Batteries International - Spring issue 95 by hamptonhalls

Issue 95

Spring 2015

Picking the new industry leader Lead squares up to lithium for large scale energy storage The CEO interview Srivastava and Leclanché’s bid for world dominance

Jeanne Burbank’s legacy Battery pioneer whose lead insights are still with us

The new titans of lead Ecoult’s UltraBattery takes lithium on — head to head

Capacitors come of age Will supercaps be the next miracle ingredient ‘x’?

Bringing the industry try together www.batteriesinternational.com national.com

T AS L E TH

M RO F LES A T D: R WO

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$50/€40 $50/€ / 40

CONTENTS GRID AND INDUSTRIAL SCALE ENERGY STORAGE: THE LEAD VERSUS LITHIUM DEBATE

Separating hype from substance as competing battery chemistries clash The value of grid storage is often judged on the prices of batteries alone, making lead acid seem a good deal and lithium ion too costly. But when the functionality of the various chemistries is compared is there such a thing as a clear winner? One size doesn’t ﬁt all Lithium ion would appear to dominate the grid storage market, but the industry needs a range of storage technologies at its disposal.

Throwing down the gauntlet: the Ecoult story John Wood, CEO of East Penn-owned Ecoult talks about how the world’s largest advanced lead-acid battery ﬁrm plans to industrialize its product.

EDITORIAL

Disruptive technology: coming soon to a manufacturer near you

The Horsey Horseless — the 19th century patent that still has a message to the visionaries (and the visionless) among us.

PEOPLE NEWS

Leyden ships across as SunEdison takes over Solar Grid Storage in readiness for new US markets • CODA Energy hires Detering as new CEO • Aqua Metals moves into next phase of development, appoints Cotton as CCO • C&D Technologies appoints Lauzon as CEO • Battery Innovation Center appoints David Roberts president, Ben Wrightsman COO • New industry-academic partnership picks professor of energy storage research • Australia’s AGL Energy hires AES’ Vesey as new chief executive • National Grid’s Winser to chair new UK energy systems, storage centre

VIEWPOINT: THE INTERNATIONAL LEAD ASSOCIATION

The shape of recycling to come: Aqua Metal’s Steve Cotton 7

Clear and present danger: The ILA’s Steve Finks looks at the growing threat lithium ion batteries pose to lead acid recycling.

NEWS

Problems ahead for China’s lead-acid tax: supply/demand imbalance set to continue • Sacred Sun moves ahead in new battery production facilities • Polypore sold in $3.2 billion two part deal but legal challenges to sale emerge • Maxwell advances ESM as lead acid truck battery substitute • Lead acid battery market to grow annually 4.6% by 2020, grid storage to climb by 7.3% from small base • Lithium-ion market in India set to climb by 35% CAGR to 2020 • Battery Solutions becomes first US recycler with automatic battery sorting • Lead-acid battery industry to play big role in automotive advances • Sakura introduces desulphator to extend life for deep cycle lead acid batteries • Pacific Energy to promote Axion’s lead-carbon technology, products • Antimony from lead-acid batteries in increasing demand • Electrical components boost automotive battery market • ZBB Energy targets commercial, industrial building market with Agile Flow Battery • ViZn Energy to offer financial services • Imergy Power Systems launches new series of vanadium flow batteries • RedFlow gets go-ahead for zinc-bromide flow battery in Europe • Australian energy supplier trials 1MW support battery • Princeton Power makes investment in energy storage system • Saft to install Li-ion storage on island off Japan • Li-ion batteries proposed in 90% of all 2014 proposed grid storage projects • Advanced batteries materials to reach $132.2 billion by 2023 • Dyson makes $15m investment in solid-state battery company • Alevo delivers largest ever US energy storage deployment — ‘game changer’ • New ferries to use Corvus Energy lithium polymer energy storage solution www.batteriesinternational.com

The new masters of innovation — waiting in the wings 8

All change for AGM production with new COS line from MAC 40

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 1

CONTENTS PRODUCT NEWS

MAC announces new online AGM COS product • Yuasa launches nano-carbon VRLA batteries for large scale energy storage • Linear launches lead acid battery balancing IC • Energizer recycles in ‘world first’ for alkaline batteries • Northstar expects to make inroads into target markets • Harland offers new UPS system Ultracapacitors, the next generation of hybrid energy storage products 83

CELL FORMATS: WHY THEY MATTER

The history of cell format development over the years has lessons that are still relevant to next generation battery developers.

SUPERCAPS

Hybrid battery storage systems that also incorporate ultracapacitors are gaining in popularity in new markets including energy storage, microgrids and UPS.

BACK TO BASICS

Inductive coupling: how wireless charging works

EVENTS REVIEW

104

Challenging content for the energy storage conference in Dusseldorf Burbank: a legacy that still defines battery industry research 122

EVENTS

106

Our comprehensive listing of the must-attend conferences and exhibitions of 2015

ADVERTISING DIRECTORY

120

BATTERY HEROES: JEANNE BURBANK

122

Much of our present lead-acid theory is based on the work of one individual — electrochemist Jeanne Burbank who pushed back the boundaries of lead acid batteries.

THE LAST WORD Whale blubber: essential for charity work close to the Arctic Circle 127

127

Man’s best friend: whale blubber • Brace, brace, bang, bang, another day, another lithium fire. • It’s publicity Jim, but not as we know it • Something for the bookshelf … or the littlest room • When the going gets tough, meet Jade Beevor

Publisher Karen Hampton, karen@batteriesinternational.com, +44 (0) 7792 852 337 Editor: Michael Halls, mhalls@batteriesinternational.com, +44 (0) 1 243 782 275

Business development manager June Moultrie june@batteriesinternational.com +44 (0) 7775 710 290 Reception tel: +44 (0) 1 243 782 275 fax: +44 1787 329 730

Staff reporter: Philip Moorcroft Production/design: Antony Parselle, aparselledesign@me.com +44 (0) 1727 899 360 International advertising representation: advertising@batteriesinternational.com

Advertising executive: Jade Beevor jade@energystoragejournal.com +44 1243 792467

Subscriptions, admin manager: Claire Ronnie, subscriptions@batteriesinternational.com admin@batteriesinternational.com +44 (0) 1 243 782 275

The contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No unauthorised translation or reproduction is permitted. ISSN 1462-6322

Supplements editor: Wyn Jenkins, wyn.jenkins@serenglobalmedia.com, +44 1792 293 222

Research editor William Aslan will@batteriesinternational.com

Disclaimer: Although we believe in the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this magazine, Mustard Seed Publishing makes no warranties or representation about this. Nor should anything contained within it should be construed as constituting an offer to buy or sell securities, or constitute advice in relation to the buying or selling of investments.

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EDITORIAL Mike Halls • editor@batteriesinternational.com

The Horsey Horseless and the joys of energy storage denial Uriah Smith knew a thing or two about technology. This Seventh-Day Adventist preacher and infamous inventor — the 19th century creator of such things as the artificial bendable ankle and the folding school desk — thought he had solved the terror created by the then new-fangled cars. In 1899, so legend goes, he filed a patent for fixing a life-sized wooden horse on to those shiny new car hoods. He called it the Horsey Horseless. No longer would the world tremble — particularly its horses — at the sight of these often noisy, smelly and dangerous automobiles. Instead the wooden horse would add a touch of reassuring calm, especially for rural neighbourhoods. The idea wasn’t necessarily such a stupid one, and for reasons that still apply today. The world of horsepower — a world that was rapidly being overturned — was the only world that people had ever known. Till the new technology emerges as a winner, what’s so wrong with providing re-assurance? Fundamentally, the issue was less about the invention and more about how to deal with it. And that’s a challenge that has faced every generation since the Industrial Revolution changed human history. The Horsey Horseless patent reminds us that whenever change happens — and certainly as fundamental as the transition from horses to cars — there will always be the conservative, that’s-the-way-we’vealways-done-it, stick in the muds who fight change every inch of the way. It’s still too early to talk about a similar step-change transition going on in the world of energy storage. But there is a whiff of revolution in the air. There is a growing sense that we could — one day at least 4 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

— move away from an energy economy dominated by fossil fuels to using renewables in a meaningful way. The first signs of this happening have already happened. There is a rising expectation that we may already have the technology, the skills and the products to use energy storage as the cornerstone in future electrical grids. Because, after years of test studies, pilot projects and government-funded demonstrations, proper commercial ventures are appearing. The economics of putting a solar panel on a factory roof — or a residential one for that matter — make sense but are being gradually seen as money-spinners too. The cost of solar panels continues to plummet. (If only the installation cost would do the same.) Moreover, their performance continues to rise — solar energy is now less expensive than coal energy in large parts of the world. But as with all revolutions, the forces of inaction and reaction are competing with each other. On one side we have the inertia of the existing players. For many utilities in their Horsey Horseless world, energy creation and distribution will remain, broadly, unchanged. Energy storage is a bolt-on to their status quo infrastructure. Perhaps useful, but just an extra all the same. They can muster powerful arguments to bolster their case as well. A recent report in the UK by the Centre for Policy Studies argues — persuasively if wrongly — that the cost of integrating renewables into the grid is twice the cost of using other power sources. Because of intermittency, the sun diving behind clouds for solar panels or the wind drying up in turbines, if we want to keep the lights on, we need to double the capacity.

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EDITORIAL

And that means doubling the cost. The argument has holes in it but — without even challenging the report (and many have) — watching the cost of PV panels slide and slide again suggests this debate may have little time left to run. Countering the die-hards are the odd mixture of visionaries and harder-headed businessmen who have stampeded in a new gold rush to California to prove that their vision of the future will make them rich. (And, more nobly, save mankind from all that wretched carbon dioxide global warming stuff.) What seems to be clear is that Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point may well be fast arriving. “Everything is starting to happen at breakneck speed,” one commentator told this magazine recently. “As little as 18 months ago, I wouldn’t have thought the momentum for change was there — now I’m certain it is. Just look at the number of senior utility executives who’ve been jumping ship!” Gladwell suggests that irreversible change — be it commercial, technological or otherwise — happens when a variety of factors, even small factors, gathers sufficient momentum to push a market or product into unexpected or uncharted waters. At which point the Horseless Horsey could even be a critical indicator of when this is happening. When the reactionaries bleat loudest is when change cannot be stopped. But, at least for the moment, storage needs to work hard to prove its value. A growing number of projects are showing that storage is most valuable if it

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can do several jobs, some renewables firming, peak shaving, a little frequency regulation to name the start of the shopping list. Energy storage is a grid asset quite like no other. It’s decentralized — it’s also able to be relocated around the network. A new range of energy source alternatives are becoming available from the residential home to the microgrid to a national balancing system like that in Germany. The new renewable energy revolution may not be here yet but for a few moments last year Germany received almost three-quarters of the power it needed from just the power of the wind and the sun. But this process into any promised land of renewable energy isn’t necessarily going to be easy. Or quick. Or smooth. The transition from the world of horse and cart to the automobile took at least a generation. The Henry Ford’s, Ransom Old’s and Louis Renault’s of the world may have managed to solve the problem of offering the right product at the right price but there were huge ancillary problems ahead. For example, the world had to wait until 1915 when one bright spark — William Phelps Eno — in Detroit, invented the Stop sign. (Eno was also the mastermind behind the one-way street, the taxi stand and the roundabout.) There is change in store for the energy sector, but let’s not try to dismiss it, and if it seems as huge a change as seems likely, let’s not stick a horse’s head on it in the hope it will eventually go away.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 5

PEOPLE NEWS

Leyden ships across as SunEdison takes over Solar Grid Storage in readiness for new US markets SunEdison, the US solar project developer, has acquired a number of key staff from its take-over of Solar Grid Storage in March. Tom Leyden, the chief executive of Solar Grid Storage — a start-up that specialises in packaging lithium-ion batteries and inverters with commercial solar PV projects — became vice president of energy storage deployment in SunEdison’s Advanced Solutions group In all SunEdison will acquire a project development team, four existing projects, and roughly 100MW of project pipeline of Solar Grid Storage. Under SunEdison’s ownership the company will expand into new US markets as well as overseas. Tim Derrick, general manager of SunEdison Advanced Solutions, said: “Our strategy is to in-

Leyden: new VP for energy storage deployment

crease the value of the solar and wind projects that we finance, develop, own, and operate by improv-

ing their availability and ability to interact with the grid. “With this acquisition,

we have added the capability to pair energy storage with solar and wind projects, thereby creating more valuable projects and positioning ourselves as a leader in the rapidly growing energy storage market.” While SunEdison may be the first big solar company to buy its way into the storage business, analysts predict that it won’t be the last. Many analysts note the natural synergy between companies such as SunEdison and the energy storage market and forecast more deals in 2015. The deal with Solar Grid Storage is the first pairing of a solar generator with a storage firm since Jerry Brown, governor of California, called in January for an increase in the state’s renewable energy goal to 50% by 2030 from 30% by 2020.

CODA Energy hires Detering as new CEO CODA Energy appointed Paul Detering as its chief executive officer in March in what it describes as an important step in its transformation from electric vehicle manufacturer to becoming an energy storage solutions provider. Detering was previously managing director of Redwood Insights, a consultancy focused on early stage and mid-size companies and funds in the renewable energy, technology and communications industries. As part of his work at Redwood he has also previously been CEO of a number of companies including

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REC Solar, Tioga Energy, Blueleaf Networks and Wildfire Communications. Detering also founded Tioga Energy, a VC-funded commercial solar developer and power purchase agreement innovator. Tioga Energy secured over $400 million in corporate and project capital and was sold to sPower in 2013 Detering is a veteran leader of early and growth stage technology companies with more than 20 years of experience in the clean technology, telecom and software industries. CODA is backed by funds managed by affili-

ates of Fortress Investment Group and a European Family Office. Detering said: “CODA Energy has one of the most comprehensive, competitive energy storage solutions available in the market today. “In 2014, CODA Energy created a solid foundation by developing and installing the most innovative, reliable, and adaptable UL Listed storage technology on the market today. “With commercial installations in six US states ranging from networked, single 30kW/40kWh systems to an extensive

510kW/1,054kWh project, CODA has demonstrated its capability to effectively commercialize and deliver distributed energy storage.”

Detering: clean tech expert

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PEOPLE NEWS

Aqua Metals moves into next phase of development, appoints Cotton as CCO Aqua Metals, a developer of an electrochemical refining process to recycle lead batteries, has appointed Steve Cotton as its chief commercial officer Cotton comes to Aqua Metals as the co-founder and former CEO of Data Power Monitoring Corporation and IntelliBatt (now Canara), where he successfully grew the business from a garage in 2001 to over $20 million in annual revenues before being acquired in June 2012 for $22.5 million by Columbia Capital.

Canara became the global leader for providing an innovative package of lead acid batteries, monitoring equipment and reliability and lifecycle management services for the data centre industry with over 300 data centres worldwide and a history of managing well over one million lead acid batteries. Aqua Metals says it has developed a breakthrough technology called AquaRefining, which eliminates the inefficiencies, costs and toxic wastes associated with conventional smelter-

based recycling of lead acid batteries. AquaRefining delivers a better product, at a higher yield, eliminates toxic waste, reduces permitting and is less expensive to build than smelting. “The lead acid recycling industry has consistently been one of the most polluting industries in the world,” says Cotton. “The founders of Aqua Metals have leveraged their training, experience and expertise to re-invent the lead acid recycling process and move the $24 billion lead industry into the 21st century.”

Cotton is the holder of a 2009 patent that looks at methods for remote monitoring of the condition of batteries.

C&D Technologies appoints Lauzon as CEO C&D Technologies, a producer of standby lead-acid batteries for the telecom and UPS markets, has appointed Armand Lauzon as president and chief executive. He started on February 24. He replaces outgoing CEO Christian Rheault. For the past 13 years he has been a chief executive and board member for three portfolio companies of the Carlyle Group, one of the largest private equity firms with $200+ billion in assets. He was most recently CEO of Sequa Corporation, a current portfolio company of Carlyle, that was taken private in 2007 with three operating units: Chromalloy (a supplier of technologically advanced repairs for the aerospace industry), Precoat Metals (largest independent metal coil coater in North America), and Sequa Automotive Group (manufacturer of inflators and sensors, sold in late 2012). He became a board member at Sequa in 2007, took over as the acting COO in July 2008, and then became chief executive in December 2008 of this global $2

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billion plus group of companies with operations in 15+ countries. Before Sequa, Armand was executive chairman and CEO of JM Steel Group, the largest independent steel tubular manufacturer in North America. JM Steel was formed in 2005 and 2006 through a series of private to private transactions that included the John Maneely Company, Atlas Tube, and Sharon Tube. He assumed a board seat in 2005 and transitioned into the CEO position five months post-acquisition. From the time of purchase to exit, the company increased sales by three times

and EBITDA by four, and reduced working capital by 50%. Armand’s first work with Carlyle was at Firth Rixon, which was taken private and merged with Forged Metal in 2002, and then merged in 2004 with Schlosser Forge to manufacture seamless and welded rings, die forgings, extrusions, and metal ingot. He was recruited to be the CEO upon Carlyle’s acquisition of this $400 million business with eight facilities in three countries, and 800 employees. Armand joined The Carlyle Group from Precision Castparts Corporation, a

leader in structural investment castings, forged components and airfoil castings for aircraft engines. At Precision Castparts he led both the investment casting and forging related businesses including working as president, for Wyman Gordon, a $500 million subsidiary of PCC that manufactures forged metal components for gas turbine, aircraft and medical industries. He had full P&L responsibility for 10 manufacturing plants, plus sales, marketing, materials, finance and human resources, with 2,500 employees worldwide. Earlier in his career, Armand held a variety of operations positions with General Electric (Aircraft Engine Division), Textron Lycoming and Fairview Machine Company, a specialized manufacturer of precision components and assemblies for the medical and aerospace industries. “Armand’s experience in growing successful companies is a perfect fit for the next stage of C&D,” said David Treadwell, chairman of C&D Technologies.

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PEOPLE NEWS

Battery Innovation Center appoints David Roberts president, Ben Wrightsman COO The Battery Innovation Center in the US state of Indiana has appointed David Roberts, the former chief executive of En-

erDel, as its president. Ben Wrightsman, a former EnerDel director of strategic applications and of supply chain and procurement be-

Roberts (left), Wrightman: “poised to achieve original mission”

New industry-academic partnership picks professor of energy storage research Renewable energy expert Deyang Qu has been named as the Johnson Controls endowed professor in Energy Storage Research, a collaborative appointment between the company, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Energy Institute. Qu’s new duties, in Milwaukee, include helping lead joint projects that will get ideas and concepts about storing energy out of labs and into products. Qu has been a faculty member in the chemistry department at the University of Massachusetts Boston since 2005. He will be responsible for providing

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long-term strategic coordination between the universities and the clean energy industry’s needs in matters of curricula, sponsored research and the nurturing of talent. During his tenure at UMass Boston, Qu built a recognized research programme in energy storage systems for electric vehicles, smart-grid technology and military applications. Qu brings with him two PhD students, one senior research associate and a visiting professor. He holds three patents and brings existing grants from the US Department of Energy and the Office of Naval Research.

comes chief operations officer/chief engineer. The appointments follow the death of Chuck LaSota, its president and CEO. Roberts has also been a board member of a Chinese joint venture with Wanxiang, an IP counsel for Caterpillar, an engineer with Lockheed Martin, and is a patent and business attorney in private practice with Gutwein Law. “The BIC is poised to not only achieve the original mission and goals of the organization, but when we have the opportunity to create additional offerings that will serve many areas of need for the industry,” he said. “For example, not only can the BIC be a test and evaluation lab with pilot manufacturing capabilities, the BIC is positioned to be a certification body helping to set and test to standards for the industry. Our position as a nonprofit that does not take IP rights housed in a secure facility in central Indiana should also alleviate many concerns from industry participants.” Wrightsman is a strategic industry executive with over 15 years of experience in high tech manufacturing, electronics, and product de-

velopment companies. “In my brief time here, I’ve been impressed with the quality of the facilities and the talent of the BIC team,” he said. “Our current consortium members and customers have repeatedly provided positive feedback regarding the quality of the services and the reliability of the data that we have been able to generate. “There are not many — if any — other places in the world where you can have coin, cylindrical, and pouch cells manufactured and tested to provide unbiased data that can be used to validate new technologies for marketing or fundraising purposes.” He added that he and Roberts also look forward to beginning a battery training certification programme where individuals can receive an overview of “all things batteries”, including an overview of available chemistries, cell design considerations, microgrid system configurations, BMS strategies, and new breakthrough technologies. “The BIC truly is the catalyst to meaningful energy storage technology development, and that’s why I’m excited to be here,” he said.

Abertax’s Schneider and Boehnstedt retire Johannes Schneider, senior vice president of Abertax and Werner Boehnstedt, a council member at the Maltaheadquartered firm. have retired. “Everyone in the Abertax Group of Companies is grateful that both gentlemen truly contributed to the positive development

of Abertax in the fields of marketing, corporate organisation, and public appearance,” said a company official. “Their contribution of professional experience and battery expertise will be missed. We wish them happiness in their well deserved retirement.”

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PEOPLE NEWS

Australia’s AGL Energy hires AES’ Vesey as new chief executive For the record, Andrew Vesey joined AGL Energy on January 12 as the company’s new managing director and chief executive and replacing Michael Fraser who retired on February 11, following the half year results announcement. Fraser established AGL as one of Australia’s largest energy retailers and led the expansion of the utility’s activities in renewables, thermal power generation and upstream gas exploration and development. Vesey was perviously executive vice president and chief operating officer at AES Corporation, an independent power producer

with businesses in 20 countries. Vesey has more than 30 years’ experience in the energy sector, including strategic and commercial leadership of large energy organizations. While at AES Vesey gained knowledge and experience of large-scale re-

newables, including wind and solar, as well as rooftop solar and battery storage, particularly the R&D and commercialization of new technologies that are expected to shape future energy markets and pave the way for new business models in the electricity markets. His duties at AES also included chairing subsidiary Daytona Power and Light, which operates competitive electricity retail businesses in Ohio and Illinois. “His experience in creating value in energy companies with evolving business models will be an advantage to AGL,” said Jeremy

Maycock, chairman of the utility. Vesey joined AES in 2004 from FTI Consulting, where he was managing director of the utility finance and regulatory advisory practice. During his 10 years at AES, Vesey held a number of senior positions, including chief operating officer of global utilities, leading AES businesses in 10 countries, and executive vice president and president for Latin America and Africa. Before that he was a partner in the energy, chemicals and utilities practice at Ernst & Young. Vesey’s appointment as AGL’s chief executive sees him return to Australia. Before Ernst & Young, Vesey worked in at Citipower in the company’s offices in Melbourne. Vesey has also written papers on restructuring transmission grids and the role of new technology in deregulated electricity markets. ■

National Grid’s Winser to chair new UK energy systems, storage centre Nick Winser, a National Grid executive director, has been appointed as chairman of a new energy systems centre in the UK that aims to speed commercialization of storage and other energy and grid technologies. The Energy Systems Catapult, which opened for business in April, is one of several hubs set up by the UK government to improve links between cutting-edge fields of R&D and private industry. Winser had been a member of National Grid’s board for 11 years before leaving last year. This July he will also step down as chairman of subsidiaries National Grid Gas and National Grid Electricity Transmission as well as president of the European

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Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity. Winser previously had been the chief operating officer of National Grid’s US transmission business since 2001. He began working at National Grid in 1993 holding a number of managerial roles before becoming the company’s director of engineering in 2001. He started his career at the state-owned Central Electricity Generating Board in 1983, working in a number of technical and engineering posts before becoming involved in the privatization of the UK electricity industry in 1989, then joining PowerGen as a commercial negotiator in 1991. The focus of the Energy

Systems Catapult will be on technology-based products and services, including energy storage, to transform and improve energy networks, in electricity, combustible gases and heat. Like its counterparts, the main aim of the Energy Systems Catapult is to connect businesses with UK research and academia, support the commercialization of new products and services and open up new opportunities for exporting to global markets. UK universities have been leading developers in whole systems approaches to energy as well as enabling technologies for energy systems such as storage, power electronics, system controls and communications technologies.

