Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Musk on South Australia Grid Crisis: Tesla Will Install 100 MWh of Powerpacks Within 100 Days of Contract Signature or It’s Free
March 10th, 2017“That serious enough for you?” Via: Reuters: Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk on Friday offered to save Australia’s most renewable-energy dependent state from blackouts by installing $25 million worth of battery storage within 100 days, and offering it for free if he missed the target. The offer follows a string of power outages in the […]
Aquion Energy Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
March 9th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Bummer. That’s the battery I wanted, albeit for less than half the price of what they were asking. *chortle* Maybe the chemistry will survive with whichever entity picks over the carcass… I doubt it’s a coincidence that this happened just as the Tesla Powerwall 2 […]
Hawaii: Another Large Tesla Powerpack Build
March 9th, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — One of my off grid solar power customers just had her system installed yesterday. She and her husband built their small home 16 years ago and dreamed of someday having a solar power system. (It would cost about $100,000 to bring grid power to the […]
U.S. Crude Oil Slumps Below $50 After Stocks Build
March 9th, 2017Via: Reuters: Oil prices fell more than 2 percent on Thursday, extending the biggest falls this year as record U.S. crude inventories kept sentiment weak, pointing to a global glut despite supply cuts. Crude oil stocks in the United States, the world’s top oil consumer, surged last week to 528.4 million barrels, an all-time high […]
German Institute Successfully Tests Underwater Energy Storage Sphere
March 7th, 2017Viable anytime soon? No. Cool idea anyway? Yep. Via: Ars Technica: A German research institute has spent years trying to tailor pumped storage to ocean environments. Recently, the institute completed a successful four-week pilot test using a hollow concrete sphere that it placed on the bottom of Lake Constance, a body of water at the […]
Electronic Energy Meters’ False Readings Almost Six Times Higher Than Actual Energy Consumption
March 4th, 2017Via: Science Bulletin: Some electronic energy meters can give false readings that are up to 582% higher than actual energy consumption. This emerged from a study carried out by the University of Twente (UT), in collaboration with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS). Professor Frank Leferink of the UT estimates that potentially inaccurate meters […]
Lithium Ion Like Battery with 3X the Energy Density, Sodium Glass Electrolyte
March 1st, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — I’ll reiterate the usual warning when posting about battery technology “breakthroughs.” Laboratory experiments have virtually nothing to do with finished products that you and I can buy. Indeed, DO NOT hold your breath waiting for this. That said, it’s VERY interesting, if you’re like me […]
All New Taxis in Beijing Must Be Electric
March 1st, 2017Great, now don’t charge them with electricity generated by burning coal. Via: National Business Daily: All newly added or replaced taxies in the city of Beijing will be converted from gasoline to electricity, according to a draft work program on air pollution control for Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and surrounding areas in 2017.
Cobalt Hoarding Ahead of Assumed Electric Car Boom
February 25th, 2017Via: Reuters: Investors are buying up physical cobalt anticipating that shortages of the metal, a key component of lithium-ion batteries used in electrical cars, will spur prices to their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis. Prices for cobalt metal have climbed nearly 50 per cent since September to five-year peaks around US$19 ($NZ26.50) a […]
How EV West Recovers Battery Modules from Wrecked Tesla Vehicles
February 25th, 2017Ever wonder what the highest power density battery modules in the world look like? Via: Jehu Garcia:
