Category: News

How Solar Panels Power the Future

Solar power’s growth trajectory is pushing upwards in 2018. Solar represented 55% of new electricity capacity added in Q1 2018, and installations in the U.S. grew +13% vs year ago.  This is the 10th consecutive quarter with at least 2 GW added to the grid and the second quarter where solar had the most significant share of new capacity. Forecasts remain positive with 28 U.S. states expected to 100+ MW solar markets by 2020, and most of those generating more than 1 GW of operating solar.

The gains in solar power capacity reflect an increased urgency to find sustainable energy solutions as global climate change and depletion of non-renewable sources continues. Why solar? Because the sun continuously produces 173,000 terawatts – more than 10,000 times the world’s total energy use.

Innovations in solar panel application point toward a solar-powered future.

1. Net-Zero Schools

Net-zero schools use efficiency technologies and generate power on-site to produce as much energy as is consumed from the electrical grid. Net-zero schools represent 37% of non-residential net-zero building activity and are popping up across the nation, from San Francisco, CA to Arlington, VA. Discovery Elementary in Arlington was built with 1,700 solar panels generating 500 kilowatts. If all buildings in the district followed suit, energy savings would total about $6 million annually.

2. Project Sunroof from Google

Google is helping homeowners in the U.S., U.K. and Germany estimate their house’s solar potential. The online tool evaluates roof area, shape and angle and weather information including sun positioning. This data, needed by installers, is quickly delivered and can reassure potential buyers about their home’s ability to rely on solar. Ikea offers a similar service with Solarcentury and Tesla has a Solar Roof Calculator available.

3. Vanadium Redox Batteries

VRBs are leading the flow battery market as an energy storage solution. The future value of solar power is dependent on the availability of storage. Lasting up to 15,000 cycles and with a reusable electrolyte, vanadium batteries are gaining acceptance globally for scalable, long-duration solar storage.

As the transition to solar power continues, StorEn’s development of vanadium redox batteries for residential and industrial applications is moving forward. Click here to learn more about StorEn’s innovative solution. If you’re interested in being part of the solution, find out how you can invest here.

 

Image credits:

Karsten Würth (@inf1783)

How a Solar Home Withstands Natural Disasters

When high winds and torrential rains knock out the grid, or heavy snows bring down power lines and blow transformers, you often turn to the simplest power storage device – a flashlight – to light your way in a powerless house. You may be grateful for the small beam of illumination, but the flashlight doesn’t preserve the food in your refrigerator, power your water heater or your stove.

A solar home is more resilient during natural disasters, especially when supported with energy storage.

What Makes a Solar Home Resilient During Natural Disasters?

The design of solar power systems provides advantages during tumultuous weather events:

  1. No moving parts mean less breakage, and solar panels are built to withstand harsh conditions. Here’s how:
    • Panels and racks can be designed to survive winds exceeding 200 miles per hour.
    • Many panels are certified to hold up to 1-inch hailstones flying at more than 50 miles per hour.
    • Testing by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) shows panels and mounting systems are fire retardant.
    • Tilted panels can easily shed snow blankets, but even flatter panel configurations have been able to hold up to five feet of snow.
  1. Solar power systems continue generating electricity, even with minimal visible light.
    • The system may be less productive with storm cloud cover and rains but will continue to pull power from available light.
  1. No oversight, fuel or management required.
    • Unlike other power sources used during natural disasters, like gas or diesel generators, a solar power system can operate without any human intervention or external fuel source.

Your solar home may not be operating at 100% during power outages, but it will produce more energy than traditional power providers.

Adding energy storage to your home solar power system’s gives you independence from the grid, insulating your home from power losses due to natural disasters.

How Energy Storage Increases Your Solar Home’s Performance During Natural Disasters

Batteries using advanced technology to store solar energy became available several years ago. These solar batteries can be configured to use excess energy generated during the day as a backup during storms. If the power goes out, the battery starts up. And the battery will recharge as solar panels capture more energy.

While many current energy storage options are lithium-based, vanadium flow batteries from StorEn are emerging as a safer, longer-lasting solution. StorEn’s THERMASTABLE™ geothermal design provides greater efficiency than other batteries (+6% in round-trip efficiency) but also offers more durability during harsh conditions. Adding StoreEn’s vanadium flow storage to your solar home delivers a resilient, responsive power supply during storms.

You’ll be able to have some control during uncontrollable events and power your home with uninterrupted clean energy. Invest in StorEnTech today.

Why Lithium Batteries Catch Fire and What to Do

17 lithium-ion batteries exploded on airplanes in the first six months of 2017. Hewlett-Packard recalled 50,000 lithium-ion batteries due to fire danger. Portland recycling center ecomaine fought two lithium-ion based fires in two weeks, the second taking 40 minutes to extinguish. Australia is considering legislation restricting installation of lithium-ion storage batteries in homes, labeling them fire hazards. Despite standards, regulations, and ongoing development to improve the safety of lithium-ion batteries, they continue to cause trouble. Here’s why lithium batteries catch fire and what to do if you’re faced with an unexpected hazard.

