Technology Trending: Space data, building integrated PV glass, student fusion device
Image: Panasonic HD
Accenture invests in space data for all, long-term demo of building integrated Perovskite PV glass starts in Japan and Sydney university students to build a tokamak fusion device are in the week’s technology radar.
Accenture invests in space data for all
Utilities and others in the energy sector are increasingly turning to data secured in space to advance operations such as infrastructure development and vegetation management.
Accenture’s venture arm Accenture Ventures is supporting this with a lead investment in a $50 million Series B round in the Spanish space start up Open Cosmos, which builds and operates space missions that provide access to high quality satellite data and insights on a global scale.
The companies intend to help clients track and analyse data found in space in order to help solve business challenges found on Earth, particularly related to sustainability.
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“Accenture sees a future where every company is able to tap into the vast potential of data captured in space in order to push past the boundaries of the possible and find new sources of innovation,” commented Tom Lounibos, managing director of Accenture Ventures.
“Although access to this data has traditionally been limited and costly, Open Cosmos removes these barriers with satellites that launch quickly and simply, providing fast access to data on climate changes, energy, resources, navigation and more.”
One of Open Cosmos’s future satellites is MANTIS, which is funded through the UK Space Agency and in partnership with ESA and intended to produce high-resolution imagery to monitor energy infrastructure among other activities.
Long-term demo of building integrated Perovskite PV glass in Japan
The next frontier for distributed clean energy is building integrated PV and other technologies such as low emissivity windows that can support the energy use and efficiency of buildings.
The potential to use the window itself for PV opens up a large amount of potential generation area but conventional silicon-based solar cells give rise to transparency issues, making them most suitable for surfaces such as skylights or greenhouses.
Panasonic asserts they have solved this issue with Perovskite solar cells – and have now launched a 15-month demonstration of their Perovskite PV glass at the newly constructed model house ‘Future Co-Creation FINECOURT III’ in the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town, about 50km south of Tokyo.
In Panasonic’s design, intended “to harmonise with the design of various architectural structures as ‘power-generating glass’”, the Perovskite PV layer is formed directly on the glass.
The company boasts a 17.9% conversion efficiency for the technology, close to that of conventional silicon modules, and the world’s highest level for a Perovskite module of more than 800cm2 in size.
The company also claims that with its inkjet coating method and laser processing technology, flexibility is possible in size, transparency and design to enable customisation to specific requirements.
The Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town has been developed on the site of a former Panasonic plant in Fujisawa City. Its aim is to enable co-creation among residents, companies, local governments, universities and other organisations of new services to solve social and other topical issues.
Sydney university students to build a tokamak fusion device
Students at the University of New South Wales in Sydney have been set with the task of designing and building a tokamak, which will then be housed on the campus.
The initiative, led by nuclear engineer Dr Patrick Burr with support from the University’s Digital Grid Future Institute and industry partners Tokamak Energy and HB-11 Energy, is focused on creating a fusion-capable machine, addressing the engineering challenges of sustaining the extreme temperature and pressure conditions required for fusion for extended periods.
There is no intention actually to attempt to fuse hydrogen once it is built.
“We want to excite the next generation of innovators and make them realise how they can make a big change in the world,” says Burr.
“The students involved in this project will have to develop solutions to big engineering challenges, work closely with industry partners, and push the boundaries of what is possible with fusion energy.
“They will have to master skills that are also highly sought after in other industries, like safety-critical infrastructure, transportation, outer space, and of course conventional nuclear technologies.”
The goal is to have a working device operating within two to three years.
This will potentially be followed by other devices that could achieve fusion using different methods, such as high-power lasers.
