Archive for the 'Energy' Category
‘High Level’ of Radiation Detected in Tokyo Park
April 25th, 2015Via: BBC: Japanese authorities have detected an unusually high level of radiation around playground equipment in a Tokyo park, report local media. The park, in the Toshima ward in central Tokyo, has been fenced off. Authorities recorded up to 480 microsieverts per hour at one spot – nearly half the recommended annual limit of exposure […]
Tesla Batteries Already Deployed in 11 California Wal-Mart Stores
April 23rd, 2015Via: Bloomberg: As part of a pilot program with sister company SolarCity, Tesla has installed batteries at about 300 California homes equipped with solar panels. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has a relationship with SolarCity, has Tesla batteries installed at 11 California stores; Cargill Inc. plans a one-megawatt system for its animal-processing plant in Fresno.
New Zealand: Grid Tie Solar System Deals for April-May
April 16th, 2015For readers in NZ: The solar power company that I work for is discounting grid tie systems until 30 May 2015. I got an email from the CEO last night. It’s time for us to grab more market share. In addition to discounts on the hardware, you won’t have to pay: * The distributed generation […]
Robot Dies After Three Hours Inside Fukushima Reactor
April 14th, 2015Watch the radiation monitor numbers on the video (lower right). That thing hits 24.9 sieverts per hour. In case you don’t have an understanding of how deadly that is, see this handy radiation dose chart. Via: Guardian: Decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has suffered a setback after a robot sent in […]
The Economics of Grid Defection
April 13th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — I am Jack’s smirking revenge. Via: Rocky Mountain Institute: Distributed electricity generation, especially solar PV, is rapidly spreading and getting much cheaper. Distributed electricity storage is doing the same, thanks largely to mass production of batteries for electric vehicles. Solar power is already starting to […]
Google Gets Into Battery Arms Race
April 12th, 2015Via: Wall Street Journal: Google Inc. has joined the search for better batteries to power its expansion into consumer electronics and other hardware. In late 2012, a team led by former Apple Inc. battery expert Dr. Ramesh Bhardwaj began testing batteries developed by others for use in Google devices. About a year later, the group […]
Battery Prices Dropping Faster Than Predicted
April 9th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: The most important piece of news on the energy front isn’t the plunge in oil prices, but the progress that is being made in battery technology. A new study in Nature Climate Change, by Bjorn Nykvist and Mans Nilsson of the Stockholm Environment Institute, shows that electric vehicle batteries have been getting cheaper […]
Stanford: New Aluminum-Ion Battery, “7,500 Cycles Without Any Loss of Capacity”
April 7th, 2015Non toxic. Very safe. Does it scale? Hope so. It’s nowhere near market ready, but exciting anyway. Via: Stanford University: Stanford University scientists have invented the first high-performance aluminum battery that’s fast-charging, long-lasting and inexpensive. Researchers say the new technology offers a safe alternative to many commercial batteries in wide use today. “We have developed […]
Inexpensive Electric Cars Sooner Rather Than Later?
April 6th, 2015Via: MIT Technology Review: Electric cars may seem like a niche product that only wealthy people can afford, but a new analysis suggests that they may be close to competing with or even beating gas cars on cost. The true cost of lithium-ion batteries in electric cars is a secret closely held by manufacturers. And […]
Turkey Power Outage Shuts Down Public Transportation and Half of Provinces
April 1st, 2015Via: Guardian: A huge power cut has caused chaos and shut down public transport on Tuesday across Turkey, with the government refusing to rule out that the electricity system had been the victim of an attack. The nationwide power cut, the worst in 15 years, began about 10.36am in Istanbul, the state-run Anatolia news agency […]
