Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “UTILITY SOLAR PROGRAM”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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

At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Modeling of Dust Levels Associated with Potential Utility-Scale Solar Development in the San Luis Valley-Taos Plateau Study Area

The San Luis Valley (SLV)–Taos Plateau study area in south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico is a large alpine valley surrounded by mountains with an area of approximately 6,263,000 acres (25,345 km 2 ) (Figure ES.1-1). This area receives ample sunshine throughout the year, making it an ideal location for solar energy generation, and there are currently five photovoltaic facilities operating on private lands in the SLV, ranging in capacity from 1 to 30 megawatt (MW). In 2012 the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) launched its Solar Energy Program, which included the identification of four solar energy zones (SEZs) in the SLV totaling 16,308 acres (66 km 2 ), as well as over 50,000 (202 km 2 ) acres of other BLM-administered lands potentially available for application for solar development. The SEZ areas, named Antonito Southeast, De Tilla Gulch, Fourmile East, and Los Mogotes East, were defined by the BLM as areas well-suited for utility-scale (i.e., larger than 20 MW) production of solar energy where solar energy development would be prioritized (BLM 2012). Nonetheless, it was recognized that solar development in the SEZs would result in some unavoidable adverse impacts, and so the BLM initiated a solar regional mitigation strategy (SRMS) study for three of the SEZs (BLM and Argonne 2016). The SRMS is designed to identify residual impacts of solar development in the SEZs (that is, those that cannot be avoided or minimized onsite), identify those residual impacts that warrant compensatory mitigation when considering the regional status and trends of the resources, identify appropriate regional compensatory mitigation locations and actions to address those residual impacts, and recommend appropriate fees to implement those compensatory mitigation measures.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Indirect Solar Water Heating in Single-Family, Zero Energy Ready Homes

Solar water heating systems are not new, but they have not become prevalent in most of the U.S. Most of the country is cold enough that indirect solar thermal systems are required for freeze protection, and average installed cost of these systems is $9,000 to $10,000 for typical systems on single-family homes. These costs can vary significantly in different markets and with different contractors, and federal and regional incentives can reduce these up-front costs by 50% or more. In western Massachusetts, an affordable housing developer built a community of 20 homes with a goal of approaching zero net energy consumption. In addition to excellent thermal envelopes and PV systems, the developer installed a solar domestic water heating system (SDHW) on each home. The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), a research consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Building America program, commissioned some of the systems, and CARB was able to monitor detailed performance of one system for 28 months.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Utility Managed Distributed Energy Resources Intelligent Community - UDERMS iCommunity (Final Technical Report)

The Utility Managed Distributed Energy Resources Intelligent Community (UDERMS iCommunity) project, led by PacifiCorp and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office (Award No. DEEE0009782), aimed to demonstrate an integrated, utility-managed “behind-the-meter” distributed energy resource (DER) program connecting multifamily, commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings to deliver grid services and improve energy efficiency.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Using Models to Provide Predicted Ranges for Building-Human Interfaces: Preprint

Most building energy consumption dashboards provide only a snapshot of building performance; whereas some provide more detailed historic data with which to compare current usage. This paper will discuss the Building Agent(tm) platform, which has been developed and deployed in a campus setting at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as part of an effort to maintain the aggressive energyperformance achieved in newly constructed office buildings and laboratories. The Building Agent(tm) provides aggregated and coherent access to building data, including electric energy, thermal energy, temperatures, humidity, and lighting levels, and occupant feedback, which are displayed in various manners for visitors, building occupants, facility managers, and researchers. This paper focuseson the development of visualizations for facility managers, or an energy performance assurance role, where metered data are used to generate models that provide live predicted ranges of building performance by end use. These predicted ranges provide simple, visual context for displayed performance data without requiring users to also assess historical information or trends. Several energymodelling techniques were explored including static lookup-based performance targets, reduced-order models derived from historical data using main effect variables such as solar radiance for lighting performance, and integrated energy models using a whole-building energy simulation program.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Scaling Energy Efficient Retrofits for Small Commercial Apartment Buildings

