A key issue with lithium ion batteries is aging. It significantly reduces their potential storage capacity. To date, very little is known about the causes of the aging effects. Scientists have now come a step closer to identifying the causes in their latest experiments.
An innovative facade, able to turn solar energy into heat for residents' use, will be installed next year in a building in Merida, Spain. The complex insulation system has passed all the tests and will prove its capabilities in real-life conditions.
Owners of home photovoltaic systems will soon be able to make their households even more sustainable, because PV power is also suitable for charging personal electronic vehicles. A home energy management system created by Fraunhofer researchers incorporates electric vehicles into the household energy network and creates charging itineraries.
Light emitting diodes are used in a great number of products like televisions and lamps or luminaires. Moreover they are penetrating the automotive lighting market to an ever greater degree. Nevertheless, there are no suitable recycling processes available today for these items. Researchers have developed a method to mechanically separate LEDs.
Hybrid electric vehicles, cell phones, digital cameras, and the Mars Curiosity rover are just a few of the many devices that use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Now researchers have a simple mathematical formula to predict what factors most influence lithium-ion battery aging.
A report that resulted from a workshop jointly funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and National Science Foundation (NSF) outlines key factors limiting progress in computing - particularly related to energy consumption - and novel research that could overcome these barriers.
A new material with micropores might be a way to fight climate change. Scientists have created crystals that capture carbon dioxide much more efficiently than previously known materials, even in the presence of water.
Silicon wafers are the heart of solar cells. However, manufacturing them is not cheap. Over 50 percent of the pure silicon used is machined into dust. A new manufacturing technique puts an end to these material losses, with raw material savings of 50 percent along with an 80 percent reduction in energy costs.