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Wind energy expert Jose Zayas earlier this year gave a detailed presentation about the evolution, physics, siting considerations, commercial risks and current engineering challenges facing medium- and large-scale wind turbine efforts in the United States. This presentation occurred at the Materials Challenges for Alternative and Renewable Energy.

Zayas, project manager for Sandia National Lab’s Wind and Water Technologies, provides valuable information about the tradeoffs being made among size, speed and materials costs and discusses some of the innovations arising from collaborations between national labs and private industry that are bring about new carbon, fiberglass and carbon–fiberglass systems that are providing greater efficiencies and durability, but are also presenting major new manufacturing challenges. Zayas also discusses the enormous appetite wind turbine construction has for materials, such as fiberglass, and notes that competition for fiberglass with aerospace manufacturing has created a shortage among suppliers. (Note: for glass companies, such as PPG Industries, the demand for fiberglass for wind applications, is allowing the reopening of mothballed factories.)

45 minutes.

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Representative thin crystalline-silicon photovoltaic cells – these are from 14 to 20 micrometers thick and 0.25 to 1 millimeter across. (Image by Murat Okandan)

Via press release, Sandia National Lab announced that scientists have developed microphotovoltaic cells that could revolutionize the way solar energy is collected and used.

The cells are fabricated using microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) techniques common to today’s electronic foundries. They are expected eventually to be less expensive and have greater efficiencies than current photovoltaic collectors that are pieced together with 6-inch- square solar wafers.

Benefits for microphotovoltaic cells include new applications, improved performance, potential for reduced costs and higher efficiencies.

Eventually units could be mass-produced and wrapped around unusual shapes for building-integrated solar, tents and maybe even clothing,” said Sandia lead investigator Greg Nielson. This would make it possible for hunters, hikers or military personnel in the field to recharge batteries for phones, cameras and other electronic devices as they walk or rest.

Other possible applications for the technology include satellites and remote sensing.

From 14 to 20 micrometers thick (a human hair is approximately 70 micrometers thick), microphotovoltacis are 10 times thinner than conventional 6-inch-by-6-inch brick-sized cells, yet perform at about the same efficiency. Because flexible substrates can be easily fabricated, high-efficiency PV for ubiquitous solar power becomes more feasible.

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Via press release, Sandia National Laboratories will use $4.2 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to modify and enhance its existing Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory (BATLab), with the goal of developing low-cost batteries for electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

The tests help to determine how much abuse lithium-ion batteries can safely handle. Sandia tests everything from regular small cells up to full-sized modules and packs for hybrid vehicles.

The DOE-funded FreedomCAR program turned to Sandia to investigate the possibility of safely using lithium-ion batteries. But before lithium-ion batteries could be placed in vehicles, extensive safety tests needed to take place. With the recent stimulus funds, the BATLab will be able to greatly increase the number of tests it does.

The $4.2 million in funding is part of a $104.7 million economic stimulus package to further develop the nation’s efforts in clean energy and efficient technologies across seven DOE national laboratories.

The $104.7 million ARRA funding is concentrated on three priorities: advancing carbon fiber manufacturing and processing technologies to help reduce the weight of vehicles; developing integrated building systems to reduce U.S. carbon emissions and expanding facilities for fabricating and testing advanced battery prototypes for fuel-efficient vehicles.

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Zayas stands next to advanced blades being tested at Bushland, Texas.

I just learned that Jose Zayas, manager of the wind energy technology program at Sandia National Laboratories, will be leading a tutorial session on materials and wind energy applications at next year’s Materials Challenges in Alternative Energy 2010, aka Energy2010, slated for Feb. 21-25, 2010 in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Zayas has been involved with a number of wind-related efforts. Recently, his group has been working with Purdue University to develop improved accelerometer systems for wind turbines blades that monitor blade motions and structural health. Such a system is important for alerting operators that blade modifications may be required to avoid damage. In a recent interview with U.S. News & World Report, Zayas said the Sandia-Purdue project was aimed at identifying the best types of sensors and the best blade locations.

