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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2014

Renewable Energy at NASA's Johnson Space Center

NASA's Johnson Space Center has implemented a great number of renewable energy systems. Renewable energy systems are necessary to research and implement if we humans are expected to continue to grow and thrive on this planet. These systems generate energy using renewable sources - water, wind, sun - things that we will not run out of. Johnson Space Center is helping to pave the way by installing and studying various renewable energy systems. The objective of this report will be to examine the completed renewable energy projects at NASA's Johnson Space Center for a time span of ten years, beginning in 2003 and ending in early 2014. This report will analyze the success of each project based on actual vs. projected savings and actual vs. projected efficiency. Additionally, both positive and negative experiences are documented so that lessons may be learned from past experiences. NASA is incorporating renewable energy wherever it can, including into buildings. According to the 2012 JSC Annual Sustainability Report, there are 321,660 square feet of green building space on JSC's campus. The two projects discussed here are major contributors to that statistic. These buildings were designed to meet various Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification criteria. LEED Certified buildings use 30 to 50 percent less energy and water compared to non-LEED buildings. The objectives of this project were to examine data from the renewable energy systems in two of the green buildings onsite - Building 12 and Building 20. In Building 12, data was examined from the solar photovoltaic arrays. In Building 20, data was examined from the solar water heater system. By examining the data from the two buildings, it could be determined if the renewable energy systems are operating efficiently. Objectives In Building 12, the data from the solar photovoltaic arrays shows that the system is continuously collecting energy from the sun, as shown by the graph below. Building 12 has two solar inverters, located on the second floor, that collected the data from the solar photovoltaic arrays. The data displayed here is the total energy produced by the system. These are cumulative amounts, so the last point on the graph shows all of the energy collected from the system since the start of its operation. The data shown here was manually collected from the solar inverters. However, the data is also automatically recorded through EBI. Through analysis of both sets of data it was determined that the EBI data was faulty. For example, from the manually collected data it can be determined that a total of 73 kWh of energy was collected between the dates of 1/16/2014 – 1/22/2014. The EBI data reports that approximately 17800 kWh of energy was collected during the same time frame. Not only does this exceed the time frame examined, but it also exceeds the total energy collected from the start of collection as recorded from the inverters. This leads to the belief that there is a malfunction with the automatic recording of the energy. In Building 20, data was examined from the solar water heater dating back many months and found that the pump for the solar water heater system was not operating properly, as exhibited in the graph shown below. The pump operates on a solar energy system, meaning that it collects energy throughout the day from the sun. Because of this, the system would stop operating shortly after the sun set because of a lack of sunlight. At that point, the graph should show a zero flow rate, but as exhibited in the graph below, that is not the case. It is clearly shown that the pump is continuously operating, even during the night. It was also observed that the majority of the time the pump would not turn on at all, despite good weather conditions. This led to the conclusion that the pump is malfunctioning, and needs to be examined and fixed.

McDowall, Lindsay↗
DOE OSTI2024

Development of typical solar years and typical wind years for efficient assessment of renewable energy systems across the U.S.

Weather data plays a critical role in renewable energy analysis. Compared to using multiple Actual Meteorological Years, simulations using a single typical year require significantly fewer computational resources. Previous efforts to create typical weather datasets for renewable energy analysis either lack justified or optimized strategies for selecting and weighting different weather parameters or are limited to a few specific locations. Here, in this study, we developed a dataset comprising Typical Solar Years (TSYs) and Typical Wind Years (TWYs) for over 2000 locations across the U.S., based on data from NASA's POWER project. The strategies for creating TSYs and TWYs were optimized based on the simulated outputs of various PV systems and wind turbines in 16 representative cities. This dataset provides an efficient means for the rapid evaluation and optimization of renewable energy systems throughout the entire U.S. Additionally, the optimal strategies identified in this study can be directly applied to create near-optimal TSYs and TWYs for most locations worldwide. However, readers can also employ the optimization approach presented in this work to develop optimal strategies tailored for particular regions.

