What is the “Internet of Things”? Our world is more connected than ever with the help of the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT refers to the multitude of “things” connected to the Internet, collecting and sharing information or allowing users to perform or initiate functions without even being physically present. An automated smart home would […]
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There’s big news in the battery world. A new modeling study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reported that second life batteries from the electric car industry could be reusable for grid storage in solar operations. As electric vehicle (EV) adoption grows, and with states like California phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles, there will soon be an abundance
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Cold can be a threat to car batteries. Drivers in below-freezing temperatures routinely must deal with dead batteries that need a jump. However, researchers at Penn State University developed a solution to this problem. The new battery they developed has an extra material layer that enables cold charging. How the Cold-Charging Battery Works There are many components
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Weight is a critical factor in the development and advancement of portable and mobile battery-based technology. The gradual reduction in size and weight of the battery has allowed the adoption of mobile technology to flourish in the past few years. Take the cell phone as an example, the first portable handheld mobile phone in 1973
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You’ve likely heard of some common battery types, such as lithium ion, that are helping to power the future. However, there’s a new contender for most-promising battery solution – graphene. Graphene batteries leverage their namesake material, which sees carbon atoms bind together in a honeycomb lattice pattern to form an extremely strong, yet thin sheet.
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A battery management system allows users to monitor individual cells within a battery pack. As cells work together to release energy to the load, it is crucial to maintain stability throughout the whole pack. This is where a battery management system (BMS) comes into play. A BMS allows for constant monitoring, gathering, and communicating information
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Tesla’s Battery Day, where upcoming projects and innovations are announced to investors, was held at the end of September. There were two anticipated announcements: the million-mile battery and a battery price point of $100/kWh, the price at which analysts believe would officially place Electric Vehicles on par with Internal Combustion Engines. While no official announcement
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One of the biggest challenges in the development and optimization of battery technology is difficulty in observing what’s happening inside of the battery itself. However, there’s a new ally in the movement toward the future of energy storage – magnetic resonance imaging, also known as MRI. This technology, which commonly conjures up images of medical
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You may not realize it, but batteries – and the latest innovations in the battery industry – impact nearly every part of your day-to-day life. Batteries have always helped power the world, but their applications and importance are growing all the time, particularly in the wake of movements for cleaner energy, sustainability, efficiency and more.
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Though most common, chemical batteries are not the only way to store energy. Another device that is constantly being researched and improved is the supercapacitor. The supercapacitor stores electricity as static rather than chemical energy. While they can’t match up to batteries in energy capacity, they do have clear advantages that secure them a place
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