A Los Angeles company building charging stations in Chicago for electric vehicles is jumping into the battery business.
350Green LLC, which is installing 280 charging stations in Chicago and the suburbs, confirmed Thursday that it plans to open a $3.5 million assembly plant on Chicago's Northwest Side to produce Acer Aspire 7735Z batteries to store electricity produced by the sun, wind or, during off-peak times, from the electrical grid.
The idea, said Mariana Gerzanych, chief executive of 350Green, is to tap those batteries during peak demand times on the grid — like on hot summer days when air conditioners are being used. Electrical grid operators pay so-called peak shavers like 350Green for agreeing to tap stored battery power to reduce demand on the grid.
"It will make a big difference in the industry," Gerzanych said. "As the electric car industry grows, we can connect it more and more to solar."
The Acer Aspire 5742 batteries are small, but some will have about the same storage capacity as those used in the all-electric Nissan Leaf, Gerzanych said. The first are expected to roll out by January. Gerzanych said the plant would employ about 86 people.
The facility, to be located at 2500 W. Bradley Place, would be paid for in part by a $1.5 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and $800,000 in tax-increment financing from the city. Both subsidies have been approved and are in the final sign-off stages, according to Gerzanych.
Byron shutdown still a mystery: Almost three months after the Byron nuclear plant suddenly lost power, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is trying to determine what happened and whether a similar outage could occur at other nuclear plants.
According to a special inspection report released late last month, inspectors spent 15 days at Byron trying to get to the bottom of the outage. The plant lost off-site power, which was supposed to automatically trigger backup diesel generators to turn on. But the generators had to be switched on manually. As a result, a 1,136-megawatt nuclear unit at Byron shut down.
No one was injured, but the NRC said it wants to be sure it doesn't happen again.
The plant is owned by Chicago-based Exelon. The NRC said it is working to determine if plant operators could have prevented the incident or if a larger design problem caused the system breakdown.
Illinois riding the wind: Other than California, Illinois installed more new wind capacity than any other state in 2011, spending $1 billion, according to an annual report from the American Wind Energy Association released Thursday.
The state ranks fourth in the nation for wind capacity installed, with enough to power about 750,000 homes. About 30 facilities making wind components employ 6,000 people in Illinois. Illinois has the third-highest number of jobs in the wind industry, after Iowa and Texas.
Still, wind is a fraction of the state's overall energy footprint. About 3.2 percent of electricity is produced by wind turbines, just above the national average of 2.9 percent.
tags: Canon Bp-711 Battery, Canon Digital Ixus v3 Battery, Acer Aspire 5735 Battery, SONY ERICSSON S700I PDA battery, Acer Aspire 5920 Battery
NU student-run company wins $100K: NuMat Technologies, a startup company led by students at Northwestern University, won $100,000 in financing last month at the second Clean Energy Challenge. The company developed a technology that can produce fuel tanks for natural gas-powered vehicles that are cheaper, safer and have a larger capacity than what is available.
More than 100 early-stage and student-led companies applied to the Challenge. Ten early-stage finalist and eight student finalists presented business plans to a panel of investors, corporations and entrepreneurs at an event in Chicago. The finalists were coached by volunteer mentors working with the Clean Energy Trust, a nonprofit technology accelerator in Chicago.
4/04/2012
Need the Most Life from Your Laptop’s Battery? Use IE, Not Chrome
We regularly test the four most popular browsers for speed, but what about laptop battery life? If you're on a laptop, an extra 20 minutes can make a pretty big difference. Weblog 7Tutorials did a battery life test of each browser, and found that Internet Explorer was the most likely to give you a noticeable battery boost.
They used the Peacekeeper battery test on Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, on a clean install of Windows 7 using the Power Saver power plan, and run three times to get an average for each browser. Internet Explorer 9 came out ahead, providing 104 minutes of ibm thinkpad t40 laptop battery life in the Peacekeeper test, with Opera not far behind at 100 minutes. Firefox lagged behind a bit at 92 minutes, while Chrome got almost 20 minutes less, lasting only 85 minutes.
Obviously, your mileage may vary on this, but it's a good thing to know if you're in a bind and need to squeeze every ounce of Acer Aspire 3000 battery from your laptop. Hit the link to read more about their methodology and the results.
mcheung05 
dagwud
They used the Peacekeeper battery test on Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, on a clean install of Windows 7 using the Power Saver power plan, and run three times to get an average for each browser. Internet Explorer 9 came out ahead, providing 104 minutes of ibm thinkpad t40 laptop battery life in the Peacekeeper test, with Opera not far behind at 100 minutes. Firefox lagged behind a bit at 92 minutes, while Chrome got almost 20 minutes less, lasting only 85 minutes.
