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America's First Sodium-Ion Battery Gigafactory Announced. Cost: $1.4 Billion

Sodium-ion batteries are cheaper than lithium-ion batteries — and they're also more environmentally friendly. And "In the past few years, sodium-ion battery production has increased in the United States," reports the Washington Post, with a new factory planned to manufacture them "in the same way as lithium-ion batteries, just with different ingredients. Instead of using expensive materials like lithium, nickel and cobalt, these will be made of sodium, iron and manganese..." Last month, sodium-ion battery manufacturer Natron Energy announced it would open a "gigafactory" in North Carolina that would produce 24 gigawatt hours of batteries annually, enough energy to charge 24,000 electric vehicles. But sodium-ion batteries are still early in their development compared with lithium-ion, and they have yet to hit the market on a massive scale. "It's unlikely sodium-ion could displace lithium-ion anytime soon," said Keith Beers, polymer science and materials chemistry principal engineer at technical consultancy firm Exponent... The biggest limitation of sodium-ion batteries is their weight. Sodium weighs nearly three times as much as lithium, and it cannot store the same amount of energy. As a result, sodium-ion batteries tend to be larger. Jens Peters, an economics professor at the University of Alcalá in Madrid, said the energy density could be improved over time in sodium-ion batteries. But, he added, "what we found out so far in our assessments is that it is not a game changer." Sodium-ion batteries are touted to be the environmentally friendly alternative to their lithium-ion counterparts, thanks to their raw materials. Sodium, iron and manganese are all abundant elements on the planet, so they require less energy to extract and cost less... Sodium-ion batteries also last longer than lithium-ion ones because they can withstand more charge cycles, said Wendell Brooks, co-CEO of Natron Energy. "Our product can have millions of cycles," said Brooks, "where lithium-ion would have three to five thousand cycles and wear out a lot faster...." Sodium-ion batteries aren't the best fit for smartphones or electric vehicles, which need to store lots of energy. However, one advantage is their low cost. And they could be a good candidate in situations where the size of the battery isn't a concern, like energy storage. "When something is built out to support grid or backup storage, it doesn't need to be very dense. It's staying put," Beers said. Natron will invest nearly $1.4 billion in the factory "to meet the rapidly expanding demand for critical power, industrial and grid energy storage solutions," according to their announcement. "Natron's high-performance sodium-ion batteries outperform lithium-ion batteries in power density and recharging speed, do not require lithium, cobalt, copper, or nickel, and are non-flammable... Natron's batteries are the only UL-listed sodium-ion batteries on the market today, and will be delivered to a wide range of customer end markets in the industrial power space, including data centers, mobility, EV fast charging, microgrids, and telecom, among others."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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Cuba's Power Grid Collapses Again After Second Hurricane. And Then an Earthquake Hit

Wednesday Cuba was hit by a major hurricane which took down its entire power grid again, this time for about 24 hours, according to CNN: Videos of the aftermath showed power infrastructure turned into a mangled mess and power poles down on streets. Hundreds of technicians were mobilized Thursday to reestablish power connections, according to state media... Operations at two electrical plants were partially restored and parts of eastern and central Cuba had electricity back up by Thursday afternoon, state media reported... The country's power grid has collapsed multiple times, including when Hurricane Oscar hit in October and killed at least 7 people. In the capital of Havana, where 2 million people live, power had been restored to less than 20% of the city by late Friday afternoon, . "Authorities had not yet given an estimate for when power would be fully restored..." Then tonight, CNN reported: A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Cuba on Sunday, causing material damage in several regions as the island continues to recover from widespread blackouts and the impact of two hurricanes over the past few weeks. The earthquake was reported about 39 km (24 miles) south of Bartolomé Masó before noon local time, about an hour after a 5.9 magnitude quake rocked the area, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. "There have been landslides, damage to homes and power lines," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said, adding that authorities are evaluating the situation to start recovery efforts.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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Can AI-Enabled Thermostats Create a 'Virtual Power Plant' in Texas?

