Think of solar panels more like apple trees: We need a fairer approach for what we use and sell, says researcher

As we race to decarbonize by electrifying everything, solar panels—now cheaper per square meter than marine-grade plywood—will do much of the heavy lifting. But if we don’t rethink how our rooftop panels plug into the grid, the transition will be unfair and costly—for both people who own solar panels (and electric cars and smart appliances) and people who don’t.
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South Africa’s power blackouts: Solutions lie in solar farms, battery storage at scale, and an end to state monopoly

Rolling blackouts are costing South Africa dearly. The electricity crisis is a barrier to growth, destroys investor confidence and handicaps almost every economic activity. It has raised input costs for producers and retailers, and has triggered a new round of inflation and interest rate increases.
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Developing technologies to reduce the cost of green hydrogen production

Green hydrogen, which produces hydrogen without the use of fossil fuels or the emission of carbon dioxide, has become increasingly important in recent years as part of efforts to realize a decarbonized economy. However, due to the high production cost of water electrolysis devices that produce green hydrogen, the economic feasibility of green hydrogen has not been very high. However, the development of a technology that drastically reduces the amount of rare metals such as iridium and platinum used in polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis devices is opening the way to lower production costs.
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Q&A: How fiber-optic sensing and new materials could reduce the cost of floating offshore wind power

In shallow waters, offshore wind turbines are fixed to the ocean floor. However, in deep water areas where winds are typically stronger and have the capacity to reap more than double the energy, floating offshore wind turbines must be moored to the seabed where the ocean is too deep for fixed structures.
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Compensating for grid fluctuations with bivalent furnaces

Due to the high energy consumption of melting and holding furnaces, the price of the energy source used represents a significant cost factor in the production of castings. The price of electricity fluctuates significantly over the course of the day. This can be explained, for example, by the varying utilization of the power grid or the volatile feed-in of energy from renewable resources.
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Researchers improve the solubility of redox molecules for enhanced energy storage systems

Dominant battery technologies using flammable, toxic, unsustainable, and expensive energy sources are a major contributor to climate change. Switching from fossil fuels to cleaner and environmentally friendly energy sources is thus crucial to curtail the impacts of climate change. This transition can be supported by improving the efficiency of energy storage systems for safer and stable operations, sustainability, high energy/ power density.
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