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Technology and R&D

A PV antenna for beaming solar power from space to Earth

Researchers from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory have launched the first orbital experiment with space-based solar power. They launched a 12-inch square photovoltaic module that is expected to test the viability of space-based solar power systems converting sunlight to microwaves outside the atmosphere.

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Morning Brief: Secret Air Force space plane to beam solar power to Earth, Tesla’s ‘million-mile’ battery

Also in the brief: DOE kicks off $230 million advanced reactor demonstration program, and the global coal industry will never recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Glasspoint, a Shell-funded solar enhanced-oil-recovery startup, is in liquidation

Glasspoint received more than $130M in VC from Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, along with the venture arm of Royal Dutch Shell. The plan was to use concentrated solar arrays housed in glass greenhouses to produce steam at gigawatt scale instead of natural gas for EOR.

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A new player appears in American thin-film cadmium telluride solar module manufacturing

Toledo Solar is trying to distinguish itself from First Solar’s cadmium telluride dominance by operating in the residential and commercial markets, markets which have been historically unkind to the technology.

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Storing wind and solar with new gravity-based system

Scottish start-up Gravitricity is planning a project to store surplus power from renewables at Port of Leith. A 250 kW, grid-connected prototype facility will have its ability to stabilize the network tested. The system involves a 50-foot rig over a 500 to 5,000 foot shaft.

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Lithium-ion storage is here to stay with no ‘post Li-ion’ era in sight

A German-Israeli research group has gathered to discuss which storage technologies may outperform lithium-ion batteries in the future. They concluded that there is no such a thing as a “post Li‐ion” era in sight. They recommended a “side‐by‐side” approach for multiple technologies in different applications, as well as the hybridization of technologies.

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Hydrogen and ‘direct air carbon capture’ enter the policy conversation

While utilities, municipalities and states across the U.S. struggle to find a cost-effective way to get to 100% carbon-free power, some companies, like Wärtsilä North America, think that the answer is closer than we realize.

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Trump’s mysterious cybersecurity order bans bulk-generation gear from ‘adversaries’

Although it doesn’t seem to impact solar directly, energy storage might be threatened. “The order leaves more questions than it answers,” according to Norton Rose Fulbright. What is motivating the administration? China? Why now?

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Trina’s new solar module confirmed at 515.8 W output, roadmap set for 600 W

Trina Solar has been manufacturing its 500 W modules for a month now and plans to increase module output to more than 600 W in the future.

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Morning Brief: What does the pandemic mean for the energy transition?

Also in the brief: Michigan solar installers say their future depends on lifting the energy cap. Plus, chickens.

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