Spotted: The scarcity of rare earth elements (REE) is a challenge for the wind and tidal renewable energy sector. These minerals are lanthanides (Lanthanum-Lutetium in the periodic table plus Yttrium and Scandium) and are vital in the conventional production of wind and tidal turbines, specifically in the magnetic cores of these generators. Contrary to their name, they are not rare in the Earth’s crust, but they are rarely found in high concentrations, which makes mining them difficult. And even after being mined, it is necessary to refine them. China currently has a near monopoly in the global trade of these materials, with 90 per cent of all the REE entering the market produced in the country. The EU, meanwhile, has to import almost all of its REE.
This is where UK company GreenSpur comes in. Its generator replaces the need for REE in the magnets of wind and tidal turbines. The company uses far more abundant and easily available ferrite (Iron derived) magnets, and surrounds these with aluminium coils rather than conventional copper ones. The company is able to make these sustainable material substitutions due to a design innovation in the generator itself.
Conventional generators use moving magnets placed around static coils of wire arranged in concentric circles. The movement of the magnets (in this case via wind or tidal energy) produces an electric charge or energy in these wire coils.
The GreenSpur design, by contrast, relies on ‘axial architecture,’ in which disks of aluminium coil are stacked on top of disks of ferrite magnets. This means that the magnetic field flows parallel to the axis of the generator, which results in a higher ‘magnetic flux’ (essentially magnetic strength) and allows for the alternative materials to be used.
The benefits of using these REE alternatives are clear: lower cost of materials, cheaper cooling than conventional REE generators, and greater strength in supply chains for materials. The new design is also more environmentally friendly as harmful REE byproducts are no longer mass produced and low-risk alternatives are used in their place.
Springwise has also spotted hi-tech anodes for the next generation of batteries as well as one company that uses shades screens as a renewable source of energy.
Spotted: In 2022, wind was the fastest-growing renewable energy source behind solar, and demand for wind power is only going to increase as economies transition to net zero by 2050. What is more, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the average annual growth rate of wind electricity generation needs to get to around 17 per cent to meet the agency’s Net Zero 2050 scenario.
One sticking point for wind energy, however, is that it’s subject to weather changes, and so can be inconsistent. Hoping to make wind energy more powerful and reliable is Norwegian firm Kitemill, which is tapping into previously underutilised and untapped energy by harnessing the power of wind high above the ground.
Essentially, the firm’s new KM2 system – an enhancement of the company’s previous KM1 prototype – functions much like a kite. The “kite”, tethered to a generator on land, resembles an unmanned plane with a wingspan of 16 metres. The system has four propellors that are used for about two minutes during both take-off and landing, so that the kite can take off even in low wind conditions on the floor. It is also fully autonomous, so requires no more attention than conventional wind turbines.
Where the KM2 diverges from a conventional wind turbine is in the fact that the latter is fixed, and so suffers from reduced activity in low wind conditions, whereas the KM2 system can change its position. The kite uses LIDAR readings of local wind conditions to direct its altitude and more consistently harness the wind at far higher altitudes, up to 500 metres off the ground.
Kitemill is set to install 12 of its KM2 units for the €7.5m Norse Airborne Wind Energy Project (NAWEP), backed by the European Union (EU) Innovation Fund.
Springwise has also spotted similar renewable energy projects in the archive, like an underwater kite that harnesses the energy of the tides and heat pumps that harvest the energy of sound.
Spotted: The ability to collect solar energy here on Earth is often at the mercy of factors such as nightfall, cloud cover, and other adverse weather conditions. But what if solar power could be collected in space and beamed back to Earth? After all, in space, the energy is constantly available without being subjected to the cycles of day and night, seasons, and cloud cover. That is exactly what a team of researchers has done.
Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) has recently demonstrated wireless power transfer from space. In January of this year, the SSPP launched a prototype – dubbed the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD) – aboard a SpaceX rocket, to test key components of the plan to harvest solar power in space and beam the energy back to Earth.
