NREL and 3M Sign Agreement on Renewable Energy Research, Including Biofuels

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced a series of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with 3M to establish joint investigations in three key areas of innovation: thin-film photovoltaics, concentrating solar power and biofuels.

The CRADAs range from jointly identifying and developing critical aspects of renewable energy technology to accelerated testing of 3M designs and scaling-up successful prototype technologies for commercial production. The agreements last for at least one year.

Areas of investigation and testing under the agreements include:

• New moisture barrier films and flexible packaging for CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) thin film solar cells to increase module performance and reduce manufacturing costs.

• New reflective coatings to protect and enhance the performance of lower-cost mirrors used in concentrating solar power.

• New alternatives to ethanol biofuel distillation that will reduce energy and water use, and increase throughput in existing corn ethanol and future cellulosic ethanol production plants.