The BMW/VW endeavor follows the establishment by California-based electric car maker Tesla motors Inc of an extensive network of fast-charging stations for its battery-powered Model S sedan.
#Roll to roll manufactured decorative solar panels to be 10 times cheaper Based on printing technologies, VTT Technical Centre of Finland has developed
and utilized a mass production method allowing the manufacturing of decorative, organic solar panels. Freedom of design increases the range of panel applications on the surfaces of interior and exterior building spaces.
VTT is also studying the feasibility of printing technology in the mass production of solar panels made from inorganic perovskite materials.
The new mass production method enables to create interior design elements from organic solar panels (OPV, organic photovoltaics) harvesting energy from interior lighting or sunlight for various small devices and sensors that gather information from the environment.
The panels can for example, be placed on windows and walls and on machines, devices and advertisement billboards.
The solar panel manufactured with VTT gravure and screen printing technologies is only around 0. 2 mm thick,
VTT is also currently examining how well the roll-to-roll printing methods are suited to the manufacturing of inorganic solar panels made from perovskite materials.
The first perovskite solar cells manufactured in the laboratory using solution-based processes have been promising. The performance of this solar cell is roughly five times better than that of an organic photovoltaic cell,
and the material costs can be even ten times lower. Freely designed decorative organic solar panels are applicable also in indoor use to harvest energy from indoor Light production methods are cost-effective
and materials can be recycled after the use. New materials such as perovskite can be printed with same methods and increase efficiency in future.
The research scientists have tested the feasibility of the method by printing leaf-shaped photovoltaic cells. Active surface of a one leaf is 0 0144 m2
Two hundred OPV leaves make one square metre of active solar panel surface that generates 3. 2 amperes of electricity with 10.4 watts of power at Mediterranean latitudes.
Organic solar panels are flexible and light, but their efficiency is lower compared to conventional, rigid silicon-based solar panels.
The solar panels are manufactured with printing machines based on conventional printing methods using the roll-to-roll method,
which enables the rapid mass production of the products: the printing machine can produce up to 100 metres of layered film per minute.
The market for organic photovoltaic cells is developing, with a market breakthrough expected within three years.
VTT is also developing a method to utilize light in wireless data transfer by using solar cells as data receivers.
This will open new application possibilities to utilize printable solar cells e g. in Iot (Internet of things) type applications, in
which the devices can also harvest energy from the ambient light. The first results have been very promising g
In biology, molecular motors are highly complex protein assemblies that can produce work by consuming energy:
which cross-link the polymer chains to each other, by rotating molecular motors made up of two parts that can turn relative to each other when provided with energy.
Just as in living systems, the motors consume energy in order to produce continuous motion. However, this light energy is dissipated not totally:
the amount of energy contained in the contraction of the polymer chains becomes very high,
and Asia to combat this fear of not having a place to charge before your battery quits.
Who pays for the electricity? The charging partners, Georgeson says. When you do the math,
costing the restaurant just $3. 55 in electricity. And who knows? Assuming Tesla does stick to its 2017 timing for a launch of a lower-cost car,
and a half, costing the restaurant just $3. 55 in electricity. And who knows? Assuming Tesla does stick to its 2017 timing for a launch of a lower-cost car,
DEVICE WORKS ON SOLAR POWER The system is suitable in areas where there is no electricity supply because it can be powered by a simple solar panel that generates five volts of energy,
he said. t is a simple technology because one does not have to be literate to operate it,
##The device, powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and worn on the outside, is about three times heavier than a human heart,
#Edible batteries could power smart medicine pills A flexible biodegradable battery just may be what the doctor ordered.
an edible#battery.####Obviously, creating smart pills with their own sensors to regulate medicine in the body is a great idea,
#According to Carnegie mellon biomedical engineer Christopher Bettinger, a flexible biodegradable battery just may be what the doctor ordered.
Bettinger studied this possibility by using the melanin of a cuttlefish to create an anode for an edible battery.
This particular sea creature can create up to 10 microamperes of electricity for anywhere from five to 24 hours.
This makes the battery safe to swallow and doesn t cause any side effects in the human body.
The uses of such a battery aren limited t just to powering smart pills, though. Imagine those uncomfortable exams that involve a tiny camera being swallowed
What if the camera could be created from biodegradable material and powered by an edible battery?
The edible battery could also be used in medical devices like pacemakers and#implants#that treat Alzheimers and other brain conditions.
