Advances in batteries/energy thread

[KissMy]

Some more news on batteries lasting 10,000 cycles at 85%! 27 years.

New Durable High-Power Lithium-Ion Battery Developed In Germany

May 30, 2013 Thomas

Scientists at the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) in Ulm, Germany have developed a top-class lithium-ion battery, in terms of cycle stability – an important parameter for the lifetime. It is exceeding the current international state of technology for high-performance battery cells.

More than 10,000 full cycles have been achieved so far. With other values, such as the power density, the batteries are equivalent to those produced by leading Asian manufacturers. The active materials for the batteries exclusively originate from German companies. The ZSW has designed the cells, developed the manufacturing process, and produced a small sample series in the 18650-format. The technology has created the basis for manufacturing large-size pouch cells and large-size prismatic cells. The lithium-ion batteries are intended for use in electric vehicles and as solar power storage systems.

“After 10,000 complete charging and discharging cycles with a complete charge and discharge cycle per hour (2 C), our lithium batteries still have more than 85% of the initial capacity,” reports Dr. Margret Wohlfahrt-Mehrens, head of the Accumulator Material Research Department in Ulm. “That also provides excellent prospects for a long calendar life.” A long service life is an essential requirement from automotive companies. Lithium-ion batteries need to be able to do their work in cars for at least ten years without the battery capacity dropping to less than 80% of the rated value.

Read more at New Durable High Power Lithium Ion Battery from Germany

Germany is kicking the Worlds ass. They already get over 12% of the power they use from solar & they are in a bad location for sun light. They have the best economy in the World. If they develop this battery it will be like endless energy for them.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Hybrid nanostructure with extreme light absorption looks promising for photovoltaics

(Phys.org) —In photovoltaics, there is generally a trade-off in terms of semiconductor thickness, with thicker semiconductors offering better photon absorption and thinner ones offering higher charge carrier extraction efficiency. In recent years, scientists have begun investigating semiconductor nanowire solar cells, which tackle this tradeoff through morphology-dependent resonances that significantly enhance the absorption compared to a planar film.

Now, somewhat counterintuitively, scientists have theoretically found that thin semiconductor films wrapped around metal nanowires have substantially better light absorption properties than solid semiconducting nanowires, despite the fact that they use less semiconducting material. At the same time, the metal core acts as a contact to efficiently extract charge carriers. By confronting the semiconductor thickness trade-off and offering exceptional performance, the nanostructures might become ideal building blocks for inexpensive photovoltaic and solar fuel applications.

Read more at: Hybrid nanostructure with extreme light absorption looks promising for photovoltaics

 

[ScienceRocks]

GaAs Solar Cell Nanowires Could Boost Commercial Solar Module Efficiency 25%


July 3, 2013 Nicholas Brown

Sol Voltaics, a Swedish startup company, has received a $6.2 million loan from the Swedish Energy Agency to produce Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) nanowires (SolInk) for use in solar module. This may be bigger than it sounds.

Gallium Arsenide is a highly efficient semiconductor material tested in some solar panels which has achieved efficiency ratings in excess of 40%, which translates to an outstanding power-to-size ratio of 400 watts per square meter of solar panels.

In the case of this project [PDF], the gallium arsenide semiconductor material will be used to create a layer for use on top of conventional solar modules to enhance their efficiency by 25%, basically as a hybrid solar module.

So, a 15% efficient solar module could be increased to 18.75%, or a 20% efficient solar module could be increased to 25%.

Read more at Sol Voltaic Receives $6.2M Loan To Build GaAs Nanowires For Solar Cells



Affordable, scalable process of carbon nanotube-based catalyst outperforming platinum for electric-automobiles

1 hour ago

New Catalyst replaceable platinum for electric-automobiles

Korean researchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), S. Korea, developed a novel bio-inspired composite electrocatalyst outperforming platinum.
The resulting material, bio-inspired FePc-Py-CNTs catalyst has shown outstanding durability and electrocatalytic activity for ORR in an alkaline media, offering better performance than a commercial Pt/C catalyst. Compared to other unpyrilysed metal macrocycles catalysts, this bio inspired FePc-Py-CNTs catalyst has achieved a much longer cycle life , reaching more than 1,000 cycles in a durability test.