With support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO), the International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology (ICAST) recently completed a three-year cooperative agreement to scale energy efficiency retrofits (EER) on small multifamily (MF) buildings. ICAST EER strategies ranged from low-hanging “direct install” of measures such as LED lighting, low-flow showerheads and aerators, and smart thermostats to major strategies such as HVAC replacement with high-efficiency boilers or heat pumps. As feasible, some projects also included the addition of renewable energy sources such as photo voltaic (PV) solar. When ICAST began the BTO project, it operated in two states and oversaw EER at approximately 80 MF buildings per year. With assistance from BTO, ICAST has grown significantly and now has staff in six states with MF EER projects in another seven, and performed EER on 956 MF buildings. ). ICAST was able to successfully execute this project by 1) Improving viability and efficiency of its processes, 2) Launching two new services and 3) Creating an affiliate program. For the most part, ICAST focused on a specific type of MF property: naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH), because it is a significantly underserved market within the hard-to-serve MF market. NOAHs are typically smaller properties (5 to 64 units), owned by small organizations or individual investors looking for positive cash flow. ICAST believes the NOAH market can be successfully served with a one-stop-shop approach that makes it easy, hassle-free, and cost-effective for owners to acquire green upgrades for their property(ies). With the assistance of BTO funding, ICAST successfully used the cited EER methods and strategies to scale-up its OSS approach to service a greater number of MF housing and expand into new geographies. Additionally, support from BTO helped ICAST create self-sustaining programs which will not need to rely on on-going funding.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2019

Economics of Solar with Storage for Municipal Buildings in the City of Orlando [Slides]

This analysis was conducted under the first round of the Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN), which is a program led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The program assembles diverse teams of stakeholders to research solutions to real-world challenges associated with solar energy adoption. This analysis supported the efforts of the Orlando: Renewable and Resilient SEIN team, which consists of the City of Orlando, Orlando Utility Commission, University of Central Florida's Solar Energy Center, and the Greenlink Group. The City of Orlando aims to deploy solar and solar-plus-storage to support energy resiliency, environmental quality, and the continued affordability of the electricity supply. The team's efforts include identifying the total solar potential available city-wide, conducting more detailed analysis for municipal facilities and distribution grid modeling, and gathering insights on municipal-level solar policies and building guidelines to share with other municipalities. This analysis supports the team's work by analyzing the techno-economic potential of solar photovoltaics (PV) and lithium-ion battery energy storage at 14 municipal sites in the City of Orlando.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Roadmap for photovoltaic cyber security

Cyber-secure, resilient energy is paramount to the prosperity of the United States. As the experience and sophistication of cyber adversaries grow, so too must the US power system’s defenses, situational awareness, and response and recovery strategies. Traditionally, power systems were operated with dedicated communication channels to large generators and utility-owned assets but now there is greater reliance on photovoltaic (PV) systems to provide power generation. PV systems often communicate to utilities, aggregators, and other grid operators over the public internet so the power system attack surface has significantly expanded. At the same time, solar energy systems are equipped with a range of grid-support functions, that—if controlled or programmed improperly—present a risk of power system disturbances. This document is a five-year roadmap intended to chart a path for improving cyber security for communication-enabled PV systems with clear roles and responsibilities for government, standards development organizations, PV vendors, and grid operators.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Solar in Your Community Challenge Fact Sheet

The SunShot Prize: Solar in Your Community Challenge is a $5 million prize competition funded by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative that aims to expand solar electricity access to low-and moderate-income (LMI) households and community organizations that haven’t been able to take advantage of the booming solar market. Because of rooftop limitations, lack of a strong credit history, or inability to utilize tax incentives, over 50% of Americans don’t have access to solar electricity. Offering $5 million in cash prizes and technical assistance over 18 months, the challenge supports teams across the country as they develop and demonstrate replicable projects or programs that expand solar access to underserved groups.

