South Australia’s Blackout – Batteries Are Looking Even Better
Approximately 110,000 South Australian households lost power last night due to a fault in an interconnector with Victoria. Large chunks of Adelaide, the Barossa Valley, Port Pirie and the West Coast were without electricity for around three hours. The cause of the interconnector failure is yet to be determined. During the incident, South Australia was […]
Better Batteries Using Silicon Anodes
University of Waterloo researchers have created a lithium-ion battery with a silicon anode that they say will result in cheaper, smaller and longer lasting energy storage devices. Convention lithium-ion batteries use graphite anodes and this creates somewhat of a performance bottleneck due to the limitations of the material, which can only provide an energy density […]
NZ’s Weather-Activated Wind And Solar Powered Road Signs
Today marks the start of trial of weather-activated speed signs on State Highway 29 over the Kaimai Range in New Zealand; some of which are wind and solar powered. 22 signs make up the NZ Transport Agency trial that has a goal of reducing the number of accidents over the stretch that links Waikato and […]
The Beast D : Off-Road Solar-Charged Scooter
Meet The Beast D – an eBike with some of the features of an ATV, plus inbuilt solar panels for charging (albeit slowly). The two-wheel drive bike boasts 2 x 500W brushless DC motors and 60V 20AH lithium-ion energy storage good for 800 cycles. The cells used in the battery pack are Samsung 2200mAH 18650’s […]
Easy And Smooth : MASH2’s Sunny Success
Round two of the Hub Foundation’s community solar panels bulk buy program, MASH2, has been a resounding success so far, with many happy customers of the not-for-profit scheme. As customer Peter Finning of PJs Tyres explains, “It’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it – put the panels on and start saving money.” MASH2 is available to households […]
Cheap Solar Splitter/Concentrator Developed At Masdar Institute
A new optical device that separates and concentrates sunlight has been developed by researchers at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. In conventional solar panels only some of the sun’s wavelengths are converted into electricity, with much of it inefficiently absorbed or not at all and wasted as heat. Masdar Institute PhD student Carlo Maragliano […]
Going Off-Grid ‘Greedy And Selfish’ Says Electricity Exec
Australian solar households installing battery systems and ditching the grid altogether will have a negative impact on the wider community according to network provider Jemena. “The grid is of so much value here, why don’t you want to share your energy with your neighbours,” Jemena managing director Paul Adams is reported to have said. “Why […]
Huge Floating Solar Power System On UK Reservoir
The UK’s United Utilities is building a floating solar farm that will generate 2,700 megawatt-hours of electricity each year. Godley reservoir in Hyde, Greater Manchester, is the site of the 3MW installation that will see 12,000 solar panels on 30,000 floats installed by the end of this year. “We have a target to generate 35 […]
Energy Storage Key To Quadrupling Germany’s Solar Capacity
The German electricity system as it stands could cope with four times as much solar power being installed without any major difficulties – if energy storage is properly integrated. According to a study by Agora Energiewende, a scenario of 150 gigawatts of solar capacity in combination with 40 gigawatts of battery storage presented no issues […]
USDA Funds Rural Renewables And Energy Efficiency Projects
The United States Department Of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded loans and grants for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy systems to more than 1,100 rural small businesses and agricultural producers. USD $102 million in loan guarantees and $71 million in grants has been provided to 1,114 projects financed through the latest round of Rural Energy […]