Alternative energy

News and Updates

Sunlight shines through solar panel backsheet.

NIST Study Uncovers a Potential Driver of Premature Solar Panel Failures

March 10, 2020

Unlike diamonds, solar panels are not forever. Ultraviolet rays, gusts of wind and heavy rain wear away at them over their lifetime. Manufacturers typically

View from above, taken by a drone, of large array of solar panels on the campus of NIST near buildings and parking lots

NIST Celebrates Earth Day with a Massive New Solar Energy Array

April 22, 2019

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) held a ribbon-cutting today on its newest and largest

Illustration of sunlight shining on solar panel covered with nanometer-scale beads.

Psst! A Whispering Gallery for Light Boosts Solar Cells

April 13, 2018

Trapping light with an optical version of a whispering gallery, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a

Projects and Programs

Fundamental Chemical Metrology

The Chemical Sciences Division serves as the Nation's reference laboratory for chemical compositional measurements and standards to enhance U.S. industry's

Smart Grid Interoperability Testbed Facility

NIST is charged by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) with facilitation of interoperability standards to enable successful implementation of

Sub-nanoscale electron microscopy of complex nanostructures

The aim of this project is to develop robust, quantitative measurement methods utilizing transmission electron microscopy methods for complex, nanostructured

Electron-Beam Irradiation of Solar Cells

The Dosimetry Group operates a system capable of performing electron beam processing, which consists of a Van de Graaff electron accelerator and a sample

Publications

Building Industry Reporting and Design for Sustainability (BIRDS) Low-Energy Residential Incremental Energy Efficiency Improvements Database Technical Manual: Update

September 22, 2020

Author(s)

Joshua D. Kneifel, Eric G. O'Rear, Priya D. Lavappa, Anne L. Greig, Sangwon Suh

Understanding Photovoltaic Energy Losses under Indoor Lighting Conditions

July 28, 2020

Author(s)

Behrang H. Hamadani

The external luminescence quantum yield as a function of the solar cell current density when exposed to low indoor light was estimated based on absolute

Working Fluid Screening for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Applications

July 27, 2020

Author(s)

Ian H. Bell

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is among the small number of renewable energy production systems that can provide base load capacity. Ammonia has long

Estimation of the critical external heat leading to the failure of lithium-ion batteries

June 29, 2020

Author(s)

Wei Tang, Wai Cheong Tam, Liming Yuan, Thomas Dubaniewicz, Richard Thomas, John Soles

A detailed experimental investigation on the critical external heat leading to the failure of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries was conducted using an Accelerating

Software

AFUEBF Program

October 15, 2015

CALCULATION OF ANNUAL FUEL UTILIZATION EFFICIENCY OF RESIDENTIAL CENTRAL FURNACES AND BOILERSThe AFUEBF program available at this website can be used to

LoopDA

March 13, 2012

LoopDA is a natural ventilation design tool developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Version 3.0 is an update to the original version 1

Tools and Instruments

Material Analysis Using Neutron Depth Profiling

Light elements such as helium, lithium, boron, and nitrogen are essential constituents in materials that enable energy technologies; lithium ion batteries

Apparatus for the Measurement of High Temperature Thermoelectric Transport Properties

The Seebeck coefficient is a physical parameter routinely measured to identify the potential thermoelectric performance of a material. However, researchers