Smart Power Grid

September 2014
NTC announced that is has been selected as a finalist in this year’s Fierce Innovation Awards: Energy Edition, a utility-reviewed awards program from the publishers of FierceEnergy and FierceSmartGrid. NTC was selected as a finalist for its innovative, industry leading product, Trickle Up! Customer Engagement Sy
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Date:
09/30/2014
In support of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, the Energy Department today announced up to $25 million in funding to reduce the cost of algal biofuels to less than $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent (gge) by 2019. This funding supports the development of a bioeconomy that can help create gr
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Date:
09/30/2014
NREL software tool a boon for wind industry

In the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) Insight Center, NREL Senior Engineer Pat Moriarty, left, and NREL Senior Engineer Paul Fleming review velocity (blue) and turbulence (yellow) in a simulation of the Lillgrund Wind Farm in Denmark.

Wind energy is blowing away skeptics—it's so close to achieving cost parity with fossil fuels that just a little extra efficiency is all that is likely needed to push it into the mainstream and past the Energy Department's goal of 20% wind energy by 2030. That extra efficiency may be realized with the help of
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Date:
09/29/2014
The World Energy Forum 2014 will take place October 20 - 23, 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. When much of the world’s attention is focused on economic and social development and the pursuit of human well being, the world’s leaders will join together in Spain to meet the challenges of the 21st century, epitomized by
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Date:
09/26/2014
The Research and Development (R&D) Roadmap for Emerging Water Heating Technologies provides recommendations to the Building Technologies Office (BTO) on R&D activities to pursue that will aid in achieving BTO’s energy savings goals. For water heating, BTO targets 19% and 37% primary energy savings by
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Date:
09/26/2014
ViZn Energy Systems, a pioneer in large-scale energy storage technology, has announced the appointments of David Mintzer and Del Allison to the roles of Vice President, Business Development and Vice President, Sales respectively. With over 50 years in combined business development and sales leadership experience dr
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Date:
09/25/2014
The premier gathering to learn about the latest developments in geothermal energy, the 2014 GEA Geothermal Energy Expo will run Sunday, Sept. 28, to Wednesday, Oct. 1, in Portland, Oregon. Each year, the Expo serves as a world-class gathering of geothermal companies to learn about the latest developments in ge
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Date:
09/25/2014
Magnolia Solar announced it signed a Share Exchange Agreement ("SEA") with Solar Silicon Resources Group Pte Ltd ("SSRG") to merge their business interests and assets. The SEA was entered into between Magnolia Solar and SSRG, and the parent of SSRG, Auzminerals Resource Group Limited (the
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Date:
09/24/2014
Energy Meters target multiple apps, including metering and monitoring

Grässlin's taxxo Energy Meters

Grässlin's taxxo Energy Meters are designed for a variety of applications, including metering and monitoring energy consumption in private households, industry, craft, and facility management. The analog and digital energy meters measure the active energy of alternating current circuits or 3-phase circuits.
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Date:
09/24/2014
The Energy Department presented Housing Innovation Awards to 28 industry leaders during the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance’s Excellence in Building Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The industry leaders are commercializing and deploying cutting-edge technologies and helping to significantly reduce th
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Date:
09/24/2014
You have to play to win

Alix Paultre, Editorial Director, PSD

The biggest problem we face in dealing with the large-scale societal issues challenging America is the fact that the solutions involve a mix of technological skill and political will. Going to the moon is a perfect example. We have the technology, our GDP is sufficient, and America has the skillsets and can ea
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Date:
09/24/2014
Balancing the Effects of Increasing PV Penetration

Sam Wilkinson , IHS

In 2013, confidence returned to the PV market and as a consequence, forecasts for market potential in 2014 remain optimistic. In 2014, IHS projects that 41 GW of grid-connected PV systems will be installed, and that this will increase to reach 58 GW in 2017. WHile projected growth of the PV market is positi
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Date:
09/24/2014
The efficiency improvement of power converters is one of the major reasons why digital power is becoming increasingly popular. For specific requirements, digital control allows using the best fitted control strategy and comfortable, intricate tweaking of efficiency. This means the power supply can operate in mu
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Date:
09/23/2014
One of the most important features in switched mode power supplies is power density. It is crucial for high-power applications like server and telecom but it is also a key factor for low- to mid-power designs like battery chargers and adapters. Let’s explore the performance of advanced solutions like Infi
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Date:
09/23/2014
Reducing demand for energy on the battlefield is a key challenge facing many U.S. military forward operating bases (FOBs). Tactical generators consume millions of gallons of fuel keeping FOBs up-and-running each year. Safe and reliable access to fuel to power each generator is important to the success and security of
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Date:
09/22/2014
UMass Amherst researchers develop an efficient, lightweight, and low-cost organic solar cell