Currently, the only way to change the batteries in these implants is through surgery. The edible battery might reduce the amount of surgeries required as its use is less invasive.
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#It s the beginning of a new era for entrepreneurs and startups There are over 20 million non-employer businesses out there today, with more starting every day.
they plunked down $35, 000 for a rooftop photovoltaic system. The couple looked forward to joining neighbors who had added panels,
More than 4 percent of households have photovoltaics. Hawaii last year led the nation in the portion of its electricity that comes from solar, with 2. 6 percent.
The Aloha state burns oil to make electricity, and prices for the fuel have jumped in recent years,
igniting demand for alternatives. The state s tax credit for solar energy made it additionally appealing (Climatewire, May 6).
Arizona and Colorado over the future of net energy metering (NEM). That policy##which exists in some form in 43 states
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#The NSA s $10 million secret deal to get RSA to use backdoored encryption algorithm RSA had been paid by the NSA to set the backdoored algorithm as the default method of random number generation.
#One way all mammalian cells produce energy is via aerobic respiration, in which large molecules are broken down into smaller ones, releasing energy in the process.
This mainly occurs in the mitochondria the##powerhouses##of cells. Mitochondria carry their own genomes,
but some of the cellular components needed for respiration are produced partly by the nucleus, so the two must coordinate their activities.
internet-connected smart energy systems can figure out you re home the moment you switch on a light.
and solar panels at the other, can pivot from straight overhead down to a 45-degree angle to chase the sun. directed by a CAD design from a connected laptop,
the electronics, cameras and a laptop all run on batteries charged by the solar panels PRINTING Kayser first designs the object he wants to print in a CAD program.
##The U s. installed 930 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaics (PV) in Q3 2013, up 20 percent over the second quarter and 35 percent from the third quarter of last year.
##Solar is now the second largest source of new electricity capacity in the U s.,behind natural gas,
It is also thanks to advancements in solar technology which brought costs down, and innovative new forms of financing that make#going solar more affordable for consumers.#
#Companies like Vivint, Solarcity and Sunrun have raised all upwards of $500 million to finance residential solar projects around the country.
#processor, battery, and sensors. Android runs on an OMAP processor Lumus isn t saying which one specifically
though not commenting on battery life expectations as yet. Update:##Lumus tells us that very early tests on the DK-40 prototype suggest at least 1-2 hours of runtime.
#Tesla batteries are powering an energy revolution Solarcity generator Tesla motors lithium-ion battery packs aren t just powering electric luxury sports sedans for wealthy any more.
They ve started#appearing in a small number of California homes to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels,
and Solarcity, the Silicon valley solar installer, will start providing Tesla batteries for businesses that want to cut their utility bills.#
#A big box retailer like Walmart could charge up a Tesla battery pack with cheap energy produced by its Solarcity rooftop photovoltaic array
and then tap that power when demand##and electricity rates##spike. That would let them minimize paying their local utility high##demand charges##for electricity
when they need it most. And the cost of the Solarcity s system, called Demandlogic?
Effectively zero, according to Solarcity, since the monthly payments for energy storage would be less than the money saved by not forking over cash to the utility.
And if that sounds like a threat to century-old monopoly utilities, it is.####Our business model is to become the energy company of the 21st century,
##Solarcity chief executive Lyndon Rive told#The Atlantic.####You re still connected to the grid but the grid would be your secondary provider
and the primarily provider would be your solar system and your storage device.####For now, though, it s only a minor threat to utilities that levy high demand charges,
such as those in California and parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut where Solarcity is offering Demandlogic.
And to get the Tesla battery pack you have to sign up for a solar array, which means only businesses with low-rise buildings and flat roof##retailers,
Another Silicon valley company,#Stem, has begun installing 54-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery packs for corporate customers, allowing them to store electricity from the grid
when rates are low and use that power when demand charges spike. While Stem is a startup the utilities should be particularly wary of Solarcity and its partnership with Tesla motors.
Tesla chief executive Elon musk serves as Solarcity s chairman and is Rive s cousin.)Tesla and Solarcity s combined market cap##$21. 3 billion##exceeds that of the parent companies of Pacific gas & electric and Southern California Edison, the two big California utilities
whose customers Rive covets. And Solarcity is pioneering#the securitization of solar##giving it the ability to dip into a potentially vast pool of capital by packaging leases for photovoltaic systems into asset-backed notes that are sold to pension funds,
hedge funds and other deep-pocketed investors. Rive says Demandlogic should save commercial customers 20 percent in demand charges.
