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Sigmetnow

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Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« on: February 14, 2015, 01:45:48 AM »
Batteries (and other types of energy storage) are the key to enable the switch from fossil fuels to the next generation:  renewables.  Lots to talk about!  Here's a sample of recent stories.

Electric Vehicles (EVs) and the grid:
Tapping the Power Potential of Plug-in Electric Vehicles
http://www.plugincars.com/tapping-power-potential-plug-electric-vehicles-130495.html

Industry:
Tesla and Samsung to expand battery partnership?
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/tesla-and-samsung-to-expand-battery-partnership/

Residential storage and the grid:
Tesla Wants to Build a Battery for Your House
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-12/tesla-planning-battery-for-emerging-home-energy-storage-market?hootPostID=a811f8450e6721c14fe8792b61ead08d

Building a better battery:
Beating the polysulfide shuttle to build a solid-state battery approaching theoretical capacity
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/beating-the-polysulfide-shuttle-to-build-a-solid-state-battery-approaching-theoretical-capacity/

Boosting developing countries with clean energy:
Tanzania: Solar 'Generators' Power Up Remote Homes, Factories
http://allafrica.com/stories/201502092250.html
70,000 Tanzanian Households Could Be Powered By New Solar Project
http://cleantechnica.com/2013/09/30/70000-tanzanian-households-powered-solar/
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Laurent

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2015, 11:18:26 AM »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2015, 12:55:44 AM »
The Tesla Gigafactory will reportedly start operations in 2016, rather than 2017 — a bit early.
http://evobsession.com/tesla-gigafactory-start-early-reports-tesla-official/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2015, 07:28:48 PM »
Here's a better explanation of the QUANT electric car flow-cell battery.  It uses two fluids, one positively charged and one negatively charged, to power electric motors.  The fluids cannot be recharged -- once the power is exhausted, the fluids must be replaced.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/new-and-improved-flow-cell-vehicle-to-appear-at-geneva-auto-show/

So, kudos for avoiding fossil fuels, but this is essentially a car running on disposable batteries.  :(
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Jim Hunt

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2015, 09:45:34 PM »
My professional alter ego got a phone call last week which suggests that the UK's first (that I am aware of) pilot project of "Vehicle to micro-grid" (V2uG?) technology should be up and running by the summer.

A very small step in the right direction? Here's my take on some of the possibilities:

http://www.V2G.co.uk/2014/05/the-great-dunchideock-blackout-saga/
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LRC1962

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2015, 10:35:02 PM »
IM(uninformed)O I think that the future will not be batteries but Ultracapacitors. As described in this article, They do not have issues with temp that batteries have, limited number of charge cycles and with very quick recharge times.
Quote
Supercapacitors, unfortunately, are currently very expensive to produce, and at present the scalability of supercapacitors in industry is limiting the application options as energy efficiency is offset against cost efficiency. This is the reason why a paper by researchers at the UCLA has been so highly referred to within scientific circles and publications as they were able to produce supercapacitors made out of graphene by using a simple DVD LightScribe writer on a home PC. This idea of creating graphene monolayers by using thermo lithography is not necessarily a new one, as scientists from the US were able to produce graphene nanowires by using thermochemical nanolithography back in 2010; however, this new method avoids the use of an atomic force microscope in favour of a commercially available laser device that is already prevalent in many homes around the world.
Why are scientists looking at using graphene instead of the currently more popular activated carbon? Well, graphene is essentially a form of carbon, and while activated carbon has an extremely high relative surface area, graphene has substantially more. As we have already highlighted, one of the limitations to the capacitance of ultracapacitors is the surface area of the conductors. If one conductive material in a supercapacitor has a higher relative surface area than another, it will be better at storing electrostatic charge. Also, being a material made up of one single atomic layer, it is lighter. Another interesting point is that as graphene is essentially just graphite, which is a form of carbon, it is ecologically friendly, unlike most other forms of energy storage.
With the advances in 3D printing, one could see the ability of creating a capacitor of any shape or size you wanted to with the connectors included. Alluded to but not stated was once it no longer is working disconnect wire connectors and recycle in the compost.
 
