Marija Maisch
REC Silicon to shut down polysilicon business in Montana
REC Advanced Silicon Material LLC is shutting down one of its two polysilicon production facilities in the United States. It says the decision is primarily due to regional structural imbalances in supply and demand for electricity.
Suniva to restart idled solar cell factory in Georgia
Suniva ordered equipment for thermal process steps annealing, diffusion and anti-reflective coating and passivation from Germany’s Centrotherm, as it proceeds with plans to expand high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cell production in Norcross, Georgia.
New solid state battery charges in minutes, lasts for thousands of cycles
Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a new lithium metal battery that can be charged and discharged at least 6,000 times — more than any other pouch battery cell — and can be recharged in a matter of minutes.
Fortress Power debuts high-voltage, all-in-one residential battery
Fortress Power’s Avalon High Voltage Energy Storage System combines a hybrid inverter, high-voltage battery, and a smart energy panel in an all-in-one, whole-home backup system.
Acculon launches production of sodium-ion battery modules, packs
U.S.-based Acculon Energy has announced series production of its sodium-ion battery modules and packs for mobility and stationary energy storage applications. Scaled production of 2 GWh is scheduled to start in mid-2024.
CMBlu Energy’s organic flow batteries to be tested in microgrids, cold climates
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory will carry out demonstration projects to validate long-duration energy storage tech developed by German manufacturer CMBlu Energy. The collaborative project is designed to improve microgrids in cold climates and make fast charging of electric vehicles more affordable in underserved communities.
Gates-backed Fourth Power pilots thermal storage based on TPV cells
Fourth Power, backed by Bill Gates’ venture firm, has developed high-density thermal energy storage based on thermophotovoltaic cells. The tech, which is reportedly 10 times cheaper than lithium-ion batteries, is based on the U.S. company’s patented liquid metal heat transfer system.
Transformer shortages: New bottleneck of the energy storage supply chain
Transformer shortages are taking their toll on battery energy storage system (BESS) integrators, as competition in the market intensifies.
New opportunities for 4-hour-plus energy storage
Energy storage with more than four hours of duration could assume a key role in integrating renewable energy into the U.S. power grid on the back of a potential shift to net winter demand peaks, says the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Anode-less redox flow batteries capable of fast cycling
Researchers in the US have demonstrated that replacing the planar lithium anode in a redox mediated lithium-sulfur redox flow battery with a high surface area scaffold enables 10 times faster cycling, up to 10 mA cm−2, without short circuit or voltage instability.