However, small and midsized companies that are trying to bring these types of innovations and new products to market face a number of obstacles. For example, in dealing with a sector that is regulated, conservative and complex, suffers a lack of resources and a need for supportive environments in which to test promising inventions and new technologies relating to energy systems. ■

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PEOPLE NEWS

New executive chairman for Ioxus Ioxus has appointed Donald Runkle as its executive chairman. Runkle is an authority in the automotive industry with C-level experience at General Motors and Delphi. At General Motors Runkle held a variety of assignments, including chief engineer of Chevrolet, chief engineer of powertrain and racing at the Buick Division, director of Advanced Vehicle Engineering, vice president of GM’s Advanced Engineering Staff and vice president of GM’s North American Engineering Center where he was GM’s top engineering executive.

Runkle: ex-GM veteran

After GM, Runkle became vice-chairman of Delphi Corporation where he was the senior executive for

deploying lean principles and streamlining and integrating engineering, manufacturing, and purchasing. Runkle was Delphi’s chief technology officer, responsible for R&D, global supply management, and executive leadership of engineering and manufacturing. He was also the leader for the DaimlerChrysler and Commercial Vehicle customer teams, two of the higher growth customer accounts. “He has had a career filled with innovation and successes, and this makes him an exceptional fit for our vision for the future” said Mark McGough, Ioxus’s

CEO. Runkle said: “The auto industry has taken seriously the challenge for improved efficiency, lower environmental impact and growing customer demands for increased electrical/electronic features. “Ioxus’ proprietary technology is now capable for meeting these global challenges, particularly in the aggressive automotive sector. “The potential for rapid growth, a strong set of investors, and an extraordinary and experienced management team made it and easy decision to join this company.”

Solaris Power Cells appoints new chairman and COO Solaris Power Cells, a renewable energy storage start-up firm, has appointed former California state senator Charles Calderon as its chairman and Steve Lawrence as its chief operating officer. Calderon has spent 38 years as a lawyer and legislator. “He is the only legislator in California to serve

as majority leader of both the California State Senate and Assembly,” says a Solaris announcement. “During his tenure as a legislator he created the California Earthquake Authority and authored the California Interstate Banking Act and the Calderon-Sher Safe Drinking Water Act along with many other significant

Redﬂow hires former Siemens sales exec Australia-based zinc-bromide battery company Redflow has appointed Frédéric Ridou as sales manager for Europe, based in Germany. Ridou was previously energy storage systems sales manager for Saft’s Industrial Batteries Group in Nuremberg. Before that he worked with Siemens as well as Total as an analyst for the German oil market. His recent experience at Saft has covered the range of energy storage systems applications from small

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residential to utility scale, on or off-grid. Stuart Smith, chief executive officer of Redflow, said his experience was part of a drive into Europe. “His experience with leading companies in the energy industry will help us achieve volume sales contracts. “In addition to residential systems, the distributed generation and commercial markets will also be targeted in Europe with applications ranging from several kWh to MWh.”

social, economic, environmental and regulatory laws.” Calderon said: My work with the California State Legislature has helped shape the renewable energy legislative portfolio within the State of California. Therefore, we are prepared to spearhead Solaris Power Cells into the Renewable Energy Corridor and help energy companies utilize our cutting-edge technology

East Penn promotes Miksiewicz to senior VP position For the record, East Penn Manufacturing has promoted Larry Miksiewicz as senior vice president of manufacturing and purchasing. He reports directly to Robert Flicker, chief operating officer. Miksiewicz will oversee each of the company’s manufacturing divisions including Automotive, Industrial (reserve power & motive

in order to meet the capacity for energy storage.

Political clout: Calderon

power), and Diversified (wire, cable, accessories, and injection molding). Royal steps down at Maxwell Kevin Royal, senior vice president and chief financial officer will step down from his position during 2015. He joined the firm in 2009. “Royal will remain active in his current role until a successor is named and an effective transition is planned and initiated,” according to the firm.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 11

VIEWPOINT: ILA The International Lead Association’s Steve Finks looks at the growing threat lithium ion batteries pose to lead acid recycling.

Lead, lithium recycling mix: a clear and present danger The efficient collection and recycling of used lead-based industrial and automotive batteries is one of best examples of the circular economy in action. A recent study reported that 99% of all used lead-based automotive batteries are collected and recycled in Europe and in North America. Unfortunately, a new phenomenon has put this remarkable recycling success story at risk. In late 2013 International Lead Association (ILA) member companies that operate secondary lead smelters started to report an increase in the number of lithium-ion batteries that were mixed into deliveries of used lead-based batteries ready to use as feedstock for their recycling process. Due to their chemical composition, fires can occur if a lithium-ion battery is heated up, or is subjected to a sustained shock (something that is common in battery breaking facilities) which would subsequently cause ignition of the flammable electrolyte. Because lithium batteries have a higher energy density than most batteries, they present a greater risk of a thermal runaway reaction that can result in a fire. If the fire is seen, and put out quickly, then an explosion is unlikely to occur, but if the fire is not identified or put out quickly, the thermal runaway could potentially lead to an explosion. In addition, the scenario is likely to be more severe if the batteries are in a confined space, as this can result in quicker temperature and pressure increases, and therefore an increased chance of an explosion. Sadly a number of significant safety incidents have now been reported that have highlighted the risk to property, but more importantly the safety of employees. Confusingly, several lithium-ion batteries used in automotive applications have the same dimensions and appearance as lead SLI batteries, making them extremely difficult to identify with a visual inspection — especially when received in pallets or bins containing thousands of used batteries.

12 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

Friend or foe? At ﬁrst glance these lithium ion batteries appear identical to their lead acid counterparts

Unlike lead-based batteries, there is little commercial value in a used lithium-ion battery — in fact, there is a cost to dispose of them. As a result there is actually an incentive to dispose of lithium-ion batteries by co-mingling them with used lead batteries. So what is the scale of the problem? In 2014, after the Association of Battery Recyclers also drew attention to this issue and called for action, ILA undertook a survey of its member companies across Europe and North America and discovered that 26 out of the 27 secondary smelters who responded reported incidents resulting from the inclusion of lithium-ion batteries in feedstock. The respondents indicated that lithium-ion batteries had caused fires or, even in some cases explosions during the transport, storage, breaking and smelting operations. It was also reported that the number of incidents was increasing, with the frequency in 2013 almost 10 times than seen in 2010. As a result of these problems, lead battery recyclers have initiated a number of actions including raising awareness of the importance of separating different battery chemistries during collection before supply to smelters, increased training of employees and enhanced vigilance to identify the rogue batteries when scrap arrives at the smelter. They have also investigated the use of enhanced separating technologies at the smelter such as identification by density, X-ray, or radio-frequency identification (RFID). In addition, the industry has called for urgent action by lithium-ion battery suppliers to im-

“The burden for the sustainability and the responsible recycling of their products needs to be borne by the manufacturers of the alternative chemistries and not shirked off to other recycling industries” — Rick Leiby, East Penn www.batteriesinternational.com

VIEWPOINT: ILA prove the ability of collection companies and recyclers to identify the different battery technologies. One of the simplest solutions is to label the batteries with some identifier that aids visual sorting, but putting labels on consumer products that will stay attached and remain legible at the end of life is a problem. Moreover, existing batteries in circulation would also require labelling when they reached the end of life, prior to sorting and supply to the recycler. ILA is concerned that the lead-acid recycling industry is facing an immediate issue about how best to address the problem as any potential labelling solution, be it voluntary or mandated by changes to existing regulation is several years away. In the meantime we can expect that the number of used lithium-ion batteries resembling existing lead-based technology will only increase as these batteries reach the end of their useable life. The search for a solution to allow better identification of different battery chemistries is ongoing in the US through the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and in Europe through the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) with proposals to develop standardized colour-coded labelling, based on that already used in Japan. These initiatives are collaborative and involve both lead-based and lithium-ion battery manufacturers as well as the recycling industry represented by ILA. However, it has to be said that this type of label may not work well when sorting at higher processing rates which are typical in lead-acid battery recycling facilities. At a recent conference Rick Leiby, vice president metals operations for East Penn Manufacturing said: “Until the issue is truly resolved, the burden of disposal could ultimately fall on the shoulders of the lead-acid recyclers.

Lithium into lead won’t go: an accident waiting to happen

Potential liabilities will be present to everyone involved for property damage, employee injury and environmental damage.” He concluded that: “The burden for the sustainability and the responsible recycling of their products needs to be borne by the manufacturers of the alternative chemistries and not shirked off to other recycling industries”. It is clear that producer responsibility needs to play a significant role in any solution. However, until improved battery chemistry identification solutions are adopted, all players including lithium ion battery manufacturers, battery sorters and lead battery recyclers, must work together to ensure that we are not faced with the tragedy of a fatality, or significant industrial injury,

that has resulted from a fire or explosion caused by a lithium-ion battery erroneously entering the lead battery recycling stream.

STEVE BINKS

THE ECONOMICS OF LEAD RECYCLING All of the lead in a battery is available for recycling and with rates of lead recycling at 99% in both Europe and the US, lead batteries can be considered one of the most recycled consumer products in the world. One of the reasons for high recycling rates is that there is a signiﬁcant economic incentive to

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collect and recycle used automotive lead-based batteries. Recycling lead is relatively simple and cost effective and, in most of the current applications where lead is used, it is possible to recover it for further use over and over again — in lead batteries, or other products — without any loss in quality.

Steve Binks joined the ILA as its regulatory affairs director in 2011 having previously worked as director of hazard assessment & communication at GlaxoSmithKline

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 13

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NEWS

Problems ahead for China’s lead-acid tax: supply/demand imbalance set to continue China’s 4% consumption tax on lead-acid batteries — to be introduced on January 1 next year — may not be enough to slow production to the point that it aligns with slowing demand, say analysts. They question the timing of the move. “This tax has been talked about for some time, so its announcement is not really a surprise — only in doubt was the timing,” says Neil Hawkes, lead analyst at CRU, a commodity research consultancy. “A 4% tax on the manufacture of lead-acid batteries is the government’s way of reducing the excess lead-acid battery making capacity in the country.” It also reflects the government’s wish to shift away from lead-acid toward other battery chemistries. China’s finance ministry has exempted Ni-MH, lithium-ion, lith-

ium primary batteries, and solar cells from the tax. The move continues an environmental clampdown that began in mid-2011, which has caused the number of battery plants to shrink. However, those remaining have looked to expand to try and take more market share, says Hawkes. “Unfortunately, if too many survivors expand, alongside a still significant number of smaller-scale informal operators that continue to evade detection, this will continue to result in too many batteries still being made.” He says that cut-throat competition coupled with an attempt to reduce excess battery stocks along the supply chain has resulted in lower battery prices. Other factors putting Chinese leadacid battery makers under pressure include lower lo-

cal lead prices and weaker battery demand growth — partly due to a slower e-bike sector, but also because all lead-acid battery sectors are growing at slower rate in recent years. Hawkes says: “The big question is whether a 4% consumption tax will push more battery makers over the edge and make them close — and will they exit in sufficient numbers to align battery making more closely in line with (slower growth) domestic needs? “One sign of excess battery capacity is the rising Chinese battery exports last year, as companies look to raise exports to offset weaker domestic sales. Once the tax is imposed, we could see export flows start to wane.” In 2013, a report titled Opinions on Promoting the Regular Development of Lead-acid Battery and Sec-

Sacred Sun moves ahead in new battery production facilities Chinese lead-acid battery manufacturer Sacred Sun has started work on the phase II construction of its expansion of the Sacred Sun Industrial Park. The purpose of the project is to facilitate the subsequent manufacturing of Sacred Sun’s new high-energy and long-life

lead carbon batteries. Related company leaders, contractor leaders and some employees participated in a ground-breaking ceremony in mid-March which was presided over by Li Shuhua, chairman of Sacred Sun’s Labor Union. The project, which covers a construction area

Sacred Sun staff at the February AGM of the company

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of 26,000 m2, should be completed in two years. With a total investment of Rmb210 million ($35 million), the production capacity of the project is expected to reach 2 million kAVh. After the completion of this project, Sacred Sun’s annual production capacity will reach 6 million kAVh.

ondary Lead Industries was jointly issued by five ministries (Ministry of Industry and Information, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Commerce, National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Finance). It labelled the lead-acid battery and secondary lead industries as the major ones with “backward” production capacities to be eliminated, and stated that the outdated capacities that had not passed environmental scrutiny and do not comply with access conditions must be eliminated by the end of 2015. Nevertheless the overall outlook — all battery chemistries combined — for China’s battery market is positive. The sector is forecast to grow at a rate of over 8% in the next three years according to analysis last summer by SinoMarketInsight, a Beijing-headquartered research consultancy. SinoMarketInsight says growth will be driven by the demand from emerging downstream sectors like electric vehicle and energy storage equipment. The most used chemical batteries in China are lead acid, lithium, NiMH and nickel-cadmium batteries. SinoMarketInsight says lead-acid and lithium ion batteries have a stable downstream demand and huge market size, However the prospect for enlargement of the nickel battery segment is poor due to issues such as their performance, environmental issues, and price. China’s lead-acid battery output rose to 205 million KVAh in 2013, up 15.4% from a year earlier.

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NEWS

Polypore sold in $3.2 billion two part deal but legal challenges to sale emerge Agreement was finalized in February for US battery separator firm Polypore International, to be split into two and sold for $3.2 billion. Asahi Kasei Corporation is to acquire its energy storage business and US-based 3M will acquire its separations media segment. In the merger agreement, Asahi Kasei Corporation will buy the company for $60.50 per share in cash, through a US subsidiary. The price of the sale agreement has subsequently been challenged by Brodsky & Smith, a US litigation law firm. Immediately before Asahi Kasei’s acquisition of Polypore, 3M Company will acquire the assets of Polypore’s Separations Media segment for approximately $1 billion and Asahi Kasei will receive the cash proceeds from the asset sale. “The definitive agreements require that the sale of the company and the integrated sale of the Separations Media segment closing conditions for both transactions have been satisfied and that the closings of the transactions are conditioned upon one another,” said a Polypore statement. “The per share consideration represents an enterprise value for the company of approximately $3.2 billion and a premium of approximately 24% over the volume weighted average share price for the 10 trading days up to and including February 20.” On February 25 law firm Brodsky & Smith, announced that it was investigating potential claims against the board of directors of Polypore for what it described as “possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law in connection with the sale of the company to Asa-

18 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

hi Kasei Corporation. “The investigation concerns whether the board of Polypore breached their fiduciary duties to stockholders by failing to adequately shop the company before agreeing to enter into this transaction, and whether Asahi is underpaying for Polypore … the transaction may undervalue Polypore and will result in a loss for many long term Polypore shareholders. Polypore stock has traded as high as $72.00 per share. “Consequently, an analyst has placed a $62.00 per share price target on Polypore stock and it has been reported that an analyst has also indicated that he thinks other bidders may be willing to top the price being paid by Asahi. However, the deal has a $39 million breakup fee which could hinder a topping offer from being received. “ The transactions have been approved by the

boards of directors of Asahi Kasei, 3M, and Polypore, and are subject to the customary regulatory and Polypore shareholder approvals. “The combination of our energy storage business with Asahi Kasei and our separations media business with 3M are excellent strategic fits, which we believe create value for our people, customers and shareholders,” said Robert Toth, Polypore’s president. “When you combine our technology, process capabilities, and material science expertise with their technology, global reach and broader resources, there’s a great opportunity to accelerate growth going forward. “Clearly, our people have done a tremendous job in building strong businesses that are positioned to address exciting global market trends and needs over the long term, and have the potential to achieve a new level

of success by playing a major role in the future growth of two leading global technology companies.” Analysts view on the sale has been mixed, however. “For long time investors in Polypore, the buyout will end what has been a tough time for the company,” said one commentator. “After soaring in 2011, the stock hasn’t done much since, and despite increasing interest in electric vehicles, Polypore hasn’t seen the growth that investors had hoped to see, and this quarter’s results make it hard for investors to feel bad about taking a buyout bid. “Still, Polypore didn’t live up to its full potential, and while Asahi might have better luck tapping the potential of Polypore’s energy storage business, that success will come as little comfort for those who ended up not profiting from their Polypore holdings in the end.”

Maxwell advances ESM as lead acid truck battery substitute Maxwell Technologies, the ultracapacitor firm, announced in March that its ultracapacitor-based Engine Start Module (ESM) will be offered as a factory-installed option on new Kenworth T680 and T880 trucks. The firm also signed an agreement with Purkeys, an electrical systems provider for the trucking industry, for distribution of its ESM to the North American heavy duty trucking industry. “Fleet owners, operators and managers will enjoy the benefits of dedicated ultracapacitor power for dependable

engine starting from day one,” said a Maxwell official. “With batteries no longer required for this task, truck drivers can use truck accessories, such as lights and lift gates, without worrying about whether there is sufficient power remaining to crank the engine or if they will need to call for a jumpstart.” Kenworth dealers have offered the ESM as an aftermarket solution since 2011. The firm becomes the first original equipment manufacturer to offer Maxwell’s ESM as a factory-installed option.

Bruce Purkey, chief creative engineer at Purkeys says the distribution agreement will help Maxwell expand its North American sales of the ESM and provide individualized attention to fleet customers and original equipment manufacturers seeking alternative energy solutions. “We expect Maxwell’s Engine Start Module line to help significantly reduce our industry’s engine cranking challenges, and we look forward to working together to address other energy obstacles facing this market,” he says.

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NEWS

Lead acid battery market to grow annually 4.6% by 2020, grid storage to climb by 7.3% from small base The global lead acid battery market is projected to reach $58.5 billion by 2020 at an estimated compound annual growth rate of 4.6% during the forecast period, according to a new report by Future Market Insights. The Global Lead Acid Battery: Market Analysis and Opportunities Assessment, 2014-2020 report suggests that transportation and stationary industrial segments collectively contributed to around 77.9% of market revenues in 2014. “The stationary industrial application segment is identified as one of the fastest growing markets during the forecast period with a CAGR of 8.6%,” says the report. “Grid storage as of 2013 accounted for a minuscule share, and is projected to grow at a healthy CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period.” The report also states that the residential application segment is projected to register a slowest CAGR of 2.7% for forecast period. It says that transportation, commercial and residential applications represent moderate growth and high value markets which are collectively expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.4%. According to the report, as of 2014, Asia Pacific dominates the market and accounts for around 34.2% of the global market, followed by North America and Europe. The Asia Pacific lead acid battery market was valued at $15.2 billion in 2014, and is projected to reach $19.8 billion by 2020 — a CAGR of 4.5%. In 2014, North America accounted for 21.6% of sales and Western Europe by 18.7% in the global market. Although Eastern

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Europe accounted for a small share in the global market, it is expected to register highest CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period. The report says that Asia Pacific and Latin America represent high potential opportunities for lead acid battery manufacturers due to increasing investment in power grid infrastructure. Both the regions collectively are expected to occupy around 41% of incremental absolute dollar opportunity share during the forecast period. Matured economies are projected to exhibit a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period. The rapid urbanization and industrialization trend in various developing countries across the globe is one among the chief drivers of lead acid battery market, states the report. “Lead acid batteries are one of the predominantly used batteries in automobiles such as passenger cars, commercial vehicles and

Asia Paciﬁc and Latin America represent high potential opportunities for lead acid battery manufacturers due to increasing investment in power grid infrastructure motorcycles. Increasing requirement of uninterrupted power supply in industries, corporate offices, hospitals, research institutions, educational institutes and houses further enhance the demand for these batteries,” the report said. It says that implementation of smart grid projects, deployment of vehicle charging infrastructure, increasing usage of hybrid and electric vehicles, installation of renewable energy systems and span of telecom tower networks are some of the

underlying demand drivers for lead acid battery market across the globe. “The global lead acid battery market is fragmented, with the presence of number of local and international players,” it concludes. “In several developing and under developing countries, regional vendors dominate the market, as they provide cost effective lead acid batteries. Currently, international players are posing a challenge to local vendors, as they provide better quality lead acid batteries.”

Lithium-ion market in India set to climb by 35% CAGR to 2020 The market for lithium-ion batteries market in India is projected to witness double digit growth at over 35% CAGR during the next five years, according to a new research report by TechSci Research. In India, lithium-ion batteries have enjoyed increasing adoption in consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablets, and healthcare equipment. With continuing technological developments, they are also being used in the automo-

bile industry, particularly in electric vehicles. This is acting as a catalyst for market growth in the country. However, India largely imports lithium-ion batteries from other Asian countries mainly from China, Taiwan and South Korea. This lack of indigenous manufacturing units for lithium-ion batteries is expected to act as a major growth inhibitor in the India market over the next five years. However, government ef-

forts to minimize carbon emissions and toxicity level in the environment is likely to drive the adoption of lithium-ion batteries across major end-use industries including consumer electronics and automotive. In addition, the government has announced tax exemption on electric vehicles powered by lithiumion batteries, which is anticipated to drive the market over the next five years. The major players in the Indian market are Samsung SDI, Sony and AMCO.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 19

NEWS

Battery Solutions becomes ﬁrst US recycler with automatic battery sorting US battery recycler Battery Solutions has entered into an agreement to acquire stateof-the-art battery sorting technology from Swedenbased technology company Refind. The move makes Battery Solutions the first US company to invest in automated sorting and data collection technology to manage waste batteries. Refind’s system is already in use in three UK plants. The system from Refind sorts up to 2,500 pounds of batteries per hour and will significantly improve existing sorting capabilities currently used by Battery Solutions. Batteries are recognized by their visual characteristics and are then separated by air ejectors at a speed of more than 10 batteries per second.

This technology investment increases efficiency and reduces costs while collecting detailed data about the batteries: information about brand, model, size, and age can be retrieved from every single battery. The compiled data will give broader insight and knowledge into the multibillion-dollar US battery market. The two companies have agreed to work closely to further develop the applications for the information collected. Thomas Bjarnemark, Battery Solutions CEO says: “It’s particularly important as more states and countries realize the environmental and economic benefits of collecting and recycling batteries, especially alkaline.” Hans Eric Melin, CEO of Refind, added: “For Refind, it’s an important first step

into the US market with a customer that shares our vision of sorting as an important driver for battery recycling.” Battery Solutions’ collection process allows customers to put all battery chemistries into one container. When received by Battery Solutions, the batteries must be sorted by chemistry be-

Lead-acid battery industry to play big role in automotive advances The lead-acid battery industry could become a major player in the market for 48-volt automotive systems, according to Chip Bremer, communications manager for the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium. His comments follow the ALABC’s recent showcase of three hybrid electric concept vehicles at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (AABC Europe 2015) held in Germany in January. The vehicles resulted from ALABC’s R&D programme, which aims to demonstrate the potential of lead-carbon batteries in 48V architectures. The models on display were the 48V LC SuperHybrid; the 48V Kia Optima T-Hybrid; and the ADEPT 48V. “We’ve shown here that these lead-carbon batteries

20 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

can not only meet the requirements for these systems, but also provide automakers a cost-effective option for low-emission, turbo-powered performance at that voltage,” Bremer says. “The fact that two OEMs, Ford and Kia/Hyundai, have assisted directly with these projects, and even more automakers are showing interest in similar ventures, is a big deal for lead-acid battery producers. “For years, we’ve been helping to evolve the leadacid battery into a highperformance energy storage device capable of operating in high-rate partial state-ofcharge duty yet still remain cost-effective and highly recyclable. ALABC European project coordinator Allan Cooper says the concept of 48-volt

mild hybrid powertrains is attracting interest from automakers because they are working to lower CO2 emissions by increased electrification of the powertrain as opportunities for achieving still more fuel efficient engines diminish. “The problem is, while needing to reduce emissions, it is necessary to keep production at a relatively low cost,” he says. “Right now, we believe the best way to achieve that is with a modified micro/mild-hybrid powertrain powered by advanced lead-carbon batteries — just like the ones we put on display. “The ALABC feels privileged to be working with Hyundai and Ford, as well as our other partners, in evaluating these lead carbon batteries and other essential

fore being recycled, just like sorting paper from plastic in single stream recycling. UK waste battery collection and recycling company G & P Batteries (G & P) announced last June it had the capacity to sort around three million non-lead acid battery cells per week due to improvements made to its automated sorting system. components in these vehicles.” According to Cooper, the 48V demonstrators solve some of the problems with making 48V low-emission systems appealing to the general consumer. “By downsizing and down-speeding the engine to reduce CO2 emissions, you significantly reduce the vehicle’s performance, making it less ‘fun to drive’,” he says. “But by adding electrical components like the Valeo supercharger and the CPT SpeedStart ISG, you can give a 1.4 litre engine the performance of a 1.8 litre engine or better, and still provide the same enhanced emission benefits. “In essence, this system allows you to reduce fuel consumption with additional electrical components but increase performance while still maintaining a low production cost because of the use of lead-carbon batteries.”