The system s algorithms constantly monitor electricity supply and demand charging and discharging the battery to minimize drawing expensive electricity from the power grid.
The size of the battery pack will be customized for each business but would be able to store roughly 30 percent of the electricity generated by the solar array.
And the Tesla batteries provide backup power if the grid goes down in an earthquake
or storm##a key selling point as climate change spawns increasingly powerful hurricanes and tornadoes. While energy storage systems would cut utilities revenues they would also help them balance supply
and demand on the grid as increasing amounts of renewable but intermittent electricity are generated by wind and solar farms.
Lithium-ion batteries remain expensive and Rive and Solarcity spokesman Jonathan Bass was sketchy on the details on how the economics pencil out
when providing energy storage to customers for no money down. But growing economies of scale are in Solarcity and Tesla s favor.##
##In places with high costs of electricity, I think you ll see up to 50 percent of solar systems will have energy storage,
##says Rive.####The economics and scale that Tesla has achieved in the automotive market now make stationary energy storage more cost effective and reliable than it has ever been in the past,##JB Straubel,
Tesla s chief technical officer and cofounder, said in a#statement###We expect this market to grow very rapidly
now that we have crossed this economic threshold.####Via The Atlantic#Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorat h
#Scientists develop process to make inexpensive synthetic gas Synthetic gas would be much better for the environment.
We are still massively dependent on fossil fuels even though they are limited a resource. But, a team of scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have figured out#a way to make synthetic gas inexpensively,
using carbon dioxide and carbon nanofibers.####The first step in the process of creating synthetic gas requires the conversion of carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide.
The facility is a series of small buildings in the shadow of the looming Orot Rabin power station on Israel s northern coastline.
Trainees mostly IT and systems workers from energy and infrastructure companies sit in the##defence room##experiencing the hacks in real time
Energy Minister Silvan Shalom, who attended Cyber Gym s inauguration, was equally enigmatic.####We can t give you any specific details,
and attach the crash-proof bumper/battery pack to the front. That front piece also has Bluetooth capabilities,
The battery charges via mini USB and lasts for 10 minutes of continuous flight. The app itself gives you a pilot s view, complete with a range indicator, a thrust level indicator,
It would##enable construction of large support structures for systems such as multi-hundred-kilowatt solar arrays, large solar sails,
But a just-completed design analysis for a 300-kilowatt orbital solar array verified that Spiderfab can provide the projected tenfold decrease in stowed volume
TUI also developed a lab version of the device that would fabricate the truss structure in that analysis.##Geostationary solar could produce baseload electricity for 99 percent of the hours of the year,
Terrestrial solar arrays have achieved grid parity Davis said, but without storage they cannot provide the baseload power utilities need.
And#the cost of storage#to provide that service will##double or triple our electricity rates.##
##The Solar High Group is working##to put together a consortium of government and industry, ##Davis said.
They looked at technology feasibility, environmental impact, land use, manpower needs, energy payback, and estimated costs and confirmed the concept was##technically feasible with no new science
The microwave transmission that would deliver SBSP s electricity from an orbiting antenna to terrestrial rectennas would be##2 million times the power of that produced by the microwave oven.##
##and Lobbyists who protect#other energy sources subsidies#who would be##out of their jobs###The term 3-D printing has become a catch-all for a number of purposes
along with 18 zero-emission motors powered by six battery packs. Its frame is created from carbon fiber to keep the aircraft lightweight and It seats two people.
There s no battery on board. For the time being, the flying jellyfish is tethered to a power cord. What s most remarkable about the device,
Of course, any practically useful version of the jellyfish would have to carry a small battery and a navigation system##right now,
swapping out parts like the battery and camera until users have#a phone that s#just for them.
#Heat from subways to warm homes in London London s subway will be supplying green energy to warm up more homes around the borough.
which has provided already green energy for 700 homes in the borough. The London Underground vent from a Northern Line station will supply most of the heat,
low cost energy in other parts of the capital because we have dotted electricity substations throughout London
this heat-recycling project could account for 25 percent of London s energy by 2025. This London project is part of the larger European union CELSIUS project
and turning it into useable energy. Photo credit: Bloomberg Via psfk Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorat e
the magnetic field induces a flow of power that charges the batteries. Stationary inductive chargers for electric vehicles typically use sensors to ensure that the receiver coils on the vehicle are aligned above wireless charging pads correctly.
