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Results for “solar + battery”

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
DOE OSTI2024

Minneapolis American Indian Center Solar + Battery Resilience Hub

To meet south Minneapolis, Minnesota's clean energy goals, the community exploring opportunities to transition Minneapolis American Indian Center (MAIC) into a resilience hub to provide critical community services during power outages, including shelter and warmth or cooling, continued food distribution services, and more. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, through the U.S. Department of Energy's Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program) pilot, worked with MAIC to quantify the costs and benefits of installing stand-alone solar photovoltaics (PV) and PV paired with battery systems to reduce energy costs, avoid emissions, and improve resilience.

BESS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Sabathani Community Center Solar + Battery Resilience Hub

To meet south Minneapolis, Minnesota's clean energy goals, the community exploring opportunities to transition Sabathani Community Center into a resilience hub to provide critical community services during power outages, including shelter and warmth or cooling, continued food distribution services, and more. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, through the U.S. Department of Energy's Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program) pilot, worked with Sabathani to quantify the costs and benefits of installing stand-alone solar photovoltaics (PV) and PV paired with battery systems to reduce energy costs, avoid emissions, and improve resilience.

battery energy storage system↗
DOE OSTI2022

SolarPlus Optimizer: Integrated Control of Solar, Batteries, and Flexible Loads for Small Commercial Buildings

Building-level microgrids may be a key strategy to unlock the combined potential of flexible loads, renewable generation, and energy storage. However, few software options exist for integrated control of building loads and other distributed energy resources at this scale. The commercial software solutions on the market can force customers to adopt one particular ecosystem of products, thus limiting consumer choice. The SolarPlus Optimizer (SPO) is an open-source building-level microgrid control platform that uses Model Predictive Control to optimize both building loads and behind-the-meter energy storage to reduce energy bills and increase demand flexibility. This paper evaluates the capabilities of SPO in a small commercial building in Northern California under multiple electricity tariffs and demand response scenarios. Comparing SPO operation with an emulated battery and baseline operation employing a commercial optimization service, SPO reduced electricity bills by an estimated 7.3% in summer, 3.2% in spring, and 3.7% in winter. In a “load shape” scenario meant to counter the “duck curve”, SPO achieved 71% fewer violations from the load signal than the baseline control method. During a three hour long load shed event, SPO reduced cooling and refrigeration load by 38%. This research shows significant potential to provide load flexibility for building-level microgrids for this type of control systems. Finally, the paper discusses the future direction of research on open-source control systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS1979

The Si ribbon crystal for the solar battery using the horizontal pull method

A method utilizing a device to spray noble gases to cool the site of silicon crystal growth is described. The salient points are: (1) soft and uniform cooling was possible, (2) the length of the boundary surface of growth along the growth direction was made long over a wide width compared to the thickness, and (3) this made it possible to effectively remove the heat produced from solification. By using forced gas spraying on the solution surface in contact with the points of crystal growth, growth at the points of growth is enhanced and the rate of growth is speeded up.

Norifuji, H.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Solar-battery integrated DC system

A DC bus is connected to a PV array, a battery or both, to power a grid connected inverter load on the bus. A system and method is described for controlling current flow on a DC bus regardless of the type of inverter. A converter receives a DC battery voltage. A switching module controls current flow through the converter. A current generator generates a reference current in response to a reference voltage. A comparator connected at the output of the current generator compares the reference current with a battery current and outputs a signal to a controller. The controller generates a reference value. A PWM generator modulates the switch module to control current flow and energy flow between the DC bus and the battery. The current from the DC bus to the inverter is controlled to allow proper grid-connected operation regardless of inverter type.

Atcitty, Stanley↗
DOE OSTI2026

Solar and Battery Storage Permitting and Siting Requirements - Solar Prize Round 7 (CRADA Final Report)

The purpose of this research project was to aggregate zoning and permitting data for utility-scale solar PV and battery energy storage systems. The ultimate goal of this collaboration is to lower solar and battery energy storage system soft costs by streamlining regulatory due diligence and reducing the burden of conducting feasibility assessments for solar and storage systems. The below sections describe the specific research completed by NLR (the contractor) in furtherance of the agreement with Vanox (the participant).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Solar and Battery Storage Permitting and Siting Requirements - Solar Prize Round 7 (CRADA Final Report)

The purpose of this project is to identify local zoning ordinances, state permitting requirements, federal regulatory bottlenecks throughout the development process, and the potential to use Large Language Models (LLM) and aggregate permitting and interconnection data for commercial and industrial (C&I), community, and utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage projects.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2005

ACTS Battery and Solar Array Assembly On-Orbit Measured Performance

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) is a NASA experimental communications satellite system designed to demonstrate on-orbit Ka-band communications and switching technologies that will be used by NASA and the commercial sector in the 21st century. The ACTS was launched on September 12, 1993, and has performed over 10 years of successful experimental operations. The purpose of this report is to describe the ACTS power subsystem and the ACTS solar array and battery assemblies located within the power subsystem and then to document on-orbit measured performance from launch to mission end on April 28, 2004. Solar array and battery performance data is presented, and respective conclusions are drawn. The total solar array power available to the spacecraft was measured each year at the same time, and battery voltage performance was measured twice per year at the same times during peak solar eclipse. At the highest spacecraft power demand, the ACTS uses approximately 1113 W of electrical power during the low-burstrate experiment to operate all six satellite subsystems. After 10 years of on-orbit operation, solar array available output power normal to the Sun measured 1508 W, which represents 395 W of excess margin. The ACTS batteries have successfully supported the ACTS experiment program for over 10 years and operated in excess of 900 charge and discharge cycles through 21 eclipse seasons.