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NEWS

Sakura introduces desulphator to extend life for deep cycle lead acid batteries A new product could be used to extend the life of the deep-cycle batteries typically used in off grid solar and wind power systems. The Battery Extra EX02, from Sakura Batteries UK aims to end the premature and costly failure of batteries due to sulphate build up on the battery plates. The Battery Extra EX02

was developed specifically for larger battery banks, up to 3,000 Ah, found in off grid systems. Sakura describes it as “a powerful and very compact desulphator able to fully clean both the negative and positive battery plates of sulphate crystal build up without the need for damaging high voltage spikes.”

The Battery Extra EX02 works by creating a wide range of radio frequency signals coupled with a voltage pulse, and sending them to the battery, these are designed to gradually dissolve the sulphate crystals, which build up on the plates of the batteries. Brian Burton, sales director of Sakura Batteries,

said: “In effect we are offering a free trial of our product, no ifs or buts. If the Battery Extra EX02 desulphator does not improve the performance of your batteries, we give you your money back. Plus we offer an extended three year warrantee with all Battery Extra desulphator products.”

New investment for Canada’s largest lead-acid battery recycler

RS Components makes FIAMM batteries available globally

The new owners of Canada’s largest lead-acid battery recycler have said they plan to make capital investments to improve the facility. The Ville Ste-Catherine facility in Québec previously belonged to Industrial Division of Calgary-based Newalta Corporation, but the entire industrial division was sold to Birch Hill Equity Partners of Toronto in December. (The, transaction officially closed on February 27.) It is now run by Terrapure Environmental, a new stand-alone environmental services company. “Our new owners are committed to investing in

our company to take our strong foundation and make it even better,” said a Terrapure spokesperson. “The Ville Ste-Catherine facility is strategically important to our overall business and growth potential. It is also plays a vital role in keeping a potentially hazardous substance out of the natural environment and recovering its inherent value through recycling. “As such, we are implementing capital investments to improve the facility’s efficiency and increase our ability to meet customer demand for high-quality Nova Pb lead products.”

FIAMM lead-acid batteries are now being distributed by RS Components, a trading brand of Electrocomponents, as a result of a new direct agreement with the Italian manufacturer. The FIAMM range in stock at RS comprises 23 models offering a selection of 6V and 12V batteries in a range of sizes and with capacity ranging from 1.2Ah to 70Ah. With a discharge profile of 15 minutes to 20 hours, the batteries can provide backup power for systems such as emergency lighting, signalling, security alarms or UPS. They can also be used in small traction applications, marine, and renewable energy storage.

aerial lift industry. We believe IPS is therefore the right partner to take ThermOil forward and continue our penetration of the UK market.”

that is thinner than a credit card and supports wireless charging. KAIST professor Choi Jang-wook and KRISS professor Song Jae-yong led the work. Existing lithium-ion batteries have limits in terms of thickness because their anodes, separation membranes, and cathodes have to be stacked. The research team arranged the anode and cathode collinearly on the same surface, instead of stacking them, and removed the separation membrane. Then, it placed

Thermoil Distributor enhances distribution via IPS ThermOil has appointed IPS as the exclusive UK distributor for its Battery De-Mister and Battery DeSulfater products. These non-hazardous additives optimize the performance and prolong the life of lead acid batteries used in access platforms. Terry Fellner, president of ThermOil, said: “IPS has a huge amount of experience in supplying replacement parts and is highly regarded in the

22 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

Korea scientists develop thin and ﬂexible lithium-ion battery A collaboration between scientists at The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has developed a flexible lithium-ion battery

RS Components says the units are dependable, durable, and economical to own, with a design life of up to five years with float charging and controlled ambient temperature. “We’re pleased to be adding the FIAMM range of lead acid batteries to the RS Components range,” says Ben Lawton, head of category, RS Components. “FIAMM is a very popular lead acid battery brand among customers and have a long and well established reputation for reliable and high quality products. We have introduced this new supplier to give a greater breadth of choice to our customers.” a partition wall between the two to avoid a short circuit. The new battery is expected to be applied to skin sensors, smart cards, and medical patches. In addition, the research team succeeded in developing wireless charging technology by applying a solar cell and electromagnetic induction to the battery. The team is working on mass production techniques for a coplanar battery in combination with new printing techniques.

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NEWS

Paciﬁc Energy to promote Axion’s lead-carbon technology, products Axion Power International, a developer of advanced lead-carbon batteries, has secured a strategic marketing, sales and reselling agreement with Pacific Energy Ventures, a technology and project development firm specializing in the renewable energy and energy storage sectors. Under the agreement, Pacific Energy Ventures will represent Axion Power and its PbC-based products nationally on a non-exclusive basis, initially focused in the area that comprises the power grid of PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organisation serving 13 states in the northeast of the US and the District of Columbia. PEV will promote the sale of PbC and PowerCube products for use with renewable energy and energy storage projects. Phil Baker, the chief operating officer, of Axion Power says: “This important agreement with Pacific Energy Ventures, a company

“This is not an agreement that will lead to a new layer of testing before something happens. We believe PEV will hit the ground running right away.” with significant experience in the renewable energy sector across the US and in certain markets abroad, aligns us with innovative and successful sales and distribution experts in order to both market and sell Axion’s PbC technology. “This is not an agreement that will lead to a new layer of testing before something happens. We believe PEV

will hit the ground running right away.” Steven Kopf, senior partner at Pacific Energy Ventures, says PbC technology has proven itself in frequency regulation on a daily basis for more than two years. “At Pacific Energy Ventures, we concentrate on bringing new technologies to the energy market. The capabilities we see in PbC

Antimony from lead-acid batteries in increasing demand Recycled lead acid batteries are fast gaining acceptance as an easy source of antimony, according to Future Markets Insights, a provider of syndicated research reports.

In a report looking at demand for antimony for between now and 2025 Future Market Insights found that Asia Pacific dominates the global antimony market, primarily due to high

Electrical components boost automotive battery market The increased use of electronics and electrical components such as music systems, GPS devices and ambient lighting in the automotive sector is propelling the growth of the global automotive battery market. That is a key finding of a new report on the global automotive battery market in 2015-2019 by Research and Markets. It states that the market will grow at a CAGR of 5.38% over the period 2014-2019. The batteries commonly used in automobiles are

24 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

and Axion PowerCube products are unique and fit with the growing demand for market-based regulation services. “I do not believe there are other similarly situated companies with Axion Power’s PbC product in the highly profitable area of frequency regulation. Frequency regulation may not be a household term, but it is the art and science that keeps the grid in balance on either the demand or supply side. “We believe PbC can be an important enabling technology in the renewable energy world.”

rechargeable and are usually referred to SLI batteries. They primarily help in starting the motor and lights, and the ignition systems. Batteries used in automobiles are mainly lead-acid. While passenger vehicles are equipped with one battery, heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks and buses, which primarily run on diesel, may have two batteries to complete a 24 volt system. “The start-stop battery system has enabled better fuel efficiency and is one

of the key trends being witnessed in this market,” says the report. “The start-stop system has become the best available solution to create efficiency and conserve energy in vehicles. The system reduces idling time by automatically starting and stopping the ICE in automobiles, which results in low fuel consumption and emissions.” The report says that the demand for automotive components such as infotainment and ambient lighting that depend on batteries has increased.

demand in China. Over 80% of the global antimony production is controlled by China; moreover high GDP growth in the region is expected to drive the antimony market during the forecast period. “Antimony is widely used with lead as a reinforcement to increase the strength of lead in applications such as ammunitions,” said the report. “Antimony is also widely used in lead acid batteries which are among the dominant applications for antimony.” Other applications of antimony include the production of low friction applications and flame proofing materials and glass. Major end user industries of antimony include automobiles, paints, building and construction. Increasing demand for electric vehicles that use lead-acid batteries — is expected to drive demand for antimony in the coming decade.

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NEWS

ZBB Energy targets commercial, industrial building market with Agile Flow Battery ZBB Energy Corporation, the flow battery developer, has launched the Agile Flow Battery designed for behind the meter energy storage applications in commercial and industrial buildings. The distributed energy generation market for commercial and industrial buildings is in its infancy. While implementation of solar PV is increasingly common, the implementation of energy storage into the distributed generation system is in its infancy.

Much of the energy storage deployed to date in the building market is limited to short duration power applications, such as PV ramp support, or UPS for data back-up. The battery is suitable for applications requiring up to eight hours of discharged energy. “The Agile Flow Battery opens new pathways to realizing reduced operating costs and generating cash for the owner,” says Brad Hansen, president of ZBB Energy. “Advanced storage tech-

nology, with ZBB’s energy management system products, position us to lead the transition towards full connectivity between the building level power plants and the utilities that want to utilize that electricity in the grid.” He said the battery represents a “paradigm shift in product development” at ZBB, as the cycle time from start of concept design to completion of prototype build was less than five months.

ViZn Energy to offer ﬁnancial services ViZn Energy is expanding as demand for zinc-iron flow batteries grows and it has teamed up with equipment leasing and financial services company LFC Capital to make its solar PV and energy storage solutions more affordable. The partnership will mean that as much as $5 million of finance will be available per project. ViZn expects this to accelerate the deployment of its Z20 Energy Storage System, a zinc/iron redox flow battery. LFC Capital’s programme uses a traditional operating lease with ownership options after six and seven years, plus tax efficiency to provide companies with a low-cost path to ownership. LFC also encourages the use of a follow-on loan as a way to conserve cash and maintain low monthly payments throughout an extended investment period. ViZn said the ideal project size is a 50kW to 1,000kW solar PV installation requiring 80kWh to 500kWh of energy storage. LFC’s programme, available to qualified companies across the US, appeals to companies that cannot directly benefit from a federal tax credit, or simply want energy savings and off-balance sheet

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accounting without a longterm commitment to a power purchase agreement. Ron Van Dell, the chief executive of ViZn, said: “It is a big step up for us; a lot of these systems go to market via finance solutions and this now adds that dimension to what we can offer,” said Van Dell. “It should make the implementation of this technology a lot more attractive.” ViZn is also on track to raise $20 million to $25 million by the middle of this year as it moves from research and development to the full commercialization of its zinc-iron flow

batteries, its chief executive told Batteries International. Van Dell said the majority of the money will likely come from new investors and the company is “fairly far along” in the process of raising the new cash. The company recently moved to a new corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas, a move that Van Dell has described as a “tipping point” for the company as it moves from research and development into full commercialisation. The company says it expects to ship more than 1 MWh of systems in the first half of 2015.

RedFlow gets go-ahead for zincbromide ﬂow battery in Europe A zinc-bromide flow battery developed by Australian company RedFlow in February secured CE approval, an important certification that means it can now sell the technology in Europe. CE certification, a requirement for sales in Europe involves passing a rigorous independent assessment and testing over several months. The certification means companies in Europe can now integrate the battery into energy storage systems in Europe. Manufacturing of the batteries will be carried out by Flextronics. In December, the company said additional new trials had been approved by four new and existing customers. Commercial sales from these trials are to begin in the second quarter of 2015. The firm also announced in February that the costs per kwH had dropped as energy throughput develops following the transition to the manufacture of its products by Flextronics, The company will also introduce two new products from late April.

Imergy Power Systems launches new series of vanadium ﬂow batteries Imergy Power Systems, a developer of advanced storage systems, has launched a new series of vanadium flow batteries. The ESP250 series features an output power capability of 250 kilowatts, 1MW hour of energy storage capacity and a modular design that supports linking multiple batteries into a single Energy Storage Platform.

The ESP250 series uses secondary sources of vanadium such as mining slag, fly ash, and other environmental waste. This makes it more affordable for large-scale energy storage applications, the company claims. The system provides utilities, renewable energy developers and commercial and industrial customers with a

low-cost, high-performance energy storage solution for large-scale energy storage applications. Potential applications for the ESP250 include peaker plant replacement, transmission and distribution investment deferral, renewables management, microgrid implementation or back-up power system delivery.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 25

NEWS ACME targets India with lithium-ion storage for telco ACME, an energy management company that is also involved in solar power generation, has installed its first lithium-ion based energy storage product for a telecom tower company in India. The installation follows successful trials at various sites across India for more than a year. It also marks ACME’s entry into the Indian market with this type of product. This installation is part of a strategic agreement with a large Korean energy storage system to manufacture and market lithium ion based energy storage solutions in telecom, buildings, solar power, defence sectors and other allied industries.

Electrovaya to switch Mondelez forklift batteries to lithium-ion Electrovaya, a manufacturer of lithiumion super polymer batteries, is working with Mondelez Canada, one of the world’s biggest confectionary companies, to replace the lead acid batteries used in its forklift batteries with lithium-ion technology. Electrovaya says this will enhance productivity, and reduce power needs by up to 35%. “Three shift operations using conventional lead-acid batteries suffer from reduced electrical efficiencies, lower productivity and higher maintenance. Lithium 2.0 technology is essentially maintenance free, increases productivity and allows the operation to run continuously over three shifts,” said Andy Ganapathy, vice president of sales at Electrovaya.

26 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

Australian energy supplier trials 1MW support battery AusNet Services, one of Australia’s largest energy suppliers, has begun a two year trial of a 1MW network battery to support the electricity grid during peak demand periods. Housed in four 20-foot shipping containers, the Grid Energy Storage System (GESS) has been developed with ABB Australia and Samsung SDI. The portable 1MW battery

system will automatically provide local support into the 22kV grid at peak demand periods and recharge during low demand periods. The battery can operate at full power for one hour, supplying approximately 300 homes. The system also includes a 1MW diesel generator as a secondary supply to extend supply for full coverage of the peak demand period.

The system can also transition to island mode to provide power as part of a mini grid when parts of the network become isolated. The GESS is the first of its type and scale to be conducted in Australia. will also aim to improve the quality of power delivery, providing active and reactive power support and other power quality functions, when connected to the network.

Princeton Power makes investment in energy storage system Princeton Power Systems, a manufacturer of technology products for energy management, micro-grid operations, and electric vehicle charging, has commissioned 17 GTIB-30s in CODA Energy’s 1MWh energy storage system. CODA Energy is a major player in California’s commercial behind-the-meter energy storage market, while Princeton Power Systems’ GTIB-30 is the leading bi-

directional inverter for advanced batteries in on-grid and off-grid applications. CODA Energy’s 1,054kWh/510kW energy storage system is the largest behind the meter lithiumion energy storage system in the Los Angeles basin and consists of new lithium-iron phosphate electric vehicle battery cell packs, demonstrating the possibility of second life EV battery applications.

CODA’s large-scale system consists of two networked and aggregated multi-tower systems that operate in concert or deliver independent, specialized services. As part of the company’s building load management, the system provides peak shaving for CODA’s manufacturing facility in addition to powering EV charging stations for CODA’s electric vehicle fleet for employees and local visitors to nearby businesses.

Saft to install Li-ion storage on island off Japan Saft has secured its first energy storage system contract in Japan. It will supply a containerized lithium-ion battery system for a remote island microgrid project conducted by Takaoka Toko — a subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The demonstration project on Niijima Island will comprise diesel generators, solar panels and wind power installations working in combinations to optimize the use of renewable energy. The system will use Saft’s Intensium Max 20M Medium Power containerized Liion battery systems, modified to offer storage capacity of 520kWh and 1 MW peak power output.

The battery will operate in combination with TakaokaToko’s intelligent control systems that enable large amounts of wind and other renewable energy based power to be integrated into diesel powered grids, ensuring system stability and smooth control of the gensets. The Japanese government is keen to develop renewable energy to reduce the country’s dependency on fossil and nuclear based energy generation. It has set targets to increase the proportion of electricity to be generated from renewable sources from the present 10% to 13.5% (approximately 141 billion kWh) in 2020 and 20% by 2030.

For an experimental period of five years, this project has as its principal objective to highlight the technical challenges (such as expected electric power quality and grid management) that need addressing when renewable energies — especially wind generation — are associated with electric power systems and to study the related solutions. The demonstration site is under construction and the installation and commissioning of the Saft ESS is planned for early 2015. The project is being coordinated by Saft Hong Kong working with Sumitomo Corporation — Saft’s longstanding partner in Japan for more than 25 years.

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Dross Engineering

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NEWS Flux Power secures approval of global consumer packaged goods company Flux Power Holdings, a developer of lithium battery technologies for industrial applications, has secured a deal that means the US fleet managers in a global consumer packaged goods company can order its 24-volt LiFT Pack batteries to power their electric pallet jacks. The approval follows the completion of the customer’s evaluation of Flux’s full line of 24-Volt LiFT Pack lithium batteries designed for use on Class III pallet jacks — small forklifts operated by a user walking alongside. The packaged goods company required technical approval of the Flux packs by the forklift OEMs, Toyota Material Handling Group North America and Crown Equipment Corporation.

New wireless chargers to revolutionize battery usage claims patent developer Battery charger manufacturer CTEK has approved a patent licence agreement for wireless charging with WiTricity, the company that patented the technology. According to Kaynam Hedayat, vice president of product management and marketing at WiTricity, the company that patented the technology, this will revolutionize battery usage by enabling wireless charging across a range of devices. “Users will no longer have to worry about forgetting to plug in their battery chargers, and will instead have the freedom and ease of use of a ‘park and charge system’ using WiTricity technology,” says the firm.

28 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

Li-ion batteries proposed in 90% of all 2014 proposed grid storage projects Lithium-ion batteries accounted for 90% of all proposed grid storage projects in 2014, according to a new study by Lux Research. The early mover status of molten salt batteries by companies such as NGK Insulators means that technology still represents the most installed capacity, despite having fallen out of favour. Li-ion accounted for 419MW and 1,555 MWh of proposed storage systems in

2014. Molten salt batteries, primarily sodium-sulphur, represent 64% of deployed MWh, or approximately 1614MWh, up to January 2015. “Driven by renewable-connected systems and demand management, grid-scale energy storage is taking off, with 450MW and 730MWh of systems installed in 2014,” said Dean Frankel, Lux research associate. “As the market matures,

new roles along the grid storage value chain are emerging — including financiers who enable leasing services to storage developers and their end-customers as well as battery operators who manage and control a systems’ role on the electric grid.” Japan and the US lead in grid storage projects. Demand management and renewable energy connected systems are the leading applications for storage.

Advanced batteries materials to reach $132.2 billion by 2023 Worldwide revenue for materials associated with advanced batteries is expected to total $132.2 billion from 2014 through 2023, according to a recent report from Navigant Research. “With greater manufacturing scale, expertise, and a maturing supply chain, more advanced batteries are being purchased and more products containing them are being sold,” said Sam Jaffe, principal research analyst

with Navigant Research. “As the industry continues to transform, capacity and materials shipments are also anticipated to continue to increase, with the number of annual shipments expected to nearly triple during the forecast period.” While the enhanced capabilities of advanced batteries has been a driver in the increased shipments of materials for these batteries, a decline in the prices of batteries

is also contributing. During the past five years, according to the report, the factories in which batteries are made have become larger, while manufacturing yield losses have decreased and supply chain ecosystems have become established, nudging prices down. The report, “Materials for Advanced Batteries,” analyses the global materials supply chain of the advanced batteries industry.

Dyson makes $15m investment in solid-state battery company James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner developer, has made a $15 million investment in Sakti3, a solid-state battery company, in a move that signals the company’s intent to target the potential of the batteries sector. Sakti3’s batteries boast energy densities above almost any battery, at 1,100Whr/l — twice that of a state-of-the-art li-ion battery. The company has previously raised $50 million from Kholsa Ventures, General Motors, and other investors. Solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte of a li-ion battery with a thin, dense layer of solid

material. That density, and its material structure, translates to more conductivity for ions—and more ions that can be packed on one side of the electrolyte or the other. Dyson said this is part

of the firm’s transition into a technology company.” Should Sakti3’s technology pan out, Dyson would be the first to take advantage of the new products that could flow from it.

Saft secures military contract for 1,300 lithium-ion batteries Saft, a manufacturer of advanced technology batteries, has won a contract with Thales Australia to deliver lithium-ion battery systems with the potential to power more than 1,300 Hawkei military tactical vehicles. Saft will begin deliveries of the batteries for use in prototype vehicles in the

first quarter of 2015. The lithium-ion system features an advanced, lightweight design within the dimensions of a traditional lead-acid battery, enabling easy integration into the vehicle. The system will power starting, lights, ignition and silent watch capabilities for the vehicle.

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NEWS

Alevo delivers largest ever US energy storage deployment — ‘game changer’ Alevo Group, an energy storage provider, signed an agreement in February with Customized Energy Solutions, an energy services company, to provide 200MW of GridBank-powered frequency regulation services to the wholesale energy market. The partnership will result in the largest ever energy storage deployment in the US. CES works with eight independent systems operators in the US and Canada to provide energy services to more than 350 customers. Alevo will work with CES’ emerging technologies team to deliver 200MW of energy storage capacity that will be distributed across its network. CES will take charge of the dispatch and monitoring of the systems, Alevo will look after the physical maintenance. “This is a critical juncture in the integration of battery storage into the market, transitioning from pilot

projects to grid-scale commercially viable installations,” says Judith Judson, director of emerging technologies at CES. “Storage can provide huge value across the electric grid in terms of increased efficiency and reduced costs, but the challenge has been monetizing the benefits. “The major expansion of projects deployed in ISO markets continues to prove the benefits and commercial applications for readiness of energy storage,” says Jostein Eikeland, chief executive, Alevo. “Our operational agreement with CES is a milestone for Alevo and testament to the proven performance attributes of our battery technology.” The deal represents just the start for the company which has many more large deals in the pipeline, Jeff Gates, director of sales and field operations at Alevo told Batteries International. Gates, who joined Alevo

“We are not talking about demonstration projects any more, just full commercial projects” last December, said that this deal “changes the game” in the North American market as it proves the viability of this technology and the fact that it is possible to make money from it. “This is a very exciting landmark deal for us,” Gates said. “We will be the largest single owner of battery storage projects after this deployment. “It is also exciting because we are starting to move into markets where this technology has not gone before. We have more markets and more locations in the pipeline that have not been announced yet.” Gates would not be drawn on how the exact ownership structure works. “The market will pay us and the payback works over a period of time. I can-

not comment on the return or the ownership beyond that,” he said. Alevo is a Swiss-based group of companies founded in 2009. Through its subsidiaries, it has established operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Its mission is to create a global energy storage business to work with the world’s largest energy companies. Gates said there are more large projects in the pipeline. “We are not talking about demonstration projects any more, just full commercial projects,” he said. “There are a lot more deals in the pipeline. We will be manufacturing 40MW a month starting from the first quarter of this year so you can do the math!”