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sidd

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2015, 05:04:17 AM »
Re: Capacitors and Batteries

In practice, all batteries are a little like capacitors and vice versa. But the advantage of batteries is that energy per unit volume stored in chemical bonds is hugely larger than you get from playing with dielectric constants, so you really need to hugely goose up area per unit volume in capacitors to try catch up. And they haven't done it yet. I think a combination will evolve, with the ultra caps soaking up fast fluctuations while battery does longer term charge/discharge.

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Jim Hunt

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2015, 10:18:19 AM »
RiverSimple have an "open source" vehicle that combines capacitors with a hydrogen fuel cell. Unlike Tesla on both counts!

http://www.v2g.co.uk/2014/06/tesla-electric-vehicles-now-open-source/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2015, 04:25:13 AM »
Battery maker Polypore separates itself and sells two main elements for $3.2 billion.
Quote
Asahi Kasei foresees major growth and innovation in energy storage, especially in automotive applications, as emerging countries buy more vehicles and developed countries demand more eco-friendly solutions. Stationary energy storage systems that enable more efficient use of renewable energy should be another strong growth area.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/polypore-separates-itself-and-sells-two-main-elements-for-3-2-billion/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2015, 07:52:49 PM »
A few more details on the Proterra electric bus batteries.
Quote
The fast-charge Catalyst FC is available in configurations carrying between 53 kWh and 131 kWh of energy storage, and can be recharged in under 10 minutes.

The extended-range Catalyst XR is available in configurations carrying between 129 kWh and 321 kWh of energy storage, and can be recharged in a little over an hour.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/proterras-new-terravolt-xr-battery-enables-ranges-of-up-to-180-miles/
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Jim Hunt

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #10 on: March 05, 2015, 08:35:34 AM »
With my "professional" hat on, an article of mine about some interesting (to me at least!) news from the Geneva International Motor Show:

Nissan and Endesa Pledge to Promote Vehicle to Grid in Europe

Quote
The two companies have pledged to work together to deliver a V2G system and an innovative business model designed to leverage this technology.

The longer term zero-emission vision is for EVs to be at the center of a fully integrated system whereby owners can participate in wholesale energy markets using the power stored in the batteries of their electric vehicles, and thus significantly reduce their cost of operation./quote]

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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2015, 04:22:36 PM »
Tesla's New Stationary-Storage Unit
Quote
...When the site reaches full production in 2020, it will more than double the world’s supply of versatile and powerful lithium-ion batteries, Tesla has said. Beyond allowing for production of a more affordable electric car, the batteries will provide backup power for homes and businesses and eventually meet wholesale energy demands.

By 2020, the annual global investment for stationary-grid energy storage is expected to be $5.1 billion, more than 17 times higher than investments in 2013, according to a June 2014 report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
...
Tesla and Oncor Electric Delivery, owner of the largest power-line network in Texas, have discussed a $2 billion investment in stationary battery storage to solve the challenge of fluctuating output from solar and wind.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-04/billionaire-musk-s-tesla-hiring-for-new-stationary-storage-unit
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #12 on: March 06, 2015, 08:00:16 PM »
San Diego utility incorporates battery and EV fleet storage as dispatchable energy load.
Quote
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has launched a pilot vehicle-to-grid project under which it will bid a group of energy storage systems and EV fleets as one resource directly into the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) energy markets. Utilities use storage resources like this to address short-term imbalances in electricity supply caused by such things as intermittent renewable energy.

“There is tremendous potential for dispatchable distributed energy resources to enhance reliability and achieve greater efficiencies,” said SDG&E Senior VP James P. Avery. “The key to unlocking that potential is to better understand how these resources provide value both at the customer site level and at the larger electric grid level. This project does just that.”
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/san-diego-utility-integrates-evs-into-californias-wholesale-energy-market/
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Jim Hunt

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2015, 01:45:58 AM »
SDG&E is just "smart charging" isn't it. It merely provides "demand response services". This on the other hand is real V2G (I think. My Dutch isn't too good, and neither is Google's!)

http://www.V2G.co.uk/2015/03/utrecht-gets-v2g-based-energy-storage/

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jai mitchell

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #14 on: March 07, 2015, 04:53:21 AM »
Deusche Bank Report: Solar with Li-Ion batteries reach grid pairity in 5 years.



http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/energy-storage-to-reach-cost-holy-grail-mass-adoption-in-5-years-18383

Quote
“We believe 20-30 per cent yearly cost reduction is likely (for lithium-ion batteries), which could bring (them) at commercial/utility scale to the point of mass adoption potential before 2020,” the report says.