Hilderman, Don R.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Solar and battery can reduce energy costs and provide affordable outage backup for US households

Distributed energy resources are promising solutions for household energy affordability and resilience as weather extremes and aging infrastructure intensify grid reliability risks. This study presents a comprehensive nationwide assessment of over 500,000 U.S. households, evaluating economic and backup viability of solar-battery systems. We find that 60% of households could reduce electricity costs with average savings of 15%, while 63% of households could achieve affordable backup power during power outages covering an average of 51% of their essential energy needs. However, these benefits show limited alignment with areas of greatest need, particularly in regions facing high outage risks. We also identify significant disparities in access to solar and battery, with less-populated and disadvantaged communities showing consistently lower viability. Furthermore, these findings demonstrate the need for targeted policy interventions to ensure equitable access to solar-battery benefits, especially as states transition from net energy metering to other electricity tariff policies.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Regulatory and Policy Considerations for the Reuse and End-of-Life Management of Solar and Batteries in the U.S.

The demand for solar photovoltaics (PV) and lithium-ion batteries (LIB) is expected to continue in the U.S. as the call for solar is projected to quadruple by 2030 to meet renewable energy and decarbonization goals. The expected demand for PV and LIB brings supply chain concerns and a growing need for a circular economy for PV and LIB materials. Domestic reuse and recycling is one potential circular economy solution for PV and LIB. This presentation explores the current U.S. law and regulatory landscape for the reuse and recycling of PV and LIB materials, and how certain policy frameworks impact reuse and end-of-life management decisions for PV and LIB materials.

batteries↗
NASA NTRS2000

Development of a Battery-Free Solar Refrigerator

Recent technology developments and a systems engineering design approach have led to the development of a practical battery-free solar refrigerator as a spin-off of NASA's aerospace refrigeration research. Off-grid refrigeration is a good application of solar photovoltaic (PV) power if thermal storage is incorporated and a direct connection is made between the cooling system and the PV panel. This was accomplished by integrating water as a phase-change material into a well insulated refrigerator cabinet and by developing a microprocessor based control system that allows direct connection of a PV panel to a variable speed compressor. This second innovation also allowed peak power-point tracking from the PV panel and elimination of batteries from the system. First a laboratory unit was developed to prove the concept and then a commercial unit was produced and deployed in a field test. The laboratory unit was used to test many different configurations including thermoelectric, Stirling and vapor compression cooling systems. The final configuration used a vapor compression cooling cycle, vacuum insulation, a passive condenser, an integral evaporator/ thermal storage tank, two 77 watt PV panels and the novel controller mentioned above. The system's only moving part was the variable speed BD35 compressor made by Danfoss. The 365 liter cabinet stayed cold with as little as 274 watt-hours per day average PV power. Battery-free testing was conducted for several months with very good results. The amount of thermal storage, size of compressor and power of PV panels connected can all be adjusted to optimize the design for a given application and climate. In the commercial unit, the high cost of the vacuum insulated refrigerator cabinet and the stainless steel thermal storage tank were addressed in an effort to make the technology commercially viable. This unit started with a 142 liter, mass-produced chest freezer cabinet that had the evaporator integrated into its inner walls. Its compressor was replaced with a Danfoss DC compressor slightly larger than the one used in the laboratory unit. The control system was integrated onto a single electronics card and packaged with its starting capacitors. The water for thermal storage was placed behind a liner that was made to fit inside the original factory liner. The original condenser was also augmented with additional surface area to improve performance. PV panels with a total rated power of 180 watts were used. The unit was tested with very successful results in an outside ambient environment, demonstrating its potential for widespread use in many off-grid applications for solar refrigeration.

Ewert, Michael K.↗
DOE OSTI2026

High Penetration Solar and Battery Project in Noatak, Alaska

Through funding from the Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy, the Northwest Arctic Borough (NAB) and the Native Village of Noatak (NNV) formed a Tribal Energy Development Organization (TEDO) to implement the Noatak Solar and Battery Project to reduce reliance on costly imported diesel, stabilize energy costs, and strengthen local energy sovereignty.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2004

Arc-Second Pointer for Balloon-Borne Astronomical Instrument

A control system has been designed to keep a balloon-borne scientific instrument pointed toward a celestial object within an angular error of the order of an arc second. The design is intended to be adaptable to a large range of instrument payloads. The initial payload to which the design nominally applies is considered to be a telescope, modeled as a simple thin-walled cylinder 24 ft (approx.= 7.3 m) long, 3 ft (approx.= 0.91 m) in diameter, weighing 1,500 lb (having a mass of .680 kg). The instrument would be mounted on a set of motor-driven gimbals in pitch-yaw configuration. The motors on the gimbals would apply the control torques needed for fine adjustments of the instrument in pitch and yaw. The pitch-yaw mount would, in turn, be suspended from a motor mount at the lower end of a pair of cables hanging down from the balloon (see figure). The motor in this mount would be used to effect coarse azimuth control of the pitch-yaw mount. A notable innovation incorporated in the design is a provision for keeping the gimbal bearings in constant motion. This innovation would eliminate the deleterious effects of static friction . something that must be done in order to achieve the desired arc-second precision. Another notable innovation is the use of linear accelerometers to provide feedback that would facilitate the early detection and counteraction of disturbance torques before they could integrate into significant angular-velocity and angular-position errors. The control software processing the sensor data would be capable of distinguishing between translational and rotational accelerations. The output of the accelerometers is combined with that of angular position and angular-velocity sensors into a proportional + integral + derivative + acceleration control law for the pitch and yaw torque motors. Preliminary calculations have shown that with appropriate gains, the power demand of the control system would be low enough to be satisfiable by means of storage batteries charged by solar batteries during the day.

Ward, Philip R.↗