R&D World magazine has recognized three projects supported by the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) for its 2021 R&D 100 awards. The annual awards celebrate 100 products and technologies that are considered innovative disruptors and revolutionary ideas in science and technology.

The WETO-related awards for 2021 are:

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s dGen™, short for Distributed Generation Market Demand model. dGen is open-source software that simulates adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) for residential, commercial, and industrial entities through 2050. The model is used by government and grid-planning organizations to predict future energy systems with high resolution and under diverse scenarios. dGen can help support equitable and cost-effective integration of more DERs. dGen is a build out of what was originally dWind, which focused specifically on customer adoption of distributed wind.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Thermal Tracker 3D, which evaluates the flight tracks of birds and bats around locations targeted for offshore wind development. The technology uses thermal video that records movement day or night, even in inclement weather or limited visibility. The resulting 3-D flight-track data includes wingspan and flight height and speed. Avian flight data from the Thermal Tracker support risk assessment and mitigation, helping to ensure sound wind farm siting.

Sandia National Laboratories’ AeroMINE, which is a stationary module that can extract energy from wind without any external moving parts. AeroMINE modules can operate as stand-alone devices in remote locations or as part of a microgrid, or they can be integrated into existing or new buildings. The technology can also complement rooftop solar. Project codevelopers are Westergaard Solutions, Inc., and Texas Tech University. WETO previously funded AeroMINE through the Competitiveness Improvement Project for distributed wind.