FOTOTHERM

( http://www.fototherm.com/ ) This week, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced a new financial assistance pilot for residential customers to install home battery storage systems through the statewide Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). Approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on July 16, 2020, the pilot will allow eligible customers to install the technology at no cost to them. PG&E stated that it will provide financial incentives for customers installing equipment for generating and storing energy for their homes. Typically, a customer who applies for SGIP receives the rebate once the project is complete, requiring customers to pay upfront. Under the new plan, eligible customers pay nothing for the systems. A home battery is connected to PG&E’s electric grid and charged from the grid or the customer’s rooftop solar system, if applicable. A home battery, or solar+storage installation, can extend the homes power for several hours to sev...

Researchers have made use of carbon dioxide in the production of a battery protective coating. In the future, the coating could multiply the battery life and enable the use of new, more efficient materials. When batteries are charged and used, a complex SEI (solid electrolyte interphase) layer is formed. Its structure resembles a mosaic consisting of organic and inorganic parts assembled from several blocks. Researchers have noticed that if an artificial layer is applied to the electrode surface of a battery, the batteries can be recharged and used longer. The actual electrode material is saved when the separately added layer reacts and forms a protective SEI layer. The surface of an artificially produced SEI is also more even and of a higher quality than that of a naturally developed layer. Inorganic materials, i.e. materials that do not contain carbon, have been used in the atomic layer deposition. Now, Aalto University's researchers have been the first in the world to...

Flessibile e con un costo di produzione tra i 30 e i 50 dollari, è capace di alimentare un orologio, ma si punta allo sviluppo di una batteria "ad ombra" per smartwatch e smartphone. La ricerca di un gruppo di scienziati dell' Università Nazionale di Singapore (NUS)  ha portato allo sviluppo di un generatore che ricava energia dall'ombra, il cosiddetto   Shadow-effect energy generator (SEG) . Piccolo e flessibile, con un costo di produzione di poche decine di dollari, potrà servire per alimentare quei dispositivi che si utilizzano in condizioni di sotto-illuminazione. Lo studio è stato pubblicato dalla rivista  Energy & Environmental Science . "L’ombra è onnipresente e spesso viene data per scontata. Nelle applicazioni fotovoltaiche la presenza di ombra rappresenta un problema, perché diminuisce la performance del dispositivo. Nel nostro lavoro abbiamo invece cercato di sfruttare il contrasto di illuminazione causato dalle ombre come fonte indiretta d...

[...] Sign one: Everybody’s got a battery to sell While  long-standing off-grid and PV backup suppliers  have quietly supported solar-plus-storage applications all along, the nation’s largest solar PV installers like Sunrun, SunPower and Tesla started offering battery products to their customers in the last several years. The companies continue to report dramatic growth in the share of battery sales to their traditional PV-only offerings. The advent of well-packaged, long-life lithium-ion batteries has made energy storage more appealing to consumers. When the biggest names in solar get behind batteries, their marketing, messaging and political influence increases awareness among consumers, businesses, and governments alike. Their smaller competitors also take up the cause so that they don’t get left behind. Sign two: utilities and policymakers see the benefits Ever since utilities in California published the infamous “ Duck Curve ” showing the growing impact of high...