Full profile interview
1 Aug 2022

Global Thermostat
Global Thermostat is a United States-based company developing direct air dapture (DAC) based on solid sorbent technology.
Full profile interview
27 Jul 2022

HEVO
HEVO is a Brooklyn-based company that offers wireless charging hardware and software for EVs. They are also the commercialisation partner for the U.S. Department of Energy's Oakridge National Lab's high power wireless charging solutions. IDTechEx liaised with their founder and learnt about their product portfolio and commercialisation strategy.
18 Jul 2022

Longer Lasting Sodium-Ion Batteries on the Horizon
Cheap and abundant, sodium is a prime promising candidate for new battery technology. But limited performance of sodium-ion batteries has hindered their large-scale applications. Now, a research team has developed a sodium-ion battery with greatly extended longevity in laboratory tests. An ingenious shift in the ingredients that make up the liquid core of the battery prevents the performance issues that have bedeviled sodium-based batteries.
11 Jul 2022

Smashing Through the 30% Efficiency Barrier for Perovskite Solar Cells
For the first time, an efficiency of 30% for perovskite-on-silicon-tandem solar cells has been exceeded thanks to a joint effort led by scientists at EPFL's Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory in partnership with the renowned innovation center, CSEM. Independently certified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States, these results are a boost to high-efficiency photovoltaics and pave the way toward even more competitive solar electricity generation.
Full profile interview
6 Jul 2022

Oxford Performance Materials
Oxford Performance Materials (OPM) are an American manufacturer of 3D-printed parts and coatings using their proprietary PEKK formulation. IDTechEx spoke with Scott DeFelice, CEO of OPM, about their 3D-printed parts business.
Full profile interview
29 Jun 2022

GreenFire Energy
GreenFire Energy Inc. is a United States-based company deploying a closed-loop technology to improve the harvesting of geothermal energy. In March 2022, IDTechEx Technology Analyst Dr Hydra Rodrigues spoke with John Muir, Senior Vice President of Business Development at GreenFire Energy, and Hollis Chin, VP of Marketing at GreenFire Energy.
24 Jun 2022

New Ultrathin Capacitor Could enable Energy Efficient Microchips
The silicon-based computer chips that power our modern devices require vast amounts of energy to operate. Despite ever-improving computing efficiency, information technology is projected to consume around 25% of all primary energy produced by 2030. Researchers in the microelectronics and materials sciences communities are seeking ways to sustainably manage the global need for computing power.
20 Jun 2022

30-Year Perovskite Solar Cells, New Approach to Testing
Researchers have developed the first perovskite solar cell with a commercially viable lifetime, marking a major milestone for an emerging class of renewable energy technology. The team projects their device can perform above industry standards for around 30 years, far more than the 20 years used as a threshold for viability for solar cells.
20 Jun 2022

Cybersecurity Tools to Protect Solar, Wind Power on the Grid
Solar panels and wind turbines, now projected to produce 44% of America's electricity by 2050, present cybersecurity challenges. They have sensors, controllers, actuators or inverters that are directly or indirectly connected to the internet. They're distributed far and wide across the country and the countryside. Many have insecure connectivity to legacy electric grid systems. They have complex physics. They're subject to advanced persistent threats. And there will be more and more of them going online.
Full profile interview
14 Jun 2022

Mercurius Biorefining
Mercurius Biorefining is a United States-based start-up converting cellulosic biomass wastes into hydrocarbons (diesel, jet, and marine fuels), chemicals, and biochar for carbon sequestration. In May 2022, IDTechEx Technology Analyst Dr Hydra Rodrigues spoke with Michael Vevera, Chief Financial Officer at Mercurius Biorefining.
14 Jun 2022

Closed-Loop Additive Manufacturing Fueled by Upcycled Plastic
Researchers have developed an upcycling approach that adds value to discarded plastics for reuse in additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. The readily adoptable, scalable method introduces a closed-loop strategy that could globally reduce plastic waste and cut carbon emissions tied to plastic production.
External press release
7 Jun 2022

Developing a Toolchain to Assess Performance of Wind Energy Systems
The goal of the project is to achieve a better understanding of the unsteady inflow conditions at altitudes above the first layer of air above the ground (the surface layer). The aim is to develop a toolchain to efficiently and effectively assess the performance and reliability of airborne wind energy devices and conventional wind turbines. This is important to site evaluation but also for increasing the wind plant efficiency and making the operation of airborne wind energy systems safer.
24 May 2022

Highest Efficiency 1-Sun Solar Cell
Researchers have created a solar cell with a record 39.5% efficiency under 1-sun global illumination. This is the highest efficiency solar cell of any type, measured using standard 1-sun conditions.
Full profile interview
16 May 2022

Lion Electric: Electric Buses and Trucks
Lion Electric are based in Quebec, Canada. They were founded in 2008 and have quickly established themselves as one of the leading electric heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers in North America. Lion design and build both battery electric school buses and electric trucks.
Full profile interview
4 May 2022

Swift Solar
Swift Solar is a company that works on perovskite PV. It was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in California, USA. This profile is based on a discussion with the CEO and co-founder, Dr Joel Jean.
External press release
29 Apr 2022

Xerox Elem Partners with Rochester Institute of Technology in Metal AM
Xerox Elem Additive Solutions announced that the Rochester Institute of Technology recently purchased and installed a Xerox ElemX3D printer at their AMPrint Center in Henrietta, NY. RIT will utilize the printer in their collaborations with manufacturers for research and product development as they focus on next-generation metal 3D printing technologies.
25 Apr 2022

Lithium's Narrow Paths Limit Batteries
If you could shrink enough for a fantastic voyage across a lithium battery electrode, you'd see the level of charge at every scale is highly uneven. This is not good for the battery's health. Researchers who recognize the problem worked to view in great detail how the various particles in an electrode interact with lithium during use.
21 Apr 2022

Heat Engine Design Could Enable Fully Decarbonized Grid in the Future
Engineers have designed a heat engine with no moving parts. Their new demonstrations show that it converts heat to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency — a performance better than that of traditional steam turbines.
Background
13 Apr 2022

Alphacore Inc.
Alphacore is a US-based company focusing on analog, mixed signal, and radio frequency products, imaging solutions, radiation-hardened technologies, and emerging technology.
Background
12 Apr 2022

Radi-Cool USA
Radi-Cool are a US-based company developing scalable manufactured metamaterials that cool objects.