He also served as project leader on the development of the Accurate Time Linked data Acquisition System (ATLAS II). This is a small, reliable, continuously operating system that capable of sampling a large number of signals at once to characterize the inflow, the operational state and the structural response of a wind turbine – using off-the-shelf components

“The system provides us with sufficient data to help us understand how our turbine blade designs perform in real-world conditions, allowing us to improve on the original design and our design codes,” says Zayas.

Atlas units can be placed at various locations on the turbine. Data streams from the different units are merged into a single data stream at the base of the turbine where the ATLAS II software compressed the data and stored them onto a local computer. Data can be monitored in real time via an internet connection.

In the USNWR story, Zayas said, “Wind is very random; it’s very active. You get gusts, you get all kinds of phenomena. Machines need to be designed to withstand all those variabilities.”

Energy2010 will focus on materials challenges and innovations in areas of solar energy, wind power, hydro, geothermal, biomass, nuclear and hydrogen, along with special sessions of advanced battery technologies. To learn more about the meeting and submitting papers, visit the Energy2010 web page.

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One the heels of our story on Western Troy Capital Resources’ little nuke announcement, we get word that a Sandia National Lab team has a new small-reactor design. The reactor’s output is projected to be in the range of 100 to 300 megawatts of thermal power, and structurally it would be “about the size of half a fairly large office building,” as the press release puts it. The small-scale economically efficient nuclear reactor could be mass-assembled in factories and supply power for a medium-size city.

The timing of this release is a little odd because it turns out that it was actually announced last December. Regardless, Tom Sanders is leading the SNL research team that has a goal to create an exportable, proliferation-resistant “right-sized reactor” that incorporates intrinsic safeguards, security and safety, and still can produce electricity for less than five cents per kilowatt hour.

The proposal offers a way for possible export sales of the reactor to developing countries that do not have the infrastructure to support large power generation. The smaller reactor design decreases the potential need for a country to develop an advanced nuclear regulatory framework. As noted by WTCR, there is also a possible market for small reactors in developed countries that have remote cities (like Canada). But SNL acknowledges that the first customers might be military bases in the U.S. and in other countries.

The reactor design includes an integrated monitoring system that provides the exporters of such technologies a means of assuring the safe, secure and legitimate use of nuclear technology.

The reactor system is built around a small uranium core submerged in a tank of liquid sodium. The liquid sodium is piped through the core to carry the heat away to a heat exchanger, which is also submerged in the tank of sodium. In the Sandia system, the reactor heat is transferred to a very efficient supercritical CO₂ turbine to produce electricity. This form of heat management is considered “passive” in as much as a meltdown isn’t possible

The Sandia “right-sized” reactors are breeder reactors, meaning they generate their own fuel as they operate. Thus they are designed to have an extended operational life and only need to be refueled once every couple of decades, which also helps alleviate proliferation concerns.

SNL reports that the reactor will include what the lab terms “nuke-star” antiproliferation technology. Given the relative maturity of reactor technology, it is probably safe to assume that nuke-star technology is really at the center of SNL’s belief that manufacturing reactors at this scale can now move forward. But, understandably, the lab is revealing little about how nuke-star works. Sanders, however, says, “[The reactor core is replaced as a unit and] in effect is a cartridge core for which any intrusion attempt is easily monitored and detected.” The reactor system has no need for operator fuel handling.

About 85 percent of the design efforts are completed for the reactor core. The team is seeking an industry partner through a cooperative research and development agreement. The CRADA team will be able to complete the reactor design and enhance the plant side, which is responsible for turning the steam into electricity.

The lure is, “It could also be a more practical means to implement nuclear-based load capacity comparable to natural gas-fired generating stations and with more manageable financial demands than a conventional power plant,” says Sanders. The cost projections suggest the cost could get down to $250 million once they are made in a mass-production mode.

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