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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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DOE OSTI2026

Space Mission Options for Reconnaissance and Mitigation of Asteroid 2024 YR4

Near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR 4 was discovered on 2024-12-27 and its probability of Earth impact in December 2032 peaked at ~3% on 2025-02-18. Additional observations ruled out Earth impact by 2025-02-23. However, the probability of lunar impact in December 2032 then rose, reaching ~4% by the end of the apparition in May 2025. James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations on 2025-03-26 estimated the asteroid’s diameter at 60 ± 7 m. Studies of 2024 YR 4 ’s potential lunar impact effects suggest lunar ejecta could increase micrometeoroid debris flux in low Earth orbit up to 1000 times above background levels over just a few days, possibly threatening astronauts and spacecraft. In this work, we present options for space missions to 2024 YR 4 that could be utilized if lunar impact is confirmed. Here, we cover flyby & rendezvous reconnaissance, deflection, and robust disruption of the asteroid. We examine both rapid-response and delayed launch options through 2032. We evaluate chemical and solar electric propulsion, various launch vehicles, optimized deep space maneuvers, and gravity assists. Re-tasking extant spacecraft and using built spacecraft not yet launched are also considered. The best reconnaissance mission options launch in late 2028, leaving only approximately three years for development at the time of this writing in August 2025. Deflection missions were assessed and appear impractical. However, kinetic robust disruption missions are available with launches between April 2030 and April 2032. Nuclear robust disruption missions are also available with launches between late 2029 and late 2031. Finally, even if lunar impact is ruled out there is significant potential utility in deploying a reconnaissance mission to characterize the asteroid.

Asteroid deflection↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimal hybrid power plants for electric vehicle charging demand

Transmission constraints, increasing motivations to decarbonize, and concerns over peak electric vehicle (EV) load impacts on local grids have driven electric customers to consider behind-the-meter, hybrid power plant generation and storage at the distributed-grid level for EV charging. In this study, we develop capabilities to optimize hybrid power plant component capacities for EV charging. We then demonstrate these capabilities in a case study for Boulder, Colorado, using public EV charging data as well as wind and solar resource data. Our results show system designs that balance the cost of energy with load-meeting and peak shaving performance. Within the case study, systems designed for wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and storage resulted in lower cost of energy than those optimized for PV and storage only. This indicates that in areas where wind resource exists, hybrid power plants that include wind, PV, and battery assets can better meet EV charging loads (including peak loads that are prone to overloading local grids) than PV and battery assets alone. Future work to address limitations in this paper include extending cost modeling to include performance losses (e.g., based on operations or weather) and charging station costs to estimate levelized cost of charging, and quantifying uncertainty and error in our aggregation methods for estimating EV charging loads at the hourly timescale.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Triple Effect Economics: How Do Electric Vehicles, Solar Photovoltaics, and Work-from-Home Transform Household Electricity Cost?

Solutions for deep decarbonization need to be affordable as well as sustainable to garner widespread adoption. The past two decades have seen the introduction of new technologies and paradigms such as electric vehicles (EVs), solar photovoltaics (PVs), and increased work-from-home (WFH), which impact a household's overall energy consumption and cost in different ways. However, much attention has not been paid to explore the joint impact these technologies have on a household's electricity cost burden. Leveraging the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), this study presents an integrated model to unravel the extent to which the bundled adoption of EV-PV and stay-at-home decisions impact the total electricity cost of households. National level RECS data revealed that, compared to the baseline (i.e., households that did not own any of these technologies), households that own EVs, PVs, and engage in WFH observed a 13.5% decline in their electricity bills, despite a 25% increase in electricity consumption. The model results indicated that bundled adoption of EVs-PVs reduces electricity costs more significantly for a household, compared to the increased costs imposed by more household members staying at home. This holistic assessment presents an opportunity for decision makers to contextualize the changing energy costs and design effective strategies to foster a sustainable and cost saving mechanism. Policies such as bundled incentivization to motivate co-adoption, education about energy-management strategies, and add-on subsidies to adopt energy-efficient appliances, will not only accelerate decarbonization but increase household financial savings.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY PLANNING, POLIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating the Impact of Managed EV Charging for Reliable Operation of Bulk Power Systems with High Non-Dispatchable Generation

