Building Reliability in Transmission, Solar Panels, and Islanded Communities

This episode discusses three recent stories from NREL:  

1. Dynamic Line Ratings, a crucial upgrade for our transmission system's future, are like adjusting a road's speed limit based on weather conditions. By utilizing real-time weather monitoring, we can increase power transmission when it's safe, ensuring efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness, which offers a bright forecast for our clean energy journey.
2. The DuraMAT Consortium, spearheaded by NREL, addresses rapid changes in the solar industry, providing vital guidance for building reliable, durable solar panels amidst major growth in 2023. Their recent annual report unveils groundbreaking strategies and recommendations, promising long-term benefits for both manufacturers and consumers in the evolving solar energy landscape.
3. Eastport, Maine, faces energy challenges exacerbated by storms and high costs, prompting its involvement in the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP), where it focuses on resilient power systems and energy-efficient homes. By harnessing tidal power and analyzing energy-saving measures, ETIPP offers Eastport pathways to create a reliable, cost-effective, and resilient grid.

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

[intro music, fades]  

Taylor: 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 and innovations happening at the lab. It’s Wednesday, June 12. I’m Taylor Mankle.  

Kerrin: And I’m Kerrin Jeromin. Taylor, I am so happy to have you back, my friend. I’m going to try not to sing … [unintelligible singing]. 

Taylor: It’s good to be back, Kerrin. I missed sharing the latest and greatest from the lab with our audience, but loved tuning in from afar, as the great work here never slows down.

Kerrin: You can always count on important work happening at the lab! And, today is no different, as reliability is the theme of this episode! We’re going to talk about a reliable way to increase efficiency through our transmission system, guidance on building reliable, durable solar panels, and assisting a community build up resilience and reliability in the face of disruptive power outages.  

[music]  

Kerrin: Taylor, while you were out and traveling, I bet you saw pretty nice sights, huh?  

Taylor: I did! From the stunning forests of the Pacific Northwest to the sprawling plains of the Midwest, lots of nice sights to soak in.

Kerrin: Uh, that sounds amazing, I am a little bit jealous. I bet you also saw transmission in action. 

Taylor: That’s right.

Kerrin: Power lines. Which are crucial to moving energy across the nation. And the whole transmission system will need to be upgraded to get us to our clean energy future.  

Taylor: We all see them almost daily and it’s easy to take them for granted, but the power lines that crisscross the country are going to need to carry clean energy across longer distances. And NREL researchers have identified four options to improve our transmission system: dynamic line ratings, flexible alternative current systems, high voltage direct current lines, and higher voltage alternative current lines.

Kerrin: In this episode, we’re just looking at the first option, which is Dynamic Line Ratings. And the best way to understand Dynamic Line Ratings is to think of a power line like a road. On a road there are speed limits, and the weather impacts road conditions, which affects how you drive.  

Taylor: And power lines are the same! Line ratings are the speed limits, representing the maximum amount of power that is safe to transmit through a line. And just like how the weather impacts the speed at which it’s safe to drive, it can also impact the amount of power it is safe to move through lines.  

Kerrin: Right, and dynamic line ratings look to take advantage of the weather changes to move more power—and less when conditions aren’t optimal. For instance, on a hot day the transmission lines heat up and then stretch out, causing them to sag—which can be bad news if they touch trees or vegetation. So, to prevent the risk of a fire, we limit the amount of power that runs through the lines. 

Taylor: And the flipside is during colder weather that cools the lines off, we can increase the power moving through. Senior research fellow, Paul Denholm, explains.  

Paul Denholm: “What we want to do with dynamic line ratings is basically look outside, see what the weather is like and if it’s cold and windy, say, ‘You know what we can put more power on that transmission line.’ So dynamic line ratings in real time monitor local weather conditions along parts of the line and say, ‘you know what, it’s cooler. Let’s increase the power rating of this line by 5 or 10%.” 

 Kerrin: By retrofitting our current transmission lines with weather monitors, grid operators can adjust the line rating, boosting the carrying capacity when it is safe to do so.  

Taylor: Plus, by using the lines we already have in place across the country, and using them more efficiently, we can increase grid reliability and lower costs. It’s what Denholm called a “very safe bet.”   

Kerrin: Sounds like a bright forecast for the future of power transmission!   

 [music] 

Taylor: Speaking of bright things, let’s talk solar energy. They may not look it, but solar panels are rapidly changing, which is due to the rapid changes within the solar panel industry.   

Kerrin:  Right. 2023 was a major growth period for the industry. And while all that growth is exciting, it’s also important that we have some guidance on building reliable, durable solar panels. That’s where the DuraMAT Consortium comes in.  

Taylor: The Durable Module Materials—DuraMAT—Consortium is led by NREL with Sandia National Laboratories and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab as the core research labs and is funded by the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technology Office.  