Obviously, your mileage may vary on this, but it's a good thing to know if you're in a bind and need to squeeze every ounce of Acer Aspire 3000 battery from your laptop. Hit the link to read more about their methodology and the results.
mcheung05 The problem is that if you use IE, you'll inevitably end up chucking your laptop across the room in frustration and your laptop batteries will be destroyed.
(just kidding IE9 really isn't that terrible)
(just kidding IE9 really isn't that terrible)
dagwud It isn't "using IE" that's really the problem. It's "coding so that IE shows something at least close to what you originally had in mind and looks perfect in Firefox and Chrome." (Edit comment)
I just dislike the reverse: devs that code sites for IE and a watered down version for your Chrome/Firefox. I'm looking at you, Juno Web Mail and Microsoft Outlook Web Access.
OWA works great for me in Chrome, I use it all the time. I also use sharepoint for work, for which IE tab extension works pretty well
Really, now, IE9 seems to do fine on most things I make and test in Firefox. (Though the lack of text-shadow is annoying...)
Have you used IE9? I've seen more and more websites telling me I need Chrome, Firefox, or Opera to use the site. This absolutely kills me at school, to the point where I used a bypass to restore command prompt function and wrote up some registry code so I could join the administrator workgroup and install Chrome. Not to mention the stupid "compatibility view". Why do I need to turn that on? Why would they not just leave it on all of the time?
3/25/2012
Is Your New iPad Fibbing About Whether It Is Fully Charged?
There is no question that the new iPad battery is bigger and, as a result, can take longer to recharge than its predecessor.
However, one analyst says that his testing shows that it may take longer to fully charge than the iPad indicates. DisplayMate’s Ray Soneira said last week that the iPad continues to charge well after the device shows 100 percent.
In follow-up testing, Soneira said that the iPad is only about 90 percent charged when it first indicates it is fully powered up. The iPad, Soneira said, will run more than an hour longer, if left to fully charge.
AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg noted in his review that the new iPad delivers on its impressive claim of 10-hour socal battery life, starting when the tablet’s indicator said it was 100 percent charged.
Soneira plans to offer full details of his findings in an updated report on Monday.
Apple representatives were not immediately available for comment.
However, one analyst says that his testing shows that it may take longer to fully charge than the iPad indicates. DisplayMate’s Ray Soneira said last week that the iPad continues to charge well after the device shows 100 percent.
In follow-up testing, Soneira said that the iPad is only about 90 percent charged when it first indicates it is fully powered up. The iPad, Soneira said, will run more than an hour longer, if left to fully charge.
AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg noted in his review that the new iPad delivers on its impressive claim of 10-hour socal battery life, starting when the tablet’s indicator said it was 100 percent charged.
Soneira plans to offer full details of his findings in an updated report on Monday.
Apple representatives were not immediately available for comment.
3/20/2012
Johnson Controls Raises Battery Prices To Charge Up Margins
Johnson Controls, the automotive Motorola Two Way Radio Batteries manufacturer, has decided to raise the price of its lead acid batteries sold in the U.S. and Canada by 8%. The company has said that this hike is in response to the tightened environmental, health and safety regulations because of which it has to make increased investments in its infrastructure.
The company is upgrading its manufacturing facilities after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued stringent air standards for lead emissions in 2008 and in January this year. It is investing $162 million in its North American recycling centers to make them compatible with recommended environmental standards.See our full analysis of Johnson Controls here
Last year, the company raised the cost of its Acer Aspire 5732z Battery by 5% – 9%, citing the rising raw material prices and delivery costs as the reason. This is unlikely to impact the company’s business as demand for its products has been strong due to a pickup in the business of automotive manufacturers and their ramp up of production world-wide.The margins for the company have remained steady for the past few years but the recent price hike might push them up slightly.
Automotive batteries is the most important division of Johnson Controls, accounting for nearly 33% of our $38 stock value. The Canon G-10hi Battery division enjoys a healthy margin of better than 19% (adjusted by Trefis for pension and other items) which is right there with the best in the industry.
related tags: Olympus Li-70b Battery, Camcorder Battery SONY NP-QM71, Acer Aspire 3610 Battery, Acer Aspire 5732z Battery, Canon Bp-511 Battery, Canon Eos 1100d Battery
3/19/2012
Laptops with long battery life 2012
As we review laptops throughout 2012, we'll add their hp campaq battery life stats here. If battery's the most important thing to you, this is the place to look.
We run two separate Dell latitude d630 battery tests when we test laptops at CNET Australia — a heavy test, which turns up screen brightness and volume to full and plays back a 720p H.264 video; and a light test, which sets screen brightness to 40 per cent and visits three different websites every 20 seconds until business notebook nc6220 battery exhaustion.
While our database is still building due to introducing these benchmarks in November 2011, we will keep updating this article throughout the year as laptops come in for review, with the eventual aim of splitting the charts into screen sizes. Keep in mind that there's a massive spread here in both size and performance capability — Dell inspiron 1420 battery isn't the only thing to consider.
