Co-Locating with a Partner is Helping NREL Reach the Next Level

By Martin Keller, Laboratory Director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Eaton Strategic Partners, L-R Yi Yang and Sean Ketring work on a hardware prototype in their lab at the ESIF. (Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL)

You hear people talk about getting a seat at the table, and how that helps provide direct input into decisions. We at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory took that concept a step further in 2018: co-location with one our long-time collaborators, Eaton — a global power management company. Essentially, we not only invited them to our table, but to stay in our house.

That’s because NREL and Eaton signed a cooperative agreement that brought 15 Eaton researchers to be embedded along with our scientists and engineers in NREL’s Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) in Golden, Colorado. This on-site, direct collaboration allows our fully-integrated teams to expand their knowledge related to grid integration and power management.

As Eaton Director of Global Technologies Igor Stamenkovic said, “the idea behind co-location is that innovation happens when two people start talking about the completely different perspectives they have.”

NREL engineer Greg Martin and Eaton’s Igor Stamenkovic tour the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) in advance of the new Eaton/NREL partnership that co-locates 15 members of Eaton’s Corporate Research and Technology team at the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF). (Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL)

The two organizations have been collaborating for more than a decade on a portfolio of joint programs: developing a predictive battery system for hybrid electric vehicles and optimizing energy systems for microgrids, buildings, and communities. But like all such relationships, those required long-distance travel or remote meetings to keep projects advancing.

Already the new Eaton-NREL interaction includes some concrete projects such as the electrification of transportation fleets to optimize multiple distributed energy resource technologies, such as solar and energy storage. Another involves evaluating control strategies to manage electric bus fleets for grid services. Other topics will follow. Certainly, the cybersecurity space is worth exploring. There’s no limit on the possibilities. As one Eaton researcher said, you never know when something will come up.

Salam Bani-Ahmed, Eaton, Lead Engineer, Power Systems Cyber Security, works on a Hardware-In-the-Loop setup for virtual microgrid systems in the ESL at NREL. Eaton is partnering with NREL on a 5 year project. (Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL)

Further, they are thrilled to be in the unique ESIF facility. And this type of engagement is what the ESIF facility was designed for — collaborating with strategic stakeholders to accelerate the impact of the research conducted at the lab. It’s unlike any other laboratory in the world.

Also, the benefits of this cooperative agreement aren’t limited to NREL. Eaton researchers now have greater access to expertise in the other national laboratories. New combinations with new visions about clean energy and efficiency should continue to emerge. During the first year of this arrangement, we’ve heard from utilities, U.S. Department of Energy leadership, and others — that they are excited about some of the new concepts emerging from this synergistic approach. So is Eaton management, which is committed for the long haul. We couldn’t be happier.

I believe this type of cooperation will grow and serve as a model for other organizations. In the meantime, I’m excited to see what comes next as NREL and Eaton pursue an avenue which can lead everyone to a transformed energy future.