NASA POWER↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hybrid renewable energy systems

In the pursuit of ecologically sustainable and resilient energy systems, increasingly more attention is being devoted to a diversity of energy generation and storage methods. As the landscape of generation technology gains nuance and complexity, a wide-ranging set of technical questions has emerged, touching on topics that range from control and optimization of hybrid systems to finance and economic viability to multi-fidelity modeling and scientific machine learning. In the context of this special issue, hybrid renewable energy systems are any systems that consider the combined dynamics of more than one form of generation, storage, or grid subsystem. Research endeavors have delved into improving the flexibility of energy systems by utilizing existing resources, introducing novel operational strategies, deploying enhanced renewable forecasts, and exploring emerging technologies. In conclusion, the interconnection among various sectors has garnered heightened attention, not only due to the provision of additional tradable energy products but also for furnishing flexible headroom to system operators.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Stochastic Optimization and Uncertainty Quantification of Natrium-based Nuclear-Renewable Energy Systems for Flexible Power Applications in Deregulated Markets

Rapid integration of variable renewable energy sources (VRES) has made modeling and stochastic optimization of hybrid energy systems crucial for studying their long-term performance and viability. However, most studies have focused on just historical data, which may be unreliable for capturing short-term fluctuations, rare events, and long-term patterns of energy demand, price, and the variability of renewable energy sources. For this study, optimal synthetic time series models were developed using Wasserstein distance. The models were validated by comparing the key statistical measures against those of the historical data. They were then used to optimize the integrated Natrium-style advanced energy systems and their long-term (30 years) economics. The stochastic model performs bi-level optimization to find the optimal sizes for the balance of plant and thermal energy storage, while also optimizing energy dispatch to achieve the maximum net present value. In studies of two deregulated markets (California ISO and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas), the integrated Natrium-style system performed better in CAISO than in ERCOT, given higher and more consistent electricity prices during peak-demand periods. The potentially enlarged cost associated with the variable operation and maintenance of the TES system also plays a significant role in driving the system sizing, thus its impacts on the system are investigated in detail through comparison against a baseline case. The study also finds that the bi-level optimization results based on stochastic gradient descent closely match the grid search results. The uncertainty quantification of the stochastic signals provides further NPV-related insights and probability distributions for the case studies. The normal standard error of the mean of NPV for the case with and without TES VOM for CAISO were found to be 7.73M (plus-minus sign) 1.09M USD and 104.99M (plus-minus sign) 1.25M USD, respectively based on a 95% confidence. Given the relatively small NPV variance based on 150 samples, the analysis affords the most robust possible prediction of the techno-economic performance of the integrated Natrium-style energy systems.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS2009

Johnson Space Center's Solar and Wind-Based Renewable Energy System

The NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas has a Sustainability Partnership team that seeks ways for earth-based sustainability practices to also benefit space exploration research. A renewable energy gathering system was installed in 2007 at the JSC Child Care Center (CCC) which also offers a potential test bed for space exploration power generation and remote monitoring and control concepts. The system comprises: 1) several different types of photovoltaic panels (29 kW), 2) two wind-turbines (3.6 kW total), and 3) one roof-mounted solar thermal water heater and tank. A tie to the JSC local electrical grid was provided to accommodate excess power. The total first year electrical energy production was 53 megawatt-hours. A web-based real-time metering system collects and reports system performance and weather data. Improvements in areas of the CCC that were detected during subsequent energy analyses and some concepts for future efforts are also presented.