solar, challenge, community solar, prize competiti↗
DOE OSTI2018

Wasatch Solar Project Final Report

The Wasatch Solar Project was a collaborative effort to conduct stakeholder engagement and provide technical assistance and analysis to support solar market development in Utah. The Wasatch Solar Project addressed four topic areas: 1) technical analysis to inform an assessment of the net benefits and costs of solar in Utah; 2) development of a 10-Year Solar Deployment Plan to create a clear path for continued solar deployment in Utah; 3) demonstration of the costs and resiliency benefits of solar and storage for resiliency at emergency response facilities or public facilities; and 4) technical assistance to create a replicable Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing program in Utah. The Wasatch Solar Project identified that new technical new technical challenges arise as nascent markets grow to higher penetrations of solar, requiring more detailed interconnection standards and improved efficiency in the interconnection process; that it is difficult for entities served by utilities that do not collect hourly usage data to assess the economic value of solar and storage; that despite significant resiliency benefits, the high cost of battery storage limits its adoption at healthcare and emergency response facilities in states like Utah that have low electricity rates; that administration of C-PACE financing at a local jurisdictional level can be complex, cumbersome, and a barrier to widespread utilization; and that investments in distributed generation can result in long-term savings for utility customers.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Incentive Pass-through for Residential Solar Systems in California

The deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems has grown rapidly over the last decade, partly because of various government incentives. In the United States, among the largest and longest-running incentives have been those established in California. Building on past research, this report addresses the still-unanswered question: to what degree have the direct PV incentives in California been passed through from installers to consumers? This report helps address this question by carefully examining the residential PV market in California (excluding a certain class of third-party-owned PV systems) and applying both a structural-modeling approach and a reduced-form regression analysis to estimate the incentive pass-through rate. The results suggest an average pass-through rate of direct incentives of nearly 100%, though with regional differences among California counties. While these results could have multiple explanations, they suggest a relatively competitive market and well-functioning subsidy program. Further analysis is required to determine whether similar results broadly apply to other states, to other customer segments, to all third-party-owned PV systems, or to all forms of financial incentives for solar (considering not only direct state subsidies, but also utility electric bill savings and federal tax incentives).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

A New Model to Determine Installed System Cost and LCOE for ARPA-E's MOSAIC Micro-Concentrator PV Program: Preprint

The US Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) started a three-year program in December 2015 called Microscale Optimized Solar-cell Arrays with Integrated Concentration (MOSAIC). It consists of 11 teams from across the United States. Its goal is to have project teams leverage expertise from conventional flat-plate photovoltaic (PV) system configuration and concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) module technology to produce a new class of modules for residential, commercial, and utility-scale markets. The intent is to increase performance and facilitate cost-effective deployment of solar power systems across a wide range of geographical locations in part by concentrating both direct and diffuse components of the sun's irradiance. This paper describes a collaboration of ARPA-E and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop a bottom-up system cost model for MOSAIC research teams. The model includes an estimate of regional, all-in, CPV installed cost, and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) by using customized inputs parameters, such as module efficiency, cost, and physical dimensions. This techno-economic cost model can help researchers analyze tradeoffs among different design parameters and then prioritize their distinct research opportunities. Moreover, it establishes a standardized cost benchmarking for MOSAIC micro-CPV systems and a normalized comparison against traditional CPV and today's highly competitive flat-plate PV systems. The model is a valuable design tool within the program, helping validate the various technical approaches and compare future deployed system competitiveness versus incumbent technologies in the PV industry.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

New Mexico: New Mexico's Clean Energy Resources and Economy [Brochure]

