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 #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!

A new study finds that standard electric-vehicle batteries can recharge much of their range in just 10 minutes with the addition of a thin sheet of nickel inside them. This could provide a welcome and economically attractive alternative to expensive EVs that carry massive and massively expensive battery packs.

Ambri releases liquid metal batteries with indefinite lifetime for hot climates.

Undefined Technologies, a Florida-based startup, announced that its eVTOL ion propulsion drone, Silent Ventus™, has successfully completed a critical test flight hitting its projected flight time and lifting power, marking this a major milestone for the emerging dual-use cargo delivery drone. During the 4-1/2 minute flight, the aircraft demonstrated its flight performance beyond reaching steady-state conditions - with higher efficiency power delivery systems and noise levels below 75 dB.

Green hydrogen produced by water splitting using renewable energy is the most promising energy carrier of the low-carbon economy. However, the geographic mismatch between renewables distribution and freshwater availability poses a significant challenge to its production. Here, we demonstrate a method of direct hydrogen production from the air, namely, in situ capture of freshwater from the atmosphere using hygroscopic electrolyte and electrolysis powered by solar or wind with a current density up to 574 mA cm−2. A prototype of such has been established and operated for 12 consecutive days with a stable performance at a Faradaic efficiency around 95%. This so-called direct air electrolysis (DAE) module can work under a bone-dry environment with a relative humidity of 4%, overcoming water supply issues and producing green hydrogen sustainably with minimal impact to the environment. The DAE modules can be easily scaled to provide hydrogen to remote, (semi-) arid, and scattered areas.

Interesting Engineering October 2022

Commercial property owners can fulfill the rising demand for on-site renewable energy thanks to a revolutionary bladeless wind energy solution that can be integrated with current solar energy systems and building electrical systems, thanks to Aeromine Technologies." Aeromine Technologies' patented motionless wind harvesting system generates up to 50 percent more energy at the same cost as rooftop solar PV," says the company.

Electrek.com October 2022

Tesla’s virtual power plant in California had its first emergency response event helping the grid by pooling power from Powerwall owners around the state. The event appears to have been a success as the distributed power plant looks like the future. A virtual power plant (VPP) consists of distributed energy storage systems, like Tesla Powerwalls, used in concert to provide grid services and avoid the use of polluting and expensive peaker power plants.

Last year, Tesla launched a VPP pilot program in California, where Powerwall owners would join in voluntarily without compensation to let the VPP pull power from their battery packs when the grid needed it.

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