Lithium Batteries – Lightweight and Efficient, But….

Since 1991, lithium-ion batteries have been the standard for power across industries from cell phones and computers to electric vehicles and solar storage. Lithium batteries have been problematic because they:

  • are made from a combustible material
  • can pack a lot of power compared to other batteries. But as part of the alkali metal group on the periodic table, lithium is very combustible. It’s also the least dense metallic element.
  • Have highly reactive components
  • Are structured like all batteries – two electrodes are separated by an electrolyte. In the lithium battery, the electrolyte is a solution of reactive lithium salts and organic solvents. An electrical charge is transferred from a lithium metal cathode through the electrolyte to a carbon anode. And as with most batteries, the process pressurizes the contents.  
  • Are volatile when damaged
  • Have stray ions moving between the electrodes that can create microfibers called dendrites. If a dendrite punctures the thin separators keeping the battery elements separate, an internal short-circuit can spark the lithium. And if a dendrite punctures the external part of the battery, the lithium reacts with water in the air, generating heat and the possibility of fire. The battery can also overheat, creating a thermal runaway and causing an explosion.

Unfortunately, if something goes wrong with lithium batteries, fire is a likely result.

What to do if Lithium Batteries Catch Fire

Battery University offers these guidelines for dealing with a lithium battery fire:

  • Small lithium-ion batteries can be doused with water because they contain little lithium metal. Lithium-metal battery fires can be put out with a Class D fire extinguisher.
  • Larger battery fires are best handled with a foam extinguisher, CO2, ABC dry chemical, powder graphite, copper powder or sodium carbonate.
  • If the fire can’t be extinguished, you’ll need to let it burn in a controlled way, dousing the surrounding area with water to prevent the fire from spreading.
  • If you have a battery pack, each cell may burn on a different timetable when hot, so place the pack outside until completely burned out.

You have a safer choice for home and commercial power storage — redox flow batteries. Leading the industry are vanadium options made with a non-flammable electrolyte solution.

StorEn Tech is committed to safe, reliable long-lasting energy storage. Invest in the future of solar-charged batteries today.

How Batteries Reduce Carbon Footprint

After three promising years in which global carbon emissions barely increased, 2017 marked a +2% uptick and record-high industrial emissions of carbon dioxide, according to the Global Carbon Project. Predictions for 2018 aren’t fully set, but with +3-4% production-fueled gains anticipated this year in global GDP, it’s likely we’ll see continued increases in global emissions. Here’s how batteries reduce carbon footprint: 

Many countries have generated GDP growth while reducing carbon emissions over the past decade, including much of Europe, the U.K. and the United States. The reduced carbon footprints in these 22 countries have been linked to increased use of natural gas, solar and wind to generate electricity and investment in energy efficiency across industries.  Unfortunately, emission improvement in countries accounting for 20% of emissions won’t offset the expected increases in emissions from China and India.

As companies face continued pressure from consumers, employees, and shareholders to reduce carbon footprints, the search for reliable solutions has gained momentum. Researchers, students and start-up firms continue to create technologies and products to improve energy efficiency.  With the global use of solar power growing, maximizing this renewable energy’s use by finding ways to store it is a key industry initiative. Recent developments in battery structure and composition offer promising indicators that batteries can reduce carbon footprint.

Batteries are big business, with an IMS research report predicting demand for solar storage batteries would tally up to $19 billion in 2017. Most storage batteries currently in use are lithium-ion, a type shown to be problematic for carbon emissions. Materials and electricity used in production, the coal-powered electricity used to charge it, a relatively short lifespan, and complexities of recycling undermine the carbon footprint of lithium-ion batteries.

Here’s why this is important: Only about 5% of metal is recovered. When we look towards the future, we need to mine fresh lithium to sustain manufacturing of new lithium batteries. Driving EV’s that need lithium batteries is not only not sustainable but dangerous. 

Flow batteries have emerged as a low carbon footprint solution for solar storage, with vanadium options leading the charge. These batteries produce an electrical current through an exchange of negatively and positively charged liquid, using non-explosive, non-flammable electrolytes. Vanadium batteries reduce long-term energy costs through extended lifespans, up to 25 years, without any degradation in capacity. Size versatility allows vanadium batteries to have a broad use, from small systems to large utilities.

Flow batteries reduce carbon footprint by:

  • storing renewable energies for less load on current electrical grids
  • using relatively low amounts of energy during battery production
  • lasting longer, reducing energy costs associated with replacement

A full-scale effort is needed to drive global emission declines. Examining all facets of manufacturing, energy-production, and consumer use is key to finding new opportunities for improvement. Batteries are one more step forward in our efforts to reduce carbon footprint.

Invest in StorEn tech today.

