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Thermal Solar Goes Where PVs Can’t

Cars That Think

Global solar energy supplies are growing rapidly, with nearly 10 times as much solar capacity installed today as there was a decade ago. Leading the boom is the photovoltaic (PV) panel, which converts sunlight into electricity using semiconductors. The first utility-scale solar-thermal plants were built in the 1980s.

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Thermal Solar Goes Where PVs Can’t

Cars That Think

Global solar energy supplies are growing rapidly, with nearly 10 times as much solar capacity installed today as there was a decade ago. Leading the boom is the photovoltaic (PV) panel, which converts sunlight into electricity using semiconductors. The first utility-scale solar-thermal plants were built in the 1980s.

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Sandia progressing to demo stage with supercritical CO2 Brayton-cycle turbines; up to 50% increase in efficiency of thermal-to-electric conversion

Green Car Congress

Research focuses on supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO 2 ) Brayton-cycle turbines, which typically would be used for bulk thermal and nuclear generation of electricity, including next-generation power reactors. The Brayton cycle could yield 20 MW of electricity from a package with a volume as small as four cubic meters.

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A closer look at why heat pumps are dominating EV HVAC systems

Charged EVs

If you want to heat up a space that is cold, there are a number of options, from burning a fuel to directly converting electricity into heat (i.e. cyclopentane), a potent greenhouse gas (e.g. CFCs, or chlorofluorocarbons), or toxic (e.g. A at 115 VAC, or 586 W, which works out to a COP of 3.0

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DOE announces more than $65M in public and private funding to commercialize promising energy technologies

Green Car Congress

To date, the TCF has funded more than 380 projects by unlocking more than $170 million in funding from more than 300 private sector partners, including automotive manufacturers, energy storage companies, utilities, bioenergy companies, solar providers, and aerospace companies. Westinghouse Electric Company (Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania).

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New Mexico EV Mandate Stands After Opposition from Car Dealers

The Truth About Cars

The State of New Mexico has denied a petition put forward by automotive dealers to ease off on planned electric vehicle mandates. That effectively makes this piece an addendum to our recent Gas War article pertaining to the Californian emissions waiver. Not that this matters for New Mexico.