This month, one of these components, the MAPLE (Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment), succeeded in transferring power wirelessly to receivers in space. It used constructive and destructive interference between individual transmitters to focus and direct the energy it beams out – all without any moving parts.
Caltech Professor Ali Hajimiri, who led the team developing MAPLE, explained: “Through the experiments we have run so far, we received confirmation that MAPLE can transmit power successfully to receivers in space. We have also been able to program the array to direct its energy toward Earth, which we detected here at Caltech.”
Solar energy is growing rapidly, but it still accounts for only around four per cent of the world’s energy needs. A number of recent innovations spotted in the Springwise archive hope to improve on this, however, including floating solar plants and fully circular solar PV cells.
Technology company Apple has unveiled its latest Foster + Partners-designed store in the recently revamped Battersea Power Station in London, which features updated fixtures and furniture.
Set to open later today, Apple Battersea is the brand’s 40th UK store and represents an evolution in its retail design thinking with more of an emphasis placed on accessibility and sustainability.
“We developed this material palette and this fixture set that is really trying to align with like Apple’s goals,” said Bill Bergeron Mirsky, a global retail design lead at Apple.
“This material palette is new for us, it’s an evolution of the Apple Store,” he told Dezeen.
Apple Battersea opens today
Designed by UK studio Foster + Partners, the store is set on the ground floor of the shopping centre within the 1930s Turbine Hall A at the former power station, where the studio also designed the technology brand’s offices.
The shop is arranged around four original brick piers and has steel roof supports exposed on the ceiling. On top of this base, Foster + Partners overlaid a revamped fixture set that Mirsky said “will become familiar over time”.
Apple Battersea is the second store – after the recently reopened Tysons Corner store in the USA, which replaced Apple’s first ever store – to feature the redesigned fixtures.
It features an updated fixture set
Around the edge of the store is an oak framework of shelving that was developed with Foster + Partners. The timber structure also defines a space dedicated to watches, a pick-up area and a redesigned Genius Bar.
The Genius Bar has a counter for stand-up service along with a lowered area where people can be served sitting down. Along with its standard Parsons tables, which are made from sustainably harvested European oak, the store also has several lowered tables.
The redesigned Genius Bar has a lower counter
“We’ve thought about mobility issues across the whole fixture set,” explained Mirsky. “We have our traditional Parsons table with our standard height, but you notice that the tables in the back are varied and our new genius bar as well.”
“We have a standing height because the team really prefers to stand and it lets them work with more people and then they can stand at the tables, but customers who want to sit or need to sit can actually use these slightly modified tables,” he continued.
As part of the focus on mobility, Apple also increased the amount of circulation around the edge of the store.
There is more space around the edge of the store
Along with the timber framework, Apple aimed to replace other more carbon-intensive elements in the store with biomaterials.
The floor, which was first used in the Brompton Road store, was made from aggregates bound together with a bio-polymer, while the acoustic baffles in the ceiling were made from biogenic material.
The acoustic baffles and bright floor form part of a focus on improving visual and acoustic clarity in the store, with a dark band placed around the base of the walls to provide visual differentiation with the flooring.
“Something I want to point out that is really part and parcel of the material palette, but also goes to our universal design, is the contrast in the store,” said Mirsky.
“We wanted to make sure we have this really enhanced kind of navigation,” he continued. “So the floor is brightened – it helps us with our low energy – but it also makes it so that you can clearly see the table and the walls are defined.”
The store has a dedicated pick-up corner
The fixture set, flooring and ceiling baffles were also used at the Tysons Corner store and Mirsky believes the base can create a feeling of familiarity for Apple’s customers.
“Each store is really dealt with as a unique circumstance Battersea has this incredible, incredible existing architectural fabric to work in,” he said.
“We use the same fixture set at Tysons Corner in a mall setting in America which doesn’t have this sort of grand grandiose architecture, but the same fixture set can generate an environment that’s very familiar and welcoming no matter where you are.”
