Renewables Domain
About Renewable Energy
Renewable energy brings numerous advantages that can affect the economy, environment, national security, and human health. Renewable energy sources include wind energy, solar energy, bioenergy, geothermal energy, hydropower, and marine energy. Renewable energy generates about 20% of all US electricity; the United States is a resource-rich country with renewable energy resources 100x that of the nation’s annual electricity need; it just remains a matter of harnessing and utilizing these resources through advanced technology. Both an expansion of current technology deployment and emerging technology research will enable increased access to the Nation’s renewable energy potential.
Emerging Technologies
Emerging renewable energy technologies are being made possible by two-way communications technologies, control systems, and computer processing. Advanced emerging renewable technology categories include
Novel Materials and Manufacturing Processes
Automated Installation
Local Control Optimization and Integration of Distributed Resources
Low-Impact Applications
Enhanced Geothermal Energy Capture
Floating Offshore Turbine Technologies
Biomass Gasification
Underwater Tidal Energy Technologies
Microbial Fuel Cell Technology
Intellectual Property
27
IP available for licensing
Categories
Solar/ Photovoltaic
Solar/Photo-electrochemical
Concentrated Solar Photovoltaics
Hydrogen
Thermal energy storage
Other renewable energy
Renewables Test Bed Facilities
Advanced Light Source (ALS)
Location: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Specialized particle accelerator that generates bright beams of x-ray light. Used by researchers in materials science, biology, chemistry, physics, and the environmental sciences.
Molecular Foundry
Location: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation, laboratories, and computational resources for nanomaterial synthesis, characterization, fabrication, and theory
FLEXLAB® for Buildings, Renewables and Grid Microreactor
Location: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
One-of-a-kind testing facility for energy-efficient building technologies, grid technologies, and distributed energy resources testing individually or as an integrated system, under real-world conditions that is helping to develop the next generation of innovative, energy-saving systems.
Renewables and Microgrid Testbed
Location: Idaho National Lab
The microgrid test bed at INL includes solar panels, energy storage devices, load banks, smart inverters, a power distribution system and multiple switchgear sets. The system’s load control capabilities and grid interaction algorithms allow researchers to study demand response, peak shaving and ancillary services, and to test component interactions, performance, controls and integration challenges.
Center for Nanoscale Materials
Location: Argonne National Lab
Provides researchers from across the globe with world-class expertise and instrumentation for multidisciplinary nanoscience and nanotechnology research.
Materials Engineering Research Facility
Location: Argonne National Lab
Staff at MERF apply advanced synthesis and processing protocols, advanced in situ/operando characterization and modeling/simulation for the science-based scale-up of newly invented experimental materials and chemicals. The facility produces kilogram quantities of materials and makes samples available for industrial evaluation, prototyping, and to support further research. The MERF develops economically viable processes for materials manufacturing at scale and produces detailed process descriptions for accurate techno-economic modeling.
Fuel Cell Electrolyser Research and Test Facility
Location: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
The Berkeley Lab fuel cell and electrolyzer research and test facility (Energy Conversion Group) has a complete set of capabilities for the fabrication and testing of membrane electrode assemblies and solid oxide cells for low and high temperature fuel cells and electrolyzers.
Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems
Location: Harvard University
Facilities for Nanofabrication, Nanoscale Analysis, and Electron Microscopy
MIT Materials Research and Science Engineering Center (MRSEC) Center for Nanoscale Systems
Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Facilities for Materials Analysis (Surface, Thermal, and Optical), Electron Microscopy, and X-Ray Diffraction
MIT.nano
Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Facilities for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Materials Engineering Research Facility (MERF)
Location: Argonne National Lab
Facilities for:
Combining in situ measurements, real-time analysis, AI, and modeling to accelerate innovation and scale-up for complex materials.
Generating insights into materials synthesis through feedback to discovery science.
Enhancing the scientific basis for the next generation of American manufacturing technologies.
Leading Renewables Innovation
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is the domain chair for Renewables in the Cradle to Commerce program.
LBNL is a multi-program lab where research in advanced materials, life sciences, energy efficiency, and accelerators serves the United States’ needs in technology and the environment. Berkeley Lab’s six research areas contribute unique expertise that supports the DOE’s mission, advances scientific understanding, and addresses the most urgent challenges of our time: biosciences, computing sciences, earth and environmental sciences, energy sciences, energy technology, and physical sciences.
Domain Chair
Galen Barbose
Research Scientist, Electricity Markets and Policy Department, Berkeley Lab
Domain Chair
Nicholas DeForest
Principal Scientific Engineer Associate,
Berkeley Lab
Technology Transfer and Business Lead
Shanshan Li
Principal Technology Commercialization Associate,
Berkeley Lab
DOE Technical Program Manager
Robert Meagley
Technology Manager, Manufacturing and Competitiveness team Solar Energy Technologies Office, U.S. Department of Energy