Wind Power

Material Moves Wind Turbine Blades Toward Recyclability

The material can be recycled, making renewable energy more sustainable while lowering costs in the process.

Q&A: Oil and Gas Wells for Energy Storage

USC researchers found a way to use idle oil and gas wells for energy storage.

High-Efficiency Megawatt Motor

This partially superconducting machine can be used as a motor or generator.

Self-Powered Alarm Fights Forest Fires, Monitors Environment

A remote forest fire detection and alarm system is powered by nothing but the movement of trees in the wind.

Machine Learning Method for Battery Development

The method slashes battery testing times — a key barrier to longer-lasting, faster-charging batteries for electric vehicles.

Continuous Fiber Composite for Use in Gears

This lightweight material brings strength and durability to complex shapes.

Wind Event Warning System

NASA Langley Research Center developed a wind event warning technology that provides a practical early warning system (5-10 minutes) for a severe change in the wind vector. Events such as gusts, shear, microbursts,...

Automated Guided Wave System for In-Process Cure Monitoring of CFRP Composite Laminates

In the polymer composites industry, cure cycles are typically developed from trial-and-error or a more effective processing science approach to reduce...

Rotary Electrical Contact

Researchers have developed a fundamentally new type of rotary electrical contact that addresses the two limitations of conventional brush/slip ring technology: 1) short operating lifetime due to sliding-contact...

Material Removes Ice Buildup Without Power or Chemicals

From airplane wings, to overhead power lines, to the giant blades of wind turbines, a buildup of ice can cause problems ranging from impaired performance all the way to catastrophic...

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

In 1977, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, Golden, CO) started as the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), spurred by national concern during the 1973 oil embargo that caused long...

Mobile Power Distribution System

Mobile or transportable power supply and distribution systems are needed for various types of work that require electrical power in a field or outdoor environment — such as construction and environmental...

“Intelligent” Rotor Blades React Quickly to Changing Conditions

The giant rotor blades are one central part of a wind turbine. Researchers developed a rotor blade that makes more efficient use of large fluctuations in wind strength using...

Facility Focus: Argonne National Laboratory

Located in Argonne, IL, Argonne National Laboratory (ARL) is a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center. Born out of the University of Chicago’s work on the Manhattan Project in...

Radar Scanner Tests Wind Turbine Blades for Defects

Wind power has become an indispensable part of an environmentally friendly power supply. Therefore, it is important for this growth market that wind turbines become more efficient, more...

Electricity Generator Mimics Trees

Iowa State University scientists have built a device that mimics the branches and leaves of a cottonwood tree and generates electricity when its artificial leaves sway in the wind. The device is derived...

New Radar Measures Flow Fields for More Intelligent Wind Farms

Texas Tech University scientists have brought the wind power industry one step closer to its potential with the creation of a system to measure wind flow and control...

Spray-on formula could ice-proof airplanes, power lines, windshields

On your car windshield, ice is a nuisance. But on an airplane, wind turbine, oil rig, or power line, it can be downright dangerous. And removing it with the methods...

NASA Tests Revolutionary E-Sail Propulsion Technology

Testing has started at NASA on a concept called the Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transit System (HERTS), a propellant-less propulsion system that would harness solar wind to travel...

Gigantic Blades Could Generate More Offshore Energy

A new design for gigantic blades longer than two football fields could help bring offshore 50-megawatt (MW) wind turbines to the United States and the world. Sandia National...

New Technology Could Reduce Wind Energy Costs

Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a novel technique to predict when bearings inside wind turbines will fail, which could make wind energy cheaper. The method uses...

Second, Smaller Rotor Increases Wind Turbine Efficiency

Large wind turbine blades disturb the wind, creating a wake behind them and reducing the energy harvest of any downwind turbines. A turbine sitting in the slipstream of another can...

Pumped Subsea Energy Storage

A local energy source is desired for near-shore and offshore applications. Gas generators, diesel generators, and long-length submerged power cables tend to be expensive. A proposed solution is to use offshore...