The use of residential photovoltaics has increased dramatically in recent years. With battery systems becoming more affordable, the optimal operation of a photovoltaic-battery system can bring significant savings to households. Optimal control requires correct forecasts of underlying parameters, such as photovoltaic power generation, to schedule the battery. While forecasting models have become increasingly accurate due to algorithmic advances and data availability, accuracy is typically measured in generic metrics which might not align with the downstream application. This study proposes a decision-focused learning framework that integrates optimization and prediction by training a Long Short-Term Memory photovoltaic energy forecaster on the downstream optimal scheduling of a battery system. The proposed methodology is compared against a standard two-phase approach. Across a 14-month evaluation period, the decision-focused method reduced average electricity costs across twenty buildings by 3.6% when normalized against performance bounds defined by a perfect forecast and a baseline of no optimization. Critically, this financial improvement was achieved despite the model exhibiting a root mean squared error of 19.9%, significantly higher than the decoupled model's 8.2%. Warm-starting the decision-focused model further improves results, lowering average cost by approximately 8%, while also mitigating the negative impact on statistical accuracy (root mean squared error of 13.7%). The findings are statistically significant at the 0.001 level across the twenty households and for each household individually. These results demonstrate that aligning forecast models with optimization goals is key for achieving cost advantages in PV-battery systems. Future research should replicate these findings on other datasets, alternate forecasting models and alternate optimization algorithms.

Ford and GM are backing away from electric vehicles and moving into the battery storage business. And it all comes back to AI. Automakers make cars--it's in the name. But lately, politics, current events, and Wall Street's latest preoccupation, artificial intelligence, have them looking a lot more like energy companies. The pivot, analysts say, could give US auto manufacturers struggling through a transition to electric vehicles an easier path over the next few years. Whether it works will come down to the same technology that automakers once promised would power the majority of their lineups: batteries .

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This dumb little battery trick tells you if it's really dead You can find out how full or empty a battery is with a simple test. When your remote control gives up the ghost or your kid's favorite toy stops working, you're often faced with the question: Did the batteries die or is the device defective? A dead-simple, wonderfully nifty test offers a quick and reliable way to check the actual charge state of a battery, keeping you from rashly discarding good batteries or buying new ones unnecessarily. How to check your laptop's battery health All you need for this test is the battery you want to check.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Who actually manufactures AmazonBasics batteries? AmazonBasics batteries are so cheap, you might be skeptical of their quality and performance. When AmazonBasics launched back in 2009, batteries were among the initial line-up of products--and they're still one of the best, most classic impulse buys of this white-label brand. Mainly sold in packs ranging from 8 to 300 batteries at extremely affordable prices, they've become the go-to value battery brand for day-to-day needs.

After a humanoid robot named Bebop danced for a crowd in an airport, a Southwest Airlines flight was delayed because the robot's lithium battery exceeded the airline's size limits.

The cars that debuted at the Beijing Auto Show demonstrate that the Chinese market is now at the forefront of electrification and intelligence. These are the 19 most intriguing models we saw. The newest concept car from Lynk & Co was revealed at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show. While major motor shows in Europe and the United States are being forced to downsize or change their format, those in China continue to expand. With 1,451 vehicles on display, including 181 world premieres, the 2026 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition 2026 (also known as Auto China 2026) has become the largest auto show in history--and that's in terms of both exhibition space and the number of vehicles on display. This fact itself reflects a shift in the center of gravity of the automotive industry, but that's not all. A much larger structural transformation is actually taking place in China today. Previously, the focus was on low-priced electric vehicle models, but now price is no longer the primary point of competition.

Will fusion power get cheap? New research suggests that cost declines could be slow for the technology. Fusion power could provide a steady, zero-emissions source of electricity in the future--if companies can get plants built and running. But a new study suggests that even if that future arrives, it might not come cheap. Technologies tend to get less expensive over time. Lithium-ion batteries are now about 90% cheaper than they were in 2013.

Now outfitted with AI computer vision, Aiper's new pool cleaner can actively search for debris. AI vision helps to power excellent cleaning. Charging stand makes topping up the battery easy. Only spends 10 minutes at the waterline after each run before sinking. Cleanup can be a bit of a bear.

The Chinese automaker is racing ahead of global competitors--but don't expect to see those gains in the US anytime soon. Somehow, the whole thing got even faster. Earlier this month, Chinese automaker BYD announced that its Flash Chargers, first rolled out a year ago, can now charge some electric vehicle batteries from around 10 to 70 percent in five minutes, and from 10 to full in about nine. That's more than 600 miles of range in the time it takes to order a cappuccino and leave a nice tip. The new BYD chargers can add miles super quickly because they deliver up to 1,500 kilowatts (kW) per charge.

You can now buy a humanoid robot housekeeper for less than the price of a second-hand car. But before splashing out, there's something you need to know Science fiction is strewn with humanoid robots, from bad-tempered Bender in to cunning Ava in . And it has long seemed like that's the natural home for such robots - on the screen and in books. The idea of a walking, talking, functioning robot with two arms and two legs has appeared to be a distant dream. Last year, machines ran, boxed and even played football at China's World Humanoid Robot Games, albeit sometimes falling over in the process . Meanwhile, companies have been readying their own range of humanoids that promise to do something a bit more useful: help around the house .