New Mexico is poised to become a leader in clean energy production, thanks to its exceptional renewable resources—particularly the solar energy potential of its southern deserts. From 2010 to 2011, New Mexico’s solar photovoltaic capacity nearly tripled from 43 megawatts (MW) to 116 MW, placing New Mexico fourth in the nation. Concentrated solar thermal generation plants have the potential to further develop this resource. Geothermal activity in the northern Rocky Mountain areas has significant energy production potential; there are also pockets of strong wind resources across the state. New Mexico’s state energy policies and utility incentive programs aim to take full advantage of these resources. In 2012, 4.4% of electricity in New Mexico was generated from renewable resources. New Mexico’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requires that this rate increase to 20% by 2020 for investor-owned utilities and 10% for cooperatives. In addition to its Renewable Portfolio Standard, personal and corporate tax credits are available for alternative energy production and efficient building development. To encourage conservation, New Mexico has also adopted an energy efficiency standard. Its goal is to reduce energy consumption relative to 2005 levels—5% by 2014 and 10% by 2020. New Mexico also boasts several utility rebate programs for energy efficient appliance purchases.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2018

Distributed Generation Valuation and Compensation

This white paper can help guide a state as it considers issues associated with distributed generation valuation and compensation. States may address a common set of questions and issues in the valuation process, but differences in market expectations, policy priorities, and regulations result in different responses. Key issues include: Context is important. Valuations and compensation strategies will vary based on goals and objectives they are being designed to achieve. Goals and objectives should be made clear up front and will drive the perspective used in performing valuations and how outcomes are applied. Utilities and stakeholders can have different interpretations of how value elements should be calculated. In some states, the objective of standardized calculators and methods is to reduce ambiguity and inconsistencies in how valuations are performed. Certain value elements are difficult or impossible to quantify and most efforts to establish workable value of solar or value of distributed energy resource tariffs are emerging and nascent. Assessing locational and temporal value of distributed generation and applying that in compensation schemes is a new and emerging field of study, being explored by a handful of research organizations and advanced states and utilities. The most advanced states, such as California, are using demonstration projects to test valuation and compensation methodologies or are applying valuation and compensation strategies to a subset of customer projects, such as for community solar projects (e.g., Oregon and New York) before rolling out programs to the full customer base. A variety of states are moving away from full net metering, in many cases substituting avoided cost rates (sometimes with an adder) in lieu of full retail rate compensation, instead of pursuing valuation of distributed energy resource approaches. For example, in Indiana a 25% adder is applied to average wholesale electricity prices and in Mississippi a 2.5 cents/kWh adder is applied to avoided cost rates. These adders appear to have been established through policy directives rather than a comprehensive cost of service valuations.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Analysis of flows inside quiescent prominences as captured by Hinode/solar optical telescope

Developing an understanding of how magnetic fields can become entangled in a prominence is important for predicting a possible eruption. This work investigates the kinetic energy and vorticity associated with plasma motion residing inside quiescent prominences (QPs). These plasma flow characteristics can be utilized to improve our understanding of how the prominence maintains a stable magnetic field configuration. Three different contrast-enhanced solar prominence observations from Hinode/Solar Optical Telescope were used to construct velocity maps—in the plane of the sky—via a Fourier local correlation tracking program. The resulting velocities were then used to perform the first-ever analysis of the two-dimensional kinetic energy and enstrophy spectra of a prominence. Enstrophy is introduced here as a means of quantifying the vorticity that has been observed in many QPs. The kinetic energy power spectral density (PSD) produced indices ranging from −1.00 to −1.60. There was a consistent anisotropy in the kinetic energy spectrum of all three prominences examined. Examination of the intensity PSD reveals that a different scaling relationship exists between the observed prominence structure and velocity maps. All of the prominences exhibited an inertial range of at least 0.8⩽k⩽2.0 rads Mm{sup −1}. Quasi-periodic oscillations were also detected in the centroid of the velocity distributions for one prominence. Additionally, a lower limit was placed on the kinetic energy density (ϵ ∼ 0.22–7.04 km{sup 2} s{sup −2}) and enstrophy density (ω ∼ 1.43–13.69 × 10{sup −16} s{sup −2}) associated with each prominence.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Quantifying the sensitivity of ephemeral streams to land disturbance activities in arid ecosystems at the watershed scale