"I believe the FePc-Py-CNTs catalysts is a technologically promising candidate for practical applications in metal-air batteries and alkaline fuel cells," said Prof. Cho. "The origin of the enhanced performance for this bio-inspired catalysts in aromatic macrocycle, provides important insight into rational design of metal macrocycles catalysts for other applications such as solar harvesting and catalysts for other redox reactions."

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-07-scalable-carbon-nanotube-based-catalyst-outperforming.html#jCp

 

[flacaltenn]

Solar Cell Efficiency World Record Set By Sharp — 44.4%


June 23, 2013 Mathias

Editor’s Note: In May, Sharp regained the world’s triple-junction, non-concentrator solar cell efficiency record — 37.9%. Now, it has also taken the overall world solar cell efficiency record — 44.4%. Here’s another repost from Solar Love on the news.

A research team at Sharp Corporation has announced that it has created a solar cell capable of converting 44.4% of incoming sunlight into electricity. The solar cell is of the “concentrator triple-junction compound” type, which basically is a lens-based system that focuses sunlight.

The high conversion efficiencies that we see with compound solar cells are due to several photoabsorbing layers typically made from indium and gallium. Sharp’s record-setting solar cell uses three layers (InGaP top, GaAs middle, and InGaAs bottom), as you can see on the illustration below:

Read more at Solar Cell Efficiency World Record Set By Sharp -- 44.4% | CleanTechnica



Better droplet condensation could boost power efficiency

29 minutes ago by David L. Chandler

Researchers at MIT have developed an innovative approach to improving heat transfer in power plants and cooling systems. The new system could provide a 100 percent improvement in the efficiency of heat transfer over conventional systems, the researchers say.

Read more at: Better droplet condensation could boost power efficiency

We've known since the 70s that Gallium Arsenide GA-AS PV cells would increase efficiencies by 30% or more. The reason isn't hasn't gone anywhere in commercial applications is that NO ONE wants to be "king of Arsenic mining"..

The press on that distinction would be inherently bad for business. And the solar biz in general..

 

[ScienceRocks]

You're probably right about that.

Corning Willow Glass used to make flexible solar power roofing shingles, could lower the cost of solar power significantly
By Sebastian Anthony on July 3, 2013 at 8:25 am
2 Comments
Corning Willow Glass used to make flexible solar power roofing shingles, could lower the cost of solar power significantly | ExtremeTech

The US government’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has built flexible solar cells out of Corning’s Willow Glass. These new solar cells are strong enough that they could eventually replace roofing shingles, which would significantly shrink the biggest barrier to mass adoption of solar power: the cost of installation.

As you probably know, Corning is the manufacturer of Gorilla Glass, which furnishes the front of many smartphones, including the iPhone, and most HTC and Samsung devices. (See: Gorilla Glass coming to cars, making them more resilient and efficient.) Gorilla Glass is essentially a variety of alkali-aluminosilicate toughened glass that has been engineered for a combination of desirable factors (high strength and toughness, while remaining thin and light).

 

[Old Rocks]

Solar Cell Efficiency World Record Set By Sharp — 44.4%


June 23, 2013 Mathias

Editor’s Note: In May, Sharp regained the world’s triple-junction, non-concentrator solar cell efficiency record — 37.9%. Now, it has also taken the overall world solar cell efficiency record — 44.4%. Here’s another repost from Solar Love on the news.

A research team at Sharp Corporation has announced that it has created a solar cell capable of converting 44.4% of incoming sunlight into electricity. The solar cell is of the “concentrator triple-junction compound” type, which basically is a lens-based system that focuses sunlight.

The high conversion efficiencies that we see with compound solar cells are due to several photoabsorbing layers typically made from indium and gallium. Sharp’s record-setting solar cell uses three layers (InGaP top, GaAs middle, and InGaAs bottom), as you can see on the illustration below:

Read more at Solar Cell Efficiency World Record Set By Sharp -- 44.4% | CleanTechnica



Better droplet condensation could boost power efficiency

29 minutes ago by David L. Chandler

Researchers at MIT have developed an innovative approach to improving heat transfer in power plants and cooling systems. The new system could provide a 100 percent improvement in the efficiency of heat transfer over conventional systems, the researchers say.

