Blog

Early-Access Review (Pt 2): Epishine Light Energy Harvesting Module Evaluation Kit

Gough Lui

After putting out my initial review on the kit, I somehow felt the review to be a little incomplete, since the star of the show was the organic photovoltaic (OPV) panel and I didn’t really do much to test the panel on its own. The design of the kit d...
- 5 Aug 2020
Engineers begin construction of the world’s largest fusion reactor in France

Catwell

Image shows the first piece of the tokamak being lowered. The reactor is expected to weigh 23,000 tonnes once the 5-year assembly phase is complete. (Image Credit: ITER) On July 28th, engineers in southern France began the five-year assembly pha...
- 3 Aug 2020
Solar Energy Harvesting with Epishine Flexible Solar Cell - Pt 3: Charge and Discharge

Jan Cumps

I received a preview of a light harvesting kit from Epishine and element14. Check my intro here.In this post, an analysis of the electronic properties. Charging, discharging, powering a load. image source: my board, with probe wires soldered to ...
- 2 Aug 2020
Early-Access Review: Epishine Light Energy Harvesting Module Evaluation Kit

Gough Lui

A little opportunity popped up recently, in conjunction with element14, to test an energy harvesting module. As there seems to be a lot of development of low-powered sensors and radios which can run from coin-cells for extended periods, the whole ide...
- 2 Aug 2020
Researchers discover two major breakthroughs in solar cell technology

Catwell

In the first breakthrough, scientists discovered a way to convert invisible light into high energy light. The other breakthrough allows for the production of more efficient, less costly solar panels. (Image Credit: pixabay) Scientists have disc...
- 31 Jul 2020
Solar Energy Harvesting with Epishine Flexible Solar Cell - Pt 2: Circuit Analysis

Jan Cumps

I got a preview of a light harvesting kit from Epishine and element14. Check my intro here.In this post, I try to analyse the ways of working. I don't have a schematic.It's based on google-research. There are 3 main modules:the...
- 31 Jul 2020
Five Battery Innovations That Could Be Used in the Future

Catwell

CAISO connects the largest battery to the power gridCAISO connected the largest battery storage in the US to California’s power grid, adding 62.5 megawatts of capacity to the grid. (Image Credit: Matthew Henry, Unsplash) The California Independe...
- 30 Jul 2020
Solar Energy Harvesting with Epishine Flexible Solar Cell - Pt 1: intro

Jan Cumps

I got a preview of a light harvesting kit from Epishine and element14. It's a combination of a flexible solar cell and a energy collection circuit.I haven't used products from Epishine before and I'm not affiliated. I'm going to review the kit with o...
- 29 Jul 2020
Reduce memory usage to reduce power consumption

Catwell

A team of researchers in Singapore found a way to make smartphones batteries last almost forever? Smartphones improved our lives in countless ways since their introduction. However, their numerous functions created a new concern for users: the l...
- 17 Jul 2020
Researchers develop a system that could store large amounts of electricity in the form of hydrogen

Catwell

Professor Aguey Zinsou holds up the metal materials that could store hydrogen in a solid-state. (Image Credit: Janie Barrett) Using low-cost hydrogen storage to power homes and businesses may soon become a reality if new technology makes a quick...
- 9 Jul 2020
Shrimp shells contain an ingredient that can be used for large scale batteries

Catwell

The chitin ingredient found in shrimp shells has been used by researchers at MIT to develop new electrode components for vanadium flow batteries. (Image Credit: Arina Ertman, Unsplash) Poor shrimps… about to harvested more than ever. The modern ...
- 8 Jul 2020
CATL Gives Electric Vehicles’ Battery 16 Year Life

Catwell

Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd created a new battery for electric vehicles that will take the electric cars sector to new heights. Sign of CATL in front of company building. (Image credit: CATL) The most important part, and the source of an...
- 2 Jul 2020
GE To Build Taller Wind Turbine With 3-D Printing