Vasquez, A.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Synergies and trade-offs between storage, transmission, and sector coupling in high renewable energy systems

Energy storage, transmission, and sector coupling are some prominent flexibility solutions to support variable renewable energy (VRE) integration. However, investment cost uncertainties and public acceptance could hamper the deployment of these flexibility solutions. This raises questions about the development and cost-effectiveness of future energy systems, especially on how the dependence on local and cross-border solutions of flexibility would evolve if the uptake of these solutions is restricted. In this context, this paper identifies the synergies among flexibility options under restrictions on transmission expansion or increased costs of energy storage. It contributes to determining whether investments in energy storage and/or transmission expansion offer the least-cost transition and investigates the impact of sector coupling on these solutions. A long-term energy system planning and optimisation model towards 2050 is developed using the open-source energy system optimisation tool Balmorel, and a case study of the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea and the North Sea is established. Five cases with restrictions imposed on transmission expansion and higher energy storage technology costs are analysed at different levels of sector coupling. The results highlight the importance of transmission expansion at all levels of sector coupling. As the level of sector coupling increases, uncertainties around the cost of energy storage drive the least-cost pathways. Optimal investment solutions are found to have a mix of transmission and energy storage in capacity expansion at all levels of sector coupling.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Assessing Climate Change-Induced Variability in Generation Potential and Droughts of Renewable Energy Systems in India

Solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy systems are crucial for decarbonizing the electricity sector and achieving climate goals. However, these systems are weather-dependent, and ignoring the potential changes in their generation levels due to climate change could compromise achieving climate targets and meeting future electricity demand. This study evaluates the impact of climate change on the generation potential of wind and solar PV systems in India for three future periods, 2030 (2021-2040), 2050 (2041-2060), and 2070 (2061-2080) compared to the baseline year 2000 (1991-2010), under three emission scenarios: SSP245, SSP370, and SSP585. Solar PV generation levels consistently decline (up to 10 %) across all regions and scenarios. Wind energy shows more pronounced variability (-20 % to 30 %). The South and Southeastern regions of India show improvements in wind potential across all scenarios and time periods. This study also investigated the projected changes in the generation droughts of both energy systems. For solar PV, drought days increase across most regions (exceeding 500 days under SSP370 across the 20-year period). In contrast, wind energy sees a reduction in drought days, especially in parts of South and Southeast India (declines exceeding 50 days across different scenarios). For both energy systems, the patterns of generation drought and generation potential are similar, and indicate that Western and Northern India may be less favorable for the future expansion of solar PV and wind energy, respectively. These results highlight the need to account for the potential impacts in future capacity planning.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Using multiple high-resolution datasets to benchmark the energy exascale earth system model (E3SM) for renewable resource assessment

The United States is accelerating its shift toward a renewable energy system. However, renewable resources, which harness energy from the Earth system, are susceptible to both present-day climate variability and future climate change. For example, variations in regional climate can alter renewable energy production patterns and site viability. The use of high-resolution climate model projections can therefore facilitate and may be critical to long-term planning of renewable energy investments. However, climate models must first be validated for renewable resource assessment. This research employs multiple high-spatiotemporal-resolution datasets to assess the capability of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 2 North American Regionally Refined Model (E3SMv2-NARRM) for predicting multi-year climatological values of solar and wind energy capacity factors in the continental U.S., with a focus on regional and seasonal variability. Present-day E3SMv2-NARRM simulations are compared with reported utility-scale production data obtained from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In addition, E3SMv2-NARRM data are evaluated against non-climate benchmark models from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, including the Wind Integration National Dataset Toolkit and the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB), as well as three wind energy datasets from PLUSWIND. Our analysis indicates that solar capacity factors from E3SM closely match those from the NSRDB dataset. However, both datasets tend to overestimate values by 10% in comparison to EIA data. Furthermore, biases in wind capacity factors within E3SM are notably pronounced in the West Coast regions, where the seasonal cycle diverges from EIA data.

