From SERI to NREL: A National Laboratory Origin Story

In this episode, hosts Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle take us  on a journey through time exploring the origins of NREL. Beginning with the establishment in 1973 of the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) after the oil embargo, SERI soon expanded into wind and other renewable technologies.

The hosts discuss a dynamic journey marked by political changes, budget fluctuations, technological breakthroughs, and influential leadership shifts that shaped SERI's transformation into NREL in 1991, marking a pivotal moment in the laboratory's history.  

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at podcast@nrel.gov. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.

Transcript

[title music, fades out]  

Kerrin: Welcome to Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast, brought to you by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. We’re highlighting the latest in clean energy research happening at the lab.  

Taylor: I’m Taylor Mankle.  

Kerrin: And I’m Kerrin Jeromin. Taylor, I think we should take a little trip for today’s episode.  

Taylor: Oh, a field trip! I want to guess where we’re going: Are we taking any planes, trains, or automobiles?  

Kerrin: Maybe all of the above, who knows. But great pop culture reference, you know I love that, and I’m going to throw in another reference to one of my favorite quotes in a movie. “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”  

Taylor: Ah, so we’re taking the DeLorean!  

Kerrin: Ah ha! Got it. I knew you wouldn’t miss that Back to the Future reference. But we are traveling back in time today: to the 1970s and the birth of NREL.  

Taylor: Ah, good thing I packed snacks and some bell bottoms! Let’s hit it!  

[time machine sound]  

[70s sound in the background of Kerrin talking]  

Kerrin: Welcome to 1977: The year that gave birth to Star Wars, Apple Computers, and the Solar Energy Research Institute, or SERI.  

[70s sound fades out]  

Taylor: Opened July 5 of 1977 in Golden, Colorado, SERI was the first federal facility dedicated to developing solar power. It launched under Director Paul Rappaport, a Princeton-based photovoltaic researcher.  

Kerrin: And it opened right across the street from NREL’s current South Table Mountain campus, in the Denver West Office Park, it’s located about a 20 minute shot west of downtown Denver.  

Taylor: Shoutout to our Building 16 NRELians!  

Kerrin: Heyo! 

Taylor: I think to understand why SERI opened, and what this has to do with NREL, we may need to turn the dial back on this time machine even a little further, to 1973.  

Kerrin: Mm- good thinking. To the year of the U.S. energy crisis!  

[time machine sound]  

Taylor: So it’s 1973, the Arab-Israeli War is happening, and the United States decides to provide aid to Israel. In retaliation, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries raises the price of oil to more than 5 dollars per barrel. Later in the year, Saudia Arabia cuts off oil exports to the United States completely—sparking a full-blown energy crisis.  

Kerrin: Yeah, and this oil embargo results in a nationwide gas shortage. Cars are spending hours waiting in long lines at gas stations and stations are putting limits on how many gallons could be purchased per car; it’s chaos. NREL Research Fellow Bob Thresher recalls his experience.  

[Bob Thresher]: “I sat in the gas line for five or six hours, as many other people did, but, at that point, sitting in a gas line, I really had sort of an anger that probably isn’t quite subdued even today. I just didn’t see any reason why we should be dependent on other people. It seemed like we should be able to generate our own energy one way or another. That was kind of a catalyst and I vowed that, the first opportunity I got, I was going to try and work to do something about that … It was the oil embargo that inspired a lot of people to take a look at some things that were maybe a little different.”  

Taylor: By October of 1974, President Gerald Ford establishes the Energy Research and Development Administration and signs the Solar Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act. This Act launches the formation of SERI and marks the first time the country would tackle energy issues through a center of innovation to create and market renewable energy technologies, instead of just through policy.  

Kerrin: So, jumping back to 1977 and Jimmy Carter’s presidency, we already know that SERI opens in July, and by August, President Carter forms the U.S. Department of Energy.  

[Thresher]: Well, the big thing that happened under Jimmy Carter was that they created the Department of Energy, and so under that all of this got consolidated; and the Atomic Energy Commission: those labs were part of DoE. And so the Sandia, Argonne, PNNL, Oak Ridge—all of the different labs were part of DoE, and different ones contributed parts to the development of the program.  

Taylor: And this replaces the Energy, Research, and Development Administration.  

Kerrin: Yep! And meanwhile, SERI begins taking on wind research and development, expanding beyond its solar roots and setting the stage for its future as a national laboratory.  

Taylor: The following years at SERI include a visit from President Carter, the new May 3rd holiday of “Sun Day” commemorating the dawn of a new solar age, and efforts to develop solar voltaic systems, wind turbines, a biomass converter, and a model of a solar power plant.  

Kerrin: It wasn’t easy. Even while the Iranian Revolution of 1979 further destabilized the Middle East, the Three Mile Island disaster cast a pall on nuclear energy, and the beginnings of a new oil panic sent prices from $13 to $34 per barrel—domestic drilling in Alaska and a new administration in Washington brought the focus back to non-renewables.  

Taylor: And in 1980, SERI lost its director: Rappaport passed away on April 21, the eve of Earth Day.  

Kerrin: It’s interesting you mention Earth Day because Rappaport’s successor was actually the co-founder of Earth Day, Denis Hayes.  

Taylor: Hm, no kidding! The 80’s proved to be a turbulent decade as the laboratory faced funding cuts and uncertainty, as well as several more lab directors. But, motivated by the institute’s mission for renewables, SERI’s researchers and staff pushed forward.  

Kerrin: Ok, so let’s jump to September 16, 1991.  

Taylor: Now that was a good day.  

Kerrin: Uh, do you remember exactly what you were doing? I wish I could remember what I was doing that day, I can’t tell you. But, I do know that this, on this day, September 16, 1991, President George H.W. Bush elevates SERI to national lab status – that’s a good day right there - renaming it to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or, as we lovingly call it today: NREL.  

Taylor: What an origin story! Of course, really—that’s where NREL’s story is just beginning. But let’s save what happens next for another episode!  

Kerrin: I think you’re right. Let’s get the DeLorean back to 2023 before the flux capacitor runs out of fuel—and we run out of snacks.  

[time machine sounds]  

Taylor: Thanks for listening to this episode of Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast. I’m Taylor Mankle.  

Kerrin: And I’m Kerrin Jeromin. We’ll be back in two weeks with more news from NREL.  

[fade in title music]  

Taylor: This episode was adapted from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory History Project by Kim Adams. Our theme music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino, of Drift B-C. This podcast is produced by NREL’s Communications Office and recorded at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. We recognize and pay respect to the Indigenous peoples from our past, present, and future, and are grateful to those who have and continue to be stewards of this land.  

[title music, fades]