Solar could supply 77% of Australia’s electricity demand by 2026
Australia’s solar uptake is now forecast to reach 8.9 GW by 2025, on top of the 14 GW already installed, according to the Australian Electricity Market Operator.
US company using 3D printers to make solid-state battery tech for EVs
California-based Sakuú Corp. has started work on a 2.5 MWh per year pilot facility to produce 3D-printed solid-state battery tech.
Saturday read: Battery recycling and material uncertainty
Lithium-ion batteries remain the front-runner to power EVs, but without clearer recycling plans from the European Union and the United States, the balance isn’t yet tipped away from heavy mining of new materials to focus on supplying industry needs, writes Ian Morse.
Coupling PV-powered electrochemical water splitting with battery storage
A German research team has developed a photovoltaic-electrochemical device for alkaline water electrolysis that can be linked to battery storage. The proposed system configuration can not only smoothen out the PV power fluctuations and facilitate power coupling, but also improve solar to hydrogen efficiency.
Redox flow battery retains more than 90% of capacity over 6,000 cycles via new catholyte
The battery was built with a new catholyte and a symmetry-breaking strategy, which consists of changing the symmetry of the redox-active organic molecules instead of using the common approach of attaching a hydrophilic functional group.
Energy storage appears to be fully charged for exponential growth
Lithium-based energy storage volumes in the U.S. are expected to grow by multiple orders of magnitude in the coming years, with a 1000% capacity increase by 2023.
Saturday read: Scaling up standalone power systems
As technology redefines the delivery of network services, grid operators in remote areas the world over are searching for more cost-effective and reliable alternatives to traditional poles and wires. Standalone power systems are the solar application that is at the forefront of the switch, and they’re ramping up fast.
United Energy reveals community battery rollout for suburban network
Victorian distribution network provider United Energy will deploy 40 custom-built community batteries across Melbourne’s southeast as part of an $11 million project designed to better manage the increasing penetration of rooftop solar PV and periods of peak demand on the network.
Monash chemists find novel salt solution for lithium-ion battery fires
Researchers at Monash University have published a new study in which high voltage lithium batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles and grid scale energy storage systems, are tested with a novel lithium salt shown to be far less hazardous than current conventional materials.
Melbourne PhD students pioneering new method of recycling li-ion batteries
Three PhD students from Melbourne are moving their research into recycling lithium-ion batteries from the labs into pitch meetings, vying to become one of the first companies in Australia to recover the metals and minerals from spent batteries. Their method, they say, is simpler, less toxic and more cost competitive than those widely used.
