Energy-efficiency organizations, such as the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), continue to push the bounds of renewable energy in solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and more. This summer, the NREL announced new efficiency breakthroughs in solar cells, breaking Alta Devices’ world record for a two-junction solar cell under one sun of illumination. Operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC, the lab produced a 31.1 percent conversion efficiency in comparison to the previous record’s 30.8 percent. Though a seemingly small improvement, this discovery, along with many others, are finding their way into a developing renewable energy equipment market for HVACR contractors.