Argonne National Laboratory

Stories

Minnesota solar farms planted with native habitat see native bees multiply 20-fold

Led the five-year field study

In 2018, Enel Green Power seeded two retired farm fields in southern Minnesota with native grasses and wildflowers beneath its solar panels. By 2022, native bee numbers had grown 20-fold, total insects had tripled, and flowering plant species had increased sevenfold.

Updated Oct 26

The hidden crack problem destroying EV batteries

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: DOE national laboratory conducting battery research

On December 29, University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory researchers published findings in Nature Nanotechnology that flip battery science on its head. Single-crystal lithium-ion batteries, designed to avoid the grain-boundary cracking that plagued older batteries, are failing anyway — for the exact opposite reason scientists expected.

Updated May 18