GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has 40 years of history behind it, but walking through its sprawling Front Range campus one can't help but think 40 years into the future.

Solar cells that can be spray-painted onto windows or printed at a Home Depot; power grids that can take in a wide portfolio of traditional and renewable energy and adapt to changing environments; homes with appliances that communicate with each other to share power between electric cars, water heaters, appliances and even neighbors; hydrogen cars that can travel 300 miles with only a three-minut...