New ferries to use Corvus Energy lithium polymer energy storage solution

system powered by four diesel gensets (one less than a non-hybrid design). Each of the new ferries will have a capacity of 1,300 passengers and 460 cars or 96 trucks. The innovative hybrid propulsion system will be combined with a scrubber that cleans the engine exhaust streams of pollutants such as sulphur and particulate matter and will help reduce sulphur emissions by at least 90%. Corvus said its lithium polymer energy storage technology is an effective solution for hybridization of commercial vessels with dynamic duty cycles. It provides the consistent power and reliability to support greatly improved efficiencies of marine propulsion systems.

A lithium polymer energy storage technology developed by Corvus Energy will be used as energy storage in two battery hybrid ferries being built in Denmark for Scandlines, one of the

largest ferry operators in Europe. The new vessels, M/V Berlin and M/V Copenhagen, will each use a 1,050VDC, 1.5MWh Energy Storage System (ESS) consist-

ing of 231 Corvus Energy AT6500 advanced lithium polymer batteries. The batteries will be integrated with a Siemens converter system and together will form an energy storage

Focus Graphite raises C$2m in private placement Focus Graphite, a mining development company formed to make products for the lithium-ion battery market from a graphite deposit in Quebec, has raised just over C$2 million from a private placement with investors. The company sold 5,862,166 units at a price of C$0.35 per unit, each unit comprising one com-

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mon share and one half of one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional common share of the company at a price of $0.55 per share until March 13, 2017. The proceeds from the offering will be used to work towards several

milestones associated with the development of the company’s Lac Knife natural flake graphite project. Stormcrow Capital acted as agent on the offering, which will be the first of two tranches of funds it will raise. It said it anticipates that the second tranche will be finalised soon.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 29

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NEWS IN BRIEF XG Sciences claims breakthrough in silicon graphene anode materials XG Sciences, a provider of graphene nanoplatelets, claims it has achieved a break-through with its latest generation of silicon graphene anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The company says it has demonstrated full cell cycle stability through over 400 charge/discharge cycles in its next generation of materials with a charge storage capacity of 600mAh/gram and over a broad voltage window. Philip Rose, chief executive of XGS, said: “Achieving stable charge/ discharge cycling performance is a key threshold before any anode material can be considered for widespread adoption in lithium-ion batteries. “We believe our latest material is the first commercially viable silicon and graphene based anode formulation to achieve this all important performance threshold. With charge storage capacity of up to four times today’s typical anodes, first cycle efficiency of 85-90%, low swelling and life that is more than double our previous generation, we believe this material will open many new markets for our customers with an affordable and safe anode formulation. “Solving the problem of extended and safe energy storage has been a strategic focus for XG Sciences since it was founded in 2006. Customer demand for low-cost, high-performance battery materials, particularly for lithium-ion batteries, is enormous.”

Lithium-ion cathode nanomaterials offer clue to next step forward for li-ion batteries Researchers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville have claimed that their research into lithium-ion battery nanomaterials for cathodes will ultimately develop a new generation of batteries. A $502,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program grant is funding research by George Nelson, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, into nanomaterial cathodes for the batteries. Nanomaterials may make the trade-off between high battery power and smaller size a more favourable

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one over the wide temperature variations experienced by cars and other devices. “There have been a number of studies that have documented the variations in battery lifetime caused by variations in temperature,” Nelson said. “One way to overcome shortened lifespans is to oversize the battery by about 10% to 20%. “We’re looking at how we can design these batteries more efficiently from the nanoscale up.” UAH scientists are synthesizing nanomaterials in the College of Engineering’s Transport Reaction and Energy Conversion (TREC) Lab at the Shelby Center for Technology with a goal of understanding how the use of nanomaterials impacts reliability of the battery’s cathode at higher operating temperatures. Traditionally, cathodes are made of larger materials on the micron-size scale that fit together more loosely than the smaller nanomaterials. “There are a lot of people pursuing nanoscale battery materials,” Nelson said. The benefit of nanomaterials is that they have much greater surface area for the chemical interactions that create electric current, resulting in more power for their size. But that also can be a drawback when it comes to lifespan over a wide temperature range. “We suspect that increased temperature will shorten battery life for these materials, more so than traditional materials,” he said.

Lithium hydroxide supplier secures $12m expansion grant or commercialization Nemaska Lithium has secured a $12.87 million grant that will be used to help commercialize a plant that could produce 500 tonnes per year of high purity lithium hydroxide — a material it ultimately hopes will be used by manufacturers of lithiumbased batteries. The plant is backed by Sustainable Development Technology Canada. Nemaska intends to use this facility to demonstrate its lithium hydroxide technology and produce commercial samples to send to end users primarily in the lithium battery market. “Today’s batteries are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and battery manufacturers typically take up to 12 months to qualify a new supplier of lithium hydroxide,” says Guy Bou-

rassa, chief executive of Nemaska Lithium. “By building the Phase 1 Plant in advance of the commercial hydromet plant and lithium mine we expect to be qualified suppliers before we are in full production. “This funding will enable us to build our Phase 1 Lithium Hydroxide plant. This is the greenest method of producing lithium compounds for lithium ion batteries and electric vehicles globally.”

Korea scientists develop thin and ﬂexible lithium-ion battery, opens up new product ranges A collaboration between scientists at The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has developed a flexible lithium-ion battery that is thinner than a credit card and supports wireless charging. KAIST professor Choi Jang-wook and KRISS professor Song Jae-yong led the work. Existing lithium-ion batteries have limits in terms of thickness because their anodes, separation membranes, and cathodes have to be stacked. The research team arranged the anode and cathode collinearly on the same surface, instead of stacking them, and removed the separation membrane. Then, it placed a partition wall between the two to avoid a short circuit. The new battery is expected to be applied to skin sensors, smart cards, and medical patches. In addition, the research team succeeded in developing wireless charging technology by applying a solar cell and electromagnetic induction to the battery. The team is working on mass production techniques for a coplanar battery in combination with printing techniques.

Hammond/Eco-Bat collaboration boosts performance of advanced lead acid materials Hammond Group is working with lead producer Eco-Bat Technologies on a project to further improve materials used to make advanced lead acid batteries. The collaboration’s first phase will be completed by mid-year, building on each companies’ new product launches targeting advanced lead acid batteries. These are Hammond’s additives under the K2 brand and

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 31

NEWS IN BRIEF Eco-Bat’s launch of recycled lead under the Supersoft brand. The technology division of Eco-Bat is working on the project with Hammond Group. Terry Murphy, CEO of Hammond Group, says, “We believe we can notably improve the performance of lead batteries and we are evaluating the best of our developments with specialty chemical additives, combined with Eco-Bat’s resources and insights with metallic compounds.” Many of the formulations under Hammond’s K2 branded carbonbased additives for lead acid batteries have been developed to enhance the performance of these batteries operating in partial state of charge. The company is able to offer these expanders at a range of prices, depending on the customer’s battery requirements. The collaboration is in response to transportation and industrial battery segments that are demanding improved energy density and charge acceptance across different duty cycles. In the last issue of sister magazine to Batteries International, Energy Storage Journal Murphy said he believes grids of the future based upon renewables will be underpinned by lead acid batteries. The debate on the issue continues — see cover story in this issue of the magazine — although so far lithium ion is proving the moe popular of the two chemistries. This is because, according to some energy storage system providers, lithium ion batteries outperform many of the commercially available advanced lead acid batteries in some of the more challenging grid storage applications. Others disagree (see interview with Ecoult’s John Wood later on in this issue of the magazine. Price, however, has always been a limiting factor in lithium ion battery adoption.

Ultracaps used for frequency response in Ireland’s Tallaght Smart Grid Testbed Maxwell Technologies, announced mid-February that Freqcon, a German developer and distributor of renewable energy systems, has deployed an energy storage system for the Tallaght Smart Grid Testbed in Ireland that uses Maxwell ultracapacitors and lithium-ion batteries to

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support grid stability in residential and industrial settings. Freqcon’s Microgrid Stabilizer addresses the electricity intermittency challenges that accompany high renewable energy penetration. The testbed uses Freqcon’s Microgrid Stabilizer for voltage and frequency stabilization, with a combination of lithium-ion batteries and ultracapacitors for active power support in the grid’s distributed network. T he Maxwell ultracapacitors perform fast functions such as frequency response, while the batteries are used for peak shifting and operating reserve. As Ireland works toward its goal of 40% renewable energy generation by 2020, the Tallaght Smart Grid Testbed, run by the South Dublin County Council and the Micro Electricity Generation Association (MEGA), is designed to demonstrate how energy storage can minimize electricity distribution issues and grid instability. With multiple sources of energy generation, the grid network in Ireland must deal with voltage and frequency issues before distributing the electricity to end users. “Smart grid projects are a priority in Ireland, and depending on the local set-up, the grid challenges can vary greatly,” said Dudley Stewart, secretary general of MEGA. “Freqcon’s Microgrid Stabilizer can be customized for individual projects, and the combination of batteries and Maxwell ultracapacitors is a promising solution. We are looking forward to seeing more of these systems deployed in the field in the near future.” Stewart said that: “on achieving stable critical, the operation will open 30 new similar test beds to create a basic mesh throughout the island of Ireland.” Norbert Hennchen, chief executive of Freqcon, said, “The market for grid-tied energy storage systems is growing, and fast frequency response is a valuable system service to the grid. Ultracapacitors are the ideal technology to do this. “Based on our long-standing relationship with Maxwell and our experience with ultracapacitors in pitch systems for wind turbines, we’re bringing this technology to the space of grid stabilization.” Franz Fink, president of Maxwell, said, “With a reduced number of fossil-fuel-based synchronous genera-

tors in operation, grid stability is becoming a challenge, and we expect ultracapacitors will play an important role in addressing this issue.”

NEC Energy launches 12V LiFePO4 battery for off-grid and telecoms NEC Energy Solutions, the energy storage subsidiary of NEC Corporation, announced production availability of a lithium iron phosphate battery at the end of January. The new ALM 12V35 battery uses technology from A123 Systems, which Japan-headquartered NEC bought in 2014. The product is being sold as an alternative to 12V 35 amp-hour lead acid batteries, extending the service life and reducing total cost of ownership of systems such as telecoms, remote off-grid power, uninterruptible power supply, solar PV and medical carts. The battery is suited to deep cycling applications, such as weak and off-grid power systems, including remote telecoms and oil and gas. Key benefits of the ALM 12V35 include twice the usable energy at fast discharge rates, says the firm. This can cut — by up to half — the number of similarly sized batteries required for high power applications. Charge rates are faster than standard lead acid batteries and other lithium ion batteries, enabling systems to remain in service longer, reducing the total cost of ownership. The batteries are also compatible with most lead acid battery chargers, use built-in management and communications for monitoring and have integrated safety systems developed by NEC.

Meyer Burger technology to be integral part of pioneering CO2 free Swiss housing development Meyer Burger, the multinational technology group, announced in February that its hybrid collector technology will reduce the use of non-renewable energy sources in combination with other system components in a pioneering residential housing project known as Suurstoffi in Rotkreuz-Risch in central Switzerland. The local energy is harvested on the roof, stored in the ground and raised to the temperatures needed with the aid of heat pumps. This

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 33

NEWS IN BRIEF provides the development, which is being built by the Zug Estates Group, with an emission-free supply of electricity and heat. The entire Suurstoffi development is based on a CO2-free energy concept. As part of this, all building roofs in the second phase are to be fitted with hybrid collectors from Meyer Burger. The Swiss-made hybrid collectors from Thun are capable of increasing the development’s degree of self-sufficiency from 67% to 80%. This level of self-sufficiency will be further increased in the planned third building stage. The energy concept works through the use of geothermal and solar energy. In winter, energy is extracted from the geothermal probe array made up of 220 probes; in summer, the excess heat from the roof or from the office and residential spaces is gathered and stored. A system of pipes linking all the buildings (energy network) enables heat to be exchanged between the buildings. For example, waste heat from an office building can be used to produce hot water in the residential buildings.

34 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

Photovoltaic modules and hybrid collectors generate the energy required to operate the plant, in particular the heat pumps, on site. The balancing of the current between the imported and produced electricity takes place via the public grid. The efficiency of the system is achieved thanks to the low operating costs and the freely available cooling. By 2018 an integrated, traffic-free district in which living, working and leisure activities are combined will have been built on the Suurstoffi site. When complete, the development will provide space for 1,500 residents and provide around 2,500 jobs. The initial building stage was completed in spring 2013. The residential concept offers a diversity of floor plans and high quality materials. In the first phase with some 230 apartments, there are some 160 different floor plans. In a second building phase, with an investment volume of around Sfr100 million ($107 million), Zug Estates is erecting an office building and a residential development with nine buildings. “The high degree of energy self-

sufficiency can only be achieved by making the maximum possible use of the sunlight,” says a Meyer Burger statement. “With this in mind, the maximum number of hybrid collectors was fitted. The architects and energy specialists developed a solution in which the hybrid collectors were arranged horizontally over the entire roof area of the buildings in the second construction phase. The resulting southerly inclination increased the energy yield of each collector while the spacing required between the horizontal module rows reduced the number of collectors installed by at least 30%. “This roof layout enabled the highest possible energy yield per square meter of roof space as well as the most aesthetically pleasing appearance. The level-equalizing solar module fastening system was conceived specifically for the development by Meyer Burger in collaboration with the local specialist, Bosshard. The design enables the modules to be fitted flush with the edge of the roof. The hybrid systems on all of the roofs have safety guards parallel with the roof edge that cast no shadows on the collectors.

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PRODUCT NEWS

Yuasa launches nano-carbon VRLA batteries for large scale energy storage Battery manufacturer Yuasa has launched new advanced nano-carbon valve-regulated lead-acid batteries designed for use in large energy storage and remote renewable power ap-

plications where frequent charge/discharge cycles are encountered. The new SLE-1000 and SLR-1000 batteries offer superior deep long cycle life and are designed specifically for use in large capacity applications, says the firm. “Yuasa’s Advanced Nano-Carbon Deep Cycle VRLA batteries were developed for renewable energy off-grid sites and grid connected peak shaving,” said Yuasa marketing executive James Douglas. “Their modular unit design provides easy installation and reduced site space, while front facing terminals allow easy maintenance,

even in large energy storage solutions. “Other key benefits of Nano-Carbon Deep Cycle VRLA batteries include deep discharge tolerance, resistance to sulphation and their ability to be charged faster than traditional gel or tubular plate designs.” Offering up to 3000 deep discharge cycles at 50% depth of discharge (DoD), the modular unit design of the SLE-1000 enables easier installation and occupies less space than traditional batteries. The terminal position at the front of the battery also contributes to easier maintenance in even the largest

energy storage solution. SLE-1000 batteries feature a nominal voltage of 2V and nominal capacity of 1000Ah/10hr. Maximum discharge rate is 1000A and the batteries can be used across the ambient temperature range -15°C to + 45°C. SLR-1000 batteries are based on the same form factor as SLE-1000 versions but are designed for use where frequent discharge cycles are encountered. These 1000Ah/10hr nominal 2V high capacity cyclic cells can be deployed in a wide variety of large energy storage applications and offer an up to 5000 cycle life at 50% DoD.

Linear launches lead acid battery balancing IC Linear Technology Corporation has launched the LTC3305, a single IC, stand-alone multi-cell battery balancer for 12V lead acid batteries. Balancing works by absorbing charge from higher voltage batteries and transferring that charge to lower voltage batteries so that all are charged equally. Charge is transferred using a lower capacity battery that is sequentially connected across the batteries in the stack. Not only does this battery transfer charge, but the energy in the transfer battery adds to the total energy in the stack, thus increasing capacity. Included on the chip is sequencing, drive circuitry for high voltage external NFETs, voltage monitoring and protection. “The LTC3305 is designed for stand-alone operation and does not require a microprocessor or other control circuitry,” a Linear Technology Corporation spokesperson said. “With the LTC3305, one battery in the stack can be replaced and quickly balanced to the remaining batteries. The LTC3305 is ideal for applications such as telecom backup systems, home battery-powered backup systems, electric vehicles and industrial lighting systems.” The LTC3305 employs an auxiliary battery storage cell to transfer charge to or from each individual battery in

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the stack. A mode pin provides two operating modes: timer mode and continuous mode. In timer mode, once the balancing operation is completed, the LTC3305 goes into a low power state for a programmed time and then periodically rebalances the batteries. In continuous mode, the balancing operation continues even after the batteries are balanced to their programmed termination voltage. Fur-

ther, additional devices can be stacked to balance higher voltage series battery packs. The LTC3305 is offered in a thermally enhanced low profile (0.75mm) 38-lead TSSOP package. The E and I grades are specified with operating junction temperature range of -40°C to 125°C. Devices are available from stock and 1,000-piece pricing starts at $6.95.

Four battery balancer with programmed high and low battery voltage faults

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 37

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THE LOWEST COST PROCESS FOR FLOODED BATTERIES. AND THE ONLY PROCESS FOR AGM BATTERIES. The Lowest Cost Method To Make Grids. The Wirtz Continuous Casting Process is the only negative gridmaking process which produces grids with side frames and designable wire features, to exact thickness and weight tolerances. The process casts directly from pig or hog lead with no additional process steps and does not generate any scrap lead to be reprocessed. It’s also the only continuous negative gridmaking process suitable for the new generation of AGM batteries. A Fully Automatic, Integrated Platemaking System. With our Continuous Platemaking Process, every step in the plate manufacturing process can be automatically conWUROOHG 3ODWHV SDVWHG RQ HLWKHU D :LUW] VWHHO EHOW RU Ʃ [HG RULƩ FH SDVWLQJ PDFKLQH FDQ EH DFFXUDWHO\ RYHUSDVWHG RQ both the top and bottom of the plates to +/-.002 inches of thickness (0.05 mm) and +/-2 grams of wet paste weight, making Wirtz pasted plates your only choice for AGM batteries. Our new plate stacker completes our platemaking line and is completely synchronized to our line speed producing stacks of aligned single or double panel plates. The machine features a patent pending reject station which eliminates stacker downtime due to misaligned plates. To put the Wirtz totally automated continuous platemaking system to work for you, call us at +1.810.987.7600 or email sales@wirtzusa.com.

INNOVATION. PERFORMANCE. RELIABILITY.

PRODUCT NEWS Highlights of previous BCI Conventions traditionally include the announcement of new deals and product launches. MAC Engineering & Equipment reveals details of its latest cast-on-strap product to manufacture absorbent glass mat products.

Lead acid USA: reasons to be positive about AGM MAC Engineering & Equipment is to reveal at this year’s BCI Convention its Inline AGM COS machine — a breakthrough, says the firm in battery manufacturing technology. The Inline AGM machine has already been fitted and tested with Crown Battery in Ohio. The purchase of the machine by Crown shows a new direction for the US-based battery maker, which provides an extensive range of both mainstream and specialized batteries but, as to date, has only made flooded lead acid batteries. “Our Inline AGM machine provides a significant step forward in the quality of battery manufacturing machinery that we make,” says Doug Bornas, vice president of sales and marketing at MAC. “This is a cutting edge product and designed specifically for high quality AGM battery making.” The Inline AGM machine’s main advantage over other machines is that it gives consistent and accurate compression to each cell of the absorbent glass mat — either too little or too much compression limits the power output of the battery and also makes it susceptible to other external factors such as vibration. Two cells will be loaded at a time in one of 12 group holders and moved out to start the process. Another holder will move in and be loaded with two cells as well and so on. Each cell will have the lugs aligned as well as be individually compressed to a set amount. These holders are designed to evenly compress each cell to a specific tolerance to ensure proper group size for insertion into the case. After compression and turnover, each holder will go over a brush station, into a flux station, then a tin station, before heading for one of the three molds which make up a six cell battery. Each mold casts two cells with independent heating for each mold. With the smaller molds, varying temperatures are easier to control

40 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

which helps give consistent quality casting from cell to cell. After casting the cells go into the unload station where an 80kg robot places each cell into a fixture above the case. Holders return to the loading station automatically. Once the fixture is full, the fixture goes down pushing chutes into the case which help guide the cells. A

stuffer then pushes the cells firmly into the case to a pre-programmed depth. “The two cell casting arrangement — whereby we fill one of (12) two-cell group holders (rather than six-cell or 12-cell group holders) is such that we provide a faster production process. This is a cutting edge product and designed specifically for high quality AGM battery making This two cell ar-

The purchase of the machine by Crown shows a new direction for the US-based battery maker, which provides an extensive range of both mainstream and specialized batteries but, as to date, has only made ﬂooded lead acid batteries. www.batteriesinternational.com

PRODUCT NEWS rangement gives us shorter cycle times (around 20 seconds per mold) but moreover by dealing with only two cells at a time, we have greater control of casting temperature and hence higher quality of the casted cell,” says Dan Duffield, vice president of operations at MAC. The In-Line AGM machine can handle plates of up to 10 inches high (254mm) and 7.375 wide (187mm) and stack heights of 5.625 inches (142.8mm) uncompressed. “The cycle times vary with their size but on average there is a 60 second cycle per battery. The Inline AGM COS machine is designed to meet the growing sophistication of AGM battery manufacturers who now differentiate their companies on ever-higher specifications on the quality and life of their products.

MAC Engineering’s Doug Bornas (left) and Dan Dufﬁeld: “This is a cutting edge product and designed speciﬁcally for high quality AGM battery making.”

COLLABORATION: HOW CROWN BATTERY AND MAC WORKED TOGETHER

Mike Fraley, director of engineering at Crown Battery, describes the approach and thinking behind the new design When Crown Battery elected to move forward with manufacturing AGM batteries we investigated equipment offering from various vendors around the world. MAC Engineering has built COS machines for our automotive, commercial, marine, deep cycle, motive power, railroad, and mining products, therefore we decided to discuss the possibility of a new AGM COS machine with them. We met and discussed ideas about existing equipment, limitations, likes/ dislikes, and unknown directions in possible AGM offerings. We decided to build a new machine where we could try different concepts. If they didn’t work we would have had time to address them as we had an extensive product validation schedule incorporated into the product launch. The in-line concept allowed the most ﬂexibility in design and integration. We opted for a modular design because this was a prototype machine that had many new ideas

and concepts. Each station is virtually a stand-alone machine networked together. This allowed us to take some risks on new concepts. These included induction driven carriages, a new lead delivery system, servo

“This was an ambitious undertaking which has proven to be a great investment in our endeavor to build high quality AGM batteries.”

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compression, and a completely networked machine. The most important decision was how many cells to process at a time. Typically we would cast an entire battery that was possible, however, Crown ultimately decided on casting two cells at a time. This method allowed the most amount of control on each cell. By processing two cells at a time we could: • Decrease the possibility of uneven compression on cells • Consistently compress or release by station to perform necessary function • Utilize torque on the motors as well as a fixed position to ensure consistent cell compression • Maintain individual temperature control by strap within a cell • Allow for future possible utilization of post inserts and have the necessary temperature control to maintain. • Manage mold cooling and processing time • Maintain consistent mold temperatures by continuously cycling Throughout the commissioning and prototype production phases the concepts that needed to be refined were identified and addressed. Overall this was an ambitious undertaking which has proven to be a great investment in our endeavor to build high quality AGM batteries.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 41

PRODUCT NEWS

Energizer recycles in ‘world ﬁrst’ for alkaline batteries Energizer, makers of the most irritating bunny in human history, released in February EcoAdvanced, an AA battery that includes recycled batteries. This is a world first, says the firm. So far this is only 4% — the company says this is nearly 10% of active materials — but Energizer hopes to increase the amount of recycled material in each battery. By 2025, the company plans to have 40% recycled content in the EcoAdvanced. “We are working with partners like Redux Recycling in Europe and Retriev Technologies in North America to improve and expand processing capacity, which is the bottleneck

today — not battery collection — to achieving our Energizer EcoAdvanced vision of increasing the amount of recycled battery material 10fold to 40%,” says the company. Energizer refines recycled battery material (zinc/manganese) into usable active ingredients. Energizer gets its recycled material from partnership arrangements in Europe and North America.

