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Nissan and 4R Energy develop new EV charging system combining solar and Li-ion batteries

Green Car Congress

and 4R Energy Corporation, a joint venture established by Nissan and Sumitomo Corporation in September 2010 to explore second-life applications for automotive battery packs ( earlier post ), have developed a charging system for electric vehicles that combines a solar power generation system with high-capacity lithium-ion batteries.

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Solar and Battery Companies Rattle Utility Powerhouses

Cars That Think

It's being marketed as the " Tesla Energy Plan ," and is available to any individual household in this region of 24 million people that has a solar panel system, a grid connection—and a Tesla powerwall, the Palo Alto firm's gigafactory-made 13.5 kWh battery wall unit. For bigger national grids it gets more complicated.

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ARPA-E to award up to $5M to investigate extracting rare earth and other critical minerals from macroalgae

Green Car Congress

REEs and PGMs are critical in the manufacture of modern energy and national security technologies, including high-performance magnets required for wind turbines, electric vehicles, high-energy-density battery electric storage, high efficiency lighting, solar panels, and other technologies either core or ancillary to the renewable energy industry.

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Mazda Demios To Be Base Architecture for Electric Vehicle Test Project

Green Car Congress

The project aims to comprehensively assess a low-carbon energy network composed of electric vehicles (EVs), rapid chargers, fixed battery stations, solar panels and a car sharing service. Mazda will assist in determining optimum vehicle specifications and evaluating vehicle performance. Kyuki: Rapid chargers.

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JRC study finds 8 metals for low-carbon energy technologies at risk of shortages; EVs, wind and solar, and lighting the applications of most concern

Green Car Congress

The applications, i.e. technologies, of particular concern as a result are electric vehicles, wind and solar energy, and lighting. The researchers investigated the sensitivity to these sources of uncertainty in depth for hybrid and electric vehicles and lighting.

Wind 290
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ORNL demos 20 kW bi-directional wireless charging on UPS PHEV truck; 11" air gap, >92% efficiency

Green Car Congress

With its bi-directional design, the system also supports use of the vehicle’s batteries for energy storage. Doing so would give energy flexibility to a fleet owner’s business, and help better manage on-site generation such as solar power. ORNL’s bidirectional technology is fully compliant with grid power quality standards.

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Japan V2G demonstrator project using EVs as virtual power plant resource; METI funding

Green Car Congress

Commencing today, the project aims to build a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system, and through this a business model that utilizes the electricity storage capabilities of multiple EV/PHEVs to regulate power demand and supply between the grid and electric vehicles.

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