SunPower SunVault Review: A Solid Solar Battery from a Top Solar Company

 You're probably not shopping for just a solar battery. You're likely shopping for an entire solar panel system. And if you are, you might be considering SunPower, which is one of the top solar companies out there and offers the most efficient solar panels on the market. That means you might be getting SunPower's solar battery, the SunVault. 

The SunVault isn't the most efficient choice on the market, but it does offer large capacity sizes and good performance. SunPower also offers a competitive, unlimited-cycle battery warranty. The SunVault was designed to integrate with SunPower solar panels and offers customers a more comprehensive system install approach. SunVault can be installed with third-party solar panels on an existing solar array as long as it's paired with a compatible inverter.  

"With SunPower, you're going to a one-stop shop, so you get solar on your roof, you get the monitoring, and you get the storage," Nate Coleman, chief technology officer at SunPower, told CNET. "It's all coming from a single company, all backed by a single warranty."

Here's what you should know about the SunPower SunVault. 

battery options too. Contact solar installers you're interested in and see which batteries they carry. 

How we evaluated the best solar batteries

Every solar battery is different and is not going to be the right fit for every home. Without an on-site inspection and energy audit, it's difficult to determine which solar battery is the "best" battery for a specific home. Due to the complex nature of solar panel systems, we're unable to do any kind of hands-on testing of any of the solar batteries we review. Instead, we focus on objective ways to evaluate and compare these batteries. Here's how we evaluate solar batteries.

First, we created categories to evaluate the battery's efficiency, performance, capacity and value. We then gave each category its own weight. Each category's weight reflects the importance we felt was relevant to the average consumer. These are the categories and their weights:

• Battery modularity (stackability) - 20%
• Warranty - 20%
  
• Round-trip efficiency - 15%
  
• Depth of discharge - 10%
  
• Power output - 10%
  
• Price - 10%
  
• Customer reviews - 10%
  
• Battery capacity - 5%
  

We looked at more than 15 of the most common batteries on the market and collected the data for each category to compare the data. Each battery was given a tier-style rating (from 1 to 5) for each category to see which metrics of each battery were above average (among those on our list), average or below average. 

Emmvee unveils 545 W glass-to-glass bifacial solar module

INTEODUCTION

 India-based Emmvee has unveiled its Sapphire line of glass-to-glass bifacial modules, with power outputs ranging from 530 W to 545 W. The modules are built with 144 mono PERC half cells and 10 busbars.

Karnataka-based Emmvee has unveiled its Sapphire series glass-to-glass bifacial modules at Renewable Energy India Expo 2022. The modules are available in power outputs ranging from 530 W to 545 W, with conversion efficiencies between 20.52% and 21.10% under standard temperature conditions. At low irradiance (200 W/m2, 25 degree Celsius and AM1.5), the module purportedly has at least 95% of its STC efficiency. Open-circuit voltage is 49.2 V to 49.75 V, and short-circuit current is 13.56 A to 13.88 A.

Each module is built with 144 mono PERC half cells and 10 busbars. They measure 2,278 mm x 1,134 mm x 35 mm and weigh 30 kg. The modules come with a 12-year product warranty and a 30-year linear performance warranty. The degradation in the first year is purportedly 2.0%, and the 30-year end power output is guaranteed to be no less than 84.95% of the nominal output power.

It will interest you to know that Emmvee now has 1.25 GW of module capacity in Karnataka.

“We are adding another 2 GW of modules capacity with 1.5 GW of mono PERC and TopCon cell capacity at our existing manufacturing site. This capacity will become operational by December 2023,” Suhas Donthi, director of sales at Emmvee India, told pv magazine.

WiFi contactor

Woods 50054 WiFi 40 amp 120-240V Contactor  
GE Zwave 40 amp 120-240V Contactor
Wi-fi and zwave are different automation protocols. Z-Wave® Sigma Designs.
Wi-fi uses proprietary app on phone or computer program that may or may not be current over time. Wifi products from different company might not interoperate. Wifi bandwidth allows quick transmission of data, with more broadcast distance and maybe wider functionality than zwave, but might carry privacy issues.

Zwave works with phone or other device via in-home hub. Open-source zwave has been standard for decades. Zwave devices from any company will interoperate with each other, with newer products offering additional features, such as automatic inclusion and frequently-listening. Zwave data packets are small, broadcast distance can be dependent on array of devices. Zwave offers controlled privacy.
Both wifi and zwave are reliable, offer scheduled events, both can be used while away home, and both will signal when connection is successful.

Electromagnetic Induction

The term electromagnetic induction refers to the generation of an electric current by passing a metal wire through a magnetic field. The discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831 was preceded a decade earlier by a related discovery by Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted (1777–1851). Oersted showed that an electric current produces a magnetic field. That is, if you place a simple magnetic compass near any of the electrical wires in your home that are carrying a current, you can detect a magnetic field around the wires. If an electric current can produce a magnetic field, physicists reasoned, perhaps the reverse effect could be observed as well. So they set out to generate an electric current from a magnetic field.

That effect was first observed in 1831 by English physicist Michael Faraday (1791–1867) and shortly thereafter by American physicist Joseph Henry (1797–1878). The principle on which the Faraday-Henry discovery is based is shown in the figure on page 762. A long piece of metal wire is wound around a metal bar. The two ends of the wire are connected to a galvanometer, an instrument used to measure electric current. The bar is then placed between the poles of a magnet.

