Industry News

February 2023
First Measurements of Hydrogen-Boron Fusion in a Magnetically Confined Fusion Plasma

The team responsible for the first measurements of hydrogen-boron fusion in a magnetically confined fusion plasma

­As fusion developers  around the world race to commercialize fusion energy, TAE Technologies has pioneered the pursuit of the cleanest and most economical path to providing electricity with hydrogen-boron (also known as p-B11 or p11B), an abundant, environmentally sound fuel. Today the co
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Date:
02/28/2023
800V Electric Vehicles Charge into the Mainstream using SiC Power Electronics

Expected share of >800v platforms by OEM in 2023.

­The demand for electric vehicle (EV) power electronics will increase dramatically in the next ten years, primarily driven by rapid growth in the BEV car market, where IDTechEx predicts a 15% CAGR globally over the next decade. Currently, the weighted-average battery capacity of BEV cars is increasing in all re
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Date:
02/28/2023
Infineon Coordinates Wide-Scale Research Initiative for Supercomputers in Highly Automated Connected Vehicles

Peter Schiefer, Infineon's Division President, Automotive

­Infineon Technologies AG – They will be the heart of automated connected vehicles: high-performance computers built into the car, processing all the available data and information as quickly and reliably as possible, so that the vehicles can make their way safely through traffic. The research project Mannheim-CeCaS (C
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Date:
02/28/2023
Tevva Partners with Ecobat for First-Life Battery Management

Tevva Partners with Ecobat for First-Life Battery Management

­British electric vehicle manufacturer Tevva has entered into a strategic partnership with Ecobat, the global leader in battery recycling, for the repair, repurposing and recycling of its lithium-ion batteries. The partnership kicks off with a 12-month pilot phase for first-life battery management, with the op
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Date:
02/28/2023
Formula E Announces WAE as Official Partner of FIA Girls on Track Program

Formula E Announces WAE as Official Partner of FIA Girls on Track Program

­Formula E announced WAE as an Official Partner of the FIA Girls on Track initiative for the 2022/2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season. The next FIA Girls on Track activation will take place during race week ahead of the upcoming 2023 Julius Baer São Paulo E-Prix on Saturday, 25 March and again
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Date:
02/27/2023
Amazon Develops Algorithm to Improve Collaboration Between Robots and Humans

Amazon Develops Algorithm to Improve Collaboration Between Robots and Humans

­Amazon has identified a financially beneficial way for robots and humans to coexist, and it’s saving the online enterprise half a billion dollars per year. Using robots to bring shelves of inventory to associates to pick customer orders cuts down the distance traveled by robots and decreases the company’s st
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Date:
02/27/2023
Augmented Reality Headset Enables Users to see Hidden Objects

An augmented reality headset combines computer vision and wireless perception to automatically locate a specific item that is hidden from view, perhaps inside a box or under a pile, and then guide the user to retrieve it.

­MIT researchers have built an augmented reality headset that gives the wearer X-ray vision. The headset combines computer vision and wireless perception to automatically locate a specific item that is hidden from view, perhaps inside a box or under a pile, and then guide the user to retrieve it. The system utilizes
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Date:
02/27/2023
Corralling Ions Improves Viability of Next-Generation Solar Cells

Corralling Ions Improves Viability of Next-Generation Solar Cells

­Researchers have discovered that channeling ions into defined pathways in perovskite materials improves the stability and operational performance of perovskite solar cells. The finding paves the way for a new generation of lighter, more flexible, and more efficient solar cell technologies suitable for practical us
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Date:
02/27/2023
New Material May Offer Key to Solving Quantum Computing Issue

The formation of heterostructure of a layered two-dimensional material envisioned as Lego-type blocks locking together.