Renew Home says they're building a "virtual power plant" in Texas by "enabling homes to easily reduce and shift the timing of energy use." Thursday they announced a 10-year project distributing hundreds of thousands of smart thermostats to customers of Texas-based power utility NRG Energy, starting next spring. (Bloomberg calls them "AI-enabled thermostats that use Alphabet Inc.'s Google Cloud technology.") The ultimate goal? "Create a nearly 1-gigawatt, AI-powered virtual power plant" — equivalent to 1.9 million solar panels, enough to power about 200,000 homes during peak demand. One NRG executive touted the move as "cutting-edge, AI-driven solutions that will bolster grid resilience and contribute to a more sustainable future." [Residential virtual power plants] work by aggregating numerous, small-scale distributed energy resources like HVAC systems controlled by smart thermostats and home batteries and coordinating them to balance supply and demand... NRG, in partnership with Renew Home, plans to offer Vivint and Nest smart thermostats, including professional installation, at no cost to eligible customers across NRG's retail electricity providers and plans. These advanced thermostats make subtle automatic HVAC adjustments to help customers shift their energy use to times when electricity is less constrained, less expensive, and cleaner... Over time, the parties expect to add devices like batteries and electric vehicles to the virtual power plant, expanding energy savings opportunities for customers... Through the use of Google Cloud's data, analytics, and AI technology, NRG will be able to do things like better predict weather conditions, forecast wind and solar generation output, and create predictive pricing models, allowing for more efficient production and ultimately ensuring the home energy experience is seamless for customers. Google Cloud will also offer "its AI and machine learning to determine the best time to cool or heat homes," reports Bloomberg, "based on a household's energy usage patterns and ambient temperatures." It was less than a year ago that Renew Home was formed when Google spun off the load-shifting service for its "Google Nest" thermostats, which merged with load-shift management startup OhmConnect. Bloomberg describes this week's announcement as "Three of the biggest names in US home energy automation... coming together to offer some relief to the beleaguered Texas electrical grid." But they point out that 1 gigawatt is roughly 1% of the record summer demand seen in Texas this year. Still, "The entire industry has been built to serve the peak load on the hottest day of the year," said Rasesh Patel, president of NRG's consumer unit. "This allows us to be a lot more smarter about demand in shaving the peak."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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LG's New Stretchable Display Can Grow By 50%

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware: LG Display, one of the global leaders in display technologies, unveiled a new stretchable display prototype that can expand by up to 50%. This makes it the most stretchable display in the industry, more than doubling the previous record of 20% elongation. [...] The prototype being flexed in [this image] is a 12-inch screen with a 100-pixel-per-inch resolution and full RGB color that expands to 18-inches when pulled. LG Display said that it based the stretchable display on a "special silicon material substrate used in contact lenses" and then improved its properties for better "stretchability and flexibility." It also used a new wiring design structure and a micro-LED light source, allowing users to repeatedly stretch the screen over 10,000 times with no effect on image quality.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.





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290 ‘exceptional’ early-career researchers awarded €27.5m

Projects funded include a study to reduce seizures in epilepsy, the development of antimicrobial food packaging and the use of AI in speech and language therapy.

Read more: 290 ‘exceptional’ early-career researchers awarded €27.5m













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Do we need a European DARPA to cope with technological challenges in Europe?


The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is often held as a model for driving technology advances. For decades, it has contributed to military and economic dominance by bridging the gap between military and civilian applications. European policymakers frequently reference DARPA in discussions, as outlined in the 2024 Draghi Report, but an EU equivalent has yet to materialise. To create such an agency, the governance and management of European innovation programmes would need drastic changes. DARPA supports disruptive innovation Founded in 1958, DARPA operates under the US Department of Defense (DoD) with a straightforward mission: to fund high-risk technological…

This story continues at The Next Web




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Why learning 10 programming languages doesn’t make you a more interesting job candidate


New data from LinkedIn on the most in-demand jobs on the platform in the third quarter of this year reveals that software engineering is in second place. Just pipped to the post by sales roles, it is clear that software engineering and development pros are in high demand. Additionally, full stack engineers and application developers feature in the top ten in-demand roles at places eight and ten respectively. Software roles are in such high prominence because software powers pretty much everything. According to McKinsey, these days, “Every company is a software company.” Traditional bricks and mortar businesses are now increasingly…

This story continues at The Next Web




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You Can Use This One Setting Tweak to Make Your GPU Quieter

This might be a better solution to lower your GPU fans' noise while still getting the required performance.




