA includes all project phases (resource extraction, construction, operation, maintenance, end-of-life). The functional unit for this study is 1 kWh electricity delivered by system to grid substation connection point and the estimated lifetime for our base case is 80 years. Data used in this study are based on over 30 potential PSH projects that are in preliminary planning phases and are represent a wide range of potential closed-loop PSH systems in terms of location, technology, and capacity. The project approach, data sources, and modeling assumptions have been informed by a technical review committee of stakeholders that include experts from academia, national and international government, industry, and utilities. The GHGs and energy return on investment (EROI) from PSH will be compared to other storage technologies (e.g., stationary battery storage). Results from this project will improve the PSH community's understanding of the environmental impacts and sustainability of new PSH projects and how PSH compares to other storage technologies. The approach used in this project relies on open-source programming. The analysis framework (source code and data) and will be made publicly available at the end of the project. In addition to reporting results for the base case, we will perform rigorous sensitivity analysis to identify the major drivers, understand impacts of different configurations, and future energy markets. Results from this project will be published in a suitable journal.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY,HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

VDiSC: An Open Source Framework for Distributed Smart City Vision and Biometric Surveillance Networks

Recent global growth in the interest of smart cities has led to trillions of dollars of investment toward research and development. These connected cities have the potential to create a symbiosis of technology and society and revolutionize the cost of living, safety, ecological sustainability, and quality of life of societies on a world-wide scale. Some key components of the smart city construct are connected smart grids, self-driving cars, federated learning systems, smart utilities, large-scale public transit, and proactive surveillance systems. While exciting in prospect, these technologies and their subsequent integration cannot be attempted without addressing the potential societal impacts of such a high degree of automation and data sharing. Additionally, the feasibility of coordinating so many disparate tasks will require a fast, extensible, unifying framework. To that end, we propose the Distributed Smart City framework for Vision, or VDiSC. VDiSC serves as a unified biometric API harness that allows for seamless evaluation, deployment, and simple pipeline creation for heterogeneous biometric software. VDiSC additionally provides a fully declarative capability for defining and coordinating custom machine learning and sensor pipelines, allowing the distribution of processes across otherwise incompatible hardware and networks. VDiSC ultimately provides a way to quickly configure, hot-swap, and expand large coordinated or federated systems online without interruptions for maintenance. Because much of the data collected in a smart city contains Personally Identifying Information (PII), VDiSC also provides built-in tools and layers to ensure secure and encrypted streaming, storage, and access of PII data across distributed systems.

Brogan, Joel↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cyber-Power Co-Simulation for End-to-End Synchrophasor Network Analysis and Applications

The resiliency, reliability and security of the next generation cyber-power smart grid depend upon efficiently leveraging advanced communication and computing technologies. Also, developing real-time data-driven applications is critical to enable wide-area monitoring and control of the cyber-power grid given high-resolution data from Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). North American Synchrophasor Initiative Network (NASPlnet) provides guidance for PMU data exchanges. With the advancement in networking and grid operation, it is necessary to evaluate the performance of different data flow architectures suggested by NASPInet and analyze the impact on applications. Therefore, we need a cyber-power co-simulation framework that supports very large-scale co-simulation capable of running in parallel, high-performance computing platforms and capturing real-life network behavior. This work presents an end-to-end automated and user-driven cyber-power co-simulation using NS3 to model communication networks, GridPACK to model the power grid, and HELICS as a co-simulation engine. Comparative analysis of latency in synchrophasor networks and a performance evaluation of a power system stabilizer application utilizing PMU data in an IEEE 39 bus test system is presented using this cosimulation testbed.

Mustafa, Hussain M.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Communication Network Layer State Estimation Measurement Model for a Cyber-Secure Smart Grid

Network communication has been proven to be a very important tool and a key factor in the recent development and progress of the power grid operation. It is also considered as the foundation for the smart grid because information and communication are integrated into electricity distribution to achieve reliable and accurate knowledge of the power grid. In previous years, absorbing energy from substations and delivering it to customers was the only type of interaction we knew between utility companies and customers. Presently, the growing connections of small distributed generation units caused by the cost reduction of most of the technologies used in generation and storage of electrical energy, along with the potential benefits of renewable energy have pushed many researchers to look into the improvement of information and communication technologies (ICT) in order to ensure a bidirectional flow of power and data. Moreover, the evolution of information and communication technologies and its applications to smart grid have converted the smart grid into a cyber-physical system where vulnerabilities and additional security challenges such as cyber-threats and cyber-attacks have emerged. Previously, we have demonstrated that using machine learning-based processing on data gathered from communication networks and the power grid was a promising solution for detecting cyber threats by implementing a co-simulation of cyber-security for cross-layer strategy. Since the majority of the challenges observed can only be solved in the network communication layer, we present in this work a physics-based state estimation model of the communication network system towards enhanced cyber-physical security of the smart grid. Information integration with the previously developed machine learning model is developed, providing a enhanced cyber-physical security application for the smart grid. Easy-to-implement model, without hard-to-derive parameters, highlight potential aspects of the model for real-life applications.

