National Laboratory of the Rockies
The National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in the United States specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Department of Energy and operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, a joint venture between MRIGlobal and Battelle. Located in Golden, Colorado, NREL is home to the National Center for Photovoltaics, the National Bioenergy Center, and the National Wind Technology Center. On December 1, 2025, the Department of Energy announced a new name for NREL, the National Laboratory of the Rockies, pending Congressional authorization.
History
Establishment
During the 1973 oil crisis, soaring energy prices caused gasoline shortages and contributed significantly to inflation. U.S. President Gerald Ford openly recognized the need for greater energy independence at the September 1974 World Energy Conference in Detroit. A month later, the Solar Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Act of 1974 was signed. Section 10 of the bill explicitly outlined the establishment of the Solar Energy Research Institute, which opened in 1977 and was operated by Midwest Research Institute. Paul Rappaport was the founding director. It was the first time a national-scale effort had ever been made to advance solar power.Before 1991
SERI's activities went beyond research and development in solar energy as it tried to popularize knowledge about already existing technologies, like biomass conversion, passive solar, and energy storage. During the first year of operation, thin-film solar cells achieved 10% efficiency. The next year, the Jimmy Carter administration passed the Solar Photovoltaic Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1978. However, by this time, the national effort for an alternative energy source had turned towards nuclear energy. In 1979, Three Mile Island accident occurred, renewing a public interest in alternative renewable solutions, including solar energy.1991–present
In September 1991, the institute was designated a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy by President George H. W. Bush, and its name was changed to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.Renewed interest in energy problems improved the laboratory's position, but funding has fluctuated over the years. In 2011, anticipated congressional budget shortfalls led to a voluntary buyout program for 100 to 150 staff reductions, and in 2015 budget cuts led to staff layoffs and further buyouts.
Martin Keller became NREL's ninth director in November 2015, and currently serves as both the director of the laboratory and the president of its operating contractor, Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. He succeeded Dan Arvizu, who retired in September 2015 after 10 years in those roles.
Department of Energy funding
In fiscal year 2020, congressional appropriations for the Department of Energy contained $464.3 million for NREL. This total included the following amounts for its renewable energy technology programs:- Solar energy: $122.4 million
- Wind power: $30.0 million
- Bioenergy: $56.3 million
- Hydrogen and fuel cells: $17.6 million
- Geothermal: $1.8 million
- Hydropower: $15.8 million
Commercialization and technology transfer
In recognition of its efforts in innovation and technology transfer, NREL has received numerous R&D 100 Awards. These awards acknowledge advancements in scientific research with potential market applications. Additionally, NREL offers an external user access program. This program is designed to enable researchers from outside the laboratory to utilize the Energy Systems Integration Facility, providing them with an opportunity to collaborate with NREL's staff in the development and evaluation of energy technologies.
National Center for Photovoltaics
The goal of the photovoltaics research done at NREL is to decrease the "nation's reliance on fossil-fuel generated electricity by lowering the cost of delivered electricity and improving the efficiency of PV modules and systems."Photovoltaic research at NREL is performed under the National Center for Photovoltaics. A primary mission of the NCPV is to support ongoing efforts of the DOE's SunShot Initiative, which wants to increase the availability of solar power at a cost competitive with other energy sources. The NCPV coordinates its research and goals with researchers from across the country, including the Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies Center and the Bay Area PV Consortium. NCPV also partners with many universities and other industry partners. NREL brings in dozens of students annually through the Solar University-National lab Ultra-effective Program, which was created to facilitate existing and new interactions between universities and the laboratory.
The lab maintains a number of research partnerships for PV research.
Research and development
Some of the areas of PV R&D include the physical properties of PV panels, performance and reliability of PV, junction formation, and research into photo-electrochemical materials.Through this research, NREL hopes to surpass current technologies in efficiency and cost-competitiveness and reach the overall goal of generating electricity at $0.06/kWh for grid-tied PV systems.
NREL identifies the following as cornerstones to its PV R&D program: the Thin-Film Partnership and the PV Manufacturing R&D Project.
The Thin Film Partnership Program at NREL coordinates national research teams of manufacturers, academics, and NREL scientists on a variety of subjects relating to thin-film PV. The research areas of the Thin Film Partnership Program include amorphous silicon, copper indium diselenide and, cadmium telluride, and module reliability.
NREL's PV Manufacturing Research and Development Project is an ongoing partnership between NREL and private sector solar manufacturing companies. It started in 1991 as the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology project and was extended and renamed in 2001 due to its success as a project. The overall goal of research done under the PV Manufacturing R&D Project is to help maintain a strong market position for US solar companies by researching ways to reduce costs to manufacturers and customers and improving the manufacturing process. It is estimated that the project has helped to reduce manufacturing cost for PV panels by more than 50%.
Examples of achievements under the PV Manufacturing Research and Development Project include the development of a manufacturing process that increase the production of silicon solar modules by 8% without increasing costs and the development of a new boron coating process that reduces solar costs over traditional processes.
Testing
NREL is capable of providing testing and evaluation to the PV industry with indoor, outdoor, and field testing facilities. NREL is able to provide testing on long-term performance, reliability, and component failure for PV systems. NREL also has accelerated testing capabilities from both PV cells and system components to identify areas of potential long-term degradation and failure. The Photovoltaic Device Performance group at NREL is able to measure the performance of PV cells and modules with regard to a standard or customized reference set. This allows NREL to serve as independent facility for verifying device performance. NREL allows industry members to test and evaluate potential products, with the hope that it will lead to more cost effective and reliable technology. The overall goal is to help improve the reliability in the PV industry.Deployment
NREL also seeks to raise public awareness of PV technologies through its deployment services. NREL provides a number of technical and non-technical publications intended to help raise consumer awareness and understanding of solar PV. Scientists at NREL perform research into energy markets and how to develop the solar energy market. They also perform research and outreach in the area of building-integrated PV. NREL is also an active organizer and sponsor in the DOE's Solar Decathlon.NREL provides information on solar energy, beyond the scientific papers on research done at the lab. The lab provides publications on solar resources and manuals on different applications of solar technology, as well as a number of different solar resource models and tools. The lab also makes available a number of different solar resource data sets in its Renewable Resource Data Center.