By 2025, the company plans to have 40% recycled content in the EcoAdvanced.

Northstar expects to make inroads into target markets NorthStar Battery and Eternity Technologies have launched a new tubular 2V OPzV battery range, with capacities from 300Ah3000Ah, to be sold exclusively by NorthStar for the telecom market. Hans

Lidén, CEO of NorthStar Group says the decision to launch the range was in response to customer demand. “For 15 years now we’ve specialized in making premium AGM batteries, and lately our customers have

been asking for us to make our own OPzV range to the same high standard,” he says. “The collaboration we’ve set up allows us to leverage our experience to deliver a high quality OPzV product

Harland offer new UPS system Harland Simon, a UK standby power firm, launched Harland Protect UPS in February, a range of power protection systems suitable to harsh or unmanned environments. “Crucially it is not just about protecting against a full power outage as in reality,” says Andy Parfitt, sales director at the firm. “This is just a small percentage of the power problems that are associated with complete

42 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

failure. It is likely that individual components will be damaged as a result of a power spike, surge or dip so protecting against these is critical in order to keep the infrastructure working effectively and to minimize the additional costs associated with costly repair.” Harland ProtectUPS has been designed to provide long term protection within harsh environments that are subject to extremes of tempera-

ture, vibration, water ingress, dust and dirt. “Customers have the option to select an existing model from the system’s range or a bespoke system specifically designed and installed to meet a variety of specifications, for example; The Water Industry Mechanical and Electrical Specifications (WIMES) for the water industry, IACS-E10 for the marine industry and Network Rail PADS Approval,” says the firm.

at a competitive price, which is exciting because it opens up a lot of new opportunities for us. Not only will we be able to support our current and new customer base in telecom but we will also be able to offer solutions for larger industrial applications like renewable energy, oil and gas, military and so on.” With a strategic manufacturing location and North Star’s focus on customer service he believes that North Star’s current customers, as well as new customers, will begin to swap over to the new range of batteries. Frank Fleming, chief technology officer at NorthStar Battery, said: “We’ve been running electrical tests comparing our new OPzV range to what’s available in the market, and the results seem to be validating the design and manufacturing approach. He said that the rollout plan is to start by ramping up volume of the more common sizes, driven by customer demand.

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Bringing the industry together

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Meet the team

Mike Halls, editor Mike, a former journalist with the UK newspaper the Financial Times, has been involved in journalism, publishing and print for three decades. “I’m particularly fond of writing about the batteries industry,” he says. “It’s an unusual mixture of being fast-paced but slow to change — and friendly too. What’s more there’s always something more to learn.”

Claire Ronnie, ofﬁce manager and subscriptions Claire’s our unflappable person — she’s the go-to girl for subscriptions or account enquiries. Go ahead and challenge her!

Karen Hampton, publisher In her recent years of working within the battery business Karen has become a well known figure at conferences — not least as our social butterfly. “My job,” she says, “is to get the maximum benefit for our advertisers to make sure their name and brand is out there, while maintaining the integrity, fairness and excellence our publication is renowned for.”

Antony Parselle, page designer Better known in the office as ‘Ant’ he’s been working in magazine design and layout since the early 1990s. Not so good on showing his best side however

June Moutrie, business development manager She’s our accounting Wunderkind who deals with all things financial — a kind of mini Warren Buffett.

John Petersen, columnist John, a securities lawyer with over 30 years’ commercial experience, is not a cynic by nature — more a realist who sees the absurdity in many of our endeavours — especially some of our more corporate ones!

Wyn Jenkins, Supplements editor Don’t let the boyish charm deceive, Wyn’s been a journalist and respected editor on leading financial titles for some 20 years. When not heading his own publications firm, Seren Global Media, he looks after our supplements.

Jan Darasz, cartoonist Jan has an international reputation as a cartoonist able to making anything — including an electrolyte! — funny. And as for LiCFePO4 ...

Kevin Desmond, batteries historian Actually more than just a historian on batteries as he’s written about many things. He’s the inspiration behind our Batteries Hero section.

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PRODUCT NEWS

CMWTec release AGM vacuum ďŹ lling machine CMWTec, has released the next iteration of its its AGM/VRLA vacuum filling machine. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With its spacesaving design it is a unique machine with a high capacity output of six batteries per minute,â&#x20AC;? says Michael Wipperfurth, international sales manager for the firm. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The patented VACBOX with the anti-drippingvalve guarantees a very accurate filling of Âą 0.3% of the filling volume. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The image-based menu for easily menu navigation is also an advantage to allow a smart operation of the machine. It also has the integrated acid tank with a self-cleaning lift and trans-

portation system below the filling unit.â&#x20AC;?

ZBB breakthrough battery validated ZBB Energy has received third party validation of its Agile Flow Battery in China. The battery has been designed for behind the meter energy storage applications in the commercial and industrial building market. The commercial validation of the Agile Flow Battery by an independent third party was performed at a battery and grid power control products testing facility in Beijing, China. It followed a product development programme that began in July 2014 and utilised concurrent engineering, procurement, assembly and testing between ZBB Energy and Meineng Energy.

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THE CEO INTERVIEW: ANIL SRIVASTAVA Europe’s oldest battery maker, Leclanché, is about to execute the ﬁnal stage of a turnaround plan focused on energy storage and mass transport markets. Anil Srivastava, the company’s new chief executive, thinks it is a risk worth taking.

Making the leap from battery producer to energy storage systems supplier

“No one really has the attention span to appreciate that grid storage economics depend on the use proﬁle of the battery and the amount of time it is expected to operate for.” On paper, manufacturing lithium ion batteries on European soil doesn’t work. Not when Asian firms — South Korean and especially the Chinese — have turned it into a volumes game, leveraging on economies of scale to drive down unit price. “So why get into grid storage integration and energy storage management?” says Leclanché’s chief executive Anil Srivastava. “It’s expensive, it’s nascent. It’s highrisk. No one needs to tell me that. I spent six months looking at this market and thinking hard about if this is something that Leclanché wanted to be doing. It is so hyped right now. Our investors thought long and hard too.” Over its 100-year history Leclanché,

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headquartered in Yverdon-les-Bains in Switzerland, has produced the gamut of chemistries, from iron and cadmiumnickel, to lead acid, to mercury button cells, to making battery subsystems and customizing battery systems for the defence and medical markets. It’s even dabbled in solar photovoltaics. Then, in 2006 the company bought Bullith Batteries, spun out from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology, to develop and commercialize lithium titanate cells. When Srivastava joined Leclanché as its chief executive last June, the company was making battery cells and modules, as well as controllers, for linking lithium ion batteries to inverters, but not all of the AC-side components

needed to supply complete turnkey battery energy storage systems. “Cells — the biggest portion of cost in a battery system — have the smallest margin, of about 35%,” he says. “The margin on electronics and BMS can be about 40%, while the software platform and controls needed to be able to integrate the system with the grid, have a margin of about 45% or more. “So by turning into a vertically integrated provider of energy storage management systems the underlying margins are raised by 10-15 percentage points.” But Leclanché cannot do everything from within. The company is finalizing an acquisition — to be announced shortly after Batteries International goes to press — that will provide it with battery management systems and the software technology that wraps around batteries and turns them into something more akin to computers, dispensing instructions for the batteries to feed in and absorb power from the grid. The deal, due in the second quarter of 2015, subject to board approvals. Leclanché energy storage systems will use two lithium ion batteries, determined by how the system will be used on grid. The company’s titanate anode lithium cells make batteries for power intensive requirements, great for zipping up and down to meet fast frequency regulation signals and achieving long life cycles. It’s the thoroughbred horse of energy storage batteries, achieving up to 15,000 cycles — this is long — a 20year calendar lifespan, and all of its installed capacity is usable, in other words 100% depth of discharge (DOD). But some grid applications also need more of a workhorse battery, so Leclanché also makes lithium ion batteries with graphite anodes for bulk storage

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 47

THE CEO INTERVIEW: ANIL SRIVASTAVA

“There are a few examples of storage projects that use different battery technologies, such as lithium ion for power intensive demands and ﬂow batteries for energy intensive tasks.” and weight-critical projects and applications, such as electric buses or solar integration, where 6000 cycles at 80% DOD will suffice and the calendar life can be 10 years. “It’s all about the blending. The customer’s requirements for the storage system determine the chemistry, whether it needs to be graphite, titanate or a hybrid battery,” says Srivastava. To have these two chemistries optimized to work with the battery energy storage system electronics and software Leclanché is acquiring will provide customers with a better return on investment. “It’s not helpful to display energy storage costs expressed in terms of dollars per kilowatt hour. That’s when the hype occurs.” But it’s a necessary evil, surely? Companies need to throw costs out that end-users, the media and market researchers, can all get their head around easily. “No one really has the attention span to appreciate that grid storage economics depend on the use profile of the battery and the amount of time it is expected to operate for. Total cost of ownership, dependent on end-use application, cannot be so neatly communicated as, say, $250/kWh.

Investment levels “Working out the storage system cost at the investment level, such as in euros or dollars per kWh, does not account for the operation cost or the TCO, which is defined by the chemistry operating under a load profile. Many business cases can be optimized by using a chemistry blend,” he says. This hybrid concept of storage is gaining interest. Leclanché is doing it using two different lithium chemistries but there are a few examples of storage projects that use different battery technologies, such as lithium ion for power intensive demands and flow batteries for energy intensive tasks. Such a project has been installed in

northern Germany. With some of the highest levels of renewables — wind and solar — plugged into the grid of any market worldwide, the effects of these intermittent sources are making themselves felt. For frequency control Germany’s transmission system operators procure power either as positive reserve, to balance out deficits or negative reserve to balance out surplus. Trading is done through primary, secondary and tertiary control markets, with primary control having to occur within 30 seconds and secondary, which is at 15 minute intervals. When demand is low, but the supply of renewables is high, instead of running the excess power to ground or using curtailment measures, storage operators are paid to act as a sink, absorbing the surplus, as well as for releasing the power back into the grid to balance out deficits. “It is completely market based. There is no subsidy,” says Srivastava. Germany’s market for control reserves allows for energy storage systems to be designed to address different frequency regulation signals rather than just one, opening up more revenue streams. But to achieve this in the most costefficient manner over the lifetime of an energy storage system, cells sufficient for energy-intensive demands would also be included, whereas a system made up completely of power-intensive cells would be excessive and overly expensive. This is where Leclanché’s software and BMS acquisition is beneficial — it allows the company to produce virtual batteries based on the user profile provided by the utility or other customer. Srivastava’s past experience includes running the renewables business of French nuclear firm Areva. “I’ve seen the impact on T&D that the growth in renewables has had. Transmis-

“Every single industry that has been hyped has crashed. What this industry needs less of is companies trying to sell their chemistry or battery as the one that is the best for every application.” 48 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

sion needs to keep pace or renewable generation can never be fully utilized, because when there is too much, the excess power has to be run to ground, or curtailed, or it destabilizes the grid when there’s too little,” he says. “When governments, in Europe and elsewhere, introduced renewables-friendly policies and subsidies, the effect that the growth in renewables, like wind and solar, would have on the whole T&D system was not considered.” But this can be turned to Leclanché’s advantage. The company has been talking about stationary storage for some time, albeit before Srivastava joined. In 2011 the company announced a tie-up with Talesun for supplying residential solar and storage systems, projects with wind and solar plants and then the installation and ramping or a production plant with an annual capacity of up to 1 million lithium ion cells, equivalent to 76MWh.

Sizing it right “We started off making smaller sized cells — A5 size — and are now producing larger — A4 — cells. Getting the production process right takes time, but we have a throughput of about 85%, which is pretty good for this industry,” he says. “Since 2012 we’ve been working on grid integration projects, but these have been to validate the technology, rather than being commercial installations. And we’ve made headway with our residential storage systems, selling numerous units in Switzerland and Germany. But we’re starting to promote it across Europe, expanding operations in the UK, for example.” This summer Leclanché’s first utility storage project will also be grid-connected. “It’s a 500kWh system, on the site of Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, for providing frequency regulation and will also be used for integrating solar generation from a nearby solar farm at the university.” he says. The local utility Romande Energie owns both the 2MW photovoltaic plant — Switzerland’s largest — and the storage asset and finances research and demonstration projects at the Ecole in the field of solar energy. Leclanché also has projects with utilities both in the primary and secondary control reserve markets. Italy looks promising too. “We’ve been working with the utility Enel to qualify our system, so we are tested and fully compliant with Italy’s grid code,” he says. “Like Germany, in Italy, a lot of renewable generation capacity is in

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THE CEO INTERVIEW: ANIL SRIVASTAVA the south while demand is in the north. Colossal amounts of wind power are lost through curtailment because there is not the grid infrastructure in place to get it to where the demand is. Storage is an option.” And then there’s the US market. Last year US-based Oakridge Global Energy Solutions, which licenses solidstate battery technology for industrial, government and medical applications, signed a binding letter of intent to acquire a controlling interest in Leclanché, from Precept Fund Management SPC, which is also a major shareholder of Oakridge. The 11,000,000 shares of Leclanché equate to $45 million. Oakridge signed a joint development and marketing agreement with Leclanché in April 2014. Press releases issued at the time stated: “Leclanché can now move forward to drive its commercial and technological development and strengthen its presence in North America through further collaboration with Oakridge.” They also said that Leclanché will consolidate all of its strategic lithium ion battery manufacturing investments under Oakridge . “This is not happening,” he says. “Both companies are evolving. Our joint development agreement with Oakridge is a non-exclusive relationship. In Precept, we each have a common shareholder. Oakridge is not obligated to use our technology in Europe and if solid-state is not the right chemistry for a particular application our lithium ion chemistry is an option, if relevant.”

Testing Leclanché has been testing its storage devices with one of the national research laboratories. “We’ll be able to announce this in a few months,” he says. “It means that we’ll have a product certified in the US: Texas and the PJM Interconnection area, on the east coast, are areas of strategic focus. Right now, California is a gold rush, creating hype and shifting it outwards.” Srivastava has earned his spurs when it comes to judging a sector bubble. “I was around in the Hewlett Packard days and AT&T. There’s very few of those companies at the time around now. Every single industry that has been hyped has crashed. What this industry needs less of is companies trying to sell their chemistry or battery as the one that is the best for every application — and can cure world hunger while it’s at it.”

50 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

“Right now, California is a gold rush, creating hype and shifting it outwards.” That’s why Leclanché is going after other application-driven markets, including electrified mass transportation, such as buses and trains, and industrial machines, like as forklifts, cranes and mining machinery. “Grid energy storage has such a lot of potential but you have to de-risk the strategy by focusing on unregulated markets that are not so dependent on politics and economics. Take public transportation. Once you are certified for electric buses in a city like London then you are good for seven years. In the five biggest cities in Europe there are probably about 100,000 buses. Less than 5% are hybrid.” This is, again, where he thinks the company’s portfolio of power and energy-intensive lithium ion batteries and the software controls that make them all work together in one system, confers an advantage over the competition. “Hybrid buses need both. Every time they pull up at a bus stop or they open and close doors, using at least one gauge, that’s a cycle in battery language. But you also need a system that contains energy-intensive storage for when they are on the road.” According to McKinsey Insight electrified mass transportation is an addressable worldwide market, set to

grow from half a billion dollars in 2014 to over $10 billion in 2020. “We expect this business to really get started from 2017 onwards,” says Srivastava. To compare, estimates for grid storage predict the market to grow to $8 billion by 2020.

Specialty batteries too Then there is Leclanché’s third market — specialty battery systems — expected to grow from over $7 billion in 2013 to $20 billion in 2020. This is one of the few existing businesses of Leclanché’s that Srivastava has kept on. “It’s a big potential market but it’s extremely fragmented. We’re talking Segways to satellites, but we have kept this business focused on defence — customers include the Swiss and French armies — street lighting, telecoms and medical applications.” This is also the only part of Leclanché’s business where it has to be battery agnostic. “I’d love it if we could use our batteries in everything, but there are other technologies more suited to the job. But, we are making progress,” he says. In off-grid solar-powered street lighting this has been the case. “It’s better than sending a guy out on a camel every other week to dig up a hole and replace the battery.” ■

LECLANCHÉ — THE BASICS • • • •

Founded by Georges Leclanché in 1909 Headquartered in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland Lithium ion mass production plant in Willstätt, Germany More than 100 patents in lithium ion titanate development and production processes • Market capitalization: Sfr100 million ($105 million) • Key investors: Precept Fund Management SPC (48.11%), Bruellan Corporate Action Fund (18.5%), Recharge ApS (9.9%), others (23.4%)

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THE WIT AND WISDOM OF JAN DARASZ

The wit and wisdom of Jan Darasz Over the years Battery International’s resident cartoonist Jan Darasz has shrewdly added his own commentary to many of the articles we’ve run. Here we select our ofﬁce favourites.

EV pricing: of course

it makes sense

get busy on working Management consultants development out future battery business

52 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

d certainly Those EU rules on lea make sense

Time to g et about lith realistic ium ion batteries for EVs

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THE WIT AND WISDOM OF JAN DARASZ

Energy storage and th e joys of f go oin iing ng g green

s tion batterie Next genera ce promise fulfil their pri

The impossible lightne ss of battery profit predict ions

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Lead acid boldly goes ne where no battery‛s go before

Lies, falsehoods and misconceptions about renewables

me rs beco e e in g n e Battery nergy storage e s a gurus planet e h saves t

hter guments for ever tig The overwhelming ar battery regulation

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 53

COVER STORY: LEAD ACID AND GRID STORAGE

Separating hype from substance as competing battery chemistries clash The value of grid storage is often judged on the prices of batteries alone, making lead acid seem a good deal and lithium ion too costly. But when the functionality of the various chemistries is compared is there such a thing as a clear winner? Sara Verbruggen reports. Grid storage is probably the battery industry’s toughest challenge yet. More often it seems that in many projects happening now, energy storage systems are expected to do not one, but often several things. It’s partly the result of how the electricity grids are regulated, where stor-

54 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

age is too expensive to be solely a generation or a distribution asset, so its value is extracted by measuring out a multiplicity of different services and functions, over the system’s lifetime. These values might be calculated by deferring the cost of investment needed in putting more copper wires into

the system, or from providing the various different additional services that generators provide the grid to keep it all operating smoothly. Specialized software controls are critical parts of modern energy storage systems. Nevertheless, at the core of these systems is the battery, called on

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COVER STORY: LEAD ACID AND GRID STORAGE to absorb and inject electricity into the grid, on a daily basis or, in cases, many times a day. The industry is going through a hype cycle and at the heart of the bubble is lithium ion. Some forecasts suggest variants of this chemistry are going to dominate grid storage in the years to come — lithium sulfur and lithium air are recent favourites — while others see lithium ion as being too expensive to ever provide real genuine value for investors. Some are already saying that lithium ion is a battery technology that will be supplanted sooner rather than later. Compared with its share of the overall global battery market lead acid is disproportionately under-represented in grid storage, even in the format of advanced lead acid, which has been commercialized by companies including East Penn, through its Ecoult subsidiary — see interview elsewhere in this issue with John Wood, Ecoult’s chief executive — and Axion Power. Some energy storage players say the reason is simple. Lead acid batteries lack the functionality of lithium ion. The $44 million 36MW/24MWh Notrees energy storage project in Texas, owned by Duke Energy, is to have its advanced lead acid batteries swapped out. They will most likely be replaced with a lithium ion variant. In January 2013, when it was connected up to the grid the Notrees Battery Storage Project was one of the largest grid installations in the US at the time. Duke Energy matched a $22 million grant from the US energy department to install large-scale batteries capable of storing electricity produced by the company’s 153MW Notrees wind farm in west Texas. The system was supplied by Xtreme Power, which had also commercialized an advanced lead acid battery under the PowerCell brand. However Xtreme ran into cashflow problems and in 2013, the firm put its battery manufacturing business up for sale, to raise funds and focus on the management side of energy storage, by testing qualifying and integrating different battery technologies. However, the company could not sell the battery business and even with over 77MW of energy storage projects under its belt, including installations on Hawaii, was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2014. Its assets — exclusive of the battery business — were picked up by Younicos. Jeff Gates, director of sales and field

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operations and energy storage provider at Alevo, says, “I can’t comment on the Notrees storage project, but the batteries are doing a different duty cycle compared with when the project was initially commissioned, responding to a new signal that did not exist when they were installed. At conferences it

was suggested that the batteries would most likely need to be replaced fairly early on because of this.” Gates was managing director at Duke Energy’s commercial transmission business, and worked on the utility’s storage pilots and the Notrees project, before joining Alevo as director of

The global grid storage market is still in its early throes. Where batteries are concerned, it will be a case of horses for courses, analysts think. Many say that is why companies such as Greensmith and Younicos, have opted to be battery agnostic and focus on applications and software needed to make batteries perform well for grid storage tasks. THE DILEMMA OF COST METRICS: THE NEED FOR A BIGGER PICTURE

Anil Srivastava, chief executive at Swiss battery manufacturer Leclanché, thinks the continuing obsession with pricing batteries in terms of dollars or euros per kilo watt hour, only engenders hype. He believes it has led to some aggressive pricing, particularly by the bigger energy storage players, looking to take a large chunk of the market. As a sustainable long-term strategy by the industry, it is questionable. “Expressing the cost of the storage system cost at the investment level, such as in euros or dollars per kWh, does not account for the operational cost or the total cost of ownership, which is deﬁned by the chemistry operating under a load proﬁle,” he says. The solar photovoltaics industry fell into a similar trap a few years back, expressing cost of this form of

renewable energy generation as cost per watt. The result was that while it encouraged the industry to push hard to reduce costs — and prices have come down dramatically — the trend also facilitated a price war. This encouraged solar panels to be produced as a mass commodity product, leading to compromised product quality in many cases. Nowadays, usually the cost of a utility scale solar or wind power plant is calculated using a common metric that was used for more traditional power plant assets, levellized cost of energy (LCOE). This considers all costs, not only capital outlay on the plant itself but the operational expenditure over the plant’s operational lifetime, such as costs of fuel, operations and maintenance and other considerations.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 55

COVER STORY: LEAD ACID AND GRID STORAGE Lead acid has not kept up with lithium ion as it pertains to broad, grid scale energy storage needs in several ways. That includes, cycle life, which is a fraction of what lithium ion is these days. “Useful capacity is anywhere from 30%-70% state of charge, versus 5%95%, or better, for lithium ion — John Jung, Greensmith

The batteries on the Notrees energy storage project are doing a different duty cycle compared with when the project was initially commissioned, responding to a new signal that did not exist when they were installed

sales and field operations in December. The Switzerland-headquartered company is a vertically integrated provider of energy storage systems, investing in the region of $1 billion in a factory in the US state of North Carolina to make its lithium ion batteries that use a solid-state electrolyte. Some are more direct about the lack of a role that they see for lead acid batteries in grid storage. When it started out, Greensmith, a US supplier of grid-integrated energy storage systems used a lead acid battery for UPS functionality. John Jung, the company’s founder says, “Lead acid has not kept up with lithium ion as it pertains to broad, grid scale energy storage needs in several ways. That includes, cycle life, which is a fraction of what lithium ion is these days. “Useful capacity is anywhere from

30%-70% state of charge, versus 5%95%, or better, for lithium ion. These two factors creates an energy unit cost disadvantage for lead acid when you calculate a levellized cost analysis in contrast to nameplate pricing per kilowatt hour.” His company regularly collects pricing versus performance quotes from lead acid vendors along with those for other types of batteries. Then there can be other issues concerning lead acid too. Lack of density is a problem for some applications with space constraints. The Notrees energy storage project also shows that some types of advanced lead acid may not be up to high power applications like frequency regulation, though poor integration and issues with software controls can also be likely to blame. “Lead acid could retain niche markets like backup cell towers in India or

$150/kWh is a realistic and sustainable price point for lead acid as opposed to some of the aggressive pricing in the lithium ion battery market, where players are prepared to incur losses to gobble up market space. Their strategy requires deep pockets and does not always work out.” — Subhash Dhar, Energy Power Systems 56 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

automobiles in general but it’s not really advancing either on the cost front or innovation which is a huge contrast to the growth, scale and innovation seen from not only li-ion but flow and new technologies like aqueous ion by Aquion,” says Jung. When Younicos was getting started the company’s founders looked at over 20 different energy storage technologies, including supercapacitors, compressed air as well as several types of battery technologies, including lead acid and advanced lead acid. Company spokesmen Philip Hiersemenzel says, “We looked at lead acid technologies since such a lot of bids for projects at the time were based on these types of batteries. Even then, we were sceptical. “While these batteries were cheaper they had issues, such as only being able to be discharged to 40%, both for lead acid and advanced lead acid.” The company settled on three main battery technologies, vanadium flow, sodium sulphur and lithium ion. Even though it acquired the intellectual property for a vanadium redox flow battery technology and set up the Austrian company Cellstrom to commercialize these types of batteries, Younicos has reduced its stake in Cellstrom, which is now majority-owned by renewable energy company Gildemeister. “We made two decisions, to not become a battery manufacturer and not to use lead acid batteries, or variants of the technology, unless the customer specifically wants them,” says Hiersemenzel. The company continues to test various battery technologies in its labs. The Samsung cells used in the Leighton Buzzard energy storage project, in the UK, which deploys Younicos’ software controls to address various grid applications, uses the same chemistry as lithium ion batteries found in BMW’s electric car model. “It is the software that transforms a car battery into a stationary storage battery,” says Hiersemenzel. “I don’t have a crystal ball but cost reductions in lithium ion are projected to fall by 20% yearly. This is being driven by the e-mobility market. Lead acid has been around so long that there is not the potential for it to reduce in cost, it is already a mass manufactured product with economies of scale achieved. “Lithium ion factories are being built. Not just the Tesla gigafactory but in Asia, by companies such as

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COVER STORY: LEAD ACID AND GRID STORAGE Samsung. You only have to look at the solar PV industry to realise that a claim that a particular technology is always going to be too expensive can be proved wrong.” However, Subhash Dhar, chief executive of Energy Power Systems which makes an advanced lead acid battery using planar matrix technology, says “An accurate metric governing how the cost of batteries are measured is cents per kWh per cycle. “We have a

long cycle life. If our cost is low then that metric is favourable.” However, if he has to put a price on the batteries they are about $150/ kWh. “This is a realistic and sustainable price point for lead acid as opposed to some of the aggressive pricing in the lithium ion battery market, where players are prepared to incur losses to gobble up market space. But that’s a strategy that requires deep pockets and does not always work out.”

