Novel salt solution for lithium-ion battery fires
Australian researchers have tested a novel lithium salt for high-voltage lithium batteries in electric vehicles and grid-scale storage systems. They claim the salt is less hazardous than conventional battery materials.
Cooling PV modules with plants, coir pith
An Indian-Malaysian research group has investigated the effectiveness of several passive cooling techniques for solar panels, including the placement of plants around the modules or coir pith underneath them, both of which, surprisingly, offered good performance in terms of temperature reduction and power yield.
New PV facade design in Sweden
Soltech Energy has installed a 60 kW solar facade on the wall of a garage in Sweden that hosts 300 EV-charging posts. It features a steel structure to facilitate the flow of air.
PV-powered geothermal heat pump system for greenhouses
The PV-powered geothermal heat pump system was tested for a year, with measurements taken by Researchers at the University of Nottingham. The UK group showed it was able to maintain an indoor temperature over 16 Celsius degrees in all seasons, except for winter.
Lithium-metal battery with capacity retention of 88% over 1,000 cycles
German scientists have applied a new combination of cathodes and electrolytes to improve the stability of lithium-metal batteries. They fabricated a device with an energy density of 560 watt-hours per kilogram and a Coulombic efficiency of 99.94%.
Blue is not the new green
A new study from Stanford University and Cornell University shows that blue hydrogen can produce more greenhouse emissions than heat produced by coal and gas. The modeling classifies blue hydrogen emissions as carbon dioxide and unburned fugitive methane, as well as lifecycle emissions linked to the mining, transport, storage, and use of methane.
Plug-and-play solar module from the Netherlands
Supersola has developed a 315 W, half-cut monocrystalline PV module. It costs €699 and can be coupled with other two panels to form a 1 kW residential PV system.
Portable charging trailer for commercial EV fleets
U.S.-based Xos offers a mobile charging station for commercial electric fleets, in order to provide power without making fixed infrastructure upgrades.
Lithium-sulfur battery with shorter charging time, longer lifespan
Japanese scientists have developed a new lithium-sulfur battery by using titanium oxide and titanium nitride to prevent the formation of polysulfides during the fabrication process. This allows the battery to retain 85% of its capacity after 500 cycles at 2 C.
Ligand-free perovskite quantum dot solar cell with 9.3% efficiency
The quantum dots used for the device are based on methylammonium lead iodide and are synthesized within a porous silica (SiO2) matrix. Compared to its bulk counterparts, the ligand-free solar cell exhibited a more stable performance.