The store is the latest to open in London, following the Brompton Road store that opened last year, which was designed to be a “calm oasis”. Other recently completed Apple Stores include the band’s first shop in India and a store in Los Angeles’ historic Tower Theatre.
Spotted: The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) analysis of the solar photovoltaic industry found that “more than [a] threefold increase in annual capacity deployment [is needed] until 2030” in order to meet the global net-zero emissions goal for 2050. That is a huge increase in capacity and is a volume most agencies and governments struggle to meet. Solar farms in general require a significant amount of ground space, making it difficult to find locations that are large enough and close enough to the communities they serve to minimise transport costs.
France’s HelioRec is looking to coastal waters as a potential solution to this challenge. Many densely populated urban areas lack the land needed to build renewable energy sources at a usable scale. Many of those cities are, however, located on the coast. By looking to the surface of the nearby bodies of water as a potential foundation for a renewable energy plant, an entirely new space of opportunity is created.
HelioRec’s floating solar systems are customisable, made from recycled plastics, and designed to minimise maintenance costs and time. The floating solar farms use water for balance and stability, rather than costly and environmentally damaging concrete or metal. The company’s bespoke, flexible connectors make a range of configurations and sizes possible, with output ranging from 10 kilowatts (kW) of energy up to 100 megawatts (MW).
The company uses algorithms to help predict energy generation, making it easier for users to plan for a volume of power to sell and to project how much should be available for times of peak demand. The solar farms can also be used as a dock and charging station for electric boats.
Innovators are increasingly looking to the world’s waterways for solutions to global challenges. Recent developments spotted by Springwise include a nanogenerator that harnesses the energy of the ocean to power sensors and a floating platform for generating continuous electricity from rivers.
Benjamin Hubert’s studio Layer has worked with US start-up Croft to design a system of products for retrofitting vehicles to run on green hydrogen.
The Nanoplant and Nanocartridges are the first prototypes from Croft, which is currently raising funds for the project, and enable users to produce their own solid-state hydrogen to power cars, trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles.
With an appearance similar to a large home battery, the Nanoplant uses electricity and water from the mains supply to carry out electrolysis — the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The Croft system features a Nanoplant and cartridges for powering retrofitted vehicles with hydrogen
The hydrogen obtained in this process is known as “green hydrogen” because, if it is produced using renewable energy, it creates no greenhouse gas emissions. This is in contrast to “blue hydrogen”, which is produced from natural gas and creates some emissions.
The Nanoplant contains a pull-out drawer with room for four Nanocartridges, which store the hydrogen by sticking it to the surface of a proprietary particulate. According to the brand, this method stores the hydrogen densely and at low pressure, making it a safe solution that also gives more power and range than electric batteries.
According to Layer, Croft is “dedicated to creating a blueprint for an enduring, scalable, green-hydrogen economy” and offers its technology at a much lower cost than other hydrogen storage solutions on or near the market.
The Nanoplant produces hydrogen by splitting it from water through electrolysis
The studio says the product is best suited for larger vehicles in environments with little fast-charging infrastructure, and that heavy-duty pick-up trucks for farming, forestry, construction and other industries are the first target.
“Batteries are great to decarbonise smaller passenger vehicles that get used in gentle, predictable ways with access to good charging infrastructure,” Hubert told Dezeen.
“However, lots of mobility applications don’t match that description, and there, we need a power source that is denser than batteries and has fewer dependencies on infrastructure,” he added.
“Hydrogen stores significantly more energy in less space and with less weight than batteries, and it’s much easier to use hydrogen in environments with weak grids or where charging otherwise isn’t available.”
The technology is said to be best for heavy-duty vehicles like pick-up trucks
Hubert said that, at least in the short term, hydrogen would be a complement to electric vehicle technology, not a competitor.
“It’s a great complementary solution to batteries, and as with all things, it’s important to pick the right tool for the right job,” he continued.