Energy forecasting, Capacity factor, Renewable ene↗
DOE OSTI2025

Digital Real-Time Simulation and Power Quality Analysis of a Hydrogen-Generating Nuclear-Renewable Integrated Energy System

This paper investigates the challenges and solutions associated with integrating a hydrogen-generating nuclear-renewable integrated energy system (NR-IES) under a transactive energy framework. The proposed system directs excess nuclear power to hydrogen production during periods of low grid demand while utilizing renewables to maintain grid stability. Using digital real-time simulation (DRTS) in the Typhoon HIL 404 model, the dynamic interactions between nuclear power plants, electrolyzers, and power grids are analyzed to mitigate issues such as harmonic distortion, power quality degradation, and low power factor caused by large non-linear loads. A three-phase power conversion system is modeled using the Typhoon HIL 404 model and includes a generator, a variable load, an electrolyzer, and power filters. Active harmonic filters (AHFs) and hybrid active power filters (HAPFs) are implemented to address harmonic mitigation and reactive power compensation. The results reveal that the HAPF topology effectively balances cost efficiency and performance and significantly reduces active filter current requirements compared to AHF-only systems. During maximum electrolyzer operation at 4 MW, the grid frequency dropped below 59.3 Hz without filtering; however, the implementation of power filters successfully restored the frequency to 59.9 Hz, demonstrating its effectiveness in maintaining grid stability. Future work will focus on integrating a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) framework with real-time simulation and optimizing real-time power dispatch, thus enabling a scalable, efficient NR-IES for sustainable energy markets.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS1986

Tunisia Renewable Energy Project systems description report

In 1979, the Agency for International Development (AID) initiated a renewable energy project with the Government of Tunisia to develop an institutional capability to plan and institute renewable energy technologies in a rural area. The specific objective of the district energy applications subproject was to demonstrate solar and wind energy systems in a rural village setting. The NASA Lewis Research Center was asked by the AID Near East Bureau to manage and implement this subproject. This report describes the project and gives detailed desciptions of the various systems.

Scudder, L. R.↗
DOE OSTI2024

RESCue Model (RESCue Experiment and Model) [SWR-24-84]

The Renewable Energy and Storage Cybersecurity Research (RESCue) project is a collaborative effort aimed at securing the rapidly growing deployment of transmission-connected hybrid renewable energy systems, consisting of a combination of wind, solar, and/or energy storage equipment, against escalating cyber threats. This project brings together major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of wind, solar, and energy storage, along with major asset owners and DOE National Laboratories, to collectively identify cyber threats, assess risks, and develop robust cybersecurity strategies and solutions. The development of hybrid reference architectures has provided comprehensive blueprints for the secure design and integration of hybrid renewable energy systems, accounting for their unique characteristics and interdependencies. Additionally, NREL has created a cyber-resilient design framework that integrates cybersecurity considerations from the start of the system lifecycle, ensuring security is "baked in" from the initial design phase. The research thrusts for the project included (i) development of hybrid reference architectures and (ii) a cyber-resilient design framework for hybrid energy systems. The reference architectures has provided comprehensive blueprints for the secure design and integration of hybrid renewable energy systems, accounting for their unique characteristics and interdependencies. Additionally, NREL has created a cyber-resilient design framework that integrates cybersecurity considerations from the start of the system lifecycle, ensuring security is "baked in" from the initial design phase. A demonstration experiment was developed for one of the architectures using NREL's Cyber Range resources. This experiment configuration, deployable using open-source tools, is provided here in this repository. Additional models were developed for the wind and solar architectures as well, however the configurations for only the Energy Storage scenario are provided here: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy24osti/89921.pdf

Hasandka, Adarsh↗
DOE OSTI2025

Synchro-Waveform-Based Event Identification Using Multi-Task Time-Frequency Transform Networks

