In Canada and the U.S. “agrivoltaics” are taking off. It’s when solar panels are laid out strategically on farmland. After concerns that it will obstruct farm machinery and lower crop yields, studies have shown that panels – on a large scale – can be placed so that they do not. In fact, certain crop yields can be raised when the panels are used to shield them from direct sunlight, explains Joshua Pearce at Western University, Canada. He looks at … [Read more...]
New cooling system for inverters brings electric Heavy-Duty Trucks closer
39% of greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector comes from heavy-duty trucks. Commercial batteries struggle to deliver enough power to make electrification feasible for heavy-duty applications. Rebecca Martineau at NREL explains how a working prototype, developed with the heavy machinery manufacturer John Deere, is now getting a 378% increase in power density. The key to the innovations rests on a state-of-the-art thermal management … [Read more...]