The growth of electric vehicles (EVs) and variable-generation (VG) sources introduces new challenges for power-system operations. This study introduces a modeling framework and evaluates five EV charging strategies under projected 2040 grid conditions in the Evergy service territory with high non-dispatchable generation. Using realistic EV behavior and generation models, their impacts on system peak demand, ramp rate, and reserve capacity are evaluated. Results show that only the peak-avoidance strategy effectively reduces system peak demand, while decentralized strategies-particularly cost based dynamic charging-can exacerbate peaks due to synchronized user behavior. However, ramp-rate minimization strategy significantly reduce the stress on dispatchable generation achieving the lowest maximum absolute ramp rate (MARR) (56.81 MW) and lowest reserve requirement (2.39 GW). In contrast, unmanaged and TOU random strategies increase the stress on dispatchable generation sources with increased MARR and reserve requirements. These findings highlight the importance of coordinated, system-aware managed charging strategies to ensure reliable and affordable grid operation in the presence of EVs and VG sources.

14 - SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Lessons Learned from the Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) Peer-Learning Cohort Incorporating Community Priorities into Electric Vehicle Plans and Projects

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), with support from World Resources Institute (WRI), designed and led a six-month peer-learning cohort from January through July 2024 on "Enhancing Resilience at Critical Facilities through Solar, Storage, and Microgrids" as part of the U.S Department of Energy's Clean Energy to Communities (nrel.gov/c2c) (C2C) program. Representatives from 15 municipalities, municipal utilities, colleges, and Tribes from across the United States participated in monthly workshops covering best practices for planning and deploying local resilience projects. This document shares key takeaways, lessons learned, and resources from the cohort including key steps that can be taken to help entities design effective community engagement processes around clean mobility.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY PLANNING, POLIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Soft costs and EVSE – Knowledge gaps as a barrier to successful projects

There has been a recent push to increase access to electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) has made significant funding available for major charging infrastructure projects along state thruways, and many state and local incentives exist for EV owners to install chargers in their homes. However, deployment of these chargers has not kept up with demand, primarily due to issues in project planning, permitting processes, and unforeseen delays. This paper serves as a review of the current understanding of these and other non-hardware costs in EV charging infrastructure projects (collectively known as “soft costs”). We found that soft costs in EV charging infrastructure projects are not well understood. Specifically, there is little agreement on how soft costs should be categorized and tracked, and less agreement still on best practices for controlling these costs and lowering barriers to infrastructure deployment. A broader review of EV charging infrastructure cost analyses shows that these costs can have significant impacts on project outcomes. EV charging infrastructure projects may be able to examine the success of the solar industry in lowering soft costs, and a similar effort may lower project costs significantly. Further work on standardizing and collecting data on EV charging infrastructure costs is required to begin addressing and controlling these costs.

32 - ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZA↗
DOE OSTI2024

Nov. 2024 EVs@Scale High-Power Charging Deep Dive Technical Meeting

EVs@Scale Lab Consortium is addressing challenges, developing solutions, and enabling technologies for transportation electrification ecosystem. The consortium has five research pillars one of which focuses on high power charging (HPC). HPC pillar brings together hardware and software expertise, capabilities, and facilities related to high power EV charging, charge management, and grid integration. Deep-dive technical meetings are organized twice a year and provides an opportunity for more industry engagement and technical feedback for the national labs throughout the project lifecycle. High-Power Charging pillar has two active projects: (i) Next-Gen Profiles (NGP) and (ii) High-Power Electric Vehicle Charging Hub Integration Platform (eCHIP). This presentation summarizes the progress made in both projects during the past six months focusing on specific topics. There will be two deep-dive technical meetings twice a year. Every deep-dive meeting will focus on different aspects of the project progress.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Resilient and Cost-Effective Hybrid Li-Ion Battery Energy Storage System for Sites with Solar Generation and Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging (CRADA Final Report, CRD-19-00799)

The batteries of an energy storage system designed for multiple use-cases are traditionally selected to withstand the highest rate at which a battery is discharged relative to its maximum capacity (C-rate) and cycling requirements of the most intense use-case. However, this is not cost-effective given that the price of the batteries is strongly correlated to C-rate and cyclability. We propose to establish design guidelines for a hybrid energy storage system and test an edge controller that uses high-power and high-energy batteries for high- cyclability use cases such as frequency regulation and electric vehicle (EV) charging and low-cost batteries for low-power and low-cyclability use cases such as summer peak loads. The three main objectives of this proposal are (i) establishing sizing guidelines for such a hybrid storage system, (ii) installing a hybrid storage system in the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) sized based on those guidelines, and (iii) testing an edge controller specific for the system through hardware tests.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Pricing Strategy of Electric Vehicle Aggregators Based on Locational Marginal Price to Minimize Photovoltaic (PV) Curtailment