Catwell

GE joins the race to sustainable energy for all with its new wind turbine project. The company wants to build the tallest wind turbine in the US by 3-D Printing the base. Prototype of a 10 meter base for the wind turbine. (Image credit: GE) GE a...
- 26 Jun 2020
Electric car charging stations rise to 7.3 million around the world

Catwell

Charging stations around the world have significantly increased (Image Credit: Tesla) Electric car charging points are on the rise around the world, and a new report details just how rapidly they’re growing. The International Energy Agency’s (IE...
- 22 Jun 2020
Stanford Researchers Redefine “Electricity on the Go”

Catwell

Stanford University consistently brings us innovation. It’s astounding. An example of that is the team of engineers who created a clever way to transmit electricity wirelessly. The technology could send electricity to moving electric cars, drones and...
- 15 Jun 2020
Renewable Energy Sources Outperforming Coal

Catwell

The industry of coal is facing obstacles that suggest the industry might disappear completely in a near future. Progression of the Consumption of coal since 1950. (Image credit: EIA.GOV) There was as time when light revolved around renewable sou...
- 11 Jun 2020
SEG: The Shadows Give Us Electricity

Catwell

Some researchers at the National University of Singapore developed an energy generator that utilizes a combination of light and shadow to produce electricity. The SEG in use to power an electronic watch, Image courtesy of the Royal Society of Chemist...
- 8 Jun 2020
Zinc-air battery will outlast and outperform lithium-ion batteries

Catwell

Xinc8 has developed a new type of battery that will outperform lithium-ion batteries one day. (Image Credit: Zinc8) A new type of battery that won’t degrade, can’t explode, and is up to five times cheaper than lithium-ion batteries w...
- 29 May 2020
How to kill a battery tester

cookmesomekai

A very popular HIOKI instrument is the BT3554 battery tester. It's a portable instrument designed primarily for maintenance purposes with voltage ranges up to 60V.Of course the BT3554 won't blow up when you accidentially apply 61V to it inste...
- 27 May 2020
Researchers apply pressure to magnetic material to create magnetic liquid

Catwell

Artist’s impression of electron spins “frustrated” as the magnetic sample is forced into a spin liquid state. (Image Credit: Daniel Haskel) Researchers at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User...
- 21 May 2020
Renewable energy generated more electricity than coal for 40 straight days in the US

Catwell

Renewable energy has surpassed coal in April 2020 for 40 straight days. (Image Credit: Myriam Zilles from Pixabay)To date, the coronavirus pandemic has brought some positive changes on the planet, including decreased air pollution, wildlife roaming a...
- 11 May 2020
Lessons learned during validation testing part 2 (do's and don'ts)

ctammann

I feel very fortunate to have gotten to jump right into board design right out of school, which I can't believe was so long ago. The first 6 years of my career was a trial by fire that taught me a lot of great lessons on design practice. To this day ...
- 27 Apr 2020
Traco Power DC converter - Probe the Output

Jan Cumps

Inspired by Using a DC-DC Isolator to allow single power input to case? (and to stop hijacking that post) I'm checking the output noise of a Traco Power DC-DC converter.The device I have is the TEN 6-4822WINTEN 6-4822WIN. It translates 48 V int...
- 25 Apr 2020
The Energy Debate Continues: Electric Cars vs. Petrol Cars

Catwell

Governments around the world are more and more open to electric cars as a viable way to reduce their countries’ CO2 production; but the benefits are still controversial. (Image credit: from vectorstock.com) Nobody knows the exact time humanity ...
- 21 Apr 2020
Researchers capture terahertz waves to produce power

Catwell

The device could capture terahertz waves and convert it to DC current, which could power-up electronic devices. (Image Credit: José-Luis Olivares, MIT) Physicists at MIT have achieved a new scientific breakthrough that could one day allow househ...
- 16 Apr 2020