­A new form of heterostructure of layered two-dimensional (2D) materials may enable quantum computing to overcome key barriers to its widespread application, according to an international team of researchers.   The researchers were led by a team that is part of the Penn State Center for Nanos
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Date:
02/27/2023
Enfinite Announces Addition of 40 MW of Energy Storage onto Alberta Electricity Grid

Jason White, Chief Operating Officer for Enfinite

­Enfinite, a North American leader in energy storage, is pleased to announce, through its eReserve battery storage program, it has financed and developed two more energy storage projects that are now operational and supporting Alberta’s electricity grid. Enfinite’s eReserve3 and eReserve5 projects are provi
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Date:
02/23/2023
Small Temperature Rise can Cause Large-Scale Forced Migration - Study

Dr Lisa Thalheimer, study lead author and research associate with Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute and Climate Econometrics team

­A 1°C temperature increase can cause a tenfold increase in displaced people, according to new research led by the University of Oxford, which studied the effects of conflict, weather, and drought, on forced displacement in Somalia. According to the research, a typical reduction in rainfall of 50mm p
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Date:
02/23/2023
On the Road to Better Solid-State Batteries

Shown left: Conventional solid “ordered” electrolyte made of just one type of metal (blue spheres). The movement of lithium ions (yellow sphere) is slow and limited... Shown right: Ions move significantly faster through “disordered” solid electrolyte....

­A team from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Florida State University has designed a new blueprint for solid-state batteries that are less dependent on specific chemical elements, particularly critical metals that are challenging to source due to supply chain issues. Their work, reported re
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Date:
02/23/2023
Neutrons Reveal Key to Extraordinary Heat Transport

When phonons act, vibrations of atoms carry heat. In crystals with broken translational symmetry, phasons made when atoms rearrange — shown by arrows— can also move heat, shown as pink waves.

­Warming a crystal of the mineral fresnoite, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists discovered that excitations called phasons carried heat three times farther and faster than phonons, the excitations that usually carry heat through a material. “Neutrons were ideal for exploring these sources of heat t
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Date:
02/23/2023
Metasurface Enters Laser Fiber Cavity for Spatiotemporal Mode Control

Intracavity spatiotemporal modulation using a metasurface strongly coupled to an epsilon-near-zero material.

­Metasurfaces are highly versatile for manipulating the amplitude, phase, or polarization of light. During the last decade, metasurfaces have been proposed for a vast range of applications — from imaging and holography to the generation of complex light field patterns. Yet, most optical metasurfaces developed to
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Date:
02/23/2023
CityU Develops Wireless, Soft E-Skin for Interactive Touch Communication in the Virtual World

The soft, flexible e-skin can be attached to various parts of the body.

­Sensing a hug from each other via the internet may be a possibility in the near future. A research team led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) recently developed a wireless, soft e-skin that can both detect and deliver the sense of touch, and form a touch network allowing one-to-multiuser interaction. It
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Date:
02/23/2023
Electric Vehicles can go the Distance

UD’s Willett Kempton holds an electric vehicle (EV) battery module in his research lab at UD’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus.

­One nagging concern U.S. consumers have about electric vehicles (EVs) is the ability of these battery-operated cars and trucks to get you where you want to go without running out of power. Nobody wants to be stuck at a charging station for long in the middle of a trip, or worse, be stranded without a charging st
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Date:
02/23/2023
Ramping up Domestic Graphite Production Could Aid the Green Energy Transition

Northwestern University chemical engineer Jennifer Dunn

­Given the growing importance of graphite in energy storage technologies, a team of Northwestern researchers has conducted a study exploring ways to reduce reliance on imports of the in high-demand mineral, which powers everything from electric vehicles (EVs) to cell phones. The paper, which published this week
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Date:
02/23/2023
Wärtsilä Has Delivered a 125 MW / 250 MWh Energy Storage System to REV Renewables to Support Grid Stability and Meet Decarbonisation Goals in California

Wärtsilä’s energy storage technology enables REV Renewables to support grid stability, ensure resource adequacy and capitalise on ancillary services in California