IT’S LEAD ACID, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT Question: How do you come up with a cheap battery that’s up to scratch in terms of a comparison of lithium ion performance? Answer: You take battery and storage expertise from across several technologies, but exclude lead acid. Then you go ahead and make a lead acid battery. That’s the gist of how Energy Power Systems, got started. “In August 2011 we walked through the doors of these premises,” says Subhash Dhar, the chief executive and company founder from its headquarters in Troy, Michigan. “None of us knew anything about lead acid. Between us we had worked with nickel-metal hydride batteries, lithium ion batteries, fuel cells, metal oxide coatings. But not lead acid.” The approach was a deliberate one. “We couldn’t risk having that mentality of, ‘But, you can’t do this. Or ‘But, that’s not going to be possible.’ We needed to tackle this without blinkers.” The challenge Dhar and his team set themselves was to do the opposite of the lithium ion battery industry. “For years it was always about once lithium ion scales the cost will come down. The industry was saying this every 10 years and it wasn’t happening.” Dhar should know. He’s worked on electric and hybrid vehicle technologies, including lithium ion, fuel cells and, before that, with nickel metal hydride batteries. He’s also the chief executive of Xalt Energy, a high tech ﬁrm that deploys lithium ion batteries for energy storage. “Our approach has been to take a high energy density or high power

58 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

density chemistry and then try to push down the price, which is very hard to do. We looked at what’s cheap. Lead acid, of course. Now let’s think completely out of the box about making a battery that performs on par with a lithium ion one.” That approach is starting to register with pockets of the energy storage industry as well as the automotive sector producing micro-hybrid models for the North American market. From its pilot line in its Troy facilities, Energy Power Systems is able to make a small number of batteries a week and send these off to prospective partners and customers for testing and qualifying. “We’ll keep doing that through this year and into next year,” he says. Meanwhile the company will build its high volume factory about 12 miles north of its premises (see news section). This should be operational by mid-2016. Then, production from the pilot line will make the transition to the full-scale factory line.

Dhar: “we needed to tackle this without blinkers”

Dhar’s company is building a factory that will produce a new type of advanced lead acid battery, based on the company’s proprietary technology. The batteries use the same ingredients as the traditional lead acid industry, but that’s where the similarities end. Every aspect, from materials morphology to battery design has been reconfigured radically. “For example, lead is used in the substrate but is used differently than how it has traditionally been used. There is no casting process. We use the same lead oxides as used by the lead acid industry. But the form — the morphology — of the materials is different,” he says. The resulting planar matrix technology (PLM) batteries eventually corrode and undergo sulfation and other mechanisms that cut down their performance and lifetime — the difference, however, is that only processes have been slowed down. Dhar says the company made a conscious decision not to play up the lead acid origins of his company’s PLM batteries. “When it comes to markets like grid storage, there are questions about the performance of lead acid technology, including advanced formats. Our focus is on the application, but of course we do not shy away from telling people what chemistry is at the heart of PLM.” Valuing energy storage on the price of batteries, as in dollars or euros per kilowatt hour, may not do lead acid players breaking into grid storage any favours either, in the long term. A new report out by Navigant Research forecasts the global market for materials for making advanced batteries will total $132.2 billion from 2014 to 2023. Demand from grid storage and transportation sectors is driving demand. While advanced lead acid materials can expect to see significant growth in the next decade, the falling cost of lithium ion is making it harder for advanced lead acid to compete. The cost of advanced lead acid batteries has reached as low as $500/ kWh, according to the consultancy, but the cost of the carbon doping — adding carbon materials — to lead acid batteries to enhance their performance under partial state of charge (PSOC) intensive applications, adds to their cost. Grid storage covers a broad range of applications and for high power applications, such as frequency regulation, lithium ion seems to be favoured though there are lead acid batterybased energy storage installations that

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COVER STORY: LEAD ACID AND GRID STORAGE “You only have to look at the solar PV industry to realise that a claim that a particular technology is always going to be too expensive can be proved wrong.”

The Samsung cells used in the Leighton Buzzard energy storage project — battery building shown above — in the UK, which uses Younicos’ software controls to address various grid applications, uses the same chemistry as lithium ion batteries found in BMW’s electric car model

are performing these tasks. Last year, Axion Power won the contract to supply energy storage and frequency regulation for a solar farm in Pennsylvania, which will comprise two 2.4MW plants. As well as storing electricity for supplying the local Coatesville Area School District, the storage system will provide frequency regulation services for the PJM Interconnection. East Penn, too, has supplied some grid storage installations using the advanced lead acid technology in the UltraBattery of its subsidiary, Ecoult. Chad Christ, marketing manager for East Penn’s motive and reserve power batteries, thinks the balance is tipping in favour of lead acid. The lead acid industry is mature with a growing base of over 20GW of existing installed stationary storage in the US, with more than 6GW being installed each year in new sites and refits. “This storage doesn’t grab headlines because it is relatively passive — performing stand-by functions for data centres and critical industries,” he says. In terms of the short term need for ancillary services, and variability management on the grid and microgrid systems, 20GW is very large. “But it is a tiny amount of the output of the lead acid industry today and the industry can expand readily. East Penn is investing in expanding its industrial manufacturing capacity, for industrial and motive, while investing in the Ultrabattery technology to address the needs of advanced products for grid storage,” says Christ. He says the next step is to draw upon the manufacturing and support industries that maintain the 20GW installed

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base of lead acid cells to support the growth of grid storage. “We see scope for a gradual evolution of the existing stationary industry away from single purpose backup to dual purpose systems that can both provide backup and contribute to grid services. The existing backup systems provided a resource that is already grid connected.” Potentially these can begin to be migrated to new lead-acid formats, bringing large banks of distributed, cycling storage online. Financial incentives will encourage data centres to install fast cycling storage to earn grid regulation revenues in increasing numbers of grids. Ecoult says it is pursuing leads for the business. “The only hurdle is the cultural change required for understandably conservative owners of data centres who depend entirely on uninterrupted power,” says Christ. How long this change might take to happen is difficult to judge, in part as many UPS players say that the sort of proposal put forward by East Penn is more theory than reality. Nevertheless East Penn is building on its earlier projects such as the PNM Prosperity site in New Mexico. “This project has delivered and exceeded the original project objectives and is continuing to operate extremely effectively, while our PJM grid frequency regulation project is a profitable installation that has been used as a showcase for several fullycommercial projects that will begin to come online over the next year,” says John Wood, chief executive of Ecoult, the East Penn subsidiary. “These are MWscale projects with a multi-purposing capability. The customer will use the storage infrastructure for their own internal requirements, such as load management or backup, but will have a regular income stream gained by us-

ing the batteries to sell frequency regulation services to the grid operator.” The global grid storage market is still in its early days. Where batteries are concerned, it will be a case of horses for courses, many think. Many analysts say that is why companies such as Greensmith and Younicos, have opted to be battery agnostic and focus on applications and software needed to make batteries perform well for grid storage tasks. Leesa Lee, senior vice president of product management and marketing at Greensmith, says, “Our software platform gives our suppliers’ batteries an edge. We spend an inordinate amount of time researching and keeping up to speed on batteries, including new chemistries and technologies and new iterations of existing technologies. “The process of integrating them with our software can take two to eight weeks and we also regularly visit our vendors’ factories.” Currently two thirds of the company’s batteries come from lithium ion suppliers, though the company is bidding for projects that will use Aquion’s aqueous ion batteries. “There is not a single chemistry or a single product that can serve all needs. But we’ll have something compelling to offer, for behind the meter and for load shifting, for example,” says Dhar. ■

Energy Power Systems made a conscious decision not to play up the lead acid origins of its company’s PLM batteries.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 59

COVER STORY: LEAD ACID AND GRID STORAGE Lithium ion would appear to dominate the grid storage market, but the industry needs a range of storage technologies at its disposal.

One size doesn’t ﬁt all Announcements such as Tesla’s lithium ion giga-battery factory — where Elon Musk is rumoured to be extending its domestic specific plans for home energy storage to that of the grid — and more recently, a $1 billion lithium ion battery plant investment by Alevo, help contribute to the idea that grid storage technology is synonymous with lithium ion batteries. But big grid storage systems are not like cell phones or laptops. These batteries will have a big role to play in the coming years but they are not the whole story. In Germany industrial and commercial companies that have invested in onsite renewable energy generation, such as wind, solar and biomass, are beginning to investigate the economics of having onsite energy management and storage. GNB Industrial Power/Exide, one of the major lead acid battery makers, is working with potential customers that are evaluating how batteries can be used to provide uninterruptible power supply and also deliver controlled power to the grid and to generate additional returns. The company is launching a containerized 500kWh system that will use its Sonnenschein Solar gel lead acid batteries. “It is important that the batteries are not only able to discharge power when needed but also act as a sink

to absorb power. The battery therefore provides positive and negative controlled power to the grid,” says Martin Sinz product director advanced applications and renewable energy systems. Germany operates a primary, a secondary and a tertiary control reserve market. Providers are paid to bank power as well as release it into the grid. There is also interest in the system from other countries, where a battery in conjunction with a renewable energy plant, for example, can provide power during night time, often in places where the grid is not that well reinforced. “The advantage of lead acid is that it is well proven and it works. With lithium ion many suppliers have not been around for as long. Also costconscious customers are interested in lead acid technology, which can be 30% more economical than lithium ion batteries,” says Sinz.

“It is important that the batteries are not only able to discharge power when needed but also act as a sink to absorb power. The battery therefore provides positive and negative controlled power to the grid” — Martin Sinz, Exide www.batteriesinternational.com

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 61

COVER STORY: LEAD ACID AND GRID STORAGE teries, types of compressed air storage and hydrogen. SAGER II will provide results and data on how a battery storage asset operates on the network. AEG Power Solutions supplied the whole 600kWh energy storage system, including the battery management system, software controls and the power conversion system.

Tubular lead

The Tensor Solar batteries are used in solar integrator Belectric’s Energy Buffer Unit, designed to be used as part of a hybrid power system that can integrate a solar plant, with other energy sources

“As batteries are the most expensive component of an energy storage system, in the role of integrator we would source the batteries but also need to build this into our margins, so we see the opportunity to be a component supplier as well as doing full-scope energy storage system installations,” — Stefan Kempen, product manager, AEG Spanish utility Iberdrola is piloting an energy storage system supplied by AEG Power Solutions. The decision to use lead acid batteries was driven by the specifics of the application. The system is installed in northern Spain on the premises of a secondary substation, owned by Iberdrola, located in Júndiz, Vitoria and will

62 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

be operated by Iberdrola as part of a project called SAGER (Sistema de Almacenamiento de Energía a Gran escala para la Red Eléctrica — System for Large Scale Energy Storage for the Electricity Grid). The first phase of the project examined various different energy storage technologies, including different bat-

The project uses lead acid batteries based on tubular cells, customized by AEG Power Solutions for the demands of the project as the battery needs to be able to charge at double the rate of standard long-life gel cells and is required to cycle for 1800 cycles at 80% DOD and 5200 cycles at 20% DOD. Variables such as temperature will have an impact on the battery’s lifetime and the project will provide lots of data on the performance of the batteries, but it is expected that the BESS may have an operational lifetime of between five and eight years, based on DOD of 80%, lasting 1800 cycles, cycling five days a week. The batteries were selected and qualified by AEG to ensure level of quality and reliability. To do this required producing a use profile for the batteries, a process of information exchange between AEG PS and the battery supplier over three to four months. AEG Power Solutions wants to supply the energy storage market as a turnkey supplier of systems or as a supplier of components, such as its power converters developed from technology already widely commercialized in large solar plants. “As batteries are the most expensive component of an energy storage system, in the role of integrator we would source the batteries but also need to build this into our margins, so we see the opportunity to be a component supplier as well as doing full-scope energy storage system installations,” says Stefan Kempen, product manager for advanced power solutions at the company. In a separate energy storage project in Germany, AEG Power Solutions supplied its Protect SC converter to Vanadis Power, which supplied vanadium redox flow batteries for an energy storage project in northern Germany. The Braderup project uses two types of batteries — the other is lithium ion. Kempen sees potential for hybrid storage projects increasing in prevalence as the market grows, because it means batteries are selected for their specific performance strengths.

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COVER STORY: LEAD ACID AND GRID STORAGE SAFETY FIRST

Lithium ion is popular for grid storage but its detractors argue that as well as being expensive, there are other issues too. Concerns range from issues of safety to long-term fears that it may soon be out of date. On the safety front some companies are making progress. One of these is Leclanché. The Swiss battery maker has spent the last two years ramping its factory for making lithium ion batteries, based on lithium titanate chemistry originally developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology. Leclanché acquired the spin-out Bullith Batteries in 2006 in Willstätt in Germany. For the cells Leclanché developed a proprietary ceramic separator, which forms a strong barrier between the anode and cathode materials. The ceramic structure of the separator has been designed to ensure the safety of its cells. Last year the company struck a collaboration agreement with SaintGobain to develop a new separator that uses polymers and inorganic grains and powders, through a Saint-Gobain division that produces material ﬁlms, ceramics, slurries, and inorganic materials. Leclanché will use the separator in its stationary storage product range, while Saint-Gobain will market them for other lithium ion cell applications. Last year, Alevo, another advanced battery company headquartered in Switzerland, bought what was “For medium term storage duties, required on a daily basis, lead acid could be used. For long-term needs, such as weekly or monthly, vanadium redox flow is suitable while for short, fast charging, perhaps multiple times a day, lithium ion is suitable,” he says.

64 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

a Philip Morris cigarette factory in Concord, North Carolina and has turned it into an industrial lithium battery plant. The factory is expected to produce its first batteries by July. These will be used in its GridBank energy storage system, which the company is planning to install in the next year in the US. Each GridBank is 1MWh in size and modular. The company’s chemistry is the first inorganic lithium battery to be commercialized, a technology that has proven hard to take from the laboratory bench and then into production. Alevo will not divulge the original source of the chemistry, which is a sulphur-based inorganic lithium ion electrolyte. The company took control of it by acquiring Fortu PowerCell, a Germany company founded in 2007. Fortu had tried to secure state tax breaks to build a factory in Michigan, before it went insolvent. But, before Fortu tried to commercialize it, the technology was developed under a public private partnership arrangement. “For the specific application it was developed for the technology had to be 100% safe. So the researchers concluded that whatever lithium ion technology was used the source of it becoming flammable and combustible had to be eliminated, which led them down the inorganic electrolyte route,” says Jeff Gates, director of sales and field operations at Alevo. Starting with a completely safe non-flammable cell technology, other features became apparent. “The cells are very reliable and they last a very long time. So this by-product of longevity would also prove useful for grid storage,” says Gates. The batteries have achieved 40,000 recharge cycles. Alevo has not been around that long, so it has secured a third party company — in insurance — to give the batteries a 20 year warranty. The company also supplies rectifiers for hydrogen storage. AEG is also drawing on its UPS business and experience gained to also go after microgrid and off-grid projects. “In North America, there is an increasing demand for storage to provide

“Even though these systems are not cost-competitive yet, it would be short-sighted to assume that lithium ion prices will not come down to the level that makes it competitive with lead acid” — Martin Sinz, Exide grid services such as frequency regulation and arbitrage, but another ben nefit is for the systems to act as a standalone back-up power source, kicking in when the main grid is down, for example due to bad storms,” he says. Through its UPS business AEG PS has a lot of experience of building and controlling islanding grids and furthermore of working with classical batteries such as lead acid or nickel cadmium.

Medium-term storage While Kempen acknowledges the technology for its reliability and versatility for applications such as backup and UPS, he says: “In the energy storage market, while we do see a role for lead acid, for medium-term storage, especially as it is so cost-efficient, other storage technologies will also be needed depending on the requirements placed on storage systems. “These are dictated by the needs of the grid for specific applications. But in any system configuration the selection of the right set of battery technologies and qualifying of the batteries is important to ensure the storage project maximizes value.” For more power intensive requirements GNB Industrial Power has used an established lead acid technology gained through its acquisition of Hagen. The company made batter-

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COVER STORY: LEAD ACID AND GRID STORAGE ies for German submarines and also a huge 14MWh battery installed in West Berlin between 1986 and 1994, operated by BEWAG for grid services. GNB’s line of Tensor Solar batteries, launched in 2012, use the same core technology and battery design as that used in the Berlin battery bank. The battery’s excellent performance in PSOC is achieved through using conductive copper-stretched metal, for optimizing internal resistance, in combination with positive tubular electrodes and larger cross sections of current conducting components. The Tensor Solar batteries are used in solar integrator Belectric’s Energy Buffer Unit, designed to be used as part of a hybrid power system that can integrate a solar plant, with other energy sources. The Energy Buffer Unit is installed in Alt Daber in Germany, with a solar plant. GNB also supplies Germany’s residential storage market, where batteries are used with solar systems. The company is expanding its line by supplying a lithium ion battery version alongside its lead acid battery-based product. Eventually the company may consider lithium ion for larger storage. “Even though these systems are not cost-competitive yet, it would be short-sighted to assume that lithium ion prices will not come down to the level that makes it competitive with lead acid,” says Sinz. Because big banks of batteries are expensive and grids are heavily regulated, energy storage providers are under pressure to deliver systems that achieve a predictable return on investment. While capacity ramping in lithium ion battery factories will drive down the unit price of batteries, there is more to be done to optimize system performance. The renewable energy industry has been through similar growing pains, increasing efficiencies of cells and panel outputs, in the case of solar, and turbine capacities, in the case of wind power, and developing products guaranteed to work for longer. But battery storage systems are also unique because the systems have to be designed for the specific grid application. Grid signal frequencies, as well as other services and functions must be considered over the projected lifetime of the system and in some cases, these might also change. Once this is understood, a use profile of the battery is needed. This enables system providers to decide what type of chemistry would be best

66 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

Alt Daber: coming soon to a ﬁeld near you, the shape of things to come

deployed and would be most cost-effective over the life of the system. The hybrid system concept behind the Braderup project has real potential. One system can provide several services and functions, using different batteries, as opposed to being oversized with one very expensive type of battery.

A powerful lithium mix Swiss battery maker Leclanché is promoting a similar approach, albeit using lithium ion. The company has developed a lithium titanate battery for power intensive applications but is also producing lithium ion batteries with graphite anodes, for energy intensive requirements. Depending on an individual project’s specifications the company can produce energy storage systems that integrate both chemistries, in varying ratios. The company’s chief executive Anil Srivastava thinks there is a demand for such systems from the mass transportation sector as well as from utilities and grid operators for stationary storage. Energy storage system suppliers can be divided into two camps. In the first, there are the companies that source batteries and integrate

them to work with their software platforms and controls. They range from software start-ups such as Greensmith, Younicos and Stem to the big global suppliers of T&D equipment, such as ABB and AEG Power Solutions. But none of these companies are tied to one battery technology. They can secure more business by having a range of battery technologies — power intensive through to energy intensive — at their disposal, depending on the specific project. In the second camp, there are the vertically integrated businesses that supply everything from the software platform and controls for integration to the production of batteries, such as Leclanché and Alevo. These businesses can control each step of the value chain but it is a risky approach. Jeff Gates, sales director of Alevo, says: “The grid storage market is going to be big and there are so many different applications for it that there is not one technology that is going to address it all. “It’s not a one size-fits-all market. But batteries will have a big share of it and for the types of projects that we are going after, the lithium ion technology that we have is right.” ■

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CELL FORMATS AND BATTERY DESIGN

Cell formats and how to build a good battery The history of cell format development over the years has lessons that are still relevant to next generation battery developers, writes Isidor Buchmann, chairman of Cadex Electronics and founder of the Battery University.

Early batteries of the 1700s and 1800s were mostly encased in glass jars. As the batteries grew in size, jars shifted to sealed wooden containers and composite materials. There were few size standards, except perhaps the No 6 Dry Cell named after its six inches of height. Other sizes were handbuilt for specific uses. With the move to portability, sealed cylindrical cells emerged that led to standards. In around 1917, the National Institute of Standards and Technology formalized the alphabet nomenclature that is still used today. Table 1 summarizes these historic and current battery sizes. Standardization included primary cells, mostly in carbonzinc; alkaline emerged only in the early 1960s. With the popularity of the sealed nickel-cadmium battery in the 1950s and 1960s, new sizes appeared, many of which were derived from the “A” and “C” sizes. Manufacturers of Liion departed from conventional sizes and invented their own. The International Electrochemical Commission, a nongovernmental standards organization founded in 1906, developed standards for most rechargeable batteries under the number of 600086. The relevant US standards are the ANSI C18 series developed by the US National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

Size

Dimensions

History

F cell

33 x 91 mm

Introduced in 1896 for lanterns; later used for radios; only available in nickel-cadmium today

E cell

N/A

Introduced ca. 1905 to power box lanterns and hobby applications. Discontinued ca. 1980

D cell

34.2 x 61.5mm

Introduced in 1898 for flashlights and radios; still current

C cell

25.5 x 50mm

Introduced ca. 1900 to attain smaller form factor

Sub-C

22.2 x 42.9mm 16.1mL

Cordless tool battery. Other sizes are ½, 4/5 and 5/4 sub-C lengths. Mostly NiCd.

