by Brianna Crandall — April 13, 2011—The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently held a groundbreaking ceremony at its Gaithersburg, Maryland, campus for three new facilities funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The installation of more than 2,500 new solar energy modules, the expanded National Fire Research Laboratory, and the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility will all help to advance the state of the art in green and fire-safe building practices, officials said.
The new photovoltaic system represents a dramatic increase in NIST’s commitment to implementing renewable energy sources. When complete, the solar energy system will feed directly into the existing electrical grid, generating more than 700 MWh of electricity annually. The system will also provide data that will be used to develop models to better predict energy output of photovoltaic modules and arrays.
A field toward the southern end of campus will be home to about 1,150 modules, and approximately 1,000 modules will serve double duty as canopies over a parking lot. Modules installed on the roof of the campus’ Administration Building will expand an existing solar system array’s output threefold, and a small array on another building will power two charging stations for battery-powered maintenance vehicles.
The National Fire Research Laboratory will be expanded with a 21,400-square-foot laboratory space that will provide a unique capability for testing full-scale structures—up to two stories in height—as well as subassemblies and systems under realistic fire conditions. The laboratory will be managed and operated as a collaborative facility through a public-private partnership.
Resembling a typical suburban Maryland single-family home, the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year and will serve as a testbed for new home-scale energy technologies, including solar panels.
