The National Labs and CHP
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory improves distributed generation (DG) technologies through research and development supported by DOE's Distributed Energy and Electric Reliability Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by developing new, enhanced materials and by performing DER systems integration and analysis.
ORNL provides the Combined Cooling, Heating and Power (CHP) Integration Laboratory, a National User Test Facility that tests and demonstrates the use of integrated CHP systems in recapturing and using thermal energy that is wasted as discarded heat in conventional power production
ORNL Heating and Cooling Equipment R&D area focuses on laboratory and field research, design, and testing of heating and cooling systems, refrigeration systems, components, and replacement refrigerants.
National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL)
The US Department of Energy's premier laboratory for renewable energy research & development and an EERE lead lab for energy efficiency R&D. NREL's Distributed Energy and Electric Reliability Program applies its unique analytical and experimental capabilities to advance distributed generation (DG) and thermal energy recycling science and engineering and promote energy efficient combined heat and power (CHP).
NREL conducts electrical interconnection R&D at its Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Systems Interconnection Test Laboratory. Work here develops renewable and efficient DG technologies that enable storage and direct load control approaches and provides technical leadership to effective national interconnect standards.
NREL's Advanced HVAC and Thermal Conversion Laboratory, part of its Advanced Desiccant Cooling and Dehumidification Program, accelerates the development of waste heat recovery systems and thermally activated technologies (TAT) that provide heating, cooling, and dehumidification to maximize CHP efficiency. This facility provides detailed data on all types of full-scale TAT prototypes and state-of-the-art equipment with high speed and accuracy for use in optimizing CHP systems and national performance certification standards.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNL)
Anne Marie Borbely-Bartis, a contractor with Battelle-PNL, is working with the Department of Energy holding DER Road Shows across the country to educate local building code officials about CHP technologies and other distributed energy resources. The Road Shows are aimed at code officials so that the permitting process can run smoother.
DER Road Show Report Summaries for the Northeast and Midwest (Fall 2002)
LBL's has a Distributed Energy Resources Program within its Electricity Market Studies area conducts integrated assessments of patterns of distributed energy resource adoption. View LBL's DER Publications.
The Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS) was formed in 1999 to research, develop, and disseminate new methods, tools, and technologies to protect and enhance the reliability of the U.S. electric power system in the transition to a competitive electricity market structure. CERTS program is managed by LBL, but is a combined effort several national labs and research universities. CERTS is conducting public-interest electricity reliability research in four areas:
