Did you know that energy storage is in hot water? A study recently published in the IEEE Open Access Journal of Power and Energy shows that hot water heaters are a cost-effective way to store energy. The authors of the study state that domestic water heaters have the ability to store solar energy during the day and use it later in the day when solar energy output falls.
Talking about water, or rather the scarcity of it, did you know that an Indian startup Uravu Labs plans on harvesting water out of thin air? Well, preferably humid air. The company uses desiccants to absorb moisture and then release it when heated. They aim at harvesting up to 1,000 liters per day with a single absorber machine.
Source. IEEE Spectrum Magazine, April 2023.
Did you know that there is a worker shortage within the electrical industry? Well, I am sure that many companies are feeling the pain. Recent articles in Electrical Construction and Maintenance magazine have pushed home that fact, one of them quoting this author. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, roughly 80,000 job openings in this market exist, which is about 11% of all positions. For electrical contractors, electricians and journeymen were the most difficult to fill, whereas with electrical engineering companies, they found that project engineers were scarce.
Did you know that a 2010 Ponemon Institute Research Report, sponsored by Emerson Network Power and often quoted in the attribution of the causes of data center failures, puts our old friend the battery at the top of the list at 65% of the causes? A recent article in Battery Power Online highlighted that very issue, pushing for battery maintenance and monitoring, stating that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Sounds exactly like what we we here at Eagle Eye have been preaching for years.
Did you know how Bluetooth got its name? Evidently, a Dutch engineer working for Ericsson came up with the concept and it was named after a 10th century Nordic king nicknamed King Harald (Bluetooth) Gormsson. He had a diseased tooth that had a blueish color. The symbol for Bluetooth is the Nordic H for Harald and B for Bluetooth superimposed on each other.
Source: world-of-engineering.org
Did you know that according to Global Market Insights, Inc., the recycled lead market is expected to surpass US$19 billion by 2026, which is a CAGR of 3.5%? So, what is driving this growth in times of other chemistries striving to take over the market from lead-acid batteries? The source lists the main drivers as:
- Government initiatives to recycle lead-acid batteries.
- Increasing demand for lead and lead oxides.
- Increasing demand for recycled lead in the Asia Pacific.
- Increasing use of recycled lead in the renewable energy industry and SLI batteries.
This author believes that it is also creeping into use for stationary batteries. Don’t forget to properly recycle your spent lead-acid batteries. Talk to Eagle Eye about your options.
Did you know that a new Stanford study published in Nature Energy calls the entire business model for Electric Vehicles (EV’s) into question? Apparently, according to some major manufacturers, more than half of EV owners use home chargers and recharge their vehicles overnight. The study points out the obvious; given the projected increase in the use of EV’s, whether by choice or mandate, and the business model of EV charging at a time when the sun is setting and winds are dying down, where is the additional power load coming from? To this author, the choice is between the power grid suppliers building a lot of extra capacity and beefing up the distribution or a huge investment in energy storage. In either case, who is going to pay for this? Just look in the mirror, even if you don’t own or intend to own an EV.
Breaking News: Recently, on April 18th, it was reported that a parking garage had collapsed in New York City. This author hesitates to attribute the cause, but it reminds me of something that he had read recently that EV’s, because of their additional weight caused by their batteries, were a potential risk in that they could overload the load bearing of some high-rise parking garages. I hope that he is way off base in this case.