#The death of coal in America Train carrying coal to a power plant. The Great Energy Shift is happening in spurts
and is starting in places like Arizona and Mississippi instead of coming from legislation in Washington. Last week two two utilities faced decisions on whether to fight the future or embrace it.##
running a fleet of coal fired power plants that have long been the source of cheap electricity. But yesterday, the TVA board of directors voted to shutter eight of those power plants
taking 3, 000 megawatts of carbon-intensive electricity off the grid in the face of intense opposition from coal miners and politicians decrying##Obama s war on coal.##
###That s the equivalent electricity production of three huge nuclear power plants.####These were difficult recommendations to make as they directly impact our employees and communities,
##TVA chief executive Bill Johnson said in a statement.####TVA must respond immediately to challenging trends in lower power demand, a slow economy, uncertainty in commodity pricing,
So the TVA directors voted to transform the utility into a power provider that will obtain a majority of its electricity from carbon-free sources.
coal will provide 20 percent of the utility s electricity in the future, down from 38 percent today.
Nuclear power plants will generate 40 percent of electricity while natural gas will supply another 20 percent. The remaining 20 percent will be supplied by renewable sources,
and energy efficiency measures. Meanwhile, in Arizona yesterday, the state s utility regulator turned back a request by Arizona Public service (APS) to#impose steep new fees on homeowners who install solar panels#on their roofs.
It s a battle being fought elsewhere in the country as utilities grapple with an existential threat to their century-old business model.
As more customers generate their own electricity utilities face declining revenues while still retaining responsibility for paying for the transmission system.
In Arizona, for instance, there were 900 solar arrays installed on Arizona residential rooftops in January 2009. By June of this year, that number had grown to 18,000 with 500 more photovoltaic systems being installed each month.
Under a regulatory scheme known as net metering, homeowners receive a credit for the solar electricity they send to the grid that is used to pay for the power they use
when the sun isn t shining. In Arizona, that credit is calculated at retail rates and APS argued that penalized homeowners who don t go solar as the utility will be forced to raise their rates to pay for the transmission system
the expansion of solar capacity meant the utility saved money by not having to build additional power plants and transmission lines.
The Coin s battery life is said to last two years, which is about the normal expiration date for credit/debit cards anyway.
Beijing#is focused especially on security for government, energy, transport, and finance networks. In August, the#National Development and Reform Commission,#China s top economic planning body, published a statement setting cybersecurity standards for financial institutions, cloud computing and big data, information system secrecy
Its included suction cup mount has an##energy antenna##embedded inside to gather electromagnetic activity (such as from#Wi-fi signals) to translate for use as power,
along with its own internal battery. Currently, Sono is still in prototype stage and is not ready for production,
#Off-grid solar is the next big market in clean energy Off-grid solar The off-grid clean energy market is booming.
half the planet s population may be served best with pay-as-you-go solar technology, not grid services.
That s clean tech s next big frontier, according to energy expert Ted Hesser. I caught up with him after a recent presentation at Stanford university (video below) to get a better understanding of why he s bullish on pay-as-you-go solar s ability to end energy poverty
##and to make investors a whole lot of money. Ted s thesis is simple: poverty and profit tend not to mix##except
and polluting energy sources like kerosene (or even worse, candles). Selling cheap basic services like solar electricity into this market through#micropayment schemes#is
what makes pay-as-you-go solar not only economically viable, but perhaps the largest opportunity in energy services worldwide.
After all,#small is big. But just because the alternative is expensive, that doesn t make solar an automatic solution.
money loaded onto cell phones that the poor can use to pay for services like energy.
For much of the world s poor, access to mobile networks has surpassed access to#energy, water and even basic sanitation#leaving an estimated 550 million people with phones who can t even charge them on a regular basis.
For more on this topic, listen to#last week s episode#of the Energy Gang podcast.
and consume almost no energy##it s all about mass manufacturing and deployment. That s why Bryzek is shooting for one trillion by 2020.
the Milton Keynes pod cars will run on electricity, returning to their charging stations between fares.
#Replacing batteries with super capacitors: Volvo s quest to create the ultimate electric vehicle The battery is the biggest limitation for electric vehicles (EV.#
#Tesla, General motors, Nissan and others install heavy batteries that limit vehicle range and performance. The batteries take up as much as 15%of the vehicle s total weight.##
##So Swedish automobile maker,#Volvo#(now owned by China s#Geely Holding#Group) decided to dispense with the battery entirely,
substituting a super capacitor made from advanced carbon fiber-based nanomaterials that can be integrated into the body panels of the vehicle.