­The technology group Wärtsilä reached substantial completion on a 125-megawatt (MW) / 250-megawatt hour (MWh) energy storage system in Calexico, California, USA, for REV Renewables, to help stabilise and decarbonise the electric grid. The facility, called the LeConte energy storage project, is Wärtsilä’s sec
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Date:
02/21/2023
Edge AI Market Expected to hit $70 Bn by 2032

Edge AI Market Expected to hit $70 Bn by 2032

­As per the report by Global Market Insights, Inc. “Worldwide Edge AI market was valued USD 5 billion in 2022 and will surpass a revenue collection of USD 100 billion by 2032 with an annual growth rate of 35% over 2023 to 2032.” Global Edge AI Market size is predicted to expand considerably throughout the forec
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Date:
02/20/2023
Wärtsilä to Provide Energy Storage System to Zenobē, Delivering First-of-a-Kind Project in the UK

Wärtsilä to provide energy storage system to Zenobē, delivering first-of-a-kind project in the United Kingdom

­The technology group Wärtsilä will supply a 200-megawatt (MW) / 400-megawatt hour (MWh) energy storage system under an Engineered Equipment Delivery (EEQ) contract to Zenobē, an electric vehicle fleet and battery storage specialist, in Blackhillock, Scotland. The project will be the first in the world to del
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Date:
02/20/2023
Development of a Self-Resonant Smart Energy Harvester

Schematics for energy harvester structure and adaptive clamping system (above)

­The Internet of Things (IoT) requires the installation free of time and space, therefore, needs independent power sources that are not restricted by batteries or power lines. Energy harvesting technology harvests wasted energy such as vibration, heat, light, and electromagnetic waves from everyday settings, su
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Date:
02/20/2023
This 'Harry Potter' Light Sensor Achieves Magically High Efficiency of 200%

Details of the photodiode used in the experimental setting.

­Using green light and a double-layered cell, PhD researcher Riccardo Ollearo has come up with a photodiode that has sensitivity that many can only dream of. Solar panels with multiple stacked cells are currently breaking records. Remarkably, a team of researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and TNO a
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Date:
02/20/2023
A Greener Alternative to Fossil Fuels by Producing Hydrogen from Water and Light

From left to right: James Cahoon and Taylor Teitsworth

­Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Chemistry have engineered silicon nanowires that can convert sunlight into electricity by splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen gas, a greener alternative to fossil fuels. Fifty years ago, scientists first demonstrated that liqu
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Date:
02/20/2023
Electronic Metadevices Break Barriers to Ultra-Fast Communications

Electronic Metadevices Break Barriers to Ultra-Fast Communications

­Until now, the ability to make electronic devices faster has come down to a simple principle: scaling down transistors and other components. But this approach is reaching its limit, as the benefits of shrinking are counterbalanced by detrimental effects like resistance and decreased output power. Elison Matioli o
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Date:
02/20/2023
Space Travel Influences the Way the Brain Works

How space travel influences the way the brain works

­Scientists of the University of Antwerp and University of Liège have found how the human brain changes and adapts to weightlessness, after being in space for 6 months. Some of the changes turned out to be lasting – even after 8 months back on Earth. Raphaël Liégeois, soon to be the th
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Date:
02/20/2023
A Way to Govern Ethical use of Artificial Intelligence Without Hindering Advancement

A Way to Govern Ethical use of Artificial Intelligence Without Hindering Advancement

­Texas A&M University School of Public Health researchers are developing a new governance model for ethical guidance and enforcement in the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence (AI). Known as Copyleft AI with Trusted Enforcement, or CAITE, the researchers believe this model will guard ag
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Date:
02/20/2023
Volvo Construction Equipment Invests in Battery Pack Production at Excavator Plant

Volvo Construction Equipment Invests in Battery Pack Production at Excavator Plant

­With the SEK 80 million (around $7.8 million) investment from Volvo Group, a new production facility and equipment will be built at the Changwon plant in South Korea – which at around 1.1 million sq. m is the largest excavator production site in Volvo CE, producing around 55% of its total excavator vo
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Date:
02/17/2023
Tevva Hydrogen-Electric Truck Clocks up 350 Miles in Wintry Range Test

