Energy Storage

The 2019 Toyota Mirai electric vehicle touts zero emissions, thanks to a fuel cell that runs on hydrogen instead of gasoline. But the Mirai has barely left California, partly because today's fuel cell electrodes are made of super expensive platinum.

Shell has agreed to acquire 100% of sonnen, a leader in smart energy storage systems and innovative energy services for households. This follows an investment by Shell in May 2018 and means that, post regulatory approval and completion, sonnen will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell.

The biggest demand for lithium-ion batteries is moving away from cars and in electric cars it will be a matter of less battery on average.

The use of lithium-ion batteries has surged in recent years, starting with electronics and expanding into many applications, including the growing electric and hybrid vehicle industry. But the technologies to optimize recycling of these batteries has not kept pace.

True 2 Materials specialise in the production process and downstream integration of graphene and other nanomaterials. IDTechEx technology analyst Dr Richard Collins interviewed Richard Carlow (CEO).

Researchers have today announced the development of a new material which has the potential to improve the lifetime of the battery in every day electronics, such as smartphones. The new material also has the potential to significantly improve issues of battery lifetime while also ensuring that batteries can continue to become smaller without loss of performance.

Nano-carbons have exceptional electrical, thermal and mechanical properties at the nano-scale level.

A breakthrough in energy storage technology could bring a new generation of flexible electronic devices to life, including solar-powered prosthetics for amputees.

A new energy facility in Eastern Oregon combining 300 megawatts of wind generation with 50 megawatts of solar generation and 30 megawatts of battery storage.

The EV business is highly fragmented with great scope for consolidation leading to economy of scale.

As part of the report Solid-State and Polymer Batteries 2019-2029: Technologies, Patents and Forecasts, IDTechEx undertook an analysis of the patent landscape of solid state electrolytes (SSE). Within this premium article, a highlight of the results of this analysis are shared and discussed.

AES India has started construction on India's first utility-scale energy storage system, a 10 megawatt solution that will serve the electric grid.

The Chinese government shrewdly controls supply and demand for sectors it deems important. As elsewhere it has to cope with people moving to cities.

Hydrogen researchers are involved in a large European project on hydrogen storage. The goal is to develop a novel prototype tank that will store at least 50 kilograms of hydrogen in a minimum space. The European Union is funding the project with €2 million in the frame of the "Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking - FCH JU". Some €150,000 are earmarked for the Helmholtz researchers.

As their name suggests, such multifunctional structural materials simultaneously carry out two or more functions that would normally have to be addressed separately. For example, a structural role might combine with optical, electrical, magnetic or thermal properties. In some cases, entire complex devices can be built either within or from the primary structural material.

Zircotec are a company that specialise in thermal barrier coatings with recent emerging applications in electric vehicle enclosures. Technical director Simon Hiiemae spoke with senior technology analyst Dr Richard Collins.

Redflow ZBM2 zinc-bromine flow batteries are now storing solar energy to provide a reliable power supply for a remote village in mountainous northern Thailand that has long lacked electricity.

Consider supercapacitor buses. CRRC of China has been quietly exporting them to Bulgaria, Israel, and Austria recently and its own supercapacitor manufacturers now make good products and plan 30% cost reduction within 3 years.

On behalf of the Australian Government, The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has announced $6 million in funding for Australia's first energy storage project using compressed air.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 7 March titled Electric Vehicles in Construction, Agriculture and Mining: Over $100 bn Market Emerging.