Electronics & Semiconductors

Future smart homes could be powered with electronics built on stones

What if you could power the smart thermostats, speakers and lights in your home with a kitchen countertop? Stones, such as marble and granite, are natural, eco-friendly materials that many people building or renovating houses ...

Energy & Green Tech

Homes fitted with new technology could make the grid smarter

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed a control system that could make most of America's homes more capable partners in managing the nation's electricity resources.

Consumer & Gadgets

Researchers find ways to hackproof smart meters

Smart electricity meters are useful because they allow energy utilities to efficiently track energy use and allocate energy production. But because they're connected to a grid, they can also serve as back doors for malicious ...

Energy & Green Tech

'Smart' transformers could make reliable smart grid a reality

A new study using complex computational models finds that smart solid-state transformers (SSTs) could be used to make a stable, reliable "smart grid" - allowing the power distribution system to route renewable energy from ...

Energy & Green Tech

Is the electrical grid prepared for climate change?

Summer heat waves across the country tested whether America's aging electrical grid can keep up with demand—a problem scientists say will be exacerbated by climate change, as severe hurricanes, wildfires and other weather ...

Energy & Green Tech

How electric vehicles could fix the grid

Transportation is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for about a third of all emissions. We could quickly lower those emissions by electrifying vehicles, but there's just ...

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