Industry news

29
Oct

Maxwell Reports Revenue Down in Third Quarter

Maxwell Technologies, Inc. reported revenue of $41.6 million for its third quarter ended September 30, 2014, down 10 percent from the $46.1 million recorded in the second quarter ended June 30, 2014, and down 19 percent from the $51.2 million recorded in the third quarter of 2013. Third quarter ultracapacitor revenue decreased by 15 percent sequentially to $28.8 million ,

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29
Oct

Lithium-Ion Battery That Warns Of Fire Hazard Developed At Stanford

A new type of “smart” lithium-ion battery that can actually provide warning should there be a risk of overheating (and thusly fire hazard) has been developed by researchers from Stanford University. The technology that enables the new abilities can be relatively easily incorporated into the sorts of lithium-ion batteries that are currently in common use — in everything from cellphones,

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29
Oct

Solar Power Company Sunrun Joins With Energy Storage Provider Outback

It appears the energy storage trend is gradually expanding. Sunrun and Outback have partnered to try a pilot project offering energy storage for some Sunrun solar power customers. Sunrun says it has over 30,000 customers, so there will be plenty to choose from for the pilot program. Weather-resistant batteries and inverters will be tested with some home solar systems. If

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29
Oct

Tesla Owners Get Around Test Drive Ban In Iowa

Iowa recently banned Tesla from taking prospective customers on test drives, which ended a planned Model S driving event a day early after the local car dealers association complained. But there’s nothing prevent private citizens from putting on their own Tesla test drive, which is exactly what a bunch of Model S owners decided to do reports KCCI 8 News.

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29
Oct

Pakistan Wind Industry Takes Next Step Forward With GE

GE announced Monday that it would be providing 33 wind turbines to the Sapphire Wind Power farm in the southeastern Pakistani province of Sindh, located just outside the provincial capital of Karachi. The move marks GE’s first wind order in the country, and takes Pakistan another step towards its own (meagre) renewable energy goals. Pakistan is not a name that often appears in

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29
Oct

Millions in New Investment Cap Record Year for Beyond the Grid Solar Markets

It has been a record year for beyond the grid solar investment. Photo courtesy of OMC Power. Over $45 million in investments have closed in the past year, including: $1.8 million for plug and play solar provider BBOXX, $11 million for industry pioneer d.light, and $20 million for mobile money pioneer M-KOPA. Not to be left out of a potential

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29
Oct

Lush, Low Cost LED Light Bulbs From Cree Go Way Below $10

The magical $10 price barrier for LED light bulbs was crashed last year and today one of the main crashers has just come out with a brand new edition that pushes their initial price down even lower. That would be North Carolina’s Cree, which has just informed us by email that the going rate for its standard 60-watt equivalent will

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29
Oct

Is Energy Efficiency a Good Thing Even with Rebound?

Lighting is critical to our livelihoods. Humans have used lighting technology since long before industrialization. For many centuries, this lighting was extremely inefficient, with over 95% of the energy consumed wasted as heat. Recently, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura for their remarkable contributions towards highly efficient light emitting diode (LED)

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29
Oct

Wind Power Is Cheaper, More Reliable, Than Natural Gas

As Australia’s dance of the seven RET Reviews continues, it seems like a good time to revisit one of the more persistent anti-renewables myths bandied about by fossil fuel types (and most of the Abbott government): that that renewable energy is unreliable in meeting electricity demand. As UNSW associate professor Mark Diesendorf wrote for The Conversation one-and-a-half years ago, this old

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29
Oct

How Groundbreaking Is the DOE’s New $53M Solar Energy Investment?

With 40 new recipients, it depends on the company. The Department of Energy contends its SunShot investments are targeting the right places. Ernest Moniz is an all-of-the above kind of energy secretary. He’s a supporter of advanced nuclear, natural gas, carbon sequestration and all kinds of renewables — and has the diverse funding at the Department of Energy to show

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