Posting Title

Graduate (Year-Round) Intern - Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)

.

Location

CO - Golden

.

Position Type

Intern (Fixed Term)

.

Hours Per Week

20

.

Working at NREL

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

From day one at NREL, you’ll connect with coworkers driven by the same mission to save the planet. By joining an organization that values a supportive, inclusive, and flexible work environment, you’ll have the opportunity to engage through our ten employee resource groups, numerous employee-driven clubs, and learning and professional development classes.

NREL supports inclusive, diverse, and unbiased hiring practices that promote creativity and innovation. By collaborating with organizations that focus on diverse talent pools, reaching out to underrepresented demographics, and providing an inclusive application and interview process, our Talent Acquisition team aims to hear all voices equally. We strive to attract a highly diverse workforce and create a culture where every employee feels welcomed and respected and they can be their authentic selves.

Our planet needs us! Learn about NREL’s critical objectives, and see how NREL is focused on saving the planet.

We invite all interested candidates to apply for this opportunity. While we recognize that job seekers may hesitate if they don’t meet every requirement, we encourage dedicated individuals who meet all the basic and additional required qualifications of the role to submit an application. We value the opportunity to consider those who believe they have the necessary skills and ambition to succeed at NREL.

Job Description

The Thermal Energy Systems group is looking for multiple graduate interns to assist with the forthcoming heliostat consortium (HelioCon) and other existing projects.  NREL, partnering with Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) and the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute (ASTRI), will develop and manage a national laboratory-led U.S. consortium to support research, development, validation, commercialization, and deployment of low-cost heliostats for concentrating solar power (CSP) and solar thermal (CST) applications.

This heliostat consortium (HelioCon) will work closely with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and a board of advisors composed of CSP developers, component suppliers, utilities, and international experts to achieve DOE SunShot objectives for U.S.-manufactured heliostat cost, performance, and reliability. To further advance U.S. heliostat technologies, HelioCon will engage subject-matter experts and general stakeholders for direct, project-level collaboration, external consulting, and mission-specific panels or workshops. Under this consortium, graduate interns will be exposed to various research topics and opportunities to work with experts and external consortium stakeholders.

In particular, we are looking for graduate interns in the following 5 positions:

• 1) Heliostat optical error measurement tool development

• 2) Heliostat techno-economic analysis

• 3) Heliostat RD resource compilation/documentation

• 4) Heliostat composite material RD

• 5) Renewable thermal energy system analysis such as solar thermal and its application to process heat, heating and cooling.

.

Basic Qualifications

Minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.

Undergraduate: Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a bachelor’s degree program from an accredited institution.
Post Undergraduate: Earned a bachelor’s degree within the past 12 months. Eligible for an internship period of up to one year.

Graduate: Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a master’s degree program from an accredited institution.
Post Graduate: Earned a master’s degree within the past 12 months. Eligible fo