To retrofit a vehicle with the technology, Croft removes most of the components of the power train and replaces them with its hydrogen storage system, a fuel cell, electric motors and other components, while reprogramming the vehicle’s onboard computer to utilise them.
Layer led the design and engineering of the Nanoplant and Nanocartridges, endeavouring to make them straightforward and easy to understand while also giving them an aesthetic that would communicate robustness and technological prowess.
The Nanocartridges store hydrogen in a solid state and at low pressure
The Nanoplant is modular and infinitely expandable — additional Nanoplant modules can be connected horizontally, each with the capacity for four Nanocartridges.
Each module has a minimal user interface on its front that counts down the time left to complete the recharge, and there is also a hose module for on-board charging. The drawer containing Nanocartridges can also double as a cart for transporting them to the vehicle.
The Nanocartridges weigh 14 to 16 kilograms and have four side handles, creating a cubic frame that can be easily gripped and stacked. A circular indicator on the top surface shows the cartridge’s remaining hydrogen capacity.
The system includes a hose for on-board charging
According to Layer, each cartridge has a range of 20 to 80 miles depending on the size of the vehicle and how hard it works.
“In addition to rapid fueling, cartridges also allow operators to carry additional fuel with them or receive rescue fuel if an asset gets stranded in the field, two features that today’s battery vehicles lack,” said Hubert.
In addition to its product design work, Layer created the brand identity for Croft, including the brandmark and packaging.
Layer also designed the brand identity and packaging for Croft
The brandmark is based on an abstracted letter “H”, which has been stylised to also look like a road vanishing into the distance. It will be used in many ways, including debossed into products, applied as a micro-pattern to create texture, and as a call to action on interaction points.
Layer has been embracing emerging technologies, and has recently also worked on the Ledger Stax hardware wallet for storing cryptocurrency and the Viture One video streaming glasses.
Clothing, cars, watches and headphones powered by solar energy feature in this roundup of 10 products that are harnessing the power of the sun as part of our Solar Revolution series.
Solar power captured by means of photovoltaic panels or solar electricity cells is becoming a more widespread way to power all manner of electronic devices.
Often incorporated into buildings, as photovoltaic panels become smaller, lighter and more efficient they are being increasingly used by designers as a renewable source of energy.
Below are 10 design projects that showcase the variety of ways solar power can be used:
Photo courtesy of Adidas
RPT-02 SOL by Adidas and Zound Industries
Sportswear brand Adidas and speaker brand Zound Industries created wireless headphones that can be charged using both sunshine and artificial light.
Named RPT-02 SOL, the wireless headphones feature a headband that is constructed from a solar cell fabric named Powerfoyle that can convert sunlight and artificial light into electricity.
Find out more about RPT-02 SOL ›
The Solar Blanket by Mireille Steinhage
Central Saint Martins Material Futures graduate Mireille Steinhage made this solar-powered blanket from conductive yarn. The product was developed as part of a project that explored ways in which to make renewable energy products more accessible and affordable.
The blanket comes with a solar panel that attaches to a power bank and supplies energy to the blanket. Conductive yarn is used to generate heat across the blanket which is constructed using a polyester composition.
Find out more about The Solar Blanket ›
Photography is by Pim Top
Ra by Marja van Aubel
Dutch designer Marjan van Aubel arranged photovoltaic cells into geometric patterns to create a glowing, tapestry-like panel that was designed to be hung in a window.
Titled Ra, the artwork is one millimetre thick and comes to life at night. Once dark, a ring of electroluminescent paper embedded in the piece will begin to glow as a result of energy captured by the photovoltaic cells throughout the day.
Find out more about Ra ›
Photography is by Anne Kinnunen
Sun-Powered Textiles by Aalto University
Design and physics researchers at Aalto University in Finland have developed clothing with concealed solar panels that provide users with a means to charge and power handheld electric devices without portable power banks.
A solar cell system was concealed beneath a textile layer within the jacket, which was amended so that enough light could pass through the fabric to power the wearable power bank. The development team hopes that the innovation could be applied to work and sportswear.
Find out more about Sun-Powered Textiles ›
Solartab C by Solartab
Solartab C is a portable charger that uses a photovoltaic panel to power phones, laptops and other handheld devices. Launched in 2017, the device was said to be the first of its kind to feature a USB-C connection and can quickly charge electronic devices.
The device was designed as a greener alternative to traditional chargers and has waterproof qualities as well as including a built-in cover that doubles as a stand.
Find out more about Solartab C ›
Photography is by Roos van de Kieft
Solar-powered windbreaker by Pauline van Dongen
Dutch fashion designer Pauline van Dongen created a technical windbreaker with integrated solar panels that is able to charge handheld electronic devices.
Three flexible solar panels were incorporated across the face of the jacket in order to allow its users to still wear backpacks without obstructing the panels’ energy collection. The jacket is fitted with a power bank that stores energy collected throughout the day and also has water-resistant properties.
Find out more about Pauline van Dongen ›
Stella Lux by Eindhoven University of Technology students
Stella Lux is a wedge-shaped car with solar panels fitted across its sloping roof and rear. As a result of its solar panel roof, the car can run for 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) on a single charge while carrying four people.
The family car was designed and built by Eindhoven University of Technology students and generates more energy than it uses, which can then be returned to the power grid.
Find out more about Stella Lux ›
Solution-01 watch collection by Matte Works
Watch brand Matte Works created a solar-powered watch that aims to integrate solar energy into its users’ everyday lives.
Named Solution-01, the watch comprises a solar cell beneath its dial that converts light into electrical energy. Energy is stored within the watch’s rechargeable battery, which reduces the need for disposable batteries.
Find out more about Solution-01 watch collection ›
Lightyear 0 by Lightyear
Dutch startup Lightyear developed the “world’s first production-ready” solar-powered car. Lightyear 0 is a five-passenger car that is fitted with five square metres of curved solar panels across its roof, bonnet and tailgate.
The solar panel integration will convert solar energy into electric power that can add up to 70 kilometres (44 miles) per day onto the car’s 388-mile range from traditional electric charging.
Find out more about Lightyear 0 ›
SunUp by Bradley Brister
Rigid and flexible solar panels were combined to create SunUp, which is a product for outdoor use that can be placed over a backpack and other surfaces such as the top of a canoe.
SunUp was created by designer Bradley Brister and is comprised of a collection of polycrystalline solar panels that are adjoined to each other by flexible joints. The product has a 4,000 milliamp Hour (mAh) battery that can charge and power electronics within 12 hours.
This article is part of Dezeen’s Solar Revolution series, which explores the varied and exciting possible uses of solar energy and how humans can fully harness the incredible power of the sun.
University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have invented a biofilm that sticks to the skin like a Band-Aid to harnesses sweat for electricity that could power wearable devices.
The biofilm is made using a bacteria that converts energy from evaporation into electricity, making use of the moisture on a person’s skin as it turns into vapour.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers behind the innovation say it takes advantage of the “huge, untapped source of energy” that is evaporation.
“This is a very exciting technology,” said team member and electrical and computer engineering graduate student Xiaomeng Liu. “It is real green energy, and unlike other so-called ‘green-energy’ sources, its production is totally green.”
The biofilm uses sweat to power small electronic devices such as an LCD screen
According to the researchers, this is because the film is produced naturally by the microbes, with no need for unsustainably produced materials and no toxic waste byproducts.
“We sustainably grow the cells in a biofilm, and then use that agglomeration of cells. This cuts the energy inputs, makes everything simpler and widens the potential applications.”
The bacteria used is called geobacter sulfurreducens and is known for its ability to produce electricity, having previously been used to make microbial batteries.
Unlike with those batteries, however, the biofilm bacteria do not need to be periodically fed or cared for, because they are already dead — one of the team’s discoveries is that the microbes do not need to be alive to produce electricity.