Words to Know

Electric current: A flow of electrons.

Electrical generator: A device for converting mechanical (kinetic) energy into electrical energy.

Galvanometer: An instrument used to measure the flow of electric current.

Potential difference: Also called voltage; the amount of electric energy stored in a mass of electric charges compared to the energy stored in some other mass of charges.

Transformer: A device that transfers electric energy from one circuit to another circuit with different characteristics.

As long as the bar remains at rest, nothing happens. No current is generated. But moving the bar in one direction or another produces a current that can be read on the galvanometer. When the bar is moved downward, current flows in one direction through the metal wire. When the bar is moved upward, current flows in the opposite direction through the wire. The amount of current that flows is proportional to the speed with which the wire moves through the magnetic field. When the wire moves faster, a larger current is produced. When it moves more slowly, a smaller current is produced.

Actually, it is not necessary to move the wire in order to produce the electric current. One could just as well hold the wire still and move the magnetic poles. All that is necessary is the creation of some relative motion of the wire and the magnetic field. When that happens, an electric current is generated.

Applications

Many electrical devices operate on the principle of electromagnetic induction. Perhaps the most important of these is an electrical generator. An electrical generator is a device for converting kinetic energy (the energy of an object due to its motion) into electrical energy. In a generator, a wire coil is placed between the poles of a magnet and caused to spin at a high rate of speed. One way to make the coil spin is to attach it to a turbine powered by water, as in a dam. Steam from a boiler can also be used to make the coil spin.

As the coil spins between the poles of the magnet, an electric current is generated. That current then can be sent out along transmission lines to homes, office buildings, factories, and other consumers of electric power.

Transformers also operate on the principle of electromagnetic induction. Transformers are devices that convert electric current from one potential difference (voltage) to another potential difference. For example,

The current that comes from a power plant is typically high voltage current, much higher than is needed or than can be used in household appliances. A step-down transformer uses electromagnetic induction to convert the high voltage current in power lines to the lower voltage current needed for household appliances.

I just measured my blood pressure with a Moto Mod

I just measured my blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, pulse oxygen and temperature, all from a smartphone.

Being able to measure your blood pressure on the move (without having to carry cumbersome equipment) hasn't really been possible in the past, but Lenovo wants to change that with its latest Moto Mod for the Moto Z range.

Using a Moto Z2 Force, and the new Lenovo Vital Moto Mod that was revealed at CES 2018, I was able measure my vital signs in under two minutes.

Standing on the floor at MWC 2018, I asked to place my finger inside the Moto Mod and it started to clamp around my vulnerable index digit. My blood pressure likely shot up immediately as I didn't realize it was going to start squeezing, like a normal blood pressure monitor does around your arm.

That's without mentioning how much coffee I had in my body - it is a tech trade show after all.

This Moto Mod doesn't sit on the back of the phone like most of the other add-on gadgets from Motorola. Instead it connects via Bluetooth to the phone to let you record the data.

This is the first Moto Mod I've used that feels more like a phone accessory than an add-on device, and it's not clear why this is only compatible with Moto Z handsets.

Usually you'd put the gadget up close to your chest to get the optimum results, but for the purpose of MWC the Moto Mod had to stay attached to the desk so no-one was able to steal it.

Less than two minutes went by before I was  greeted with my vital stats. Exactly how accurate the reading is remains to be seen, plus it's not a cheap add-on for your phone either at $395 (about £285, AU$500).

That said, being able to get stats like pulse oxygen and blood pressure (alongside easier to take measurements like temperature and heart rate) feels like a revolutionary step forward that could help people keep a track of health issues much easier when on the move.

MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting live from Barcelona all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Head to our dedicated MWC 2018 hub to see all the new releases, along with TechRadar's world-class analysis and buying advice about your next phone. 

Dyson creates 300 new electric car jobs

Image copyright

Image captionSir James Dyson accused the mainstream car industry of polluting the world with diesel emissions

Dyson is seeking an extra 300 engineers in a push to build its first electric car by 2020.

Best known for its vacuum cleaners and hand dryers, the firm caused a stir when it announced plans for a battery powered vehicle.

Dyson already has a 400-strong team working on the project and has doubled the number of scientists working on its battery programmes over the past year.

The jobs news came as it revealed 2017 underlying earnings rose 27% to £801m.

Dyson to make electric cars from 2020

Dyson settles legal dispute with ex-chief

Image copyright

Image captionDyson is better known for its vacuum cleaners than its cars

Dyson said the electric car team - which up until now has been based in its Malmesbury headquarters in the Cotswolds - would shortly move to its new research and development base in Hullavington in Wiltshire.

The privately-owned firm is yet to decide where its electric cars - once they have been designed - will be manufactured.

The UK is reported to be in contention for the work, along with Singapore, Malaysia and China.

'Asia enthusiasm'

High demand in Asia was the biggest drivers of last year's performance, with Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea together accounting for almost three quarters of 2017 sales.

Media captionThe skills shortage pushing Dyson to Asia

Billionaire founder James Dyson said people in Asia had "an extraordinary enthusiasm for technology that works".

Sir James also said the firm had "moved on" from its dispute with former Dyson chief executive Max Conze over the alleged disclosure of confidential information.

The allegations were vehemently denied by Mr Conze, and Dyson settled out of court in December.

Mr Conze worked for the company for six years before being replaced in October by chief operating officer Jim Rowan.