The Utility Trade Group, Edison Electric institute provided a brief comment:

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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #15 on: March 07, 2015, 01:29:46 PM »
Planned for 2021:  "The power plant of the future."
Quote
The world’s largest battery is coming to Southern California.

The device will tie in to the region’s bulk power grid and vacuum up excess power. Flipping a switch, the charged battery will deliver a sustained jolt equivalent to more than 100 million common AA alkaline batteries, or a fleet of nearly 17,000 Nissan Leafs.

It’s a power plant of the future that produces nothing, but perpetually recycles wasted electrons. Multinational energy provider AES has been selected to design and build the 100-megawatt facility on its land in Long Beach, alongside the Alamitos power plant just off Interstate 405. Enclosed in a boxy warehouse, the big battery is likely to consist of tall stacks of energy storage cells and modules, arranged in row after row much like the computer banks of a modern-day data center.

Large battery projects and trials are under way across the globe using a variety of chemistries, but none quite on this scale.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/dec/12/worlds-biggest-battery/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #16 on: March 07, 2015, 01:35:23 PM »
Environmentally-Friendly Battery Energy Storage System to Be Installed at UC San Diego
Quote
Considered one of the most advanced microgrids in the world, the UC San Diego microgrid generates 92 percent of the electricity used on campus annually.)
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/environmentally_friendly_battery_energy_storage_system_to_be_installed_at_u
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #17 on: March 07, 2015, 02:01:59 PM »
SDG&E is just "smart charging" isn't it. It merely provides "demand response services".

Maybe.  Still not sure.

But here's an interesting 8-minute video describing the new technology SDG&E is using to develop its smart grid and integration with renewables.
http://www.sdge.com/smartgrid/what-is-smartgrid
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mati

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #18 on: March 07, 2015, 06:15:18 PM »
and so it goes

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #19 on: March 07, 2015, 06:24:12 PM »
This sounded so great when I first saw the promos. Since then their amazing "if you want dirt cheap batteries you should make them from dirt" motto has worn thin since they've completely changed the material they are using. I guess the original wasn't as great as they suggested.

Now it seems their advances to make batteries that are cost effective has them projecting costs which have already been bettered by already available LiIon. I'm sure their costs will come down and I'm still rooting for them but as the years go by it feels more like hype than reality.

Sadaway is a great speaker I just hope he can deliver product as well.

Bob Wallace

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #20 on: March 07, 2015, 11:05:28 PM »
Ambri claims an incredibly long calendar life - 300 years - with unlimited cycles.  Even with costs higher than EOS zinc batteries ($160/kWh) the cycle cost becomes close to nothing.

$200/kWh and 300 years of daily cycling means a cycle cost of $0.0013/kWh. 

EOS at $160/kWh and 10,000 cycles works out to $0.016/kWh and that is considered game changing.

Being able to move cheap wind and solar ($0.03/kWh) around the clock for less than a penny would totally revolutionize grids.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #21 on: March 08, 2015, 01:56:45 AM »
Looks like lithium-ion is the battery of choice for grid storage at the moment.

Li-ion Dominates the Booming Grid Storage Market with 90% of 2014 Proposals.
Molten salt batteries still account for a majority of existing grid storage installations, but Li-ion is rapidly taking over as the market matures, says Lux Research.
http://www.evwind.es/2015/03/06/li-ion-dominates-the-booming-grid-storage-market-with-90-of-2014-proposals/50833
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #22 on: March 08, 2015, 02:25:37 AM »
US Energy Storage Market to Grow 250% in 2015, from 62 megawatts in 2014 to 220 megawatts in 2015.
Quote
The U.S. is on the cusp of a breakout year for energy storage, according to the inaugural U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association (ESA). The U.S. is forecasted to deploy 220 megawatts in 2015, more than three times its 2014 total, and growth should continue at a rapid clip thereafter.
http://www.evwind.es/2015/03/05/us-energy-storage-market-to-grow-250-in-2015-from-62-megawatts-in-2014-to-220-megawatts-in-2015/50810
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Yuha

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #23 on: March 10, 2015, 03:19:54 AM »
Here's two recent articles in MIT Technology Review that I found to be illustrative of the current status of battery technology:
http://www.technologyreview.com/review/534866/why-we-dont-have-battery-breakthroughs/
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/534266/hawaiis-solar-push-strains-the-grid/

Both articles tell stories of failures that many readers of this thread have probably heard about, but the articles also look beyond the failure. They give a glimpse of how difficult battery technology really is. We have a lot to learn, but we are learning.