The global climate crisis demands urgent action to mitigate global warming. Using renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, for electricity generation is crucial. This shift from centralized to distributed power systems, however, brings challenges, including voltage fluctuations and renewable energy curtailment. The rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) industry adds complexity, increasing overall electricity demand and straining the power supply during peak charging times. This paper proposes a scheduling strategy for EV aggregators to reduce renewable energy curtailment and stabilize grid operation by strategically scheduling EV charging. Using Multi -Agent Transport Simulation (MATSim), a traffic simulation tool, EV driving data in Denver, Colorado, USA, were modeled. The EV aggregator adjusts charging fees based on locational marginal prices, encouraging EVs to charge at different stations according to pricing. Simulations on an IEEE 33-bus system with distributed energy resources and EV charging stations validate the proposed algorithm, demonstrating its effectiveness in reducing curtailment by 12.55% and stabilizing grid operation.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Valuing EV Managed Charging for Bulk Power Systems

When and where electric vehicle (EV) charging occurs has significant implications for power systems supporting widespread EV adoption, especially with high shares of wind and solar generation. This study extends previous works by leveraging detailed simulation models for EV adoption, EV use, EV charging, and bulk power system operations, and by linking them with methods for describing charging flexibility at both the individual vehicle and aggregate levels. This technical potential study focuses on how the value of EV managed charging (EVMC) changes depending on charging flexibility type (within-charging session or within-week scheduling), dispatch mechanism (direct load control or one of several price-based mechanisms), and managed charging participation rate. We show that naively aggregating EV charging flexibility from individual vehicles into megawatt-scale resources grossly overestimates the flexibility of the fleet, because such aggregate models can unrealistically pair, e.g., one already-fully-charged vehicle's ability to increase load with another already-charging vehicle's ability to accept more charge, effectively requesting a charging rate that is infeasible for the latter vehicle. We find per-vehicle bulk system value is highest at low participation rates for all dispatch mechanisms. Factoring in production cost savings, avoided firm capacity savings, and combustion-related power sector emissions savings, we estimate the value of EVMC at low participation rates (5%) to be $33/vehicle-year to $69/vehicle-yr for within-session charging flexibility and $40/vehicle-yr to $120/vehicle-yr for within-week charging flexibility in an envisioned 2038 New England power system and monetary value reported in 2016 U.S. dollars. At 100% participation, per-vehicle value declines to $25/vehicle-yr to $31/vehicle-yr for within-session charging flexibility and to $29/vehicle-yr to $36/vehicle-yr for within-week charging flexibility; however, 100% participation yields the highest total system savings.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Analytic Neural Network Gaussian Process Enabled Chance-Constrained Voltage Regulation for Active Distribution Systems with PVs, Batteries and EVs

This paper proposes an analytic neural network Gaussian process (NNGP)-based chance-constrained real-time voltage regulation method for active distribution systems with photovoltaics (PVs), batteries, and electric vehicles (EVs). NNGP can utilize historical measurement data to achieve real-time probabilistic node voltage estimation through Bayesian inference. Then, NNGP is fully analytically embedded into the optimal power flow model to perform voltage regulation and adapt to various topological changes. The uncertainties of voltage estimations are easily considered via the chance constraint, and it has been shown that the adoption of this chance constraint can significantly improve the reliability of voltage regulation under various scenarios. The comparison results with other methods, carried out on a real 759-node distribution system located in western Colorado, U.S., show that the proposed method can achieve accurate voltage estimation across different topologies and reliably perform voltage regulation considering PVs, batteries, and EVs.

active distribution systems↗
DOE OSTI2024

EV Forecasting-Based Model Predictive Control for Distribution System Congestion Mitigation

The uncoordinated charging of electric vehicles (EVs) in time and space brings congestion issues to the distribution network. This paper proposes an EV charging demand forecasting-based model predictive control (MPC) method for distribution system congestion management. To effectively forecast the time-series EV station charging demand, a hybrid forecasting model that integrates the long short-term memory network (LSTM) and Transformer is proposed. The Transformer-LSTM model is trained using a one-year real historical charging dataset of EV stations to forecast future charging demand in 15-minute intervals. This informs the MPC for distribution network congestion management and minimization of PV curtailment. Numerical results carried out on the modified IEEE 123-bus distribution system demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively resolve line congestion issues through EV smart charging and PV curtailment while outperforming other benchmarks.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solar Energy Technical Publications Catalog: Solar Thermal Technology

