National Renewable Energy Lab
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| Motto | Leading clean energy innovation |
|---|---|
| Established | 1974 |
| Research type | Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy |
| Budget | $271 million (FY 14) |
| Director | Martin Keller |
| Staff | 1620 full-time and 678 visiting researchers, interns, and contractors (July 2014) |
| Location | Golden, Colorado |
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Operating agency
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MRIGlobal and Battelle Memorial Institute |
| Website | www.nrel.gov |
Coordinates: 39°44′26″N 105°09′21″W / 39.740576°N 105.155855°W
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in Golden, Colorado, specializes in renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility, and is funded through the United States Department of Energy. This arrangement allows a private entity to operate the lab on behalf of the federal government. NREL receives funding from Congress to be applied toward research and development projects. NREL also performs research on photovoltaics (PV) under the National Center for Photovoltaics. NREL has a number of PV research capabilities including research and development, testing, and deployment. NREL's campus houses several facilities dedicated to PV research.
NREL's areas of research and development expertise are renewable electricity, energy productivity, systems integration, and sustainable transportation.
Established in 1974, NREL began operating in 1977 as the Solar Energy Research Institute. Under the Jimmy Carter administration, its activities went beyond research and development in solar energy as it tried to popularize knowledge about already existing technologies, like passive solar. During the Ronald Reagan administration the institute's budget was cut by nearly 90%; many employees were "reduced in force" and the laboratory's activities were reduced to R&D.
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