Tevva Hydrogen-Electric Truck Clocks up 350 Miles in Wintry Range Test

­While Tevva’s laser-guided focus remains trained on building and delivering its battery-electric 7.5t vehicle, testing and development of its hydrogen-electric counterpart continues apace.  Four Tevva engineers: Charlie Cordell, Byron Dolman, Ryan Clark and Toby Hurst were doing exactly that recently,
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Date:
02/15/2023
Emerson Software Helps Intermountain Power Agency Deliver Carbon-Free Power

Emerson’s Ovation software and automation technologies will provide reliable, secure control and monitoring of Intermountain Power Agency’s IPP Renewed power plant which transforms the retiring coal fueled power project into an innovative facility that reliably delivers carbon-free electricity.

­Emerson has been selected to automate operations at Intermountain Power Agency’s IPP Renewed power plant, a regional energy hub that uses renewable energy resources. Emerson’s power industry expertise and hydrogen production experience as an automation supplier to the adjacent Mitsubishi Po
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Date:
02/15/2023
Enteligent Unveils World's First DC-to-DC Solar EV Charger

Enteligent Unveils World’s First DC-to-DC Solar EV Charger

­Enteligent Inc. is unveiling the world’s first DC-to-DC solar hybrid bi-directional EV charger this week at Intersolar NA 2023 in Booth 2460. Powered directly from the sun, Enteligent’s solar EV charger can supply 25 kW of fast DC charging – three times faster than AC Level 2 EV chargers – wh
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Date:
02/15/2023
Reduced Energetic Disorder Enables Over 14% Efficiency in Organic Solar Cells Based on Completely Non-Fused-Ring Donors and Acceptors

The more planar molecular structure of A4T-3 enabled it with lower energetic disorder and reduced energy loss, thus higher photovoltaic performance of the PTVT-T:A4T-3-based device.

­Non-fused-ring organic photoactive materials have attracted broad attention in recent years due to their low synthetic cost. Different from the rigid coplanar structure of fused-ring molecules, the easily rotated conformation of non-fused-ring molecules could lead to the different energetic disorder, which gr
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Date:
02/15/2023
Brain Changes in Fighter Pilots May Cast Light on Astronauts During Space Travel

Brain Changes in Fighter Pilots May Cast Light on Astronauts During Space Travel

­One cannot explore the profound mysteries of space without being changed by it. This is the message underlying a new study in Frontiers in Physiology. The study examined the brains of F16 fighter pilots, which have a lot in common with those of astronauts in terms of adapting to altered gravity levels an
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Date:
02/15/2023
Canada's First Zero-Carbon, Net-Positive Energy Building is on Track to Propel Ontario's Energy Transition

Canada's First Zero-Carbon, Net-Positive Energy Building is on Track to Propel Ontario's Energy Transition

­Office buildings are typically not energy efficient, and globally they contribute to nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions from construction to end of life. A new study out of the University of Waterloo analyzes data-driven improvements in Canada’s first zero-carbon, net-positive energy building showing ho
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Date:
02/15/2023
Better Understanding on the Way to a Carbon-Neutral Economy

The ­Pangaea supercontinent

­Pangaea was the name Alfred Wegener gave to the supercontinent that existed on Earth 250 million years ago. Over the course of many millions of years, this supercontinent broke into different pieces, which became the landmasses we see on the globe today. Extensional forces on the tectonic plates causes continents to
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Date:
02/15/2023
'Magic' Solvent Creates Stronger Thin Films

Rong Yang, assistant professor in the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Cornell Engineering

­A new all-dry polymerization technique uses reactive vapors to create thin films with enhanced properties, such as mechanical strength, kinetics and morphology. The synthesis process is gentler on the environment than traditional high-temperature or solution-based manufacturing and could lead to improved polymer co
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Date:
02/15/2023
Eolian Closes First-Of-Its-Kind Standalone Battery Energy Storage Tax Equity Financing

Eolian's CEO Aaron Zubaty

­Eolian, L.P., a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners, has successfully closed the first-of-its-kind tax equity investment in two standalone utility-scale battery storage projects located in Mission, Texas. This pioneering financing is the first use of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) structure by
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Date:
02/13/2023
Novel Microscope Developed to Design Better High-Performance Batteries

UH researchers Yan Yao, Guangxia Feng and Xiaonan Shan.