Mathieu, Reynold↗
DOE OSTI2020

Electrical Energy Storage Data Submission Guidelines

Energy storage technologies are positioned to play a substantial role in power delivery systems. They are being touted as an effective new resource to maintain reliability and allow for increased penetration of renewable energy. However, due to their relative infancy, there is a lack of knowledge on how these resources truly operate over time. Data analysis can help ascertain the operational and performance characteristics of these emerging technologies. Rigorous testing and data analysis are important for all stakeholders to ensure a safe, reliable system that performs predictably on a macro level. Standardizing testing and analysis approaches to verifying the performance of energy storage devices, equipment, and systems when integrating them into the grid will improve the understanding and benefit of energy storage over time from technical and economic vantage points. Demonstrating the life-cycle value and capabilities of energy storage systems begins with the data the provider supplies for analysis. After review of energy storage data received from several providers, it has become clear that some of these data are inconsistent and incomplete, raising the question of their efficacy for robust analysis. This report reviews and proposes general guidelines such as sampling rates and data points that providers must supply for robust data analysis to take place. Consistent guidelines are the basis of the proper protocol and ensuing standards to (a) reduce the time it takes data to reach those who are providing analysis; (b) allow them to better understand the energy storage installations; and (c) enable them to provide high-quality analysis of the installations. This report is intended to serve as a starting point for what data points should be provided when monitoring. As battery technologies continue to advance and the industry expands, this report will be updated to remain current.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Electrical Energy Storage Data Submission Guidelines, Version 2

Energy storage technologies are positioned to play a substantial role in power delivery systems. They have the potential to serve as an effective new resource to maintain reliability and allow for increased penetration of renewable energy. However, because of their relative infancy, there is a lack of knowledge about how these resources truly operate over time. A data analysis can help ascertain the operational and performance characteristics of these emerging technologies. Rigorous testing and a data analysis are important for all stakeholders to ensure a safe, reliable system that performs predictably on a macro level. Standardizing testing and analysis approaches to verify the performance of energy storage devices, equipment, and systems when integrating them into the grid will improve the understanding and benefit of energy storage over time from technical and economic vantage points. Demonstrating the life-cycle value and capabilities of energy storage systems begins with the data that the provider supplies for the analysis. After a review of energy storage data received from several providers, some of these data have clearly shown to be inconsistent and incomplete, raising the question of their efficacy for a robust analysis. This report reviews and proposes general guidelines, such as sampling rates and data points, that providers must supply for a robust data analysis to take place. Consistent guidelines are the basis of a proper protocol and ensuing standards to (1) reduce the time that it takes for data to reach those who are providing the analysis; (2) allow them to better understand the energy storage installations; and (3) enable them to provide a high-quality analysis of the installations. The report is intended to serve as a starting point for what data points should be provided when monitoring. Readers are encouraged to use the guidance in the report to develop specifications for new systems, as well as enhance current efforts to ensure optimal storage performance. As battery technologies continue to advance and the industry expands, the report will be updated to remain current.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Designing for Zero Energy and Zero Carbon on a Multi-Building Scale Using URBANopt: Preprint

Groundbreaking efforts are necessary to mitigate contributors increasing impacts of climate change. In parallel to inventing pioneering clean energy technologies it is even more fundamental to rethink designing energy systems within a singular facility and collectively to function as a district. Facilities should not be continuously passive by just consuming; there is a need to shift to perform more dynamically. Designing for zero energy and zero carbon on a multi-building scale can uncover opportunities for building energy efficiency, decarbonization, demand flexibility, and resiliency that are not accessible at an individual building scale. This approach can be challenging without innovative tools to evaluate the multitude of possibilities. As an investigated result, we highlight the use of a campus-scale energy modeling platform - URBANopt™ - for the expansion of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) South Table Mountain campus in Golden, Colorado. Programmatic growth included the design of three new all-electric, zero-energy, and zero-carbon, mixed used buildings (a combination of research laboratories and office space). This investigation is critical to NREL reaching net-zero emissions for its operational footprint, which will occur in phases over the next decade. Leveraging URBANopt's capabilities, we evaluate 1) high-performance building energy efficiency and decarbonization measures, 2) 4th generation district heating and cooling (4th GDHC) systems, 3) optimized onsite generation and energy storage assets that meet zero-energy and zero-carbon targets at minimum life-cycle costs, and 4) cost-optimal distributed energy technology mixes, dispatch strategies, and associated capacities that increase resiliency to grid outages. This work demonstrates the use and capabilities of URBANopt through a real-world case study on a multi-building scale.

