Batteries are having a moment. In early October, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to three scientists for their research on lithium-ion batteries. Their work decades ago led to batteries becoming smaller, more powerful, more portable, and rechargeable, all of which have transformed our laptops, our phones,
Many of us recently experienced a major national power cut, one that would have been worse had it not been for grid battery storage. In the same way, a battery is a good option to help get us through power cuts in the home and keeping the lights on. Watching the clock in
When recently I was notified of an upcoming planned power cut I decided to look into the best ways to get prepared. Until recent years it was uncommon to experience power cuts of any significant duration in Western countries, but that situation is starting to change. A big driver, of course, is climate change
Earlier this week our home had a long power cut and I recorded my experience in a video, included below. The first we knew it was going to happen was when we received a letter a few weeks ago from our local grid network company, Western Power. The title was "We need to temporarily
I very much enjoyed a recent episode of the The Life Scientific on BBC Radio 4, in which Professor Saiful Islam of Bath University, talks to Jim Al-Khalili about his life and work studying the materials that make renewable energy possible. Professor Islam has accelerated the use of computer modelling of the behaviours of solids.
It was a dark, cold Halloween night. I was relaxing on the sofa, when I heard a sharp scraping sound from the hall. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I sat motionless and just listened… Silence… It happened again. Louder and higher pitched. Like a fingernail on a blackboard. I stood
The international market for stationary battery storage systems (BSS) is growing rapidly. Within less than a decade, grid-connected BSS have evolved from a niche product to a mass market in which today international energy and automotive companies are competing for market shares. According to a recent study by BloombergNEF, almost 4GW of new battery storage
Imagine this scenario for a moment: It’s a nice day out. The sun is shining beautifully and you’re at the beach. You can feel the sand between your toes, the gentle breeze carrying the scent of salt to your nose as it passes through your hair. The water is gently flirting with the shore in
Energy storage installations for homes and businesses — involving battery technology — are on the rise in areas where extreme weather threatens the electric power grid, such as flood-prone Houston, wildfire-stricken California and hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. A sustained power outage can lead to serious consequences, such as loss of income and even death. Because of
A £55 million (US$67.8 million) fund has been earmarked for five projects in the UK looking at developing the next generation of battery storage technology. The government-led Faraday Institution has allocated the funding to five consortium-led projects with the aim of overcoming battery challenges, in particular by improving performance and cost characteristics. The projects will