Top Reasons Why You Should Use Solar-Powered Batteries

If you’ve recently installed a solar power system in your home or business, or are considering solar power options, then some of the questions you’ve faced include, ‘should I include a solar-powered battery, and if so, why?’  Here are a few reasons why you should use solar-powered batteries:

  1. Solar-powered batteries maximize access to your solar power.
  • During peak sun times, your solar power system will make more energy than you need. A battery lets you keep any excess energy for use when it’s overcast and in the evening.
  1. Solar-powered batteries provide a clean power back-up plan.
  • When the power goes out, you can draw stored energy not only from your solar power system but also from your battery.
  • Unlike gas generators, solar-powered batteries deliver energy without greenhouse emissions.
  1. Solar-powered batteries help control utility costs.
  • The power grid is usually busiest between 4 pm and 10 pm and utility companies may charge higher rates based on these use times. Batteries can be used during peak times to avoid using higher-priced energy.
  • And if needed, batteries can charge from the grid overnight when rates are usually cheapest.
  1. Solar-powered batteries are reliable and safe.
  • Initially, solar-powered batteries were susceptible to shifts in temperature, losing functionality in very cold or very hot weather. But the development of lithium and vanadium flow batteries for solar power systems now allows use across temperatures ranging from below zero to desert heat.
  • The structure of these newer batteries, particularly the vanadium flow options, eliminates risks associated with lead-based or lithium-ion batteries. Lithium is performing badly in charging and discharging at below freezing. Our batteries have a built-in system to keep temperatures within an ideal range. But lithium ion is required to be installed in a temperature controlled environment.
  1. Solar-powered batteries are lasting, making them cost-effective.
  • Batteries can lose the ability to charge and recharge, requiring a new battery or additional batteries to get needed capacity. But battery storage capabilities have improved, with new developments helping batteries deliver up to 100% of their capacity over time. Lithium batteries still suffer from fast decay and loss in capacity over time (e.g., your mobile phone). The good news is that vanadium flow, a type of rechargeable flow battery, does not decay. 
  • Technological advancements in structure and design have extended battery life to up to 25 years. While this statement is true for vanadium flow vanadium flow, lithium suffers from decay. The life of lithium can be in excess of 10 years but with a big loss in capacity. Vanadium can last for 25 years with no loss in capacity. 

When you commit to clean, solar energy, don’t miss out on the benefits of solar-powered batteries. Rest a little easier, and manage your energy expenses knowing you’ll have access to power whenever you need it – at night, during storms, and for all the years ahead.

We’re now live on StartEngine! You can invest here. 

StorEn Technologies Launches Patent-Pending Energy Storage on StartEngine

Investors can now be part of a ground floor opportunity in vanadium flow battery technology

Stony Brook, NY (PRUnderground) January 10th, 2018

StorEn Technologies Inc., a client of the Clean Energy Business Incubator Program (CEBIP) at Stony Brook University, is pleased to announce that they have just launched on StartEngine. Now, investors will have the unique opportunity to get in on a ground floor opportunity presenting a revolution in clean energy storage.

StorEn Technologies develops patent-pending vanadium flow batteries, revolutionary energy storage devices that offer heightened performance at lower costs that current storage devices on the market.

Vanadium flow batteries offer the lowest cost per cycle in the world, a rate that’s eight times less than lithium-ion batteries. Each unit offers a battery life of 25 years and more than 15,000 cycles.

StorEn Technologies’ batteries offer solutions for residential, industrial, and telecom/data center applications.

StorEn Technologies is now offering investors the opportunity to be a part of their company with $4/share in Common Stock and the chance to boost the value to $26+ million.

According to Carlo Brovero, “We are excited to offer 100,000 investors our StorEn energy solution revolution.”

More information about StorEn is available at http://www.storen.tech/, and further details regarding the StartEngine campaign can be found at https://www.startengine.com/storen-technologies-inc.

About the Clean Energy Business Incubator Program at Stony Brook University

Funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA), the Clean Energy Business Incubator Program (CEBIP) at Stony Brook University has been in operation since October 2011 providing assistance and resources for developers of renewable and clean-energy technologies. Through the expertise, business acumen and technological resources of CEBIP’s management team, advisory board, researchers at Stony Brook University and other extensive partnerships, CEBIP helps bridge the gap between innovation and market with a full commitment to helping entrepreneurs develop and commercialize clean-energy technology. CEBIP provides resources for clean-energy innovators that include mentorship at various stages of entrepreneurial development, guidance for business and strategic plans, and assistance in preparing for and locating funding opportunities. CEBIP’sgoal is to develop a successful clean-energy economy on Long Island, creating high-paying “cleantech” jobs and industry within Long Island and New York State.

About StorEn Technologies

StorEn Technologies aims to combat climate change and close the gap in the transition toward renewable, efficient energy with patent-pending, innovative, cost-effective energy storage.