Contributing National Laboratories

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) was established by the Solar Energy Research Development and Demonstration Act of 1974. Originally called the Solar Energy Research Institute, NREL began operating in July 1977 and was designated a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in September 1991.

NREL's mission is to develop renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and practices, advance related science and engineering, and transfer knowledge and innovations to address the nation's energy and environmental goals.

NREL conducts research in almost 50 areas of scientific investigation include basic energy research, photovoltaics, wind energy, building technologies, advanced vehicle technologies, solar thermal electric, hydrogen, superconductivity, geothermal power and distributed energy resources.