Organic solar cell

For decades, polymer scientists and synthetic chemists working to improve the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells were hampered by the inherent drawbacks of commonly used metal electrodes, including their instability and susceptibility to oxidation. Now for the first time, researchers at the University of
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Date:
09/20/2014
As engineering teams are continuously being pushed to deliver leading edge designs in much reduced time frames, they must now look every possible advantage in order to meet these aggressive requirements. One such way to achieve this is to reduce the internal testing of any new components being used. Procurement sp
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Date:
09/20/2014
Much of the current global electric grid was built many years ago. While these systems are still functional, they are becoming increasingly inefficient and unreliable. For example, according to data from the Environmental Defense Fund, a U.S.-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group, approximately seven pe
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Date:
09/20/2014
Dresser-Rand, a leader in environmentally-friendly technology platforms in distributed power generation for the oil and gas, industrial, institutional, and commercial industries, welcomed more than 50 clients, industry experts and other guests to Olean, N.Y. for “Echogen Technology Day” to introduce its ne
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Date:
09/16/2014
As the number of voltage rails continues to grow inside systems due to higher complexity and proliferation of digital content, it is essential to have a mechanism to monitor and control these rails. Often times there can be as many as 50 point-of-load voltage rails and system designers need to be able to easily mo
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Date:
09/15/2014
With extensive and frequent use of contractors and sub-contractors in power generation, it is clear that effective leadership and communications can play a key role in improving safety. The Energy Institute (EI)’s Power Utilities Technical Committee (PUTC) has released its latest guidance, entitled Engaging co
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Date:
09/12/2014
From Oregon to Rwanda, the 2014 GEA Geothermal Energy Expo will take geothermal leaders around the world in geothermal development. The Expo, co-held with the GRC Annual Meeting, is the premier gathering to learn about the latest developments in geothermal energy. In 2013, the GEA Expo and GRC Annual Meeting ho
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Date:
09/12/2014
Out of the energy harvesting technologies being commercialized, thermoelectric generators have received significant attention with several new products having been launched in the past few years. Most significant market segments have been building and industrial automation so far, with the interest in waste he
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Date:
09/12/2014
ABB, a leading power and automation technology company, announced details for an upcoming “PowerED” power education webinar series this fall. This free series takes an in-depth look at the major challenges facing the power industry today, along with groundbreaking solutions to overcome them.   Unlike ev
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Date:
09/11/2014
The Energy Department announced $7.25 million for six organizations to advance water power as a viable resource for America’s clean energy portfolio. Marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies convert the energy of waves, tides, rivers, and ocean currents into electricity that can be used by homes and businesses, es
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Date:
09/11/2014
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) – Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) seeks feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to solar photovoltaic (PV) reliability and durability research and development. PV modu
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Date:
09/10/2014
The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) released a study entitled "The 50 State Index of Energy Regulation". This index measures the regulatory climate for energy consumption, production, and distribution and which states are more economically efficient. Alabama, Alaska, South Dakota, and Texas tied for th
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Date:
09/10/2014
Cree SiC MOSFETs help drive Japan's solar infrastructure

Cree C2M 1200V 80mOhm SiC MOSFET

Cree has announced that its C2M, 1200V, 80mOhm SiC MOSFETs have been selected by Sanix Corporation, Japan, to be designed into their 9.9kW three-phase solar inverters for use in the construction of commercial photovoltaic systems in the fast-growing Japanese solar energy market. "Through this partnersh
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Date:
09/08/2014
Space-Time Insight, a leading provider of next-generation situational intelligence solutions, and NEC  have announced the formation of a partnership for the smart energy market. Under this partnership, NEC has concluded a preferred sales contract covering Japan and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region with Space-Time In
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Date:
09/08/2014
ABB, a leading power and automation technology company, iannounced details for an upcoming “grid modernization” webinar series this fall. This free series, sponsored by the ABB Smart Grid Center of Excellence, will examine the major challenges and groundbreaking solutions facing the power industry today. &nb
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Date:
09/05/2014
Japanese on biogas discovery tour in Germany

The Japanese delegation with former head of government Koizumi (right) is interested in the benefits of a biogas system

Due to the phasing out of nuclear energy, the transformation of the energy system is one of Germany's most vital challenges of the 21st century. The total withdrawal from atomic energy in Germany is intended to be completed by 2022. The plan provides for electricity and heat generation through alternative fuels suc
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Date:
09/02/2014
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