­Lithium-ion batteries have transformed everyday lives – almost everyone has a smartphone, more electric vehicles can be spotted on the roads, and they keep power generators going during emergencies. As more portable electronic devices, electric vehicles and large-scale grid implementations come online, the de
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Date:
02/10/2023
25MWh of Second-Life EV Battery Capacity is Operational at Hybrid Solar + Storage Facility in Lancaster, CA

25MWh of Second-Life EV Battery Capacity is Operational at Hybrid Solar + Storage Facility in Lancaster, CA

­B2U Storage Solutions announced that 25MWh of storage capacity is now operational at its SEPV Sierra hybrid solar + storage facility in Lancaster, CA. The project’s storage capacity is comprised of 1,300 reused EV battery packs sourced from Honda and Nissan. The Sierra hybrid storage facility is interc
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Date:
02/09/2023
SunHydrogen Unveils Larger Version of the World's First-Ever Nanoparticle-Based Green Hydrogen Generator

SunHydrogen’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Syed Mubeen

­SunHydrogen, Inc. published a photo of the largest version to date of its nanoparticle-based green hydrogen technology. The image unveiled shows a panel that houses multiple hydrogen generators and contains 16 times more hydrogen generator area than the Company’s previous small-scale model. Mu
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Date:
02/09/2023
Kraftanlagen Selected for Green Hydrogen Project H2eron

The future H2eron green hydrogen factory at Delfzijl

­HyCC has selected the engineering partner and technology supplier for its green hydrogen project H2eron in Delfzijl, The Netherlands. The 40 MW plant is expected to deliver the first hydrogen in 2026 to support the production of sustainable aviation fuels. Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Kraftanlag
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Date:
02/08/2023
Bel Fuse Takes Minority Stake in Innoelectric for EV Advancement

Bel Fuse CEO Dan Bernstein

­Bel Fuse Inc. announced that the Company has entered into an agreement and closed on a minority stake investment with Germany-based innolectric AG (“innolectric”). This passive investment will create a strategic alliance that is focused on Electric Vehicles (“EV”) on-board power electronics br
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Date:
02/06/2023
TTI Family of Specialists Renews Support of Women in Electronics Organization as Major Sponsor

John Drabik, TTI President Americas

­TTI, Inc., announced that its Family of Specialists is pleased to continue its Platinum-Level support as a founding sponsor of the Women in Electronics (WE) non-profit organization. TTI, together with Mouser Electronics, Sager Electronics and eXponential Technology Group (XTG), have found great value in
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Date:
02/06/2023
Texas Utility Selects Wärtsilä Technology for new 190 MW Grid-Balancing Peaker Power Plant

Texas Utility Selects Wärtsilä Technology for new 190 MW Grid-Balancing Peaker Power Plant

­The technology group Wärtsilä will supply the generating equipment for a new approximately 190 MW power plant to be built in Texas, USA. The order was placed by Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), a river authority based in Austin, Texas providing wholesale power to the Texas power grid. The contract wa
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Date:
02/02/2023
ABB and Hynamics Collaborate to Lower Hydrogen Production Cost

ABB and Hynamics collaborate to lower hydrogen production cost

­Hynamics has signed an agreement to collaborate with ABB and test the ABB Ability OPTIMAX for Green Hydrogen energy management system (EMS), which was launchedto market in November 2022, across Hynamics’ plants to help optimize electrical costs of hydrogen production by up to 16 percent, according to
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Date:
02/01/2023
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