To obtain the biofilm, the researchers harvest the geobacter, which grows in colonies that look like thin sheets of under 0.1 millimetres thickness, with the microbes all connected to each other by “natural nanowires”.
The biofilm is sandwiched between electrodes and sticky biopolymer before being ready for use
The researchers etch small circuits into these mats and then sandwich them between two mesh electrodes before sealing the package in a soft, sticky biopolymer to enable it to grip to the skin.
They describe the act of applying the film to your body as akin to plugging in a battery, and say it could revolutionise wearable electronics by solving the problem of where to put the power supply.
“Batteries run down and have to be changed or charged,” said electrical and computer engineering professor Jun Yao. “They are also bulky, heavy and uncomfortable.”
In its current form the biofilm produces enough energy to power small devices such as medical sensors or personal electronics, but the team also plans to explore larger films that can power even more sophisticated devices.
At an even larger scale, they hope the biofilm could be used to make more use of the untapped energy from evaporation, pointing to research that shows around 50 per cent of the solar energy reaching earth is spent on the process.
An example of a microbial battery appears in the work of Dutch designer Teresa van Dongen, who has used the geobacters to produce the Electric Life lighting and the Mud Well installation.
She embraces the fact that the bacteria need to be fed, arguing that this ritual would create “a closer relationship between the (living) object and its owner”.
Spotted: Rivers and canals that have mostly been overlooked as sources of renewable energy could begin providing enough power for an entire community. Belgian company Turbulent has developed vortex turbines that are small enough for use in almost any river or canal. Called Living Rivers, the systems of turbines all have impellers that move at a low enough speed to allow marine life to pass safely through the entire structure.
Requiring a minimum of a 1.5-metre drop in height, and a flow of 1.5 cubic metres per second for at least nine months of the year, the turbines provide a constancy of power in comparison to the variability of other renewable energy sources. Turbulent’s teams work closely with local communities to design, build, and manage each project.
A regular, although not onerous, maintenance schedule helps keep the turbines in good mechanical condition. Remote control access makes it easy to adjust the system, and Turbulent’s designs never impede the natural flow of the river. Rather, they help locals clean the waterway. A large trash rack plus protective mesh gathers rubbish and prevents it from travelling further downstream or harming the turbine.
Springwise previously covered Turbulent earlier in the startup’s development. Since then, the company has delivered projects in Bali, Chile, Estonia, France, and Portugal. Projects in the USA, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are in progress. Springwise has also been tracking the global growth of hydropower more broadly, spotting a hydroelectric dam built by robots, a turbine design that allows fish to pass safely, and a solar-hydro hybrid project in Thailand.
Spotted: Although relatively expensive to produce at present, and with storage often cited as a concern, green hydrogen fuel production is increasing. A naturally occurring and superabundant element, hydrogen is popular for several reasons, including the ability to produce it using renewable energy sources. And now, Element 1’s modular, grid-independent hydrogen generation technology is making the fuel even more accessible.
Designed to efficiently convert methanol to hydrogen to electricity, the technology supports both hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles. The company’s catalytic reactor heats a methanol and water feedstock mix before sending it through a membrane purifier for almost 100 per cent fuel cell grade hydrogen.
Because the modular system produces the fuel as needed, the risk of combustion is nearly eliminated, and specialty storage facilities are redundant. This is because the only material that needs to be stored and transported is the methanol and water feedstock. The hydrogen is then produced on-site. Element 1 provides both small and large-scale solutions, as well as a mobile version specifically for refuelling electric vehicles on the go.
Further development of the technology includes a sea-going business spinoff e1 Marine, as well as continued refinement of the systems, materials, and deployment options through on-site collaborations with industrial partners and as infrastructure back-ups.
Springwise has also spotted hydrogen being used as aircraft fuel and in a personal hydrogen power plant for the home. Larger scale hydrogen production innovations include a proposal for an artificial green hydrogen island in the North Sea.