Read more at: Better droplet condensation could boost power efficiency

We've known since the 70s that Gallium Arsenide GA-AS PV cells would increase efficiencies by 30% or more. The reason isn't hasn't gone anywhere in commercial applications is that NO ONE wants to be "king of Arsenic mining"..

The press on that distinction would be inherently bad for business. And the solar biz in general..

What bullshit. Arsenic is a byproduct of most metallic sulphide mining. And the Gallium Arsenide is not going to leach out of the solar panel.

 

[flacaltenn]

Solar Cell Efficiency World Record Set By Sharp — 44.4%


June 23, 2013 Mathias


Read more at Solar Cell Efficiency World Record Set By Sharp -- 44.4% | CleanTechnica



Better droplet condensation could boost power efficiency

29 minutes ago by David L. Chandler




Read more at: Better droplet condensation could boost power efficiency

We've known since the 70s that Gallium Arsenide GA-AS PV cells would increase efficiencies by 30% or more. The reason isn't hasn't gone anywhere in commercial applications is that NO ONE wants to be "king of Arsenic mining"..

The press on that distinction would be inherently bad for business. And the solar biz in general..

What bullshit. Arsenic is a byproduct of most metallic sulphide mining. And the Gallium Arsenide is not going to leach out of the solar panel.

That's a pretty cavalier attitude for "an environmentalist" concerning one of the most regulated carcinogens on the planet. It's OK to consider using ugrams of GaAs in cell phones -- it's completely different to consider using Kilos of it in a Solar panel installation.

Contrary to your assertion -- even SOLID GaAs will leach out if EXPOSED to the environment in the presence of natural acids. Which makes any unauthorized disposal an IMMEDIATE health concern. Not to mention the impact if mining operations shift from recovering it as "byproduct" to a major industrial commodity..

There's worker safety, pollution of water and air in manufacturing, and all those other considerations.

Not bullshit --- That's the reason it ain't happened (along with cost) since the 70s...
You are a genuine hypocrital piece of work....

 

[ScienceRocks]

New catalyst could cut cost of making hydrogen fuel

New catalyst could cut cost of making hydrogen fuel | KurzweilAI
July 4, 2013

A discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may represent a significant advance in the quest to create a “hydrogen economy” that would use this abundant element to store and transfer energy.

Theoretically, hydrogen is the ultimate non-carbon, non-polluting fuel for storing intermittent energy from the wind or sun. When burned for energy, hydrogen produces water but no carbon dioxide. But practically speaking, producing hydrogen from water, and then storing and using the gas, have proven difficult.

The new study, published at the Journal of the American Chemical Society, introduces a new catalyst structure that can facilitate the use of electricity to produce hydrogen gas from water.

Significantly, the catalyst avoids the rare, expensive metal platinum that is normally required for this reaction. (Catalysts speed up chemical reactions without themselves being consumed.)

 

[flacaltenn]

New catalyst could cut cost of making hydrogen fuel

New catalyst could cut cost of making hydrogen fuel | KurzweilAI
July 4, 2013

A discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may represent a significant advance in the quest to create a “hydrogen economy” that would use this abundant element to store and transfer energy.

Theoretically, hydrogen is the ultimate non-carbon, non-polluting fuel for storing intermittent energy from the wind or sun. When burned for energy, hydrogen produces water but no carbon dioxide. But practically speaking, producing hydrogen from water, and then storing and using the gas, have proven difficult.

The new study, published at the Journal of the American Chemical Society, introduces a new catalyst structure that can facilitate the use of electricity to produce hydrogen gas from water.

Significantly, the catalyst avoids the rare, expensive metal platinum that is normally required for this reaction. (Catalysts speed up chemical reactions without themselves being consumed.)

gimme an "H".. gimme another "H" Gooooo Hydrogen...

It's either this hard work --- or we find an asteroid made of 40% platinum...

 

[ScienceRocks]

CZTSe Solar Cells Achieve 9.7% Efficiency

A Copper Zinc Tin Selenide (CZTSe) solar cell technology has achieved an efficiency of 9.7% and an open-circuit voltage of 0.41 volts, a bit less than the 0.5 volts that most silicon-based solar cells achieve. (Solar cells are generally connected in series, which multiplies their voltage by the number of cells in the series connection.)

