Smart Ideas Wanted for Grid Modernization
August 2nd, 2018A consortium of national labs and nonprofit organizations has announced a call for concepts to engage the smart grid community in demonstrating visionary interoperability capabilities on how facilities with distributed energy resources, or DERs, integrate and interact with the utility grid.
New Competition for MOFs: Scientists Make Stronger COFs
August 1st, 2018Hollow molecular structures known as COFs suffer from an inherent problem: It’s difficult to keep a network of COFs connected in harsh chemical environments. Now, a team at the Berkeley Lab has used a chemical process discovered decades ago to make the linkages between COFs much more sturdy, and to give the COFs new characteristics that could expand their applications.
Pair of Research Products to Improve Power System Reliability and Resilience
July 31st, 2018A newly updated online tool and guidebook will help utilities measure the cost and impact of power outages, a key strategic consideration as the nation works to modernize the electricity system, and especially important now during hot summer months that can strain the power grid.
2018 Berkeley Lab Physics Photowalk Winners Announced
July 27th, 2018A photo featuring a view of UC Berkeley’s landmark Campanile building, the San Francisco cityscape and bay, and the south side of the Shyh Wang Hall building at Berkeley Lab was judged as the winner in a local Physics Photowalk photo competition organized by the Lab. The photo was submitted by Michael Dawson, an amateur photographer.
Remembering Berkeley Lab’s First Electrical Engineer: William R. ‘Bill’ Baker
July 24th, 2018William R. “Bill” Baker, who died May 4 at age 103, was a lifelong engineer with an unrelenting mind and boundless ingenuity. He was the first electrical engineer hired by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, the namesake of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Ravi Prasher Named Berkeley Lab’s Associate Director for Energy Technologies
July 19th, 2018Ravi Prasher has been appointed Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Technologies at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The announcement follows an international search.
Splitting Water: Nanoscale Imaging Yields Key Insights
July 18th, 2018In the quest to realize artificial photosynthesis to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into fuel – just as plants do – researchers need to not only identify materials to efficiently perform photoelectrochemical water splitting, but also to understand why a certain material may or may not work. Now scientists at Berkeley Lab have pioneered a technique that uses nanoscale imaging to understand how local, nanoscale properties can affect a material’s macroscopic performance.
