U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Distributed Energy Program

Distributed Energy Case Studies

The Distributed Energy (DE) Program has supported highly replicable public/private projects in several markets, featuring various prime movers and thermal energy utilization technologies. To learn more about these projects, visit the Projects page for each program area or explore the Distributed Energy Program R&D Portfolio.

For examples of other distributed energy installations across the full spectrum of DE technologies, including renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies that are not part of the Distributed Energy Program, see the Distributed Energy Case Study Database or the Case Studies section of our Web site. The case studies in this section are organized:

By technology — What is the primary DE technology? Examples include microturbines, reciprocating engines, CHP systems, and energy efficiency technologies.
By application — What is the purpose of the installation? Common applications include improving power quality and reliability, peak shaving, grid support, standby power, and energy independence.
By market sector — Who is the final user? Examples include federal and state governments, industry, schools, and hospitals.

To see examples of distributed energy installations in a specific state, see the State and Local Information section.

The following links are to case studies that cover several distributed energy technologies:

Distributed Energy Resources in Practice: A Case Study Analysis and Validation of LBNL's Customer Adoption Model — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, February 2003. (PDF 1.9 MB) Download Acrobat Reader.
Making Connections: Case Studies of Interconnection Barriers and Their Impact on Distributed Power Projects. — DOE, July 2000. (PDF 1.8 MB) Download Acrobat Reader.