One such technology is the Tesla Powerwall battery, one of the Tesla Energy series of batteries designed for use by businesses, homes and utilities. It seems that founder and entrepreneur Elon Musk hopes the technology will help change the “entire energy infrastructure of the world”.This is big news for those businesses with large energy demands occurring out of peak sunlight hours. Cheaper, more powerful batteries will make it possible to store the amounts of electricity needed for large jobs that run during the night. Elon Musk is the man who brought us Paypal, and the Tesla electric car. So if what we’re being told is to be believed then it seems pretty exciting. So how will Tesla’s new batteries change the game for solar in Australia’s energy problem? Firstly, the new batteries can store solar energy for use overnight and are designed to capture and store up to 10kWh of energy from solar panels. This means you will be able to draw on solar energy whenever you need it, 24 hours a day, instead of only during sunshine hours. Secondly, it looks as though it will be ridiculously cheap. A 10kWh battery unit sells for US$3,500, making it cheaper, with better capacity, than current competitors. With conventional batteries costing $1,000/kWh in Australia at the moment, Tesla’s offer to consumers of $250/kWh per battery looks like a very good deal. The price doesn’t include installation but Tesla says it will be a simple process that will take between 30 minutes and an hour to complete. This price would transform the business case for solar to power energy-intensive buildings, business processes and night time tasks like lighting and cleaning that need energy outside daylight hours.

The second technology is an innovation from SolarWindow Technologies, who announce that their new cells can produce 50 times the energy of panels commonly in use today. What that means is a faster return on the investment required for a solar set up. CEO John Conklin called it “the most innovative breakthrough in powering the half-billion square feet of windows installed on commercial buildings in the US, annually.” Here’s how the windows supposedly work. Glass panels are first treated with a photovoltaic coating made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and a few secret ingredients that SolarWindow is keeping under wraps. The “active layer” absorbs light, while the transparent conductors make energy extraction possible. For transparency, the coatings are applied in liquid form at ambient pressures and dried at low temps. The result is clear solar paneling, and the coatings can be added to any conventional glass or plastic.

 

An additional and very appealing advantage is that the technology has a much shorter payback period. In comparison, traditional solar systems need around 5-10 years to show an investment return, and that’s in addition to requiring a lot of space. SolarWindows claim that they can use natural, shaded, or even artificial light to produce energy, unlike conventional solar, which means they’re good for use on all four sides of a building instead of just on the roof. Read the article here on Flipboard Magazine.