Kerrin: The DuraMAT group saw all this growth and change in the solar industry and seized the opportunity to support the booming domestic manufacturing and deployment sectors by developing better guidance for how to build reliable, durable solar panels.  

Taylor: Currently, reliability testing in the solar industry relies on factors observed in the field with existing panels, but the industry is evolving so quickly that the performance of today's fielded panels is no longer always a reliable of an indicator of what will happen in the future. 

Kerrin: As they lay out in their latest annual report, DuraMAT researchers are working to understand how factors like UV light, cracked glass, and the breakdown of the glue that holds panels together affect how those panels degrade (or don’t!) over time. Their goal is to be able to forecast the reliability of a panel—rather than just sticking it outside and waiting 30 years to see how it fares! 

Taylor: To really simplify it, the report provides new strategies and recommendations on solar panels, which will benefit manufacturers and consumers for years to come!  

[music] 

 Kerrin: When you think about Maine, I bet most people would think about the ocean, lobsters, maybe Stephen King books, since it seems like they’re all set there, right? But I don’t know that people would think of islanded communities with unstable power and high energy costs.  

Taylor: You know, you may not, but that’s the case for the 1,300 residents of the city of Eastport in Maine—the easternmost point of the continental United States. Eastport is a bridged island connected to the mainland by a single causeway. The community faces powerful Atlantic Ocean winds and is susceptible to disruptive power outages.  

Kerrin: These challenges brought Eastport to the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project – also known as ETIPP – which is a U.S. Department of Energy program coordinated by NREL that includes technical assistance and cash awards to help coastal, remote, and island communities become more energy resilient.  

Taylor: We’ve talked about ETIPP in previous episodes but it’s still one of my favorites. 

Kerrin: Same.

Taylor: It helps so many communities transform their energy systems. And Eastport focused its ETIPP project on resilient power systems and energy-efficient homes, while also considering local economic opportunities and ensuring community engagement with the planning process. 

Kerrin: The community focused on learning about microgrid options to provide backup power; coordinating with local energy-efficiency and electrification efforts; and providing educational resources to residents about the proposed microgrid. Let’s get educational here.

Taylor: Mm – hmm. 

Kerrin: I like to think of microgrids like a piggy bank. 

Taylor: Okay.

Kerrin: And the different coins, like nickels and quarters, are like unique energy sources – wind, solar, or even battery storage. 

Taylor: Sure.

Kerrin: What you add in stores up over time, to provide a reliable backup source when you really need it.  

Taylor: In piggy, it’s money … in microgrids, it’s electricity that might come from various local sources. 

Kerrin: Right.

Taylor: The ETIPP team was looking to take advantage of a local source that this community has a lot of, that being, tidal power. According to NREL research, Maine’s tidal power is one of the strongest in the country. And the ETIPP researchers analyzed the potential for incorporating tidal energy and solar panels to generate microgrid power and the battery energy storage system requirements to store this renewable energy.  

Kerrin: Eastport City Council Member Jeanne Peacock speaks about the benefits of harnessing tidal power.  

 Jeanne Peacock: “Like tidal power is constant, you don't have to wait for the sun to come out. You don't have to wait for the wind to blow. That current is going and it's going strong, so. Ideally we would have a good constant source of energy which is very exciting.”  

Kerrin: Beyond the marine energy available, the ETIPP team also offered ideas around reducing residential energy costs. So, taking a look at the energy savings by weatherizing homes, using heat pumps, and incorporating electric vehicles.  

Taylor: Finally, the ETIPP researchers provided cost and savings data—along with workforce needs—to help the Eastport community assess the potential economic benefits for the microgrid and energy efficiency options. They found that a microgrid could create job opportunities for local companies, and energy efficiency projects could lower a household’s energy bills by more than, get this, 3,000 dollars a year while making homes more comfortable!  

Kerrin: It sounds like Eastport has a few pathways to create a reliable and resilient grid, while decreasing costs!  

[music] 

Taylor: Another one for the books, Kerrin.  

Kerrin: Ugh, yes! And before we close out we wanted to say Happy Pride Month everyone! 

Taylor: Yes!

Kerrin: NREL hosted a pride flag raising and is doing some fun social media posts about the great LGBTQIA+ folks who are transforming energy across the lab.  

Taylor: We love to see it. I was able to be a part of that flag raising ceremony. 

Kerrin: I love it. 

Taylor: Absolutely wonderful event to kick off this great month. And, uh, while you’re checking all of that out, be sure to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or send us an email at podcast@nrel.gov. Thanks for listening, everybody!  

Kerrin: We’ll be back in two weeks with more news from the lab.  

[music] 

Kerrin: This episode was adapted from NREL news articles from May 2024 written by Timothy Meehan, Emily Mercer, Harrison Dreves, Sara Fall, and Brooke Van Zandt. 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 been and continue to be stewards of this land.