community energy model↗
DOE OSTI2025

Comparative life cycle assessment of various hydrogen pathways for cleaner methanol synthesis

This study evaluates the potential environmental impacts of e-methanol production using hydrogen from green, yellow, and blue sources, including Gas Switching Reforming for high purity hydrogen production with carbon capture (GSR-H 2 ), and compares their performance across current and renewable energy scenarios. Using a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA), the study quantifies impacts across seven TRACI categories. Global warming potential (GWP) ranged from 0.28 kg CO 2 eq/kg MeOH for green hydrogen with renewables to 2.55 kg CO 2 eq/kg MeOH for SMR-CC under grid power. Among the scenarios, renewable electrolysis achieves the lowest GWP, while GSR-H 2 under renewable power offered the best balance of emissions reductions and resource efficiency among the fossil-based routes, offering a viable transitional solution in regions dependent on natural gas infrastructure. The study reveals GSR-H 2 's potential as an alternative to conventional steam methane reforming with carbon capture (SMR-CC), showing its advantages in carbon capture efficiency and reduced life cycle emissions as well as significantly lower water consumption. GSR-H 2 , when powered by renewables, consumed only 1.41 L of water per kg MeOH, an 82% reduction compared to grid-powered electrolysis, highlighting its potential in water-scarce regions. This study is the first to evaluate GSR-H 2 as a hydrogen source for e-methanol, providing new evidence for its role as a cleaner, scalable transitional solution aligned with cleaner production principles.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Battery Degradation Modeling in Hybrid Power Plants: An Island System Unit Commitment Study: Preprint

As hybrid power plants (HPPs), such as photovoltaic (PV) and battery combinations, become increasingly important in power systems with high renewable energy penetration to address PV variability and ensure grid stability. This paper focuses on the urgent need to model the coordination between PV and battery systems in HPPs while accounting for battery degradation. We present a generation scheduling model that explicitly incorporates PV-battery hybridization in the unit commitment problem. Moreover, the cost function of the HPP scheduling problem endogenously considers battery degradation with adjustable weights to strike a balance between minimizing production costs and prolonging battery life, particularly when providing energy arbitrage and ancillary services. Using a realistic island system simulation, we demonstrate that accounting for battery degradation in the scheduling problem can significantly extend battery life with only minor additional production costs.

battery degradation↗
DOE OSTI2026

Higher Efficiency, Demand Flexible Refrigerator with On-Demand Micro-Vibrational De-icing Technology