Read more at Solliance And Imec Achieve 9.7% Efficiency With New CZTSe Solar Cell

 

[ScienceRocks]

Champion nano-rust for producing solar hydrogen

Water and some nano-structured iron oxide is all it takes to produce bubbles of solar hydrogen. EPFL and Technion scientists just discovered the champion structure to achieve this

In the quest for the production of renewable and clean energy, photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) constitute a sort of a Holy Grail. PECs are devices able of splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen in a single operation, thanks to solar radiation. "As a matter of fact, we've already discovered this precious chalice, says Michael Grätzel, Director of the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces (LPI) at EPFL and inventor of dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells. Today we have just reached an important milestone on the path that will lead us forward to profitable industrial applications."

This week, Nature Materials is indeed publishing a groundbreaking article on the subject. EPFL researchers, working with Avner Rotschild from Technion (Israel), have managed to accurately characterize the iron oxide nanostructures to be used in order to produce hydrogen at the lowest possible cost. "The whole point of our approach is to use an exceptionally abundant, stable and cheap material: rust," adds Scott C. Warren, first author of the article.

At the end of last year, Kevin Sivula, one of the collaborators at the LPI laboratory, presented a prototype electrode based on the same principle. Its efficiency was such that gas bubbles emerged as soon as it was under a light stimulus. Without a doubt, the potential of such cheap electrodes was demonstrated, even if there was still room for improvement.

Champion nano-rust for producing solar hydrogen

 

[ScienceRocks]

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Achieve Record Efficiency Of 15%


July 15, 2013 Nathan

A new efficiency record for dye-sensitized solar cells has been achieved by researchers at EPFL in Switzerland — the new record of 15% has now been achieved thanks to a new fabrication process created by the researchers.

Read more at Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Achieve Record Efficiency Of 15% | CleanTechnica

 

[ScienceRocks]

Direct nitrogen fixation for low cost energy conversion

A simple, low-cost and eco-friendly method of creating nitrogen-doped graphene nanoplatelets (NGnPs), which could be used in dye-sensitized solar cells and fuel cells, is published in Scientific Reports today. The work, carried out at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea, could be a step towards replacing conventional platinum (Pt)-based catalysts for energy conversion.

Read more at: Direct nitrogen fixation for low cost energy conversion

 

[KissMy]

Pee To Power – African Teens Develop Revolutionary Generator Powered By Urine

Four teenagers (The oldest of whom is only fifteen) have developed a very amazing way to generate electricity in their remote village in Africa.

The process is extraordinarily simple – Take waste urine (pee) , feed the urine into a electrolytic cell , crack the urine into its base elements – Nitrogen, water & hydrogen. Filter the hydrogen through a normal water purifier, filter the hydrogen then through liquid borax, then feed the now pure hydrogen into a run of the mill generator.

The end result is extremely flammable, pure hydrogen which can be used to power a generator, or a airship.

While this process isn’t exactly new (It was initially developed in Athens Ohio in 2009) one of the more amazing things is the fact that these teenage girls are using materials that are all easily found in their remote part of Africa.

One of the most crucial features of this device is that it does not used platinum to generate the hydrogen. Here in the US, our electrolysis cells contain highly valuable platinum which costs a whopping $1550 per ounce. Instead, the girls are using nickel, which is extremely abundant, and quite cheap at only $7 per pound. On top of this, they are not feeding the pure hydrogen into a expensive fuel cell, rather a cheap Chinese generator. The result is cheap, rugged and will run off 6 hours from one liter of urine.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Voilà! US Algae Company Turns Sewage Into Biofuel, In France


July 23, 2013 Tina Casey

Right around this time last summer we took note of a new US-France urban algae farming collaboration that combines algae biofuel production with wastewater treatment. Considering all the political poop that certain US legislators have lobbed in the direction of France over the past ten years or so, that’s a bit of poetic justice for you, especially since the project has been a success so far and it passed an important milestone last week.

