Smart Grid Blog

School kids can now hop on to the electric-vehicle bandwagon with TransTech’s all-electric bus. The 42-passenger bus looks similar to the standard school bus, though it runs on a pair of 278-volt lithium ion batteries that power its 120kW (161 horespower) electric motor. The bus has a range of about 120 miles on a single Continue reading →

This was supposed to be a big year for energy-related technology. It was supposed to mark the ascendance of the electric car as the first full year of sales for GM’s Volt and Nissan’s Leaf, which represent the leading edge of electric vehicles planned by major automakers. But GM fell far short of its sales Continue reading →

Trojan Battery Company has expanded its product offering with the launch of its new deep-cycle Industrial line of batteries for renewable energy applications. Designed to support large daily loads where the batteries are cycled regularly, Trojan’s deep-cycle Industrial batteries are an ideal solution for a wide range of photovoltaic (PV) systems. via Trojan battery launches Continue reading →

In 1883 Thomas Edison said, “The storage battery is one of those peculiar things which appeals to the imagination, and no more perfect thing could be desired by stock swindlers than that very selfsame thing. … Just as soon as a man gets working on the secondary battery it brings out his latent capacity for Continue reading →

I READ BILL GATES’ OBSERVATION about batteries in a book review of Daniel Yergin’s new opus, The Quest. Gates has pointed out that all the batteries in the world can store no more than 10 minutes of the world’s energy needs. Increase that capacity exponentially and renewables will become pervasive – and a source of Continue reading →

A predicted boom in the use of smart grids is set to drive massive demand for lithium ion batteries. While the batteries are already present in many consumer electric devices, IHS reckons that lithium ion storage systems will become commonplace. via Smart grid boom swells Lithium ion demand 80 fold – Here be billions | Continue reading →

The American car manufacturer General Motors and the Swiss power engineering firm ABB have announced that they are working together on a project to use electric car batteries to store electricity for use on the power grid, according to a report from reuters.com. The companies will use lithium-ion batteries which have been used in the Continue reading →

Plug-in cars such as the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf require big, expensive batteries that might last longer than the vehicles themselves. But if those batteries had a second use, the cars, to go on sale later this year, might be more affordable. A San Diego nonprofit group has landed a $1 million grant Continue reading →

A new U.S. study will look into turning used electric vehicle batteries into household electric storage devices, extending their useful lifespan and possibly bringing down their initial cost to consumers. The California Center for Sustainable Energy will lead the joint research study, aided by a US$992,000 grant from the University of California. While plug-in electric Continue reading →

Saft Li-ion (lithium-ion) battery technology is providing the energy storage at the heart of ABB’s new SVC Light concept that will be a key element in the creation of the Smart Grid essential to handle significantly increased levels of renewable generation. The SVC Light with Energy Storage adds a significant new dimension to ABB’s Smart Continue reading →

With earth’s resources fast getting exhausted, people are increasingly becoming aware of the value of smart grid system. The development of “Smart Grid Community of the Future” is the proof of this fact. The project which is being developed as a test model for the development of future distributed energy-generation communities utilizing clean technologies, has selected Continue reading →

Valence Technology has been selected as the battery technology provider for the first smart grid solar powered residential development. Located in the Houston, Texas area, Discovery at Spring Trails has been dubbed the “Smart Grid Community of the Future.” Valence Technology employs a lithium phosphate battery design, including intelligent Command Control logic, to supply dynamic Continue reading →

Valence Technology (VLNC 1.35, +0.04, +3.05%) today announced it has been selected as the preferred residential/community battery technology provider for the “Smart Grid Community of the Future,” the first smart grid solar powered residential development in Texas, the Houston-area master planned community of Discovery at Spring Trails. Utilizing its lithium phosphate battery design, including intelligent Continue reading →

One of the most active categories in the recent Cleantech Group/Deloitte quarterly cleantech investment report was energy storage technology, which is seen as one missing link in helping get renewable energy alternatives off the ground. That’s why I noticed this item about a $5 million stimulus grant award being given out by Sandia National Laboratories Continue reading →

Tokyo Electric Power Co. and nine other regional utilities may need to spend 5.1 trillion yen ($56.3 billion) in 20 years to upgrade Japan’s power grid if a draft climate-protection legislation is made law. The utilities would need to spend 2.5 trillion yen to install batteries and the rest on smart meters and other devices Continue reading →

Fuel cells, which decades ago powered the moon mission, are quietly making their way into businesses and homes, and some see them as the future of power production. Instead of burning fuel to make heat that then drives a turbine, fuel cells use an electrochemical reaction similar to that inside a battery to make electricity. Continue reading →

Creating a revolution in the way energy is produced and shared, distributed solar energy is one of the top clean energy topics of the day. Chicago utility company ComEd (an arm of the energy giant Exelon Corporation) has a new pilot project in this field that will outfit 100 Chicago-area homes with solar photovoltaic panels Continue reading →

A competitive America is also America that finally has a smart energy policy. We know there’s no silver bullet here.  We understand that to reduce our dependence on oil and the damage caused by climate change, we're going to need more production in the short term, we're going to need more efficiency, and we need Continue reading →

A passing cloud can be curtains for a solar-electric system, suddenly cutting generation dramatically. Production shoots back up as soon as the cloud is past. Then it ends at sundown, only to resume at dawn. Wind energy is also intermittent. Electric utilities can accommodate these fluctuations in modest amounts, but adding lots of distributed solar Continue reading →

Toshiba Corp., Japan’s biggest maker of nuclear reactors, said it was selected to supply electrical gear for Okinawa Electric Power Co.’s trial of a localized smart grid project. The trials will start in October this year, Tokyo-based Toshiba said in a statement today. The project that will include rechargeable batteries and solar power system would Continue reading →