Energy Systems Integration
NREL is leading a worldwide conversation about energy systems integration and spearheading innovations that optimize our entire energy system. Energy systems integration combines energy carriers (such as electricity, thermal pathways, fuels, and water) with infrastructures (such as communications and transportation) to maximize efficiency and minimize waste. A range of technologies connect through these energy infrastructures and form systems at a variety of physical scales—from individual buildings to aggregations at campuses and fleets to distribution and regional systems that stretch across continents.
Energy systems integration research and development at NREL is concentrated in the areas of transmission, distribution, and resource assessment and forecasting. R&D ofclean energy and energy efficiency technologies (and the science behind them) also play a major role in seamless interconnection and flexibility between energy carriers and infrastructures. Energy analysis plays a vital part in informing policy and investment decisions as renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies move from innovation to integration.
Critical to the success of this effort is the collaboration of a diverse set of stakeholders on an unprecedented scale to tackle big energy challenges. The Department of Energy's Energy Systems Integration Facility on the NREL campus creates new opportunities for interaction among diverse groups. Our industry partners span the globe and are represented by such organizations as Toyota, Solectria, the Electric Power Research Institute, and Advanced Energy.
Come from: http://www.nrel.gov/esi/