Algae farming combines algae biofuel and wastewater treatment

 

[ScienceRocks]

Electricity From CO2 — New Technique


Electricity From CO2 -- New Technique | CleanTechnica

A new technique developed by a team of Dutch Engineers generates electrical power from a novel mixing of CO2, air, and water — without increasing CO2 emissions.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a simple molecule that results from either the natural breakdown of organic matter (by bacterial decomposition), or as a by-product of combustion of hydrocarbon-based fuels (coal, oil, natural gas, etc.). It can be a “food source” for vegetation (though this is limited by other factors such as soil nitrogen), or a source of pollution (a greenhouse gas, or GHG).

 

[ScienceRocks]

The best of two worlds: Solar hydrogen production breakthrough

Using a simple solar cell and a photo anode made of a metal oxide, HZB and TU Delft scientists have successfully stored nearly five percent of solar energy chemically in the form of hydrogen. This is a major feat as the design of the solar cell is much simpler than that of the high-efficiency triple-junction cells based on amorphous silicon or expensive III-V semiconductors that are traditionally used for this purpose.

The photo anode, which is made from the metal oxide bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) to which a small amount of tungsten atoms was added, was sprayed onto a piece of conducting glass and coated with an inexpensive cobalt phosphate catalyst. "Basically, we combined the best of both worlds," explains Prof. Dr. Roel van de Krol, head of the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels: "We start with a chemically stable, low cost metal oxide, add a really good but simple silicon-based thin film solar cell, and – voilà – we've just created a cost-effective, highly stable, and highly efficient solar fuel device."

Thus the experts were able to develop a rather elegant and simple system for using sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This process, called artificial photosynthesis, allows solar energy to be stored in the form of hydrogen. The hydrogen can then be used as a fuel either directly or in the form of methane, or it can generate electricity in a fuel cell. One rough estimate shows the potential inherent in this technology: At a solar performance in Germany of roughly 600 Watts per square meter, 100 square meters of this type of system is theoretically capable of storing 3 kilowatt hours of energy in the form of hydrogen in just one single hour of sunshine. This energy could then be available at night or on cloudy days.

Read more at: The best of two worlds: Solar hydrogen production breakthrough

 

[ScienceRocks]

Transparent Solar Film Gets Big Efficiency Boost

CleanTechnica | Clean Tech News & Views: Solar Energy News. Wind Energy News. EV News. & More.

A novel, transparent, two-layer solar film — possessing an impressive efficiency conversion of 7.3% — has been created by researchers at the University of California–Los Angeles. This is about double the transparent solar cell efficiency the researchers had previously achieved. The solar film can be placed on windows, buildings, sunroofs, electronics displays, etc; harvesting energy while still at the same time allowing light to pass through and visibility/transparency to be maintained.

The new solar film is essentially an improved form of the “breakthrough photovoltaic cell design” that the same researchers unveiled last year – an improved form with nearly double the efficiency, that is. It consists of two thin polymer solar cells that work together to maximize sunlight collection and conversion to electricity — the two cells absorb more light than single-layer solar devices do because together they absorb light from a wider part of the solar spectrum. There’s also a thin layer of ‘novel materials’ present between the two cells that works to reduce energy loss.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Shin-Etsu Chemical eyes 10X boost in smartphone battery life

Shin-Etsu Chemical plans to begin mass production, in three to four years, of material that would enable one-week battery life.

Shin-Etsu Chemical thinks new material it has developed could boost battery life by tenfold. Needless to say, even if the company achieved a fraction of that, it would be groundbreaking.

The new development replaces traditional carbon-based material in lithium-ion batteries with silicon, according to a report in the Japanese-language version of Nikkei -- which didn't provide much detail about the technology.

Shin-Etsu Chemical eyes 10X boost in smartphone battery life | Cutting Edge - CNET News

 

[ScienceRocks]

Team develops new water splitting technique that could produce hydrogen fuel

A University of Colorado Boulder team has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel.

The CU-Boulder team has devised a solar-thermal system in which sunlight could be concentrated by a vast array of mirrors onto a single point atop a central tower up to several hundred feet tall. The tower would gather heat generated by the mirror system to roughly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,350 Celsius), then deliver it into a reactor containing chemical compounds known as metal oxides, said CU-Boulder Professor Alan Weimer, research group leader.

Read more at: Team develops new water splitting technique that could produce hydrogen fuel