IEEE Spectrum Energy Channel

This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore. How do you supply power to agricultural Internet of Things (IoT) sensors that are scattered al...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/smart-agriculture

The flatlands of two-dimensional materials just got a little more crowded and a bit more upscale. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have synthesized the first freestanding single la...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/gold-in-electronics-2d-sheet

Solar and wind power are the fastest growing sources of electricity . However, they are both intermittent power sources—nighttime, cloudy days, and windless periods can all halt power generatio...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/solar-fuel

Earlier in April, the U.S. ambassador to Kyiv was at Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant, celebrating the first concrete poured for the first of two U.S.-designed AP1000 nuclear reactors...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/ukraine-renewable-energy

Modern smartphone touchscreens offer edge-to-edge glass and use advanced bonding that makes the screen nearly flush with the surface of the phone. Beneath it, however, there’s still layer upon ...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/led-display-perovskite-charger

This white paper examines the contrasts between traditional line of sight (LoS) radar and over-the-horizon (OTH) HF radar, driven by emerging threats like hypersonic missiles. It delves into HF p...

https://engineeringresources.spectrum.ieee.org/free/w_rohd63/prgm.cgi

The paper discusses the challenges of building collection systems for utility-scale wind farms. It introduces Aerial Spacer Cable and compares it to other options for collection systems, includin...

https://engineeringresources.spectrum.ieee.org/free/w_hene03/prgm.cgi

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee recently announced that they have set a record for wireless EV charging . Their system’s magnetic coils have reached a 100-kilowatt po...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/wireless-ev-charging

Among the countless challenges of decarbonizing transportation, one of the most compelling involves electric motors. In laboratories all over the world, researchers are now chasing a breakthroug...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/ev-motor-rare-earth-free

IT’S LATE IN THE afternoon of 2 April 2023 on the island of Kauai. The sun is sinking over this beautiful and peaceful place, when, suddenly, at 4:25 pm, there’s a glitch: The largest genera...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/electric-inverter

The idea of powering civilization from gigantic solar plants in orbit is older than any space program , but despite seven decades of rocket science, the concept—to gather near-constant sunlight...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/space-based-solar-power

While many ocean energy projects think big, laying large buoys that convert waves into electricity through mechanical means, there is another approach to developing wave energy: going small. For...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/triboelectric-nanogenerator

The stretchable battery is gaining momentum in the electronics industry, where it might one day serve as an energy storage medium in fitness trackers, wearable electronics, and even smart clothin...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/stretchable-electronics-batteries

This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore. Wind turbines are becoming a bigger part of the race toward a greener future—but at the same...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/wind-turbine-tech-acceleration

STEPHEN CASS: Hello and welcome to Fixing the Future, an IEEE Spectrum podcast where we look at concrete solutions to tough problems. I’m your host, Stephen Cass , a senior editor at IEEE Spec...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/heat-pump-cold-climate-tech

New analysis of the former Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine shows that it may have been deteriorating long before it collapsed in June 2023, amid credible reports of explosions. An international team o...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/synthetic-aperture-radar-kakhovka-dam

The potential use cases for smart contacts are compelling and varied. Pop a lens on your eye and monitor health metrics like glucose levels; receive targeted drug delivery for ocular diseases; e...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/power-smart-contact-lenses

The upper 10 kilometers of the Earth’s crust contains vast geothermal reserves , essentially awaiting human energy consumption to begin to tap into its unstinting power output —which itself ...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/geothermal-energy-gyrotron-quaise

Nearly all implantable medical devices, such as pacemakers and neurostimulators , are limited by the capacity of their onboard batteries. To avoid the need for invasive surgery to replace these ...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical-implants-battery-oxygen

This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore. Studying power grids can involve many privacy and security concerns, since researchers must be ...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/power-grid

In the realm of renewable energy, perovskite-based photovoltaics (PVs) have emerged as a promising technology. Recent advancements in perovskite PVs have resulted in the material boasting power-...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/perovskite-2667580324

As EV production and, with it, battery production accelerate over the next decade, so too will the demand for rigorous EV battery testing. But producing a battery that will stand up to the task o...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/ev-battery-testing

As demand for renewable energy soars, materials researchers are seeking ways to create more efficient solar cells. Standard crystalline solar photovoltaic (PV) cells produced commercially today t...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/high-efficiency-solar-cells-shj

Although recent finding s have poured cold water on quantum computing hype, don’t count the technology out yet. On 4 March, Google and XPrize announced a US $5 million prize to anyone who co...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/what-are-quantum-computers-used-for

“Hit ’em low, hit ’em high” is an old football catchphrase. It also describes the two-pronged strategy BYD has adopted to take the automotive world by storm—and potentially blow legacy ...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/byd-ev-china-supercar

This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore. As more electric vehicles hit the roads, the environmental impact of their battery production w...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/ev-batteries-environment

On 23 October 1916, an engineer named Henry E. Warren quietly revolutionized power transmission by installing an electric clock in the L Street generating station of Boston’s Edison Electric I...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/history-of-power-grid

Twenty homes scattered across Canada and the northern United States are keeping warm this winter using prototypes of the latest iteration in residential heating systems: cold-climate heat pumps....

https://spectrum.ieee.org/cold-climate-heat-pump

The United States is not building enough transmission lines to connect regional power networks. The deficit is driving up electricity prices, reducing grid reliability, and hobbling renewable-en...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/transmission-expansion

The concept of the thermophotovoltaic (TPV) device has been around for more than 50 years. During that time, the conversion efficiency of TPV devices has been able to reach 40 percent , better th...

https://spectrum.ieee.org/solar-thermal-energy-measurements