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Products and Publications

Clean Energy Manufacturing Analysis Center (CEMAC) products, publications, services, insights, and tools illuminate global manufacturing capacities and trade flows of products in the clean energy technology supply chain, the costs of producing clean energy products around the world, the strategic factors that influence factory location decisions, and other key insights.

2020 Research Highlight in Manufacturing: End Uses of Low Global Warming Refrigerants
October 2020

This highlight estimates global refrigerant consumption, by application, for the period between 2010 and 2017. Refrigerants are used in a wide range of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) applications, as well as chemical processing, foam blowing agents, aerosols, chemical solvents and fire suppression. Understanding the global refrigerant market and trends is an important component of current efforts to transition towards lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants.

2020 Research Highlight in Manufacturing: Global Value Chain and Manufacturing Analysis on Geothermal Power Plant Turbines
October 2020

This highlight summarizes findings from the recent project that analyzed the geothermal turbine market (including trade flows, detailed manufacturing costs, economies of scale, standardization and off-design performance) to help reduce the plant cost and optimize performance.

2020 Research Highlight in Manufacturing: Analysis of Supply Chains and Advanced Manufacturing of Small Hydropower Systems
October 2020

This highlight summarizes findings from the recent project that analyzed the small hydropower (SHP) market (including the trade flows, detailed costs, and potential markets) to help determine the status and opportunities along the supply chain.

Global Value Chain and Manufacturing Analysis on Geothermal Power Plant Turbines
September 2020
In this study, CEMAC conducted a robust analysis of the global supply chain and manufacturing costs for components of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turboexpanders and steam turbines used in geothermal power plants, and collected a range of market data influencing manufacturing from various data sources and determined the main international manufacturers in the industry.

Analysis of Supply Chains and Advanced Manufacturing of Small Hydropower Systems
July 2020
This report analyzes the small hydropower (SHP) market (including the tradeflows, detailed costs, and potential markets) to help determine the status and opportunities along the supply chain. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have worked together to select and define a representative system for non-powered dams made up of two 5-MW Kaplan-style turbines (referred to in this highlight as 2x5 MW turbines). For this representative system, a detailed manufacturing cost analysis was created.

A Techno-Economic Look at SiC WBG from Wafer to Motor Drive
June 2020 Presentation
Techno-economic analysis helps benchmark and deliver supply chain and manufacturing insights that can be leveraged by decision-makers to inform investment strategies, policy, and other decisions to promote economic growth and competitiveness. Silicon Carbide (SiC) wide-band gap (WBG) technologies is poised to be an integral contributor to the clean energy economy. We use bottoms-up regional manufacturing cost models to show SiC power electronics, manufactured in volume, could result in final product cost parity with those manufactured with silicon.

"System Dynamics of Polysilicon for Solar Photovoltaics: A Framework for Investigating the Energy Security of Renewable Energy Supply Chains"
Sustainability
January 2020

CEMAC recently teamed up with Lexidyne, LLC and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth to publish a new article in the Sustainability journal. The article examines high-purity polysilicon, a key material in solar photovoltaics, that has experienced significant price fluctuations, affecting the manufacturing capacity and cost of both polysilicon and solar panels. CEMAC developed and validated an initial system dynamics framework to gain insights into global trade in polysilicon. The model represents an initial framework for exploration. Three regions were modeled—China, the United States, and the rest of the world—for a range of trade scenarios to understand the impacts of import duties and non-price drivers on the relative volumes of imports and domestic supply. Read the journal article.

Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Opportunities in Power Electronics
November 2020

A new CEMAC report published by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory explores the Wide Bandgap Power Electronics market, applications, and potential energy savings that could be realized by the next generation of semiconductors. The study identifies key areas where further resources and investments of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy could have a positive impact on U.S. competitiveness. After considering the current market, the authors identified several potential near-term application areas as having significant market and energy savings potential with respect to clean energy applications:

  • Data centers (uninterruptible power supplies and server power supplies)
  • Renewable energy generation (photovoltaic-solar and wind)
  • Motor drives (industrial, commercial and residential)
  • Rail traction, and
  • Hybrid and electric vehicles (traction and charging).

After the initial explorative analyses, it became clear that SiC is positioned to be the principal wide bandgap power device material for the chosen markets in the near future.

Energy Innovation Clusters and their Influence on Manufacturing: A Case Study Perspective
September 2020

The wide-scale adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy has coincided with renewed interest in regional innovation clusters, which are geographic concentrations of specialized industries and technologies. Governments seek to develop innovation clusters in their location though policies and funding to capture economic value in innovation of advanced energy and other clean technologies. This study presents a qualitative case study approach to evaluating the relationship between innovation clusters and manufacturing.

Carbon Fiber Manufacturing Facility Siting and Policy Considerations: International Comparison
June 2020

This report focuses on national polices to support carbon fiber manufacturing, how these policies and other factors influence manufacturing location decisions, and opportunities to further support carbon fiber manufacturing and deployment. The report is a follow-on report to CEMAC's initial report on an analysis of the competitiveness of the global carbon fiber composites supply chain.

A Manufacturing Cost and Supply Chain Analysis of SiC Power Electronics Applicable to Medium-Voltage Motor Drives
March 2020
Wide bandgap semiconductor devices, especially silicon carbide (SiC) devices, are increasingly being considered for use in power electronics applications, where they can improve efficiency, performance, footprint, and—potentially—total system cost compared to traditional silicon devices. This study analyzes the manufacturing costs and supply chains of SiC-based power electronics, in particular, those used in medium-voltage motor drives. By modeling regional cost drivers under different scenarios, this study illustrates regional cost drivers and provides an overview of global supply chain issues to help elucidate key factors that may influence manufacturing location investment decisions.

Benchmarks of Global Clean Energy Manufacturing
January 2017

The Benchmarks of Global Clean Energy Manufacturing will help policymakers and industry gain deeper understanding of global manufacturing of clean energy technologies. CEMAC's analysis of the product supply chains can inform decisions related to manufacturing facilities for extracting and processing raw materials, making the array of required subcomponents, and assembling the final product. The report is the first of its kind to isolate and quantify the economic impacts of the clean energy manufacturing sectors. Read the full report or the executive summary.

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