Technical Tours

TOUR 1:  NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY (NREL)
Friday, November 18, 9:00 am to 12:00 Noon
Hotel Bus Departure Time:  8:15 am
Tour Limited to 20 Participants
Cost $45.00

TOUR DESCRIPTION

Tour stops will include the Process Development Integration Laboratory (PDIL) in the Science and Technology Facility. The PDIL is a unique, world-class laboratory where NREL, industry and universities collaborate on advanced solar cell technologies and manufacturing methods in order to accelerate commercialization.

Tour stops in the Solar Energy Research Facility ultimately depends on the final group size because some labs are extremely small.  The Solar Energy Research Facility (SERF) houses three adjoining modules each containing a laboratory pod and an office pod. Laboratories in the west module are used to develop semiconductor material for high-efficiency crystalline solar cells. Laboratories in the center module are used to fabricate prototype solar cells and analyze the semiconductor material used to make solar cells, as well as research hydrogen generation and storage. The east module contains labs used to measure and characterize solar cell and module performance.

IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTATION

US Citizens: Need only bring the government issued photo ID such as a driver’s license or a US passport.

Foreign Nationals:  Canadian citizens, permanent resident aliens with Green Card, or resident aliens are included in this category.  Green Card holders are not US citizens so they must complete the Foreign National Data Card and mail to address indicated at the bottom of the Form no later than November 1, 2011.  Be sure to bring Green Card and government issued photo I.D. the day of the tour.

Page 2 of the form describes the various identification foreign guests will need to bring with them the day of the visit.  Most often it is a passport and visa but this varies if they are from a Visa Waiver country.  Please be sure to read the form carefully.

Anyone who already completed a foreign national data card will receive a confirmation e-mail FROM NREL for the necessary identification he or she will need to bring on the day of the visit (typically visa and passport).

ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST BRING THE PROPER IDENTIFICATION with them the day of their visit– filling out the foreign national data card alone is not enough.

IMPORTANT:  No tour participant, whether US citizen or foreign national, will be allowed on the premises or to join the tour without proper identification.

ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• All tour registrants must be the minimum age of 18 years old in order to join the tour.  No children under the age of 18 are allowed.  Pets are not allowed on the grounds.
• Remember to wear comfortable walking shoes. Sandals, flip flops, open toe shoes or sling back shoes are not allowed in NREL laboratories.
• Shorts are not allowed in NREL laboratories; remember to wear long pants.
• Water bottles or other liquids are not allowed in NREL laboratories.
• Lunch will not be provided on this tour so we suggest that you bring a snack to eat on the bus.
• The actual tour will start at 9:00 a.m. and end at 12:00 p.m.  Anticipated return to Marriott Hotel at approximately 2:00 p.m.

NOTE:  Denver International Airport drop off: Participants who wish to be dropped off at Denver International Airport (DEN) must notify ASPE Headquarters in advance.  Expected travel time to the airport from NREL is 45 to 60 minutes, depending on weather and traffic.

TOUR DESCRIPTION

NIST-F1 and NIST-F2 Atomic Clocks
Atomic timekeeping is part of the basic infrastructure of modern society. Many everyday technologies that are often taken for granted – such as cellular telephones, Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite receivers and the electric power grid – rely on the accuracy of atomic clocks. Improved timekeeping helps make technology improvements and innovation possible. NIST has been building cesium atomic clocks based on microwave frequencies since the 1950s, and has been steadily improving their performance by a factor of ten per decade.  Atomic clocks work by accurately measuring the frequency – “ticks” per second – of electromagnetic radiation absorbed or emitted as an atom switches between two different energy states. In cesium atomic clocks, this radiation appears as microwaves, “ticking” at about 9 billion cycles per second.

NIST-F1 is the current U.S. civilian time and frequency standard – popularly known as an atomic clock. The NIST-F1 fountain clock is the world’s most accurate standard for measuring the length of the second, and would not gain or lose more than a second in about 100 million years. The NIST-F1 fountain clock is the ultimate source for NIST time that is distributed over the internet (with about 3 billion automated requests per day to synchronize computer clocks to NIST time) and by NIST radio stations (with millions of radio-controlled clocks and watches remotely synchronized to NIST time).

Plans call for NIST-F2 to begin official operation soon. It should eventually be about four times more accurate than NIST-F1. NIST-F2 will approach an accuracy equivalent to within about 1 second in 300 million years. The exceptional performance of NIST-F2 will help improve Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the international time scale based on atomic clocks from across the world.

Quantum Voltage Standards Lab
The Quantum Voltage Project develops superconducting electronic circuit and system technology for precision measurement applications and fundamental metrology. These technologies exploit the quantum electrical properties of Josephson junctions to produce the most accurate DC and AC voltage standards in the world. They also perform the most accurate electrical measurement of the Boltzmann constant by exploiting quantum-based precision waveform synthesis.

Laser Measurements Lab
NIST laser calibrations benefit hundreds of instrument users and products annually, helping to improve manufacturing processes and product performance and save money. Customers are from industry (including a number of large, well-known companies) and military and other government agencies. NIST provides best-in-the-world measurements for optical fiber power meters in support of global communications. Everyone who makes a long-distance phone call or uses the Internet is directly affected by this work. NIST also provides the world’s best power, energy, dose and linearity measurements for several excimer laser wavelengths of interest to the semiconductor industry. Other manufacturers of excimer laser-based tools, such as those for LASIK and PRK laser vision correction procedures, also rely on NIST measurement services for traceability to fundamental units. In addition, NIST provides calibrations and custom transfer standards that support laser range-finding and target designation for smart munitions. NIST continues to advance the science, recently developing a laser power detector coated with the world’s darkest material—a forest of carbon nanotubes that reflects almost no light across the visible and part of the infrared spectrum. The blacker the coating, the more efficiently it absorbs light instead of reflecting it, and the more accurate the measurements.

IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTATION

All US Citizens must bring a government issued photo ID (like a Driver’s License) and Green Card holders must bring their Green Card as well as photo ID to gain access to the facility.  Foreign nationals must complete the Foreign National Form and email it as indicated on the bottom of the form no later than November 1, 2011. Foreign Nationals must also bring their Passport.  All tour participants must pick up their preprinted badge, walk through a metal detector (so leave ALL personal effects – cameras, bags, etc. – on the bus) and get back on the bus to enter the site.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Photos are allowed throughout the facility. Anything that can’t be photographed will not be on the tour. Recording devices and videos are also allowed. Children are welcome, as are shorts, but know that comfortable shoes are a must. The hallways are long and there are no opportunities to sit during the tours, so standing in sandals may not be comfortable.
• Lunch will not be provided on this tour so we suggest that you bring a snack to eat on the bus.

NOTE:  Denver International Airport drop-off: Participants who wish to be dropped off at Denver International Airport (DEN) must notify ASPE Headquarters in advance.  Expected travel time to the airport from NIST is 45 to 60 minutes, depending on weather and traffic.

Anticipated return to Marriott Hotel at approximately 2:00 p.m.