Large areas of public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and located in arid regions of the southwestern United States are being considered for the development of utility-scale solar energy facilities. Land-disturbing activities in these desert, alluvium-filled valleys have the potential to adversely affect the hydrologic and ecologic functions of ephemeral streams. Regulation and management of ephemeral streams typically falls under a spectrum of federal, state, and local programs, but scientifically based guidelines for protecting ephemeral streams with respect to land-development activities are largely nonexistent. This study developed an assessment approach for quantifying the sensitivity to land disturbance of ephemeral stream reaches located in proposed solar energy zones (SEZs). The ephemeral stream assessment approach used publicly-available geospatial data on hydrology, topography, surficial geology, and soil characteristics, as well as highresolution aerial imagery. These datasets were used to inform a professional judgment-based score index of potential land disturbance impacts on selected critical functions of ephemeral streams, including flow and sediment conveyance, ecological habitat value, and groundwater recharge. The total sensitivity scores (sum of scores for the critical stream functions of flow and sediment conveyance, ecological habitats, and groundwater recharge) were used to identify highly sensitive stream reaches to inform decisions on developable areas in SEZs. Total sensitivity scores typically reflected the scores of the individual stream functions; some exceptions pertain to groundwater recharge and ecological habitats. The primary limitations of this assessment approach were the lack of high-resolution identification of ephemeral stream channels in the existing National Hydrography Dataset, and the lack of mechanistic processes describing potential impacts on ephemeral stream functions at the watershed scale.The primary strength of this assessment approach is that it allows watershed-scale planning for low-impact development in arid ecosystems; the qualitative scoring of potential impacts can also be adjusted to accommodate new geospatial data, and to allow for expert and stakeholder input into decisions regarding the identification and potential avoidance of highly sensitive stream reaches.

Arid ecosystems↗
DOE OSTI2013

Iowa: Iowa's Clean Energy Resources and Economy [Brochure]

By harnessing its vast natural resources, Iowa has become a leader in renewable energy production. Iowa was the largest producer of ethanol in the United States in 2011—accounting for more than a quarter of the nation’s fuel ethanol production. Iowa, home to nine wind industry manufacturing facilities in 2010, ranks second in the country in installed wind capacity, with 4,322 megawatts installed at the end of 2011. This installed wind capacity is estimated, in an average year, to supply approximately 20% of Iowa’s entire in-state electricity generation. Iowa’s high utilization of wind power has propelled the state to third in the nation for total installed renewable electricity capacity. Additionally, Iowa’s potential for using biopower produced from solid materials is second in the country, behind only Illinois. Iowa owes part of its success to its early policy support for renewable energy. The first capacity target in Iowa’s Alternative Energy Law, passed in 1983, was met in 1997. This early success led to former Iowa Governor Vilsack’s 2003 call for Iowa to deploy 1,000 MW of renewable energy—a goal that was met in 2006. Although Iowa’s renewable energy capacity requirements are met mostly by wind, other eligible resources include solar, waste management, resource recovery, refuse-derived fuel, agricultural crops or residues, wood-burning facilities, and small hydropower facilities. The state has also made a strong commitment to energy efficiency. Iowa’s investor-owned utilities more than doubled the budgets of their efficiency programs from 2002 to 2007, passing the $\$$100 million mark in 2006.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

DEPRECATED - Sharing the Sun Community Solar Project Data (Dec 2020, Revision)

This data set is no longer current – The most current data and all historical data sets can be found at https://data.nrel.gov/submissions/244 This database represents a list of community solar projects identified through various sources as of Dec 2020. The list has been reviewed but errors may exist and the list may not be comprehensive. Errors in the sources e.g. press releases may be duplicated in the list. Blank spaces represent missing information. NREL invites input to improve the database including to - correct erroneous information - add missing projects - fill in missing information - remove inactive projects. Updated information can be submitted to the contact(s) located on the current data set page linked at the top. The revision dataset included projects with a total installed capacity in 2020 under the state-level program but missing the project level details.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