Electrical power

Nissan launches British-made home battery to rival Tesla’s Powerwall | Business | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/04/nissan-launches-british-made-home-battery-to-rival-teslas-powerwall Batteries that have powered electric cars around the UK will get a second life providing energy storage for households, with the launch this week of a British-made home battery to rival the one made by Elon Musk’s Tesla. I mentioned Tesla battery a year ago in this blog at  http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2015/05/02/watch-elon-musk-announce-tesla-energy-in-the-best-tech-keynote-ive-ever-seen-the-verge/

Zinc Battery Breakthrough Could Mean Safer, Lighter Cars and Smartphones – IEEE Spectrum

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/transportation/advanced-cars/zincbased-batteries-can-provide-more-energy-safety-than-liion Rechargeable zinc-based batteries could not only store as much energy as lithium-ion batteries but also be safer, cheaper, smaller and lighter, new research finds. The results suggest zinc batteries could find use in mild hybrids (microhybrids), electric vehicles, electric bicycles, and eventually perhaps smartphones and power grid storage. The researchers are now aggressively testing these batteries and exploring scaling

What It Would Really Take to Run the World off of Renewable Energy

http://interestingengineering.com/really-take-run-world-off-renewable-energy/ With electric power establishing itself even further into our modern society, generating it is becoming an even more complex issue. As we seek to find a sustainable power source, we are naturally drawn to the thought of renewable energy. However, the question remains, what would it really take to run the world completely off of

Mains connector reuse for DC

Low voltage DC systems need suitable connectors. Different proprietary connectors are available, but usually with them problem is their price and availability. Traditional lighter plug as used in cars is awful in many ways. Some applications use XLR connectors successfully, with the downside that you can accidentally plug mic to such outlet.  One thing I have sometimes seen in Finnish electrical installations

Using a supercapacitor for power management and energy storage in IoT

http://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4458294/Using-a-supercapacitor-for-power-management-and-energy-storage-with-a-small-solar-cell–Part-1 The environment has abundant energy but little power. Energy harvesting can tap the environment’s “infinite” source of energy, and avoids the cost of wiring to mains power or replacing of batteries. This article will look at using small solar cells.  Depending on the light level, whether indoors or out, small solar cells may deliver

Power Integrations highlights importance of power factor correction at APEC 2017 | EDN

http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/electronic-product-reviews/other/4458242/Power-Integrations-highlights-importance-of-power-factor-correction–at-APEC-2017?utm_content=bufferce187&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Power factor correction is the process of improving a low power factor in a facility by increasing the ratio of real (working) power to apparent (total) power. Power-factor correction allows the input current to continuously flow, reduces the peak input current, and reduces the energy loss in the power supply, thus improving its operation

Nanogrids, Microgrids, and Big Data: The Future of the Power Grid – IEEE Spectrum

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/nanogrids-microgrids-and-big-data-the-future-of-the-power-grid  The power grid’s interlocking technological, economic, and regulatory underpinnings were established about a century ago and have undergone only minimal disruption in the decades since. But now the industry is facing massive change.