The research and development described in these documents was conducted within the U.S . Department of Energy's (DOE) Solar Thermal Technology Program. The goal of this program is to advance the engineering and scientific understanding of solar thermal technology and to establish the technology base from which private industry can develop solar thermal power production options for introduction into the competitive energy market. Solar thermal technology concentrates the solar flux using tracking mirrors or lenses onto a receiver where the solar energy is absorbed as heat and converted into electricity or incorporated into products as process heat. The two primary solar thermal technologies, central receivers and distributed receivers, employ various point and line-focus optics to concentrate sunlight. Current central receiver systems use fields of heliostats (two-axis tracking mirrors) to focus the sun's radiant energy onto a single, tower- mounted receiver. Point focus concentrators up to 17 meters in diameter track the sun in two axes and use parabolic dish mirrors or Fresnel lenses to focus radiant energy onto a receiver. Troughs and bowls are line-focus tracking reflectors that concentrate sunlight onto receiver tubes along their focal lines. Concentrating collector modules can be used alone or in a multimodule system. The concentrated radiant energy absorbed by the solar thermal receiver is transported to the conversion process by a circulating work fluid. Receiver temperatures range from l00 degrees C in low-temperature troughs to over 1500 degrees C in dish and central receiver systems. The Solar Thermal Technology Program is directing efforts to advance and improve each system concept through solar thermal materials, components, and subsystems research and development and by testing and evaluation. These efforts are carried out with the technical direction of DOE and its network of field laboratories that works with private industry. Together they have established a comprehensive, goal-directed program to improve performance and provide technically proven options for eventual incorporation into the nation's energy supply. To successfully contribute to an adequate energy supply at reasonable cost, solar thermal energy must be economically competitive with a variety of other energy sources. The Solar Thermal Technology Program has developed components and system-level performance targets as quantitative program goals. These targets are used in planning research and development activities, measuring progress, assessing alternative technology options, and developing optimal components. These targets are pursued vigorously to ensure a successful program. This catalog represents part of an effort to provide information on publications about solar thermal research and development activities conducted by DOE's laboratories. Publications listed include technical and research reports and special publications. The following national laboratories are represented in this edition: Sandia National Laboratories, Solar Energy Research Institute, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This catalog is a product of the DOE Solar Technical Information Program, which is dedicated to providing information to scientific and industrial users in ways most convenient and useful to them. This catalog focuses on solar thermal technologies, and its purpose is to keep the scientific and industrial communities informed of the latest developments in federally sponsored research in this technology.

140000* -- Solar Energy↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dynamic and Responsive Distributed Energy Resource Education Solutions for Building, Fire, and Safety Department Officials (Final Technical Report)

From April 2021 through March 2024, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) led a collaborative project to develop a free online clearinghouse of educational resources about solar photovoltaics (PV), energy storage systems (ESS), electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), and grid-interactive efficient building (GEB) technologies. Two websites—the Clean Energy Clearinghouse and CleanEnergyTraining.org—housed over 70 educational resources. Over the course of the three-year project, 154,272 unique visitors accessed the learning materials. Learner feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Even through the end of the project, there was sustained demand for education and communication. A primary innovation of the project was to drive multiple complementary audiences to the same place. Building owners, designers, installation contractors and developers, authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs), and fire service personnel all benefit from a shared understanding of clean energy technologies, including safety and code-related requirements. When considering the impact on the target audience, the project team worked with partners and advisors to inform resource creation and delivery in such a way as to address key motivational factors of the target audience and compel each user to seek additional information on the topic and return to the Clean Energy Clearinghouse website as their central location for more information. Resources were intentionally developed to be concise—five to 15 minutes—and accessible, meaning not overly technical. Providing basic information demystified the technologies and invited the professional to explore additional learning opportunities. Awardee and partner collaboration was key to project success. IREC facilitated collaboration among the other Topic 2 awardees, Southface and New Buildings Institute (NBI). The three awardees shared relevant information gained through discovery and validation questionnaires that informed product development and reduced duplication of effort by coordinating the development of complementary, and not competing, educational resources. Inspired by this collaboration, IREC brought on additional partners even in the final year of the project. Five regional energy efficiency organizations were part of the project, which expanded the connection between efficiency and distributed energy resources. We also included resources on the Clearinghouse that were developed through other federally funded projects, such as the Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) program. The website was developed with the learner in mind, and not solely the funding source. Feedback from stakeholders throughout the project, and especially in its final year, indicated the need for continued education and facilitated communication among stakeholders to further the safe and widespread adoption of clean energy.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