3/14/2012
A Point Of View
Welcome!related camera battery store:
http://www.camera-battery.co.uk/fujifilm.htm
http://www.cheap-digital-camera-batteries.co.uk/fujifilm.htm
http://www.battery-store.co.uk/batt-4-camera/fujifilm.htm
There has never been for me - up until now at least - a gorgeous muse under studio lights but there have been plenty of gorgeous locations, or there would have been, if I hadn’t missed photographing them all. My travel photos of the world are proof of that. The end result is to begin a necessary education in discovering how to frame a picture - for a man who can barely make a bed.
And so it goes for all of us. We want better images so we need to know what works and why. This blog is an attempt to do just that. That last points sticks, I hope. This isn’t designed to be a lecture on what camera you should buy, or a thesis on the history of photography. It is to tap into forty years of expertise available at Ted’s and look at how to get better pictures. Regardless, it will only ever be a point of view. Sometimes, with luck, it may not even be mine - if the guests turn up - but always yours too. A forum in the best sense of the word.
Ultimately, of course, it’s the pictures that do the talking, or, we hope, the shouting - so let’s work on that. Now, isn’t that a nice idea.
International Battery owes Pennsylvania millions
International laptop Battery, which surprised local officials when it abruptly closed its Upper Macungie plant last week, owes Pennsylvania more than $2 million, and state lawyers are initiating efforts to recover some of the debt.
State officials are also in discussions with the company regarding a project for which International Sony vgp-bps13a/b battery received an $800,000 grant in 2010. That project has not been completed.
“This is a big deal,” said Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton. “We want to get back as much of that money as we can, so we can give it to other companies and help them succeed.”
The situation highlights how government-funded economic development — taxpayer investments in private companies that are expected to generate a return through job creation — sometimes goes bust. In the aftermath, the government officials and business executives who publicly announced their partnerships retreat behind closed doors to clean up the mess.
“This is very common,” said Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, aWashington, D.C., nonprofit that monitors government investments in companies. “As you would expect through a recession, lots more deals are falling short.”
Pennsylvania offered several million dollars in assistance to lure International latitude d630 battery to the Lehigh Valley from New Jersey in 2008, expecting the company to create hundreds of good-paying engineering and manufacturing jobs. Four years later, all of the company’s employees have been laid off and International inspiron 14v n4030 battery is selling its assets and equipment to pay an undisclosed amount of debt.
That means the state may have to get in line with others trying to get paid. A major stakeholder in the company is Greenwich, Conn., hedge fund Wexford Capital, which invested $35 million in International battery for Dell Inspiron 6400 in 2010. Several of the firm’s partners have backgrounds in corporate restructuring and bankruptcies, according to its website.
International Battery made rechargeable lithium-ion cells and batteries for military and industrial uses. The company, which was expected to employ 250 people within three years of opening, notified employees last week that it would be immediately closing. It’s unclear how many workers were at the plant on Snowdrift Road at the time it closed, though the company reported having 80 workers last year. Company officials have not returned calls.
“The market for energy storage, including lithium ion inspiron 1545 battery, has been extraordinarily challenging,” International Battery said in a statement emailed to The Morning Call on Tuesday. “While International dell inspiron 1545 charger Battery has a unique product and green manufacturing process, it has not been able to reach profitability. Unfortunately, given the challenging market, it was unable to raise additional capital to fund its operations. While it is no longer manufacturing any products, it is focusing on selling its assets and technology. Moneys received on account of these assets will be used to pay creditors.”
Its abrupt closure upends terms of various agreements International Battery had with the state, requiring new negotiations.
By closing, the company defaulted on a $500,000 opportunity grant it received in 2008 from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. International Dell Studio 1747 AC Adapter Battery was supposed to stay in business through 2012 as a condition of receiving the assistance, department spokeswoman Theresa Elliott said. Because it closed before that time, it has to repay the state, she said.
“Our office of chief counsel will be notifying the company of their default under the contract and begin the process of recouping the $500,000 grant,” Elliott said Monday.
Weaknesses in the state’s Opportunity Grant program were highlighted in a 2007 report by the state auditor general’s office. The program doled out more than $200 million in grants from 2000 to 2005, but lacked adequate oversight to ensure the jobs promised were being created, and the Community and Economic Development Department waived millions of dollars in penalties against grant recipients that failed to meet their obligations, according to the report.
In addition to the Opportunity Grant, International inspiron n5010 battery owes nearly $1.7 million on a low-interest state loan it received to purchase equipment, according to the department. The company was current on the loan as of February. The department would not comment further on the remaining balance until it speaks with International Battery representatives, who had yet to notify the department about its closure as of Tuesday afternoon, Elliott said.
