Europe

An international group of scientists has developed a comprehensive method to track the microscopic processes at work in lithium batteries. Employing a ‘virtual unrolling’ model developed for ancient manuscripts too sensitive to be opened, the group peeked inside the layers of a commercial battery to gain a better understanding of the processes at work and the degradation mechanisms affecting them. Their findings, the group says, could provide a benchmark for battery characterization.

WoodMac analysts say the amount of new battery manufacturing capacity added in the nation this year could fall by as much as 10% because of the outbreak. With Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory affected by the extended new-year-holiday shutdown, the analyst warned of potential supply shortages for Australia and the U.S. and U.K.

West Australian peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading pioneer Power Ledger has won a lucrative contract with Alperia SpA, one of Italy’s largest renewable electricity utilities.

The coronavirus outbreak in China could raise solar module prices in the near term as manufacturers have already begun experiencing wafer and solar glass shortages. Production rates are also being affected by an extended new year holiday introduced by the authorities as a measure to deal with the virus, and the requirement workers from infected areas quarantine themselves for two weeks.

Scientists at the University of Southern Denmark working with sodium-ion batteries found that a new electrode material incorporating iron, manganese and phosphorous could increase both the power and capacity of the batteries.

UK researchers claim to have proved the viability wearable photovoltaic devices as an integral part of regular clothing. A solar-powered fabric textile was created by embedding micro crystalline silicon solar cells within the fibers of a textile through very thin copper wires. The scientists claim that the novel device can maintain its performance even after 15 domestic machine wash cycles, 25 hand wash cycles, and 6000 abrasion cycles.

A study from Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology has predicted solar and other renewables can provide a global energy jobs revolution – just as four European operations revealed recent struggles.

The Dutch water management agency plans to install solar panels along both sides of the A37 highway in Drenthe province, as well as on the median strip, to cover 300 hectares in total. The project is part of a plan to build projects on state land, as the domestic PV industry continues to search for alternative surfaces on which to deploy solar.

President Ursula von der Leyen has outlined plans to fund her Green Deal with a mix of EU, member state and private sector contributions. Now it is over to individual nations and the European Parliament.

The global transition to a low-carbon energy future hinges upon the sustainable supply of green-tech minerals and metals, says researchers. Australia’s reserves and export capabilities in nickel, cobalt, lithium and other rare earths mean our next mining boom could be of global existential importance.