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This Terrifying Google Maps Scam Is Making the Rounds: Here's How to Stay Safe

Scammers are using photos of your house to encourage you to send them money, but here's why you shouldn't.




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The Changing Venture Landscape




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Atlas Answers the Call for Our Veterans at Camp Liberty

Scheduled to be completed by 2016, the full vision of Briggs and his friend, Allan Lutes, to build a stronger veteran’s community at Camp Liberty is within reach.




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Case Study: Reroofing at Georgia Schools Completed as Classes Continue

The best time to perform any significant work on a school building is when school is out, but that was not possible in the case of Rome High School in Georgia.




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Case Study: Tricky Michigan Roof Receives New Life With Spray Foam

The saw tooth roof of the International Precast Solutions building in Michigan proved challenging for spray foam installation, but installers with Spray Tight Foam Insulators rose to the challenge.




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CASE STUDY: Atlas Roofing Partners with University of Kansas Students for Real-World Construction Experience

Atlas partnered with the KU School of Architecture & Design and the nonprofit Studio 804 to help graduate students design and build a sustainable home for a final project.




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Case Study: Colorado Compound Receives Solar on Multiple Rooftops

Between strict energy codes and residing in a high-wind area, installing solar on a multi-roof family compound in Boulder, Colo. proved to be a challenge.




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VIDEO CASE STUDY: Back to School in the Milwaukee School District

Students and faculty heading back to school in the Milwaukee Public School district have one less thing to worry about thanks to the district’s longstanding partnership with Atlas Roofing Corporation.




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Case Study: Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum

Colorado Custom Metal Inc. was selected as the roofing contractor to reroof the museum with help from S-5! for snow retention.




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Case Study: Canadian Equestrian Multi-Purpose Barn with Solar Panels

The owner’s goal was to construct a multi-purpose building and rooftop solar system that would provide 100% of the electricity needs for their equestrian ranch property.




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Case Study: Cornerstone Bible Church Renews Roof with Metal Shingles

Not only did this project renovate a California church with a durable new roof, it earned third place in the 2019 ATAS Project of the Year competition.




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Case Study: KC Bailey Orchards

A New York-based apple orchard chose to go metal and solar to supplement the farm’s power generation and achieve its goal of operating a net-zero farm.




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Case Study: MicroTech's Costa Rica Facility Goes Solar

To upgrade a facility's 145,300 square foot roof with metal and solar while dealing with COVID delays, a contractor turned to S-5! to shrink the project timeline.




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Case Study: Hawaii H-POWER Solar Project

H-POWER in Kapolei, West Oahu turned to metal roofing and attachment solutions offered by S-5! in one of Hawaii's largest rooftop solar projects.




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Case Study: Ocean Reef Club at Key Largo

SALT Energy sought out S-5! products to install a solar system that can endure 180 mph Category 5 hurricane winds for the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo.




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Case Study: Reliable, Cost-Effective Roof Repairs Needed for Beachside Condo Building

R/J Group Inc. shows how offering feasible repairs in place of total replacements not only saved the customer money, but led to additional work.




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Case Study: Battling Extreme Weather Conditions in Houston with Owens Corning’s Duration Series Shingles

A Texas roofing contractor relies on the protection that Owens Corning's Duration shingles offer to battle extreme weather in the Houston market.




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Case Study: California's Largest Commercial Solar + Energy Storage System

With help from S-5! products, SunGreen Systems Inc. installed a solar and energy system housing a 772-kilowatt photovoltaic array and 14 Tesla Powerpacks.