Volvo has chosen the S80 model to demonstrate this concept. The vehicles side body, doors, hood
and roof panels are made of nanomaterial (see image below) that replaces the electric batteries used by conventional EVS.
A single body panel like the hood can easily supply all the energy needed to run the vehicle s internal electronics.
but it is encouraged by early tests which show that the material stores energy much faster than conventional batteries.
but also 52%that is being incinerated for##energy recovery##purposes, i e.,, generating heat or electric power.####If we burn the plastic,
we generate toxins and a large amount of CO2. If we convert it into oil, we save CO2
To convert that amount takes about 1 kwh of electricity, which is approximately#20 or 20 cents worth.
#Electric power without transmission lines Hundreds of companies are investing in electricity transferred through magnetic fields. Nikola Tesla, the inventor and rival to Thomas Edison, in the early 1900##s built the Wardenclyffe Tower, a 187-foot-high structure on Long island,
which he said could transmit electricity wirelessly. Financier J. Morgan backed the Wardenclyffe Tower. The project failed,
and electricity flowed from faucets when turned on. Oops.####Fast-forward over a century, and wireless electricity is finally gaining some traction.
More than one hundred companies including startups such as Witricity and Proxybypower and giants such as Toyota (TM), Intel (INTC), Samsung,
to take the wires out of the power equation by transmitting electricity through magnetic fields. When in the atmosphere, electricity exists as a magnetic field.
The trick is to capture it safely to recharge devices. Today s electric toothbrushes charge wirelessly##as power is transmitted through a magnetic field from the charger to the brush.
##which means electricity can be moved farther distances without a wire. The way it works: Two devices resonate at the same frequency
##We all love electricity and are willing to do almost anything to get it. It will be the last thing to go wireless,
Because electricity moves through the air as magnetic waves that are similar to the earth s magnetic waves,
powered by solar technology. The defense contractor is hoping to sell its spy rocks for surveillance, border protection
and other forms of passive energy, our future water networks will be operate with far more efficiency and convenience than anything imaginable today.
After many years of development and testing, the WMS1000 (shown above) became the world first wind turbine able to produce 1, 000 liters of water a day from air condensation.
and is designed to work with PV solar panels and batteries, to continually generate water even in emergency situations.
#Battery-free Wifi devices that run on radio waves What if devices could pull enough power wirelessly from the air to run themselves
we must provide connectivity to the potentially billions of battery-free devices that will be embedded in everyday objects,
so that it can can carry the battery, electronic centers, and all the other things necessary for autonomous flight.
In theory, they would just have to come back to something to recharge their batteries. But we re very early on in working this out.
That s important for the battery and other electronics and sensors. Once the robot can stay aloft on its own,
increasing its battery life, and making it fly faster. Then there are a whole host of issues to work out dealing with wireless communications s
#China and India race to fully harness thorium for nuclear power Thorium is an alternative to uranium as a way of doing nuclear fission.
and more sustainable sources of nuclear energy to provide our electricity. And just like in a Hollywood movie,
thorium has taken almost 200 years to be taken seriously as an energy contender. After a period in the 1950s and 1960s in which it flirted with thorium,
where the schedule to deliver a thorium-based nuclear power plant was overhauled recently, meaning scientists in Shanghai have been told to deliver such a facility within the next ten years.
While thorium nuclear exploration is had not New britain its own reactor in Dorset carrying out tests 40 years ago the will to make it a viable energy source is growing stronger.
because an overheating thorium reactor can be switched simply off, avoiding the problem that occurred at Fukushima, for instance.
meaning it cannot be split to release energy alone, but when exposed to neutrons it will react to produce a particular isotope of uranium (U-233) that becomes the nuclear fuel.
and produces less waste than the usual uranium power plant reaction that generates plutonium, which can be used to make weapons.
people are going to want more and more energy. Although they re building lots of coal fired power stations, they re also looking at other ways of generating power.
And many supporters of green energy believe the nuclear equation should be abandoned not solved. But Prof Barlow thinks those campaigning solely for alternative energy sources such as wind
and solar are missing the bigger picture. If you re trying to move to a low-carbon fuel economy,
And nuclear power has got to be part of that basket t
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