www.solar-pv-management.com
SolarXTRA ⟡ news digest
Collaborative effort demonstrates commitment to meeting the nation’s clean energy
NREL and 3M Sign Agreement on Renewable Energy Research
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) today announced a series of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with 3M, the St. Paul, Minn.- based technology company. The collaborative effort demonstrates both 3M’s and NREL’s commitments to meeting the nation’s clean energy needs by developing technologies that are vital to producing large-scale sources of new renewable electricity and fuel at competitive costs.
The agreements between NREL and 3M establish joint investigations in three key areas of innovation: thin-film photovoltaics, concentrating solar power and biofuels.
The CRADAs range from jointly identifying and developing critical aspects of renewable energy technology to accelerated testing of 3M designs and scaling-up successful prototype technologies for commercial production. The agreements last for at least one year.
“CRADAs like these with 3M not only help shift the nation to a clean energy, but they also establish and expand important partnerships for product development through technology transfer,” NREL Senior Vice President of Commercialization and Deployment Casey Porto said. “3M’s wide-ranging expertise and commitment in these fields makes this a key partnership for the laboratory.”
102
“3M is excited for the opportunity to tap into NREL’s expertise and understanding of a variety of solar modules and the interplay between the materials and systems,” said Mike Roman, general manager and vice president of 3M Renewable Energy Division. “Also, NREL has pilot plant capabilities, which allow valuable application testing of 3M’s biofuel distillation technologies in a controllable and scalable environment.”
Areas of investigation and testing under the agreements include:
• New moisture barrier films and flexible packaging for CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) thin film solar cells to increase module performance and reduce manufacturing costs
• New reflective coatings to protect and enhance the performance of lower-cost mirrors used in concentrating solar power
• New alternatives to ethanol biofuel distillation that will reduce energy and water use, and increase throughput in existing corn ethanol and future cellulosic ethanol production plants
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104