For me, the two take home messages of the articles are:

1. Be skeptical about big announcements. Batteries can fail in many ways and a big failure can follow even after an installation of a production system. Only time can tell what really works.

2. Despite failures, battery technology is constantly advancing. Most advances are small, often too small to be newsworthy. And we learn from failures too. As Edison said: "I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work."

jai mitchell

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #24 on: March 11, 2015, 04:14:19 PM »
"battery hackers" are developing innovative ways to combine solar and battery technology to offset loads "behind the meter" (inside the home but still connected to the grid).

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-03-11/battery-hackers-are-building-the-future-in-the-garage

This is the new reality that publically owned electric utilities are simply not prepared for.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #25 on: March 11, 2015, 09:11:31 PM »
And here's a commercial attempt at a vehicle-to-grid system.
Quote
The system consists of the Endesa two-way charger and an energy management system that can also integrate off-grid power generation. Using this equipment, a Nissan LEAF or e-NV200 owner can charge at low-demand tariff periods, with an option to then use the electricity stored in the battery at home when costs are higher, or to feed it back to the grid for a net financial benefit.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/nissan-and-endesa-partner-to-develop-mass-market-v2g-system/
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Jim Hunt

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #26 on: March 12, 2015, 12:21:29 AM »
And here's a commercial attempt at a vehicle-to-grid system.


Didn't you notice that I broke that news (in rather more detail!) on March 5th?
« Last Edit: March 12, 2015, 09:39:59 AM by Jim Hunt »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #27 on: March 12, 2015, 12:33:56 AM »
And here's a commercial attempt at a vehicle-to-grid system.


Didn't you notice that I broke that news (in rather more detail!) on May 5th?

So you broke it -- on *March* 5 -- and I glued it back together....   Still good news.  ;D
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Jim Hunt

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #28 on: March 12, 2015, 09:42:40 AM »
Typo fixed! There's also a V2G conference in Amsterdam at the end of MARCH!

http://www.amsterdamvehicle2grid.nl/v2g-conference/
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LRC1962

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #29 on: March 12, 2015, 11:05:52 AM »
"battery hackers" are developing innovative ways to combine solar and battery technology to offset loads "behind the meter" (inside the home but still connected to the grid).

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-03-11/battery-hackers-are-building-the-future-in-the-garage

This is the new reality that publically owned electric utilities are simply not prepared for.
In the vast history of mankind when one entity tries and dominate and 'oppress' the masses, the masses will end up finding a way around the legal system put in place and developing their own way. Case in point is water control. Price the water out of reach of a group just to increase profits? In the end that group will find a way to get that water. Put in place prices and red tape that make it impossible for a group of people to find cheaper and more eco friendly methods of controlling their energy needs and guess what? They will find a way to get around those problems and make it work.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #30 on: March 12, 2015, 01:24:29 PM »
Typo fixed! There's also a V2G conference in Amsterdam at the end of MARCH!

http://www.amsterdamvehicle2grid.nl/v2g-conference/

Looks like it will be a fascinating conference!  Too bad more of these aren't available on-line.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #31 on: March 18, 2015, 05:43:39 PM »
The batteries of Solar Impulse 2 were only about 1/2 charged as the solar plane took off yesterday, at night, and climbed to altitude.  The 15-hour flight ended last night with almost a full charge.

http://www.solarimpulse.com

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31924883

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/solar-impulse-2-set-to-land-in-varanasi-after-delays-in-ahmedabad-due-to-bad-weather-red-tape-747698
« Last Edit: March 18, 2015, 05:48:43 PM by Sigmetnow »
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LRC1962

