Matt Ferrell lives in the Boston area and is a UI/UX designer by trade, but has always been obsessed by technology and how it works. In 2018 he started his YouTube channel, Undecided with Matt Ferrell, where he explores sustainable and smart technologies like EVs, solar panels, and smart homes.
When it comes to grid-scale energy storage, redox flow batteries (RFB) are one of the big competitors for lithium-ion batteries. In preliminary tests, RFBs can be manufactured with longer lasting lives, be made more scalable, and are easier to recycle than other battery technologies. Yet, after investing millions of US
Forty-four million households rent their homes12, but are they left out of the solar energy world entirely? As the solar industry grows we’re seeing innovations not just on rooftop solar panels and efficiency, but we’re seeing new areas and ideas for how we use solar, like community solar
There are a lot of different paths you can take to get to a net-zero home. Everything from passive homes to earthships to modular and factory built houses. You can retrofit an existing building or you can build a new one. All of the options can make your head spin
Most of us take for granted being able to toss our phones onto a charging pad to top them up, but what if we could charge our cars the same way? No more remembering to plug in your EV when you arrive at work or get home. Without having to
We're always chasing better performing and more efficient solar panels to help power our renewable future, but no matter how efficient a panel is there are location-based impacts to performance. Tilt angle and orientation can either boost or decrease performance, and it's hard to achieve optimum
Many researchers are looking for ways to improve desalination and other freshwater tech to help us solve the freshwater crisis, like what we’re seeing in the southwest US and other parts of the world. There’s some promising advances in both efficiency and quality compared to what’s currently
As you know, efficient energy storage systems are the conundrum of making the most out of our intermittent renewable energy generation. Unless you’ve had your head in the sand, it’s a glaring problem we have to solve, which is why so many different battery technologies are being explored
When it comes to heating and cooling our homes or producing hot water, heat pumps are proving themselves to be one of the most energy efficient ways to go. However, there’s a category of material that could be used to efficiently produce hot water, or to reduce your heating
Thanks to a 70% drop in price since 20101 and plenty of government subsidies, solar panels have become an integral part of the utility grid, as well as many home rooftops. However, this renewable energy technology isn’t all sunshine. There’s shadows looming over its bright future. There’s
CO2 is infamous for being the major culprit of climate change, but what if this global warming villain could turn into a green energy hero? Believe it or not, carbon dioxide may be a key component in developing a new green battery that can be quickly deployed around the world.
Storing solar energy cheaply and efficiently is a key component for the future of renewable energy. Even though lithium batteries are great, they can still be costly and, depending on the chemistry, there can be safety concerns. There are ways we can store solar energy more directly though … and one
Carbon capture technology is held up as both an essential piece of our renewable energy transition and a last ditch effort of the fossil fuel industry to keep polluting. Regardless of which side of the debate you’re on, there’s been a lot of advancements in recent years. Most