Refrigerator technology has advanced significantly over the last couple of decades. Today’s refrigerators use only about 25% of the energy that was required to power models built in 1975. Even as they continually improve efficiency to meet standards, refrigerators have increased in size by almost 20%, added energy-consuming features such as through-the-door ice, and provide more benefits than ever before. However, a few challenges and technology gaps are preventing further improvement of the demand responsiveness and efficiency of the refrigerators. One of the major technology gaps in existing refrigerators is their outdated de-icing process. When the evaporator generates frost, an old-fashioned resistive heating element melts the ice. Most refrigerators have a timed defrost cycle, rather than an active system that could monitor the state of the frost. In these systems, not only is the precious electricity used at its least efficient form of conversion (direct conversion of electricity to heat), but also all the latent heat associated with the ice is wasted during the melting process. On top of that, the refrigerator needs to work harder to pull the temperature down after defrosting, and, last but not least, the food quality is severely impacted by the temperature swings during the defrost cycle. According to a study, the EU alone wastes 89 million tons of food in the supply chain every year. Any temperature swing during defrosting (about 6F according to Emerson for low-temperature cases) can negatively impact the shelf life of meat and other products for multiple days. All these issues can happen during the peak demand time of the electric grid. Unlike the conventional systems, the proposed novel advanced micro-vibrational deicing process uses no heat for defrosting. Instead, it uses the micro vibrations generated by a piezoelectric or vibration-generating module to mechanically break ice from the heat exchanger almost instantaneously. The project titled “Higher Efficiency, Demand Flexible Refrigerator with On-Demand Micro-Vibrational De-icing Technology, performed by Ultrasonic Technology Solutions, LLC (UTS) of Knoxville, TN, in collaboration with Emerson (now Copeland), represents the final phase of a multi-year effort funded under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) BENEFIT FOA 2020. Initiated on October 1, 2021, and completed after a nine-month no-cost extension ending September 30, 2025, this project aimed to develop and validate a novel micro-vibrational mechanical defrosting system, achieving more than 25% improvement in defrosting energy efficiency over conventional baseline defrosting technologies. Over sixteen quarters, the project advanced from fundamental ice-mechanical characterization and prototype development to full-scale system integration and validation. Initial efforts established project management infrastructure and characterized ice adhesion properties, followed by the design and fabrication of early aluminum-based prototypes for resonance frequency testing. Subsequent quarters saw rapid technical progression, including the identification of optimal piezoelectric and motor-based vibration mechanisms, the demonstration of effective de-icing over 6x6-inch aluminum surfaces. The team achieved its Go/No-Go milestone by exceeding the 25% energy-efficiency improvement target—reaching up to 3,340% under optimized conditions—and later confirmed that motor-driven systems offered superior performance and energy efficiency compared to piezoelectric alternatives. Continued refinement led to the development of amplifier systems on printed circuit boards, improved control and instrumentation hardware, and integration into full-scale heat exchanger (HX) prototypes at both UTS and Copeland facilities. Multiple vibration-mounting studies and frost-growth experiments guided mechanical optimization and noise-mitigation strategies, achieving a 17.5 dB reduction in sound pressure level and verifying robust mechanical performance. Advanced analyses, including modal and harmonic simulations, established a quantitative understanding of vibrational behavior and de-icing efficiency across >1000 cm² systems. The final project phase successfully demonstrated scalable integration within reach-in and chest freezer prototypes, confirmed >25% efficiency improvements in large-area systems, and completed a comprehensive business model and scale-up strategy identifying electric defrost systems as the primary beachhead market. The culmination of this DOE-supported effort establishes micro-vibrational defrosting as a viable, high-efficiency, low-noise, and demand-flexible de-icing technology, paving the way for commercial deployment and broader application in next-generation refrigeration systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Techno-Economic Assessments of Second-Life Batteries for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

When electric vehicle (EV) batteries degrade below a certain capacity, they may no longer be suitable for automotive use but can be repurposed as second-life batteries (SLBs) for other applications, such as EV charging stations. When integrated with photovoltaic (PV) systems, SLB can store surplus solar energy, reducing reliance on the grid and lowering operational costs. This paper presents a novel techno-economic assessment framework for deploying SLBs in combination with PV in grid-connected EV charging stations. The proposed framework integrates the value proposition, charging station operation, optimal dispatch strategies, battery degradation modeling, input data requirements, and detailed procedures for generating key economic performance metrics. Insightful analyses are performed to assess the performance of SLBs in comparison to new batteries across various cost scenarios. The results indicate that SLBs become financially attractive when their cost is 40% or lower than new batteries.

energy storage↗
DOE OSTI2024

Electrolyte and Cutoff Potential Effects on Cycle Life of Li4Ti5O12/LiNi0.9Mn0.1O2 Batteries for Behind-the-Meter Storage Applications

Behind-the-Meter Storage (BTMS) is a stationary battery energy storage system that is connected to the electrical distribution system on the customer's side of the utility's service meter. BTMS systems are used to store electrical energy from the grid as well as inconstant, renewable energy, such as local solar and wind generation. A successful BTMS system will allow the customer to pair their energy generation and storage to optimize electrical consumption from the grid, improving reliability and minimizing cost. For BTMS applications, batteries must be designed and optimized with different set of criteria from other leading segments of the Li-ion battery market, like transportation, due the system being stationary and proximal to the residential or commercial building it's benefitting. BTMS applications prioritize safety, cost (low/no-critical materials), reliability (20-year calendar life), and durability (10,000 cycle life), while having the ability to (minimally) compromise energy density and rate capability. Lithium titanate (Li4Ti5O12-, LTO) is a promising anode candidate for BTMS applications due to its high safety and capacity retention, while maintaining a reasonable 160 mAhg-1 reversable capacity and composition of relatively abundant materials. (1) Specifically, LTO has a high working voltage which helps to prevent Li dendrite formation, improving safety. Furthermore, LTO also has negligible lithiation-based volume change, leading to less mechanical pulverization, or loss of active material, upon cycling. For the cathode, materials with little or no Co are of high interest due to the high cost and low abundance of Co. LiMn2O4 (LMO) has been paired with LTO for BTMS applications in the past due to its safety, low cost (abundancy), and reasonably high operating voltage. (2-4) However, the low capacity of LMO limits energy density and specific energy. While not the highest priority for BTMS applications, increasing energy density will enable deployment in space constrained BTMS applications and decrease total cost. LiNi0.9Mn0.1O2 (LN-MO) is a recently developed material with promise due to its high operating voltage and relatively low price. (5) However, Ni-rich layered oxides, including LNMO, tend to struggle with capacity retention during high-voltage cycling due to mechanical pulverization, irreversible phase transitions, and unstable solid-electrolyte interphase. The study presented here focuses on building an understanding of how electrolyte solvent and varied cutoff potentials will impact the cycle life of LTO/LN-MO cells. Specifically, a comparison is provided between ethylene carbonate (EC), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC), and Gen2 electrolyte solvents with 1M Lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) salt, cycling to two upper termination potentials, 2.6V and 2.7V. Electrochemical testing and diagnostics (e.g., differential capacity analysis, area specific impedance, constant voltage hold, and rate capability) and post-mortem characterization will be used to understand the aging behavior and failure mechanisms of the 8 cell combinations (four electrolytes and two voltage cutoffs). Cells with FEC electrolyte showed a lower initial capacity compared to cells with Gen2, EMC, and EC cycling at both voltages; however, the cells with FEC showed consistent trends in capacity retention with 2.6V and 2.7V termination potentials, while the cells with the other electrolytes showed much higher rates of capacity loss when cycling to the higher voltage. These results indicate that FEC may play a role in improving durability of high-voltage, Ni-rich electrode systems for use in high-cycle applications, such as BTMS.

