DOE Publishes Supplemental Proposed Determination for Miscellaneous Residential Refrigeration Products

The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is working with the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) on designing a modular, expandable, and replicable small-scale power system for villages that draws partly on renewable energy sources. The initiative, called the "Remote Community Renewable Energy Partnership," aims to deploy small-scale power systems to isolated, off-the-grid villages in remote Alaska and to U.S. island territories. The power systems will draw on either wind or solar power with a diesel generator as a backup power source. By mid-2014, NREL intends to complete the design of the modular power systems and then partner with willing villages to pilot test the new modular systems. The modular approach is meant to encourage deployment while minimizing the engineering and construction costs for each project.