April 2021
Department of Energy Funding Boosts US-MAP Research into Perovskites
New funding for perovskites is considered a significant step toward metal halide perovskite PV commercialization.
News Release: New Consortium of Power System Operators and Technical Institutes Commits to Decarbonization Efforts Ahead of President Biden's Leaders' Climate Summit
Global effort announced by the U.S. secretary of energy, U.K. BEIS Department secretary of state, and CEOs of power system operators and organizations from around the world focuses on research, innovation, knowledge exchange, and technical assistance to achieve net-zero-emissions power systems.
Earth Anticipates a Circular Economy for Energy Materials
One of the three key pillars of NREL's vision for the next decade is developing a circular economy for energy materials. This critical objective focuses on reducing waste and preserving resources through the design and manufacture of materials and products with reuse, recycling, and upcycling in mind from the start.
News Release: Devising Wave-Powered Warning Systems: NREL Announces Winners of Ocean Observing Prize DESIGN Contest, Launch of BUILD Contest
NREL is proud to announce the seven winners of the DESIGN Contest, the first of three contests in the Ocean Observing Prize’s DEVELOP Competition, which aims to help protect coastal communities from dangerous storms by conceiving the development of autonomous, wave-powered hurricane monitoring systems.
Thinking Inside the Blade: NREL Takes Novel Approach to 3D-Printed Water Power Prototypes
NREL's Advanced Manufacturing team is applying what they have learned from 3D-printing of wind blade molds to create additively manufactured tidal turbine prototypes.
Google Taps NREL Expertise To Incorporate Energy Optimization into Google Maps Route Guidance
To take a bite out of transportation energy use and emissions and combat climate change, NREL is partnering with Google to develop more eco-friendly routing in Google Maps.
Ten Innovative Teams Emerge Victorious in Round 4 of the American-Made Solar Prize
On April 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy announced 10 finalist teams that are moving forward in the American-Made Solar Prize Round 4 competition.
NREL Announces Winners of the Groundbreaking Hydro Prize
Two winning teams claimed top honors in the Groundbreaking Hydro Prize with their creative concepts to help support hydropower's continued trajectory of growth.
Offshore Wind Data Release Propels Wind Prospecting
Using state-of-the-art modeling tools and sophisticated resource assessment technologies, the Wind Resource Characterization team at NREL makes available new offshore wind data sets through Wind Prospector—a geospatial tool using data from the WIND Toolkit that visualizes data, analyzes the potential for wind energy, and provides wind developers, consultants, and researchers access to updated wind data sets.
Energy I-Corps Just Keeps Growing
"We've put all this investment into energy technologies, and now we want to guide those innovations from the lab into the marketplace," said Shelly Curtiss, Energy-I-Corps program manager, on the program's rapid growth.
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and NREL: Allies in Energy Efficiency, Systems Integration, and Resilience
For Miramar's latest energy management mission, on-the-ground champions and energy experts partnered to build a new efficient, resilient, and cost-effective data center.
Calling All Marine Tech Titans: The Third Marine Energy Collegiate Competition Is Now Open for Applications!
Ready to dive in? The 2022 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition is now open for applications!
What It Takes To Realize a Circular Economy for Solar Photovoltaic System Materials
In a series of three reports, NREL analysts examine options and opportunities to repair, reuse, or recycle solar photovoltaic system materials, moving toward a circular economy.
Scientists Studying Solar Try Solving a Dusty Problem
The accumulation of dust, soot, or other particulates causes a drop in the efficiency of solar panels, which translates to a decline in the amount of power produced and lost income for their operators.
New NREL Tool Can Help Maximize Wind Farm Power Production and Reliability
FAST.Farm, a new mid-fidelity, physics-based engineering modeling tool from NREL, can be used to predict the power performance and structural loads of wind turbines within a wind farm. An extension of OpenFAST, NREL's open-source wind turbine engineering tool, FAST.Farm addresses the dynamics of, and interaction between, each individual turbine in a wind farm.
March 2021
NREL Clears Hurdle to Dynamic Stability for Renewables
To strengthen bulk grid stability for highly renewable grids, NREL has developed a breakthrough impedance measurement system for understanding how wind, solar, and other modern energy devices interact to affect the grid's moment-to-moment stability.
NREL Work Helps Visitors to National Parks Get Home Again
NREL has been consulting with the National Park Service on where to install electric vehicle charging stations at select sites in California. The last of the new charging stations is expected to begin operating by the end of this year.
Q&A with Alexandra Aznar: USAID-NREL Partnership Readies for Rapid Expansion To Help Meet Needs of Global Community
In December of 2020, Alexandra Aznar took over leading the USAID-NREL portfolio, a partnership which currently comprises a mutli-year interagency agreement that spans multiple project to assist over 40 countries around the world.
How To Electrify the Entire Federal Vehicle Fleet: NREL Fuels Smart Management with Data-Driven Research
With the Biden administration announcing a push to electrify the entire federal fleet, NREL's work supporting energy-savvy fleet management is more critical and timely than ever.
Giving Kids the Building Blocks To Envision a Solar Future
As part of NREL's InSPIRE Project, NREL senior analyst Jordan Macknick helped dream up a LEGO solar farm design to educate about energy, water, and food.
Last Updated Jan. 22, 2026