Greetings!
We hear a lot about the need for battery improvements in order to make electric cars more attractive. Well now we have found Mercedes showing off a 750 mile (1,200-km) range for its “solar-boosted” EV (its Vision EQXX prototype) that recently went from Germany to England and another run through the French Alps. Just put 117 solar cells on the roof and they triple the range. Story is online at https://spectrum.ieee.org/new-ev-prototype-leaves-range-anxiety-in-the-dust.
Story #1 relates to another clincher for EVs which is the length of time to charge. How about fast charging EV batteries in minutes? That is what Penn State Uniersity has achieved with ultra thin nickel foil added to the standard lithium-ion battery. With charging stations getting set up along major interstate highways across the country, range and charging time anxiety will be a thing of the past.
Story #2 shows that drones don’t have to make noise during flight, if the payload is light and it uses ion propulsion. A Florida-based company now has a Silent Ventus which completed a test flight with a modest payload for almost five minutes. More information and simulation are on https://www.undefinedtechnologies.com/.
Story #3 gives us engineers and car drivers hope that hydrogen, that clean burning gas which makes water as an exhaust, may just be the fuel of the future. Now H2 has now been created from water vapor even in a desert environment with in situ hygroscopic electrolytes at 95% energy efficiency. Also called “green hydrogen” since it uses solar power, the process uses Direct Air Electrolysis (DAE) with five parallel electrolyzers to produce an average hydrogen generation rate of 745 liters/m2 per day with a wind-driven prototype or solar-driven prototype at the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Australia, where it worked for 96 hours.
Story #4 is an exciting new development for wind power, especially for domestic renewable energy. A motionless wind turbine almost seems to be a contradiction but Aeromine Tech https://www.aerominetechnologies.com/ just patented such an animal. Surprisingly it comes in with 50% more energy at the same cost as rooftop solar PV. It can also handle extreme weather conditions that normally disable domestic wind turbines with its enclosed generator and airfoil design.
Story #5 is an interesting boost to the ailing US electrical grid with Tesla PowerWalls helping out. Distributed power is our IRI recommendation for the future stability of electrical power supply and that is what the pooling of Tesla PowerWall users accomplishes. Therefore, PG&E and Tesla now have a pilot program creating a virtual power plant with voluntary use of PowerWalls. This new version of the Tesla Virtual Power Plant actually compensates Powerwall owners $2 per kWh that they contribute to the grid during emergency load reduction events. Homeowners are expected to get between $10 and $60 per event. The future looks better all of the time with this development.
Lastly, IRI Exhibit Booth this month at the Natural Living Expo at U of MD Marriott is shown below as we continue educating the public on all new energy products and publications!
Sincerely,
Tom Valone, PhD
Editor