Modern civilization is dependent upon fossil fuels. Fossil-fuel dependence, however, has serious consequences which concern energy security issues and greenhouse gas emissions. This could be avoided by fuel-producing artificial systems that emulate natural photosynthesis and directly convert solar energy into fuel. Researchers all over the world want to use this chemical reaction, which is initiated by sunlight and used by green plants...
Batteries made from a nickel-metal-hydride or using lithium-ions as conductive membranes appeared in the early 1990s, fighting nose-to-nose to gain customer's acceptance. Today, lithium-ion batteries are the most widely used and most promising industry. Local distortions which occur in the atomic structure of the electrode during operation are responsible for the rapid storage and release of lithium ion - a discovery that has helped in...
Photovoltaic modules use light energy (photons) from the Sun to generate electricity through the photovoltaic effect. Most modules use wafer-based crystalline silicon cells or thin-film cells. The structural (load carrying) member of a module can be either the top layer or the back layer. Most modules are rigid, but semi-flexible ones based on thin-film cells are also available. The cells are connected electrically in series, one to...
Great quantities of hydrocarbon fuels will be needed for the foreseeable future, even if electricity-based energy carriers begin to partially replace liquid hydrocarbons in the transportation sector. Fossil fuels and biomass are the most common feedstocks for production of hydrocarbon fuels. However, if you use renewable energy, carbon dioxide and water can be recycled into sustainable hydrocarbon fuels in non-biological processes...
Floating solar PV plants are an emerging form of PV systems that float on the surface of drinking water reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals or remediation and tailing ponds. Floating and land-based PV systems have a similar layout. The only difference is that the PV arrays and often the inverters are mounted on a floating platform. The direct current (DC) electricity is generated by PV modules, gathered by combiner boxes and...
For years engineers have tried to discover new methods of improving the life cycle of batteries used in mobile phones, electric vehicles and power grids so that they can store renewable energy for future use in a more efficient way. So far, their efforts have not proved successful as more reliable cathode materials have yet to be invented. To date, the typical strategy for enhancing cathode materials has been to alter their chemical...
One of the greatest problems of the efficient deployment of renewable energy systems is that they are prone to experiencing fluctuations. To counteract this problem scientists have designed energy management systems (EMS) that collect energy measurement data from the field and make it available to users through graphics, online monitoring tools, and energy quality analysers for the management of energy resources. These systems,...
Designing a battery with optimal components can be a challenging task, as there are numerous ways to achieve a decent result. The most difficult part is to find the components that work best together. Even with the most modern computers, scientists so far haven’t been able to precisely model the chemical characteristics of every molecule that could prove to be the basis of a next-generation battery material. Now (2019), researchers at...
Today, batteries play an important role in powering electrical devices, tools and cars. Soon, they might even be able to supply energy to entire girds. The reason for this positive development is large battery devices called flow batteries which use tanks of electrolytes capable of storing enough electricity to power thousands of homes for many hours. However, most flow batteries rely on vanadium, a somewhat rare and expensive metal,...
Today, most electrical devices and electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries for power supply. These batteries, however, suffer from certain drawbacks concerning energy density and performance. One type of these batteries, called lithium-sulphur batteries, is able to offer more energy density and lower cost than the traditional graphite/metal oxide lithium-ion battery. The only problem is that their performance is often impaired by a...