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #32 on: March 18, 2015, 08:59:24 PM »
Sounds like a very interesting plane concept. But good grief you would have thought going around the world they would have made sure all those on the trip had proper papers and strict instructions of do's and don'ts at each stopover. Maybe its my being brought up as a foreigner in a foreign country, but that would be one of the top to do items, because if you have no way to fly it because of paper problems it becomes just an very expensive paper weight until that is resolved. Also not a good idea to try and push and embarrass countries you are visiting. Sometimes it can work, but it could give you big trouble years down the road, or the country may play, we lost the paperwork route and hold you up a few more days.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #33 on: March 20, 2015, 08:37:24 PM »
New idea for battery swapping:

"String cell batteries" are small balls that fill up a vehicle's tank and form their own circuits.
Quote
Tanktwo’s system replaces a vehicle’s battery pack with a container filled with several thousand “small and intelligent string cells.” A sort of vacuum-cleaner device sucks spent cells out of the tank and refills it with charged cells. Swapping all the string cells takes less than 3 minutes.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/is-string-cell-battery-technology-the-future-for-evs/


But as battery technology keeps improving, battery swapping shouldn't be needed much longer.  That's the way Elon Musk appears to feel:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3014446-is-elon-musk-giving-up-on-battery-swaps
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Sleepy

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #34 on: March 22, 2015, 10:58:35 AM »
Thomas Parker with his rechargable EV in 1884.


BMW in 1972.


Sweden 2015.
I would love to use an EV, unfortunately it's still not a viable option here in the countryside.

What about in another 43 years, 2058?
Hopefully development speeds up, because I'll be dead long before that.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #35 on: March 22, 2015, 05:11:08 PM »
Sweden 2015.
I would love to use an EV, unfortunately it's still not a viable option here in the countryside.

What about in another 43 years, 2058?
Hopefully development speeds up, because I'll be dead long before that.

Tesla and GM will have EV's out in 2017 with 200-mile range, priced around $25,000.  The next generation Nissan LEAF should be similar, and there will be others, plus lower-priced options.  You don't have very long to wait.
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Sleepy

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #36 on: March 22, 2015, 05:46:01 PM »
I recently looked at the ugly Nissan e-NV 200 Evalia, I need that space but would also need the 200 mile range. That car would take me 170km or ~100mile max, in winter you can almost cut that in half. That one costs ~350000SEK or ~40000USD here.

I would love to be able to buy an EV like the one above with a max range of 320km for ~200000SEK in 2017.

Edit, stumbled upon a rare picture of Swedens first electric car in 1899. :)
« Last Edit: March 22, 2015, 08:59:13 PM by Sleepy »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #37 on: March 23, 2015, 11:22:14 PM »
Dyson (the vacuum-cleaner company) invests $15 million in solid-state battery-maker Sakti3

Includes a TED video on Sakti3’s development of their solid-state battery.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/dyson-invests-15-million-in-solid-state-battery-maker-sakti3/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #38 on: March 31, 2015, 09:11:27 PM »
Electric busses in China news:

Michigan-based XALT Energy announces $1 billion lithium-titanate battery supply agreement with Chinese bus manufacturer Hybrid Kinetic Group.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/xalt-energy-announces-1-billion-battery-supply-agreement-with-chinese-bus-manufacturer/

And here's an introductory video to a huge new electric bus that can carry 143 passengers and go 100km between charges.  Beijing has committed to 4,000 green busses by the end of 2017.
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/introducing-chinas-first-electric-bus-n330166
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #39 on: April 03, 2015, 08:20:41 PM »
"Nanoscale ceramic fillers": enhancing solid-state electrolytes in batteries.
Quote
"Our work opens the door for novel developments of one-dimensional Li+-conducting ceramic materials in solid electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries,” concludes the Stanford team.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/stanford-team-improves-potential-of-solid-state-electrolytes-by-enhancing-ionic-conductivity/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #40 on: April 06, 2015, 06:59:54 PM »
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Two of the world’s biggest industrial companies are preparing for a high-stakes court battle over an arcane battery chemistry, and the outcome could have important implications for next-gen EVs, according to Quartz.
...
The case centers around two competing patents for the cathode material nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC). ...  NMC is used in the Chevy Volt’s battery pack, and both Argonne and Dahn claim that it is their version.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/battery-giants-square-off-for-court-battle-over-lithium-ion-patents/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #41 on: April 07, 2015, 02:55:01 AM »
Aluminum battery from Stanford: safer, but only half the voltage of lithium ion.
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/march/aluminum-ion-battery-033115.html
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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #42 on: April 07, 2015, 03:04:28 AM »
About battery safety...