electrolyte↗
DOE OSTI2020

Environmental and economic optima of solar home systems design: A combined LCA and LCC approach

Here, we compare the economic and environmental optimal design of Solar Home Systems (SHSs) and explore the role of economic incentives (such as tariffs and technology costs) in approximating the two optima. To achieve that, we present a methodology for the environmental and economic evaluation of grid-connected SHSs: user-scale electric systems involving a photovoltaic (PV) power system and a battery energy storage system. The proposed methodology is based on a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) optimization, life cycle assessment and life cycle costing. This methodological framework is applied to a case study involving a typical SHS installation in Italy. The results of the environmental optimal design brought to the evaluation of a 3.25 kW PV assisted by 8.66 kWh of nickel cobalt manganese batteries, whereas the costs of the SHS are minimized by a small PV system (less than 1 kW). Results underline that the environmental optimal configurations rely on battery technologies, which entails a significant cost compared to the grid connection. In contrast, the economic optimal design solutions is less impactful than the grid mix both from an environmental and economic points of view. Thanks to a reduction of batteries and PV costs, the environmental impact of the economic optimal design is expected to decrease in the future.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

White Paper on Case Study of Safe Installation of Second-Life Energy Storage System

This technical report provides for a case study for the safe installation of a second-life, or repurposed, battery, that has been reconfigured for use as a stationary energy storage systems (ESS). Driven by legislative requirements such as California Senate Bill 615 and projections that retired EV batteries could meet a substantial portion of U.S. grid ESS needs beginning in 2035, the repurposing of EV batteries is anticipated to grow significantly. However, safety concerns arise from the effects of aging, unknown prior usage history, and changes in thermal runaway behavior, which may increase failure risks compared to new batteries. NFPA 855, the predominant U.S. standard for ESS installation, mandates that second-life batteries meet all requirements for new batteries, with repurposers complying with UL 1974 in addition to obtaining UL 9540 and UL 1973 listings. These are certifications that few repurposers have achieved and represent a regulatory barrier to entry for the market as a whole.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Data-Driven Clustering and Classification of Outage Patterns with Insights into their Links to Extreme Events

At a global level extreme events have increased in both scale and impact. These events have the potential to affect the electrical grid infrastructure and cause a wide range of outages, which can lead to a disruption in daily patterns, cost millions of dollars and also the loss of life. Currently, to track these outage events there have been various approaches developed ranging from regional to national level quantifications for what defines an outage. However, this variation in methods can potentially lead to subjective decision-making and a lack of proper management in relation to the event. While previous work has made strides in determining spatio-temporal patterns, minimal attention has been given to the type and number of outages an area may be exposed to. The differences in incurred cost and the overall severity of an event between a transformer box malfunction and a hurricane are drastic, and by finding historical signals, we can allow for more efficient management, potentially saving lives and millions of dollars. Here, we leverage unsupervised machine learning techniques to delineate outage patterns among 22 counties within the United States and find that there are clear, segregated clusters (0.93 silhouette) of data which are related by event behavior and underlying cause. This finding will allow for energy stakeholders, policy makers, and researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the extent and severity of historic events and to better prepare for electrical grid infrastructure planning and management.

Koob, Benjamin [ORNL]↗