B cell

20.1 x 56.8mm

Introduced in 1900 for portable lighting, including bicycle lights in Europe; discontinued in in North America in 2001

A cell

17 x 50mm

Only available as a NiCd or NiMH cell; also available in 2/3 and 4/5 size. Popular in old laptops and hobby batteries.

AA cell

14.5 x 50mm 8.1mL

Introduced in 1907 as penlight battery for pocket lights and spy tool in WWI; added to ANSI standard in 1947.

AAA cell

10.5 x 44.5mm

Developed in 1954 to reduce size for Kodak and Polaroid cameras. Added to ANSI standard in 1959

AAAA cell

8.3 x 42.5mm

Offshoot of 9V, since 1990s; used for laser pointers, LED penlights, computer styli, headphone amplifiers.

4.5V battery

67 x 62 x 22mm

Three cells form a flat pack; short terminal strip is positive, long strip is negative; common in Europe, Russia

9V battery

48.5 x 26.5 x 17.5mm

Introduced in 1956 for transistor radios; contains six prismatic or AAAA cells. Added to ANSI standard in 1959

18650

18 x 65mm 16.5mL

Developed in the mid-1990s for lithium-ion-ion; commonly used in laptops, e-bikes, including Tesla EV cars

26650

26 x 65mm 34.5mL

Larger Li-ion. Some measure 26x70mm sold as 26700. Common chemistry is LiFeO4 for UPS, hobby, automotive.

14500

14x 50mm

Li-ion, similar size to AA. (Observe voltage incompatibility: NiCd/NiMH = 1.2V, alkaline = 1.5V, Li-ion = 3.6V)

Table 1: Common old and new battery norms

68 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

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CELL FORMATS AND BATTERY DESIGN A successful standard for a cylindrical cell is the 18650. Developed in the mid-1990s for lithium-ion, these cells power laptops, electric bicycles and even electric vehicles, as with the Tesla cars. The first two digits designate the diameter in millimetres; the next three digits are the length in tenths of millimetres. The 18650 is 18mm in diameter and 65.0mm in length. Prismatic cells use the first two digits to indicate the thickness in tenth of millimetres. The next two digits designate the widths and the last two provide the length of the cell in millimetres. The 564656P prismatic cell, for example, is 5.6mm thick, 46mm wide and 56mm long. P stands for prismatic. Because of the large variety of chemistries and their diversity within, battery cells do not mark the chemistry. Looking at the batteries in mobile phones and laptops, one sees a departure of established standards. This is in part due to the manufacturer’s inability to agree on a standard. Most consumer devices come with a custom-made battery. Compact design and tailoring to market demands are swaying manufacturers away from standards. High volume tolerates unique sizes that are often short-lived. In the early days, a battery was perceived as “big” and this is reflected in the sizing convention. While the ‘F’ nomenclature may have been chosen as a middle-of-the-road battery in the late 1800s, our forefathers did not foresee that a tiny battery could do computing, serve as telephone and shoot pictures in a smartphone. Running out of letters towards the smaller sizes led to the awkwardness of the AA, AAA and AAAA designations. Since the introduction of the 9V battery in 1956, no new format has emerged. Meanwhile portable devices have lower operating voltages and 9V is overkill. The battery has six cells in series and is expensive to manufacture. A 3.6V alternative would serve well. This pack should have a coding system to prevent charging primaries and selecting the correct charge algorithm for secondary chemistries. Starter batteries for vehicles also follow battery norms, which consist of the North American BCI, the European DIN and the Japanese JIS standards. These batteries are similar in footprint to allow swapping. To standardize, American car manufacturers are converting to the American DIN size batteries. Deep-cycle and stationary batteries have no standardized norms and the replacement packs must be sourced from the original maker. The attempt to standardize electric vehicle batteries may not work either and follow the failed attempt of common laptop batteries in the 1990s.

spring-loaded valve are the preferred design. Some Li-ion cells connect the pressure relief valve to an electrical fuse that opens the cell if an unsafe pressure builds up. Figure 2 shows a cross section of a cylindrical cell. Typical applications for the cylindrical cell are power tools, medical instruments and laptops. To allow variations within a given size, manufacturers use fractural cell length, such as half and three-quarter formats. PTC device

Positive cap

Gas release vent

Positive tab

Gasket

Separator

Negative electrode Negative tab Casing

Insulation

Positive electrode

Figure 2: Cross section of a lithium-ion cylindrical cell The cylindrical cell design has good cycling ability, offers a long calendar life, is economical but is heavy and has low packaging density due to space cavities.

Nickel-cadmium provided the largest variety of cell choices and some spilled over to nickel-metal-hydride, but not to lithium-ion as this chemistry established its own formats. The 18650s illustrated in Figure 3 remains one of the most popular cell packages.

Cylindrical cell The cylindrical cell continues to be one of the most widely used packaging styles for primary and secondary batteries. The advantages are ease of manufacture and good mechanical stability. The tubular cylinder can withstand high internal pressures without deforming. Most lithium and nickel-based cylindrical cells include a positive thermal coefficient switch. When exposed to excessive current, the normally conductive polymer heats up and becomes resistive, acting as short circuit protection. Once the short is removed, the PTC cools down and returns to a conductive state. Most cylindrical cells also feature a pressure relief mechanism. The most simplistic design utilizes a membrane seal that ruptures under high pressure. Leakage and dry-out may occur after the membrane breaks. Re-sealable vents with a

70 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

Figure 3: Popular 18650 lithium-ion cell The metallic cylinder measure 18mm in diameter and 65mm the length. The larger 26650 cell measures 26mm in diameter.

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CELL FORMATS AND BATTERY DESIGN Most consumer devices come with a custom-made battery. Compact design and tailoring to market demands are swaying manufacturers away from standards. High volume tolerates unique sizes that are often short-lived In 2013, 2.55 billion 18650 cells were produced; earlier with 2.2Ah and now mostly with a capacity of 2.8Ah. Some newer 18650 energy cells are 3.1Ah and the capacity will grow to 3.4Ah by 2017. Cell manufacturers are getting readt for the 3.9Ah 18650, a format that they hope will be made available at the same cost as the lower capacity version. The 18650 is the most optimized cell and offers the lowest cost per Wh. As consumers move to the flat designs, the 18650 is peaking and there is over-production. Batteries may eventually be made with flat cells but experts say that the 18650 will continue to lead the market. Figure 4 shows the over-supply situation that has been corrected thanks to the demand of the Tesla electric vehicles.

Figure 4: Demand and supply of the 18650. The demand for the 18650 would have peaked in 2011 had it not been for Tesla. The switch to a ďŹ&#x201A;at-design in consumer products and larger format for the electric powertrain will eventually saturate the 18650. Courtesy Avicenne Energy

The larger 26650 cell with a diameter of 26mm instead of 18mm did not gain the same popularity as the 18650. The 26650 is commonly used in load-levelling systems with lithium iron phosphate. Some lead acid systems also borrow the cylindrical design. Known as the Hawker Cyclone, this cell offers improved cell stability, higher discharge currents and better temperature stability compared to the conventional prismatic design. Even though the cylindrical cell does not fully utilize the space by creating air cavities on side-by-side placement, the 18650 has a higher energy density than a prismatic/pouch Li-ion cell. The 3Ah 18650 delivers 248Wh/kg, whereas a modern pouch cell has only 143Ah/kg. The higher energy density of the cylindrical cell compensates for its less ideal stacking characteristics. The empty space can be used for cooling to improve thermal management. Cell disintegration cannot always be prevented but propagation can. The cylindrical concept lends itself better to stop propagation should one cell take off than is possible with the prismatic/pouch design. In addition, a cylindrical design does not change size whereas the prismatic/pouch will grow. A 5mm prismatic can expand to 8mm with use.

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In spite of the apparent advantages of the cylindrical design, advances are made with the pouch cell and experts predict a shift to this flat format.

Button cell The button cell, also known as coin cell, satisfied the requirement of compact design in portable devices of the 1980s. Higher voltages were achieved by stacking the cells into a tube. Cordless telephones, medical devices and security wands at airports used these batteries. Although small and inexpensive to build, the stacked button cell fell out of favour and gave way to more conventional battery formats. A drawback of the button cell is swelling if charged too rapidly. Button cells have no safety vent and can only be charged with a 10 to 16 hour charge; however, newer designs claim rapid charge capability. Most button cells in use today are non-rechargeable and are found in medical implants, watches, hearing aids, car keys and memory backup. Figure 5 illustrates the button cells with accompanying cross section. A cautionary note applies to button cells to keep out of reach of children as swallowing can cause serious health problems.

Figure 5: Button cells. Also known as coin cells, most are primary for single-cell use. Courtesy of Sanyo and Panasonic

Prismatic cell Introduced in the early 1990s, the modern prismatic cell satisfies the demand for thinner sizes. Wrapped in elegant packages resembling a box of chewing gum or a small chocolate bar, prismatic cells make optimal use of space by using the layered approach. Others designs may be wound and flattened into a pseudo-prismatic jelly. These cells are predominantly found in mobile phones, tablets and lowprofile laptops and range from 800mAh to 4,000mAh. No universal format exists and each manufacturer designs its own. Prismatic cells are also available in large formats. Packaged in welded aluminum housings, the cells deliver capacities of 20Ah to 30Ah and are primarily used for electric powertrains in hybrid and electric vehicles. Figure 6 shows the prismatic cell. The prismatic cell requires a slightly thicker wall to compensate for decreased mechanical stability compared to the cylindrical design. Some swelling due to gas build-up is normal. One must discontinue using the battery if the distortion becomes so large that it presses against the battery compartment. Bulging batteries can damage equipment.

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CELL FORMATS AND BATTERY DESIGN Cathode Separator

Anode

Can

Header

Our forefathers did not foresee that a tiny battery could do computing, serve as a telephone and shoot pictures in a smartphone. Running out of letters towards the smaller sizes led to the awkwardness of the AA, AAA and AAAA designations. Users of pouch packs have reported up to 3% swelling incidents on a poor batch run. The pressure created can crack the battery cover, and in some cases break the display and electronic circuit boards. Manufacturers say that an inflated cell is safe. Discontinue using the battery and do not puncture it in close proximity to heat or fire. The escaping gases can ignite. Figure 8 shows a swollen pouch cell.

Figure 6: Cross section of a prismatic cell The prismatic cell improves space utilization and allows ﬂexible design but it can be more expensive to manufacture, less efﬁcient in thermal management and have a shorter cycle life than the cylindrical design. Courtesy of Polystor Corporation

Pouch cell In 1995 the pouch cell surprised the battery world with a radical new design. Rather than using a metallic cylinder and glass-to-metal electrical feed-through, conductive foiltabs are welded to the electrodes and brought to the outside in a fully sealed way. Figure 7 illustrates a pouch cell. The pouch cell makes the most efficient use of space and achieves a 90%–95% packaging efficiency, the highest among battery packs. Eliminating the metal enclosure reduces weight but the cell needs some support in the battery compartment. The pouch pack finds applications in consumer, military and automotive applications. No standardized pouch cells exist; each manufacturer designs its own. Pouch packs are commonly Figure 7: Li-polymer and serve well as The pouch cell power cells by delivering high The pouch cell offers current. The capacity is lower a simple, ﬂexible and than Li-ion in the cylindrical lightweight solution to package and the flat-cell may be battery design. Exposure less durable. to high humidity and hot Expect some swelling; an temperature can shorten 8%–10% increase over 500 cyservice life. cles is normal. Provision must be made in the battery compartment for expansion. It is best not to stack pouch cells on top of each other but to lay them flat side by side. One must prevent sharp edges that can stress the pouch as they expand. Extreme swelling is a concern but battery manufacturers insist that these batteries do not generate excess gases. Most swelling can be blamed on improper manufacturing.

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Figure 8: Swelling pouch cell Swelling can occur due to gassing. Battery manufacturers are at odds as to why this happens. A 5mm (0.2”) battery in a hard shell can grow to 8mm (0.3”), more in a foil package.

Pouch cells are manufactured by including a temporary gas-bag on the side. During the first charge, gases escape into the gasbag. The gas-bag is cut off and the pack is resealed as part of the finishing process. Subsequent charges should no longer produce gases. Ballooning indicates that the manufacturing process may not be fully understood. Manual labour may also contribute the cause. Prismatic and pouch cells have the potential for greater energy than the cylindrical format but the technology to produce large formats is not yet mature. The cost per kWh is still higher than the 18650. As a comparison, the cost for the Nissan Leaf with pouch/prismatic cells is $455/kWh and best practice (DoE/AABC) with pouch/prismatic is $350/kWh. The lowest price per kWh is the Tesla EV with the 18650 cells. The Tesla Gen III battery goes for $290/ kWh (Estimates by Greenwich Strategy).

Comparisons With the introduction of the sintered nickel-cadmium battery in 1947, the rechargeable battery became portable and moved to a cylindrical format. Internal pressure was allowed to build up that helped in the absorption of gases

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 73

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CELL FORMATS AND BATTERY DESIGN Even though the cylindrical cell does not fully utilize the space by creating air cavities on side-by-side placement, the 18650 has a higher energy density than a prismatic/pouch Li-ion cell. The 3Ah 18650 delivers 248Wh/kg, whereas a modern pouch cell has only 143Ah/kg. during charge, preventing dry out. Nickel-cadmium thus became the pioneer of the cylindrical rechargeable battery. It was only in 1995 that the pouch cell appeared, packaged in a similar format to perishable food we buy in a store. Intended to be cheaper to manufacture and more flexible in form factor, further developments are needed to bring this amazing concept cell to the same performance level of the cylindrical version. Cylindrical cells have the best performance and mechanical stability. High volume allows a fully automated manufacturing process. The cell has good cycling ability, offers a long calendar life, is economical to manufacture, but is heavy and has a low packaging density. Prismatic cells are encased in aluminum or steel housing for stability. Jelly-rolled or stacked, they are more expensive to manufacture and less consistent in performance than cylindrical cells. The prismatic cell is less efficient in thermal management and may have a shorter cycle life. A pouch cell is a cell in a bag using laminated architecture. The cell is light and cost-effective to manufacture but exposure to high humidity and hot temperature can shorten life. A swelling factor of 8%–10% over 500 cycles is normal. Figure 9 illustrates the price in $/Wh of the cylindrical, prismatic and pouch cell, also known as laminated cell. While the cylindrical cell has been most economical, the flat-cell designs are getting more competitive in price. Once equal and better in performance to the cylindrical counterpart, a shift to the pouch cell may occur, but battery experts estimate it will take a few years before this will happen.

Figure 9: Price of Li-ion ($/Wh) The price of Li-ion is dropping and the differences between prismatic and pouch formats (laminate) are narrowing. Courtesy Avicenne Energy

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT LI-ION CELLS Not all cells are made the same and true performance will only come to light after a battery pack has endured two and more years of field service. When building a pack, select a cell that meets the loading requirements and then build it a bit larger to reduce stress. Evaluating a cell by cycling does not reflect true field conditions. A serious pack maker must pay the price for a quality cell. The table here answers frequently asked questions Question

Fact

Is lithium-polymer superior?

“Polymer” is a Li-ion in a pouch pack with no common definition. (See BU-206 Li-polymer Battery: Substance of Hype)

Do I get more capacity using flat than cylindrical cells?

No. Prismatic/pouch cell have lower capacities than the 18650. Li-ion pouch cell = 150Ah/kg; Li-ion in 18650 up to 248Wh/kg.

Do flat cells pack easier than cylindrical?

Flat cells must allow space for swelling; the 18650 does not change size. Thermal management is harder with flat cell.

Is the flat cell cheaper than the cylindrical?

No. 18650 has lowest cost/Wh. The cost of flat cell pack is $350/kWh; 18650 pack is $290/kWh (EV battery pricing).

What do I need to know when buying a Li-ion cell?

- Energy cells are optimized for capacity, commonly used in consumer products. Cycle life is less important. - Power cells deliver high currents, are rugged, have long life but have a lower capacity may be more expensive.

Do I need cell-balancing?

- Single-cell pack doesn’t need matching; tolerance not critical. - The cells for a multi-pack must be matched. Most quality cells for multi-cell design are matched.

What does the protection circuit do?

The mandatory protection circuit only controls outside stress and cannot stop a disintegrating cell once in process.

What should I observe in a pack design?

Isolate the cells to prevent propagation of a failing cell. Quality cells have a very low failure rate.

How are quality cell checked?

Manufacturers include self-discharge test and cell matching. Yield is 50%100%. Rejected cells are sold at bargain prices.

How is the cost divided?

On an 18650, 50% goes in materials; 50% in manufacturing.

What are recommended 18650 makers?

Panasonic, Samsung, LG Chem, E-One Moli.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 75

THE VIEW FROM EAST PENN/ECOULT Batteries International quizzed John Wood, CEO of East Penn-owned Ecoult, on how the company’s core offering, the UltraBattery, was squaring up to the challenges posed by lithium ion and how the world’s largest advanced lead-acid battery ﬁrm plans to industrialize its product.

UltraBattery throws down the gauntlet to the lithium ion battery industry Last year a report from Carnegie Mellon University said economies of scale for lithium ion batteries for EVs may be almost exhausted — suggesting that the muchanticipated cost reductions for lithium ion batteries may not materialize. In the meantime the lead acid battery industry is developing advanced products for grid storage. Is the balance ﬁnally tipping in favour of lead acid? We certainly believe this to be the case. The lead-acid industry is very mature with a growing base of well over 20 GW of existing installed stationary storage in the US. This base is maintained in

a sustainable way with more than 6 GW being installed each year in new sites and refits (note all refits are fully recycled). This storage, while crucial, doesn’t grab headlines because it is relatively passive — performing stand-by functions for data centres and critical industries. 20 GW is large in terms of the short term need for ancillary services, and variability management on the grid and micro grid systems, but it is a very small amount of the output of the lead-acid industry today and the industry can expand readily. East Penn Manufacturing for example is investing in a major expansion of its industrial (stationary and

motive) manufacturing capacity while simultaneously investing in UltraBattery technology to address the needs of advanced products for grid storage. In maintaining this installed base, the lead acid industry has already solved some of the difficult problems now being encountered by newer chemistries — and li-ion in particular. Reuse and recycling are the most pressing of these problems. Whereas lead-acid batteries are essentially closed-loop the li-ion industry still produces a one-way technology. (The recycling rate of lead in the US for used lead-acid batteries is close to 100%. These batteries are broken down and made into new

Ecoult Lyon station, Pennsylvania, US: Ecoult has implemented a grid scale energy storage system which provides 3 MW of regulation services on the grid of PJM Interconnection: the largest of 10 regional transmission organizations/independent system operators in the US. The system is also used for peak demand management.

76 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

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THE VIEW FROM EAST PENN/ECOULT batteries and the situation is very similar in most developed economies.) Virgin materials are sandwiched together in ways that make li-ion cells very difficult, dangerous and costly to break back into raw materials at endof-life. Hence many cells go to landfill or are processed into industrial sludge to be mixed with concrete or steel, with only the most expensive materials recovered — and very rarely the lithium. Very little information is available on the actual rates of recovery in the li-ion industry but it appears very unlikely that more than a few percentage points of the world’s li-ion batteries are ever recovered for anything other than industrial sludge. Importantly, even if the technological barriers to li-ion recycling are overcome, the industry is yet to cost-in end-oflife recovery. Lead-acid cells are less expensive, even with their recovery step fully costed. Moreover any lead-acid cell can be included in the recycling stream, whereas the different li-ion chemistries cannot necessarily be processed together, adding a further difficulty and adding to the incentive to simply grind old li-ion cells down for sludge. Now that lead-acid technologies have been developed that can cycle as effectively as li-ion technologies within the reserve power market, the manufacturing and support industries that maintain the 20 GW installed base of lead-acid cells can be drawn upon to support the growth of grid storage. As expansion and reallocation of manufacturing capacity for the new markets happens we see scope for the gradual evolution of the existing stationary industry away from single purpose backup to dual purpose systems that can both provide backup and contribute to grid services. The existing backup systems (usually housed in battery rooms designed with low-flammability lead-acid safety processes in mind) provide a resource that is already grid connected. Potentially these can begin to be migrated to new lead-acid formats, bringing large banks of distributed, cycling storage online. Importantly this gives the data centre a financial incentive as fast cycling storage can earn grid regulation revenues in increasing numbers of grids, particularly in the US. Technically this change could happen today (indeed Ecoult is pursuing business cases). The only hurdle is the cultural change required for understandably conservative owners of data centres

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We see scope for the gradual evolution of the existing stationary industry away from single purpose backup to dual purpose systems that can both provide backup and contribute to grid services who depend entirely on uninterrupted power. So could you tell us about the progress of storage products using Ultrabattery technology that have been up and running for a while now — such as the smart grid storage demo with PJM Interconnection, using the Deka UltraBattery and also the project in New Mexico? Existing UltraBattery projects have been highly successful. The PNM Prosperity site in New Mexico has delivered (and exceeded) the original project objectives and is continuing to operate extremely effectively. The project was recognized as a finalist in the Platts 2013 Global Energy Awards.The PJM grid frequency regulation project is a profitable installation that has been used as a showcase for several fully commercial projects that will begin to come online over the next 12 months. (These are commercially sensitive projects for our clients and we are unable to discuss them in detail.) However in general they are MWscale projects with a multi-purposing capability. That is, the customer will use the storage infrastructure for their own internal requirements (such as load management, backup, shifting and the like) but will have a regular income stream gained by using the batteries to sell frequency regulation services to the grid operator. So far your projects are US based, is there any reason for this? There are two major reasons for this. First, because we are well positioned to

monitor and support projects that are easily accessible to our manufacturing plant, and second because some grids in the US offer incentives for faster frequency regulation response and batteries can provide a response almost instantaneously. For frequency regulation applications, the faster response leads to less feedback in the system — an overshoot caused by a slower responding technology itself becomes a frequency issue that needs to be rectified — and less feedback means less overall frequency regulation requirement. There is evidence that fast frequency response technology can reduce the overall need for frequency regulation services by around 40%. In markets outside the US that have not (or perhaps have not yet) created fast-frequency response incentives, battery storage must compete against relatively cheap gas peaker plants. These markets may be suitable for the UltraBattery in grid regulation, but the US is certainly the lowest-hanging fruit. (In other markets we are of course pursuing many non-frequency related projects, on kW and MW scales, in application areas ranging from telecoms and microgrids to smoothing and shifting in commercial and domestic markets.) And your future plans inside and outside the US? Again due to client confidentiality our projects cannot be discussed in anything but general terms. That said, there are some mains-grid and large microgrid projects in various stages of planning in the US and in Europe. (While we have not planned an entry into Europe in the immediate term, we have been approached by a consortium looking

Lithium ion battery recycling is technically highly challenging and economically prohibitive. This makes it less likely that li-ion costs will drop in the future, since the free pass given to li-ion technology for its environmental footprint — no regulated recovery, few regulations preventing wholesale disposal in land ﬁll (despite toxicity concerns) — will not last Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 77

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THE VIEW FROM EAST PENN/ECOULT Graph 1. Typical remote telecom tower with PV (without storage): Variable demand and inconsistent solar output lead to diesel inefﬁciencies

Graph 2. With energy storage: Ultrabattery system maximizes diesel efﬁciency

Graph 3. With energy storage: Ultrabattery system maximizes solar utilization and diesel efﬁciency

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at a particular project that is quite interesting and very suitable for our technology.) Although we are extremely active in developing grid-scale projects in the US for non-utility customers — previous projects have had the utility itself as the client, whereas our upcoming projects have large energy consumers as customers. Such projects take time to develop, particularly since, once the sales and design stage is complete, a round of network connection studies and iterations and the like are required. In Australia the UltraBattery is used in two large scale micro/island projects and we are actively moving in the kW-scale space. We are soon to launch plug-and-play products in the Australian market to suit domestic, commercial, agricultural and remote users preliminary to release in North America and other markets. We will release details in the near future of a diesel-microgrid project where an Ecoult system using UltraBattery technology has reduced the diesel load by more than 50% for an installed system in a remote location. Remote refuelling is extremely expensive and can require almost a working day for two employees to travel to the site, so savings are a multiple of the diesel cost itself. Furthermore Ecoult takes control of the generator on site and can run it in a very efficient mode of operation to further reduce fuel use and to decrease wear and tear as well as frequency of maintenance visits. A typical example of this type of system is the remote telecom tower, of which there are several hundred thousand worldwide. Graph 1 (left) shows the way the diesel (yellow) jumps up and down in a choppy manner to try to balance between the load and a typical solar profile for a remote tower. This mode of operation is wearing on the generator and also sees it racking-up large numbers of duty-hours as it runs for 24 hours a day. Note too that the generator is rated far above the average load — its most efficient output is only used rarely when a spike in the load forces the generator to ramp up to full power. When we install the Ecoult system we see an entirely different mode of operation — here shown without a PV system installed where operation is very straightforward. (graph 2, left) And here below shown operating with a PV system installed, where the battery manages the load and the PV variability. (graph 3, left)

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THE VIEW FROM EAST PENN/ECOULT Now the fast-charging UltraBattery can be quickly charged in a short period by the generator running at full rated output. The generator runs for a fraction of the hours as it can switch off between charging periods since the UltraBattery system is sized to take the full load and to manage spikes and give the generator time to start up for a prolonged spike. Lithium ion batteries are used for many ES projects despite their cost, why do you think this is the case? The feedback we have received from all types of end-customers is that people are very comfortable with lead-acid technology and far prefer it to li-ion. Their major concern about lead-acid stems from the belief that lead-acid cells are not well suited to partial state of charge cycling. Therefore when we are able to demonstrate that UltraBattery cycles at least as effectively as most li-ion chemistries the reaction — particularly from installers — is one of pure joy! (Note we use the word “most” because there are vast numbers of li-ion types and we haven’t seen enough like-for-like comparisons to speak with certainty about the entire range.) The major benefits that we see for UltraBattery over lithium ion occur in four major areas.