International toshiba pa3356u-1brs battery in November 2010 received an $800,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to design, build and test a power storage system for such renewable electricity sources as solar and wind. Such a storage system would make wind and solar power more viable, according to the state.
The project is 80 percent complete, said DEP spokeswoman Amanda Witman. The department had conversations with International Dell vostro 1400 Battery representatives Tuesday about transferring the project to another company so it can be completed, Witman said. The state’s investment is in equipment that can be sent to another company, she said.
“There is a grant contract that exists between International Battery and DEP, which is designed to resolve these types of situations,” Witman said. “There is an ongoing dialogue between International Dell studio 14z battery and DEP to resolve this situation. Because it is an ongoing issue, DEP can provide no further comment until the matter has closed.”
source from blog: International Battery owes Pennsylvania millions
State officials are also in discussions with the company regarding a project for which International Sony vgp-bps13a/b battery received an $800,000 grant in 2010. That project has not been completed.
“This is a big deal,” said Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton. “We want to get back as much of that money as we can, so we can give it to other companies and help them succeed.”
The situation highlights how government-funded economic development — taxpayer investments in private companies that are expected to generate a return through job creation — sometimes goes bust. In the aftermath, the government officials and business executives who publicly announced their partnerships retreat behind closed doors to clean up the mess.
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“This is very common,” said Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, aWashington, D.C., nonprofit that monitors government investments in companies. “As you would expect through a recession, lots more deals are falling short.”
Pennsylvania offered several million dollars in assistance to lure International latitude d630 battery to the Lehigh Valley from New Jersey in 2008, expecting the company to create hundreds of good-paying engineering and manufacturing jobs. Four years later, all of the company’s employees have been laid off and International inspiron 14v n4030 battery is selling its assets and equipment to pay an undisclosed amount of debt.
That means the state may have to get in line with others trying to get paid. A major stakeholder in the company is Greenwich, Conn., hedge fund Wexford Capital, which invested $35 million in International battery for Dell Inspiron 6400 in 2010. Several of the firm’s partners have backgrounds in corporate restructuring and bankruptcies, according to its website.
International Battery made rechargeable lithium-ion cells and batteries for military and industrial uses. The company, which was expected to employ 250 people within three years of opening, notified employees last week that it would be immediately closing. It’s unclear how many workers were at the plant on Snowdrift Road at the time it closed, though the company reported having 80 workers last year. Company officials have not returned calls.
“The market for energy storage, including lithium ion inspiron 1545 battery, has been extraordinarily challenging,” International Battery said in a statement emailed to The Morning Call on Tuesday. “While International dell inspiron 1545 charger Battery has a unique product and green manufacturing process, it has not been able to reach profitability. Unfortunately, given the challenging market, it was unable to raise additional capital to fund its operations. While it is no longer manufacturing any products, it is focusing on selling its assets and technology. Moneys received on account of these assets will be used to pay creditors.”
Its abrupt closure upends terms of various agreements International Battery had with the state, requiring new negotiations.
By closing, the company defaulted on a $500,000 opportunity grant it received in 2008 from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. International Dell Studio 1747 AC Adapter Battery was supposed to stay in business through 2012 as a condition of receiving the assistance, department spokeswoman Theresa Elliott said. Because it closed before that time, it has to repay the state, she said.
“Our office of chief counsel will be notifying the company of their default under the contract and begin the process of recouping the $500,000 grant,” Elliott said Monday.
Weaknesses in the state’s Opportunity Grant program were highlighted in a 2007 report by the state auditor general’s office. The program doled out more than $200 million in grants from 2000 to 2005, but lacked adequate oversight to ensure the jobs promised were being created, and the Community and Economic Development Department waived millions of dollars in penalties against grant recipients that failed to meet their obligations, according to the report.
In addition to the Opportunity Grant, International inspiron n5010 battery owes nearly $1.7 million on a low-interest state loan it received to purchase equipment, according to the department. The company was current on the loan as of February. The department would not comment further on the remaining balance until it speaks with International Battery representatives, who had yet to notify the department about its closure as of Tuesday afternoon, Elliott said.
International toshiba pa3356u-1brs battery in November 2010 received an $800,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to design, build and test a power storage system for such renewable electricity sources as solar and wind. Such a storage system would make wind and solar power more viable, according to the state.
The project is 80 percent complete, said DEP spokeswoman Amanda Witman. The department had conversations with International Dell vostro 1400 Battery representatives Tuesday about transferring the project to another company so it can be completed, Witman said. The state’s investment is in equipment that can be sent to another company, she said.
“There is a grant contract that exists between International Battery and DEP, which is designed to resolve these types of situations,” Witman said. “There is an ongoing dialogue between International Dell studio 14z battery and DEP to resolve this situation. Because it is an ongoing issue, DEP can provide no further comment until the matter has closed.”
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