Influenced by the transient dynamics and reduced inertia characteristics of high-penetration renewable energy systems, power system events frequently exhibit distinct characteristics such as high-frequency components including wide-band oscillations and hyper-harmonics. This makes standard systems face challenges including significant latency and reduced accuracy due to limited data resolution. However, current methods face significant limitations, including insufficient pattern capture ability, low noise immunity, limited feature learning, and restricted localization capabilities, thereby hindering real-time performance. To tackle this issue, this paper proposed a novel synchro-waveform-based event identification approach via a Multi-task Time-frequency Transform Network (MTTNet). Initially, a Time-frequency Transform Block (TTB) is developed to extract both local and global information. The TTB leverages both Fourier and S-transforms to derive comprehensive time-frequency information from synchro-waveforms. Subsequently, a multi-task learning strategy is employed to identify the type and distinguish localization of events. Integrating the TTB and multi-task learning, the MTTNet is designed for synchro-waveform-based event identification, incorporating an adaptive weighting strategy and simplified computation for the S-transform. Two different datasets, comprising simulated and actual synchro-waveforms, are collected from the IEEE 123 bus system and a real-world high-penetration renewable energy system using a universal grid analyzer. Extensive experiments on various conditions are carried out. In conclusion, results demonstrated that the MTTNet consistently surpasses both basic and advanced baselines, with maximum improvements of 13.24% and 9.86%, respectively, while reducing the calculation burden by 15-19 times to achieve real-time event identification.

Event identification↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Surface meteorology and Solar Energy

The Release 5.1 Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE) data contains parameters formulated for assessing and designing renewable energy systems. Parameters fall under 11 categories including: Solar cooking, solar thermal applications, solar geometry, tilted solar panels, energy storage systems, surplus product storage systems, cloud information, temperature, wind, other meteorological factors, and supporting information. This latest release contains new parameters based on recommendations by the renewable energy industry and it is more accurate than previous releases. On-line plotting capabilities allow quick evaluation of potential renewable energy projects for any region of the world. The SSE data set is formulated from NASA satellite- and reanalysis-derived insolation and meteorological data for the 10-year period July 1983 through June 1993. Results are provided for 1 degree latitude by 1 degree longitude grid cells over the globe. Average daily and monthly measurements for 1195 World Radiation Data Centre ground sites are also available. [Mission Objectives] The SSE project contains insolation and meteorology data intended to aid in the development of renewable energy systems. Collaboration between SSE and technology industries such as the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables ( HOMER ) may aid in designing electric power systems that employ some combination of wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, or diesel generators to produce electricity. [Temporal_Coverage: Start_Date=1983-07-01; Stop_Date=1993-06-30] [Spatial_Coverage: Southernmost_Latitude=-90; Northernmost_Latitude=90; Westernmost_Longitude=-180; Easternmost_Longitude=180].

Stackhouse, Paul W.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Virtual Cable Impedance based Load Sharing in a Microgrid for Parallel Connected Grid Forming Converters

This paper presents a novel approach to power sharing between direct connected grid-forming converters, utilizing virtual cable impedance and droop-based outer loop control. To enhance stability, resistive droop is implemented, while virtual cable impedance with non-zero resistive and inductive components ensures improved power sharing. The inner loop controller employs a Lyapunov energy function to achieve superior dynamic performance. The proposed control architecture is validated through comprehensive modeling and real-time processor-in-the-loop simulations, demonstrating its robustness and efficiency under various operating conditions. The results highlight the potential of this control strategy to improve the reliability and efficiency of renewable energy systems. Additionally, a comparative analysis with traditional methods underscores the advantages of the proposed approach in terms of stability and performance. The proposed control architecture offers a scalable and flexible solution for grid-forming converters, enabling seamless integration of renewable energy sources. Its robustness and adaptability make it an attractive solution for real-world applications. Furthermore, the approach can be extended to other power electronic systems, enhancing overall system performance and efficiency. By providing a reliable and efficient control strategy, this paper contributes to the advancement of renewable energy systems and their adoption in the energy sector. The proposed control strategy has far-reaching implications for the widespread adoption of renewable energy sources, enabling a more sustainable and efficient energy future. The overall system is modeled in MATLAB/Simulink and PLECS software domain.

grid forming converters (GFM)↗