Power to spare: New Battery Test Facility boosts work of power sources team, with big benefits for customers
When Sandia tests the performance of high-capacity energy storage devices, the power sources group frequently would hit obstacles that reduced efficiencies and stretched out schedules. Those obstacles have now been removed with the construction of a 7,500 square-foot Battery Test Facility that enables the team to assemble and test batteries more efficiently for customers to validate whether they perform up to expectations.
Middle school teams design cities of the future
Students from 18 rural and urban middle schools took part in the sixth annual New Mexico Future City Competition regional finals at the UNM School of Architecture and Planning. The students vied for the chance to represent New Mexico at the national Future City Competition in Washington, DC, in February.
Sandia/California hosts DOE deputy secretary
Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Dan Brouillette visited Sandia/California on Dec. 4. It was Brouillette’s first visit to the site.
The benefits of engineered light
The study of LED lighting is still in its infancy, according to Sandia researchers. "Engineered light," light intentionally controlled in time, space and spectral content, can reward human optics with better lighting, help regulate human health and productivity, efficiently stimulate plant growth and increase nutritional value, and more.
Sandia helps provide water data for secure energy supply
Electricity powers nearly two-thirds of all cooking in U.S. homes and most of us don't think about how much water it takes to produce that energy, but Sandia's Vince Tidwell does. His work focuses on the unique relationship between energy production and water use, referred to as the energy-water nexus, and he’s helped to map water availability, cost and use data for power plants.
CRADA boom spurs innovation, collaboration with Sandia Labs
Sandia signed 42 CRADAs in fiscal year 2018, more Cooperative Research and Development Agreements than in any previous year this century, sparking dozens of new collaborations and potential technological innovations. A CRADA is an agreement between a government agency and a nonfederal entity to work together on research and development.
CRADA enables resilient microgrid research between Sandia, Emera Technologies
Sandia and Emera Technologies have signed an 18-month Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to work on microgrids, small-scale versions of interconnected electric grids that locally manage energy storage and resources such as solar, wind and thermal systems, and which may connect to a larger host grid.
Kenneth Armijo wins UNM Zia award
Sandia mechanical engineer Kenneth Armijo, who leads bilingual family science events by night and researches solar energy and assists small businesses by day, received the prestigious Zia Award from his alma mater, the University of New Mexico.
H2AWSM: Cool cars, more fueling stations
Sandia/California celebrated the fourth annual National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day with an event on Oct. 8, highlighting the Labs' advanced research involving hydrogen fuel and how that research impacts transportation energy at the national level.
First-ever Innovation XLab takes energy storage research, technology to investor community
A Sandia team attended DOE’s first-ever Innovation XLab — an event targeting the commercialization and innovation of energy technologies. This particular Innovation XLab focused on energy storage, an essential tool for a reliable, resilient, and flexible power grid and electric vehicles.