@JenSchuld: Yikes. This is what happens if you poke a hole in your phone's battery with a knife. http://t.co/CbJQBdKDCP
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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #43 on: April 07, 2015, 04:07:08 AM »
I'm not sure what that really proves.  Destroying anything that is storing a lot of energy probably won't turn out very well.

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #44 on: April 08, 2015, 07:46:14 PM »
Another gigafactory?
Quote
Chinese automaker BYD aims to be a major player in the battery business, adding 6 gigawatt-hours of global production in each of the next three years, company spokesman Matthew Jurjevich told Reuters recently.

If it continues at that pace, BYD’s capacity will be some 34 GWh of batteries by the beginning of 2020, putting it about even with Tesla’s Gigafactory.
...
Most of BYD’s current production is in China, but it built two manufacturing plants in Southern California in 2013 to produce electric buses and batteries, and it plans to open a major new factory in Brazil this year.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/chinese-automaker-byd-to-triple-production-of-batteries/
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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #45 on: April 08, 2015, 09:37:23 PM »
Another gigafactory?
Quote
Chinese automaker BYD aims to be a major player in the battery business, adding 6 gigawatt-hours of global production in each of the next three years, company spokesman Matthew Jurjevich told Reuters recently.

If it continues at that pace, BYD’s capacity will be some 34 GWh of batteries by the beginning of 2020, putting it about even with Tesla’s Gigafactory.
...
Most of BYD’s current production is in China, but it built two manufacturing plants in Southern California in 2013 to produce electric buses and batteries, and it plans to open a major new factory in Brazil this year.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/chinese-automaker-byd-to-triple-production-of-batteries/

Indeed, the market for heavy load industrial transportation and bus transit has even better affordability than personal vehicle due to heavy use and the benefits of dynamic braking on constant start-stop operations. 

The first All electric garbage truck is in operation in Chicago, imagine the noise reduction!

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/09/16/first-electric-garbage-truck-in-us-hauls-9-tons-of-chicago-trash/

Quote
We’ve been following the Motive electric garbage truck around since it was a glimmer in the company’s eye. Back in 2012, the company announced that it would make Chicago the first US city to get a fleet of all-electric garbage trucks, and it looks like they’re on track.

The 2012 announcement covered a $13.4 milion contract to add 20 electric garbage trucks to the city’s 600-strong fleet over the next five years.
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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #46 on: April 08, 2015, 11:45:57 PM »
The first All electric garbage truck is in operation in Chicago, imagine the noise reduction!

Yeah right. Quieter vehicle but the noise mainly comes from bins and the truck reversing which some H&S person will insist must be noisier because the truck is quieter.  ::) :P

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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #47 on: April 10, 2015, 06:27:19 PM »
Germany's Sonnenbatterie has doubled the lifespan of its home system.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/german_solar_storage_maker_sonnenbatterie_doubles_lifespan_of_residential_m

Quote
The company said the lithium-ion based system now has a lifetime of 10,000 charge cycles, whereas previous versions could manage up to 5,000. Company spokesman Mathias Bloch told PV Tech that additionally, while the previous models could cycle at a depth of discharge (DoD) of 80%, the new version can manage 100% DoD cycling.

This system uses "behind the meter" remote switching at the plug-level and smoothly moves between battery/PV and Utility supply sources.  This is all on the customer side and so is not able to be regulated.

There is significant potential for this system to be paired with smaller solar systems as a "peak load" reduction platform as well (for less cost).
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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #48 on: April 17, 2015, 08:36:18 PM »
Proterra’s new TerraVolt XR battery for busses enables ranges of up to 180 miles.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/proterras-new-terravolt-xr-battery-enables-ranges-of-up-to-180-miles/


Proterra wins $3 million grant for California electric bus manufacturing line.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/proterra-wins-3-million-grant-for-california-electric-bus-manufacturing-line/
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Re: Batteries: Today's Energy Solution
« Reply #49 on: April 23, 2015, 07:00:54 PM »
Siemens new charging station is Smartgrid and Wi-Fi-enabled, allowing the customer or the utility to maximize charging efficiency.
http://chargedevs.com/newswire/siemens-introduces-versicharge-smartgrid-wi-fi-enabled-charging-station/
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