Lan Lam, the inventor of the UltraBattery with his creation. The UltraBattery can charge faster than many other chemistries. Furthermore charge and discharge can be symmetrical — so while charge and discharge are independent and can each occur at any rate, if required the battery can match high charge and high discharge rates. Other technologies are generally asymmetrical

Performance The UltraBattery will last as long and cycle as effectively as li-ion. In fact there is some evidence that UltraBattery will outlast li-ion in cycling applications, although not enough testing has been done on the two technologies side-byside to say with confidence. It was clear

that in 2008 ( see figure 1 below) that the UltraBattery — which has improved markedly since that time — was at least equal to lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry in a regulation-services simulation carried out at Sandia National Laboratories.

Safety

Figure 1: Ultrabattery® Regulation Services PSoC Throughput Testing

Figure 1: Energy throughput testing showing Sandia National Laboratories results from 2008 (lower three traces) for VRLA, UltraBattery (UB12) and Li-Ion test results. The Sandia results are compared against internal testing carried out by Ecoult and East Penn Manufacturing (top three traces) performed in mid-2013. There is a clear trend toward increasing throughput as the UltraBattery cells are improved over time.

80 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

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We are soon to launch plug-and-play products in the Australian market to suit domestic, commercial, agricultural and remote users preliminary to release in North America and other markets. We will release details soon of a diesel-microgrid project where an Ecoult system using UltraBattery technology has reduced the diesel load by more than 50% for an installed system in a remote location The UltraBattery is a non-flammable technology. Li-ion control software is tasked with preventing the cells moving into dangerous overcharge or undercharge modes where overheating, ignition, explosion and toxic release can occur. The feedback from end users is that they are not all convinced that liion batteries are safe for large-scale installation in homes, businesses and critical infrastructure. However, lead-acid, is a well known and well understood technology. The fire hazards are very low and there is low toxicity associated with even a catastrophic failure. Lead, while toxic, exists in solid form inside the UltraBattery and does not carry the risk of inhalation or ingestion (as it did when used in petrol or paint for instance).

Sustainability The li-ion industry has yet to develop a reuse programme and virgin materials (particularly lithium) are used in manufacture. This creates a one-way flow from lithium deposits — which exist only in fragile environments such as salt flats — to waste product. Generally li-ion cells are not recovered and go directly to land fill. At the end of life, lithium ion batteries are classified as dangerous goods at least for international travel. Hence, costly additional steps prior to relatively expensive transport include depowering/deactivation of the batteries and then proper and expensive packaging of the batteries. Those that are recovered are overwhelmingly ground up for sludge additives in the construction industry. Of the recovered cells, only a small amount of genuine reuse generally takes place and then only to recover the most expensive metals in the cells. It is not clear (and it is certainly not publicized by the industry) that any lithium at all is recovered despite the massive quantities of lithium feeding the li-ion manufacturing industry.

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Recovery is complicated not only by the sandwiching used in li-ion manufacture (where composite materials are tightly packed together in layers) but also by the multitude of different li-ion chemistries, which are not necessarily able to be processed together but which are difficult and dangerous to sort into types (dangerous because used li-ion cells are not always chemically stable and will often suffer rough handling in the recovery process increasing the likelihood of leakage and potential fire). The result is that recovery is technically highly challenging and, even if possible, economically prohibitive. We believe this makes it even less likely that li-ion costs will drop in the future, since the free pass given to liion technology for its environmental footprint — no regulated recovery, few regulations preventing wholesale disposal in land fill (despite toxicity concerns) — will not last, particularly if the chemical release into landfill and the damage done to the world’s salt flats by lithium mining begins to become a concern to the world’s environmentalist movements. By contrast, lead-acid technology has a fully developed recycling programme that sees an almost perfect closed-loop in the manufacturing process. Of the batteries returned, 96% of their constituent parts (plastic, liquid and metal) are recycled. The reclaimed parts are used in the manufacture of new lead-acid batteries. The UltraBattery is manufactured by East Penn Manufacturing, which is considered a world leader in sustainability in an already highly sustainable industry. East Penn pioneered the process of electrolyte recovery for lead-acid batteries, and reprocesses around 30,000 used batteries every day in its on-site recovery facility. The low toxicity, simple manufacture, and solid metal componentry of leadacid cells makes this recovery process

far less involved than for li-ion cells, and it is the case that any lead-acid cell, including the UltraBattery, can drop into the same recycling process — the cells don’t have to be sorted into families (which is a difficult step when the reality is considered of truckfuls of jumbled batteries rolling in from collection depots).

Fast charge and discharge The UltraBattery can charge faster than many other chemistries. Furthermore charge and discharge can be symmetrical — so while charge and discharge are independent and can each occur at any rate, if required the battery can match high charge and high discharge rates. Other technologies are generally asymmetrical due to limitations in their charge rate. That is, they can deliver energy quite quickly but only accept it at low rates relative to the discharge. There are several benefits to fast charging, the examples in the diesel cycling graphs earlier showing the brief period of generator run-time required to recharge the cells is one. Perhaps the most important benefit though is that a battery bank with fast and symmetrical charging can be smaller (and hence cheaper) than one with asymmetrical charge and discharge — particularly in applications chiefly concerned with power smoothing and fast cycling. If a battery cannot charge as quickly as the incoming current (from a PV or wind unit for instance) then available energy may need to be curtailed or wasted. The only way to get around this is to install more batteries so that the charge can be shared between them, each accepting a proportionally smaller rate of energy. Although a bigger battery bank gives more reserve, it is also more expensive. So while UltraBattery monoblocs are priced above traditional lead-acid units, in a cycling application the UltraBattery has a lower levellised cost of energy due to long life and significantly smaller installed size. This lower cost often extends to energy shifting applications too, depending on the specific application. Although li-ion charges faster than traditional lead-acid it generally can’t charge as fast as the UltraBattery, so the same relationship also holds between li-ion and the UltraBattery. The UltraBattery, then, as well as performing better, is often less expensive as a cycling battery than most of its competitors. ■

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ULTRACAPACITORS Hybrid battery storage systems that also incorporate ultracapacitors are gaining in popularity in new markets including energy storage, microgrids and UPS, reports Sara Verbruggen.

How supercaps can make the sum greater than the parts For energy storage applications ultracapacitors, often called supercapacitors, have distinct advantages over batteries. Their ability to store and discharge power — often in large amounts — very quickly has led to their take-up in more and more stationary storage applications, in addition to those in industrial and transportation markets. Hybrid energy storage systems integrate two or more types of storage technology into one system. Doing so can increase the operational lifetime of the system because the ultracapacitor takes care of short, rapid power demands, which can take their toll on the battery, while the battery deals with the energy events. Investors save money in terms of upfront capital expenditure as battery systems do not need to be oversized. Over the long term the system’s performance is optimized since the batteries do not need replacing, leading to savings in operational expenditure. As costs of both ultracapacitors and advanced battery technologies like lithium ion and redox flow have fallen, this has opened up more opportunities in the stationary storage market.

hospitals — all of which rely on constant high-quality electricity supply — are prime candidates for microgrids. These operate as part of the main grid but are able to switch into island mode if there is a fault on the main distribution network. Oncor, which operates the largest transmission and distribution system

in Texas, sees microgrids as way for utilities to continue to be relevant, as more power is generated by distributed sources, presiding over microgrids and the services they can provide. The utility has commissioned a demonstration microgrid from S&C Electric and Schneider to prove its point. On a smaller scale, Bosch and its

Microgrids One emerging area tapping into the combined benefits of ultracapacitors and batteries is microgrids. Typically these deploy energy storage and power conversion hardware in conjunction with distributed or local sources of energy, such as solar photovoltaics, all controlled by intelligent software and automation controls. In the US, for example, where the addition of more renewables can destabilize the grid and severe storms have caused blackouts in parts of the country, commercial and industrial businesses, schools, universities and

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Insides of the SHAD technology

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 83

ULTRACAPACITORS project partners are installing a microgrid platform designed for commercial buildings at the parts distribution centre of American Honda. The project, which has been awarded $2.8 million from the California Energy Commission, will demonstrate a DC-based microgrid, which uses energy generated from onsite solar PV panels and energy storage to power lighting and other equipment. Photovoltaics and energy storage devices, generate or provide direct current power. While power from the main grid is supplied as alternating current. Losses occur in the conversion of AC to DC. The microgrid project is testing a more elegant and efficient approach, using DC sources of power, such as solar and storage, to run DC lighting, such as LED lamps and the building’s ventilation system. Bosch has been developing a behindthe-meter building grid technology using a 380V DC bus since 2012. The installation at Honda America will be the first commercial pilot of the technology and concept. Commercial businesses and building operators benefit by using more of their distributed generation. In doing so they reduce their reliance on the grid and avoid the peak demand and other charges that have seen utility bills for commercial and industrial electricity customers sky-rocket. The system will allow the building to optimize its consumption of solar PV-electricity, addressing instability that occurs in small grids when high amounts of intermittent renewables are used.

Technology partners The project’s technology partners include Californian companies Maxwell Technologies and Imergy Power Systems. Imergy will provide a redox flow battery system. The company’s technology can yield flow batteries capable of both long duration, over eight to 10 hours but also power over shorter amounts of time. It can do this more effectively than other types of flow battery. However, the ultracapacitors supplied by Maxwell will take care of the rapid power requirements placed on the microgrid. For the project, Maxwell is supplying 200kW of ultracapacitors. The ultracapacitors have the potential to be used for the firming of solar PV on the DC-side. While ultracapacitors are generally most suited to

84 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

“Across the industry, prices have declined over the past three years. The market can expect further price reductions as ultracapacitors proliferate further across transportation and grid market segments.”

Container solutions: the shape of microgrids to come

power related issues one of the aspects of the project is to understand which tasks it is preferable to use the ultracapacitors versus the battery. According to Kim McGrath, Maxwell’s director of business development, microgrids and also renewables integration are a promising emerging market for the company’s ultracapacitors. In a previous project the company has worked with Freqcon, a German developer of renewable energy systems. Freqcon developed an energy storage system for a grid project in Ireland. The Tallaght Smart Grid Testbed supports grid stability in both residential and industrial settings. Freqcon has designed power electronics, a proprietary Microgrid Stabilizer, for voltage and frequency stabilization, with a combination of lithium ion batteries and Maxwell’s ultracapacitors for active power support in the grid’s distributed network, even when higher levels of intermittent renewable energy are produced. Ireland has a target to rely on wind power to meet at least 40% of its electricity demand in the coming years. Frecqon is working on similar pro-

jects using ultracapacitors, though it will be another 18 months to two years before the market for such systems in Ireland begins to get going says Klaus Harder, Freqcon’s business development manager.

Wayside storage In mass transportation too, the hybridization approach has potential and Maxwell is partnering with companies specialized in integrating different energy storage technologies together in systems that are able to identify each source and draw on these resources for specific demands. One of these is Spanish firm Win Inertia, which has developed electronics and software to get the best out of ultracapacitors and batteries combined in one system. Win Inertia creates models that optimize the ultracapacitor and the battery for a specific use case and has developed algorithms that controls each energy source in the system to optimize overall performance. The company has applied for a patent for its hardware and software platform designed to hybridize various energy storage sources, which it calls SHAD (Sistema Híbrido de Alma-

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ULTRACAPACITORS

The father of supercapacitors, Brian Conway (1927 – 2005)

Brian Conway — better known as the father of the supercapacitor, he even coined the term — was born in Farnborough, UK in January 1927. He attended Imperial College London, where he became part of an elite group of 10 researchers led by electrochemist John Bockris, who supervised them for their PhDs. The principal subjects studied were electrode kinetics and very high temperature chemistry. During this time, Bockris and Conway attended discussions at the Faraday Society here they met a famous group of Russian electrochemists, — including Alexander Frumkin, the founder of the Institute of Electrochemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences and Boris Kabanov, later a senior figure in the institute — who he kept in contact with in later years. Having obtained his PhD in 1949, Conway joined the Chester Beatty Cancer Research Institute, University of London, as a research associate with John. Butler, an eminent electrochemist. His research with Butler concerned in part the influence of electrochemically-generated free radicals and ionizing radiation for treating certain cancers. In 1954, Conway moved to the

86 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

University of Pennsylvania to join his former PhD supervisor, John Bockris, who had taken up a position there in the previous year and convinced him to try his hand in the US. He stayed until 1956, at which time he was persuaded by chemical kinetics pioneer professor Keith Laidler to apply for a faculty position at the then two-year-old chemistry department of the University of Ottawa. Conway — who would become a Canadian citizen — would remain there for the next 49 years. He was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1962, then four years later as chairman of the department. Conway worked on nearly all aspects of electrochemistry: the electrified interface, ion solvation, adsorption, electrode kinetics, oxide film formation, electrocatalysis, rechargeable batteries, and electrochemical capacitors Between 1975 and 1980, Conway carried out extensive fundamental and development work on the ruthenium oxide type of electrochemical capacitor. In 1991 he coined the term ‘supercapacitor’ as the explanation for increased capacitance by surface redox reactions with faradaic charge transfer between electrodes and ions. Conway’s work in applied electrochemistry has allowed the development of rechargeable, compact batteries and supercapacitors for cellular phones In the early 2000s, Axion Power International developed its e3 Supercell, a low cost batterysupercapacitor hybrid that uses the same cases, materials, internal components and manufacturing equipment as conventional leadacid batteries; offers faster recharge rates, higher power output and longer cycle-life. During this time, Conway collaborated with the East Penn Manufacturing Company, and Sandia National Laboratories, an independent testing facility owned by the US Department of Energy and managed by Lockheed Martin Corporation. Brian Conway died on July 9, 2005. Less than a year later, in May

2006, Axion Power International, successfully manufactured its first commercial prototype e3 Supercells on a conventional lead acid battery production line. Conway published over 260 scientific research articles, including as a senior editor of two series, Comprehensive Treatise of Electrochemistry and Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry, He also wrote about electrochemical data, electrode processes and ionic hydration in chemistry and biophysics. Sometimes known as the “dean of electrochemistry in Canada”, among his most prestigious honours and awards were Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1968), the Chemical Institute of Canada Medal (1975), the American Chemical Society Kendall Award in Surface Chemistry (1984), the Electrochemical Society Henry Linford Medal (1984), the Olin Palladium Medal and Award of the Electrochemical Society (1989), the Galvani Medal of the Italian Chemical Society (1991), and Fellow of the Electrochemical Society of America (1995).

The way we were. The Royal College of Science Electrochemistry Group, 1947-1948. Front row, second from right Brian Conway, seated two further from right, John Bockris, friend and mentor

Alexander Frumkin and Brian Conway in Moscow, 1950s

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ULTRACAPACITORS

Some developments in the ﬁeld are trying to fuse the beneﬁts of ultracapacitors and batteries in one device cenamiento Distribuido, hybrid and distributed energy storage system). The company has installed a wayside braking energy recuperation system on the line of an electric light rail public transportation system at a station at Cerro Negro in Seville for the government’s administrator of railway infrastructure (ADIF). The installation is part of a microgrid. Using storage technologies, like ultracapacitors, to recuperate kinetic energy from braking saves fuel and electricity. Ultracapacitors can store the energy from braking for the seconds or few minutes between the train stopping and moving off again and can be cycled many times over without impairing performance. “In the case of Ferrolinera, we hybridize the ultracapacitors with two kind of bulk energy storage — lead acid batteries and lithium batteries — extending the overall system performance from high energy density to high power density,” says Win Inertia’s CEO Eugenio Domínguez Amarillo. “The complete Ferrolinera facility has to manage several services, and all of them are controlled using the SHAD technology.”

Harvesting train energy These main services include harvesting the braking energy from trains, integrating and managing energy produced by a nearby PV facility, providing various charge profiles to an EV charging station integrated into the microgrid and managing and controlling the stability of the microgrid. The SHAD technology is able to decide the amount of energy from each storage has to be provided to the microgrid and monitors and controls the discharge profile depending on the shape or kind of event that have to be solved, whether power or energy. “In the case of harvesting the braking energy, the system has a high power profile. We are talking about a megawatt in around 15-20 seconds, so the ultracapacitors have to harvest this energy. The batteries cannot manage it. Then the energy is transferred to the batteries,” says Amarillo. All the high power short-term events regarding the stability, EV charging and so on are provided also by the ultracapacitors. The bulk energy sys-

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tems are designed to address the high energy such as load levelling. Win Inertia’s system recovers around 10% of the total energy used by the railway system. Using batteries for power tasks would shorten their lifetimes. Using the ultracapacitors extends the batteries’ lifetime by up to a quarter. Mass transit authorities are behind the meter customers like everyone else, but using wayside braking energy recuperation storage technology allows them to reduce their demand on grid electricity. Following the Ferrolinera project which was completed in August 2014, Win Inertia is building two similar fa-

cilities along the high speed train link from Cordoba to Malaga in Spain. The company is also studying other possible locations, outside of Spain. The core technology platform is being used also for other grid applications. The company is installing a high power grid lab, in Seville. The 8.8MW project will include energy storage and will simulate different events in a grid when renewables are added. In the US, the company’s SHAD platform is attracting interest because of its ability to combine several grid services and use various storage technologies in one system to provide these services. “As we can achieve an optimized, longer life and more flexible solution at lower cost, the hybrid solution is expected to become more established in microgrids and also weak grids as well as in utility-scale storage for pro-

ULTRACAPACITORS IN CARS In mass transport vehicles such as hybrid buses ultracapacitors have been in use for nearly a decade. The technology is also finding its way into other forms of transport, including trucks. But the real big opportunity for the technology in the coming years is the automotive industry. Ultracapacitors, from Maxwell as well as other suppliers, such as Ioxus, are looking promising for next generation start-stop/idle microhybrid cars. Today’s automobiles already have lots of electric functions even for entry level models. The challenge is that future models, still in the design stage, which can be a five to seven year period, will have even more accessory loads that depend on electrics — for instance electronic steering and e-booster electric compressors. Ultracapacitors with start-stop lead acid batteries can be used to meet some of the rapid stopping, idling and restarting in traffic. “Only ultracapacitors can handle fast recharging in a matter of seconds — 15 seconds up to a minute, for example — and can cycle repeatedly to meet the demands of driving in traffic in city and urban commutes,” says Chad Hall, cofounder of Ioxus. Late last year, Maxwell was awarded a $2.68 million cost-shared technology development contract

by the US Advanced Battery Consortium to develop a highperformance hybrid ultracapacitor/ lithium-ion battery for stop-start idleelimination microhybrid cars. In the project, Maxwell will demonstrate a 12-volt hybrid energy storage system consisting of lithium ion batteries and ultracapacitors that can meet stop-start auto performance speciﬁcations established by the consortium, making use of ultracapacitors’ high power density, long operational lifetime, low-temperature performance and inﬂuence on battery performance and lifetime. Ioxus’ ultracapacitors are in testing at automotive tier 1 brands and OEMs. While the company’s competitors have already begun selling into this market, Ioxus could also be added to the list of companies entering this market in the near-term. In time, ultracapacitors could also be prerequisites for full hybrid automotive models or EVs. Toyota has experimented with the technology for regenerative braking. Ultracapacitors can help reduce battery size and allow for lower power, higher energy, lower cost, lighter weight batteries by providing the high power peaks and allowing the battery to handle the long, smooth energy in these types of models.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 87

ULTRACAPACITORS viding renewables integration with grid services and grid stability,” says Amarillo.

Bankability As the energy storage industry focuses debate and discussion on bankability of these types of systems for the grid/ utility market, it is likely that interest in and demand for such hybrid systems, using ultracapacitors, will increase. “The hybrid ultracapacitor-battery concept is gaining attention from both systems integrators and end-users. Existing projects clearly demonstrate the value proposition and finance-ability. However, 2015 will bring a considerable amount of new data to light that further highlights the bankable benefits of a hybrid system, particularly its ability to stack services,” says McGrath. Specifically for wayside storage for mass transportation there is potential for further growth, for a range of requirements, from providing voltage support and as an alternative to costly railway substation investments to helping rail network companies reduce their demand for electricity.

The challenge is getting a device with more energy without compromising on the power strengths of the ultracapacitor, otherwise the risk is ending up with a device that neither works well as a battery or as an ultracapacitor” In the US, Maxwell’s customers include ABB. The company installed a battery-based braking energy recuperation system in a substation of the South East Pennsylvania Transit Authority in 2012. For the same authority in 2014 ABB ordered ultracapacitor modules for a hybrid version of its energy recovery and storage system. The ultracapacitors preserve the lifetime of the lithium ion batteries and more braking energy is recovered. The system also generates revenues from frequency regulation services to the PJM Interconnection, which operates the grid for much of the eastern US, including Pennsylvania.

Voltage support on railway lines Ultracapacitor technology, either with a battery or on its own, is proving to be compatible with the demands of railways, which benefit from high power density and very high cycle life storage. Electrical Power WorX (EPX) is a start-up that has been working with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority since 2008 to develop a railway-grade ul-

Top: Electrical Power WorX (EPX) has developed a railway-grade ultracapacitor wayside energy storage system. Since November 2014, its 2MW system has been in operation on a branch line in Hempstead, in Nassau County in New York State. Below: Spain’s high spped trains the next target.

90 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

tracapacitor wayside energy storage system. EPX was set up by a group of railway engineers who recognized the opportunity for the application of this technology in electrified mass transit environments. Since November 2014, the 2MW wayside energy storage system developed by EPX has been in operation on a branch line in Hempstead, in Nassau County. The line is operated by Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority which operates the subway, buses and trains for commuters in New York City, Long Island, as well as other parts of New York state and Connecticut. If the system’s performance and reliability remains successful, the intention is for the system to remain in service for the LIRR at the site, in Malverne, a small village in Hempstead, for the 30 year design life, avoiding the need for an additional traction power substation. The system has been operating daily with trains running every 30 to 45 minutes. Apart from summer time the line runs seven days a week. In this specific application, the metrics are quite clear. This ultracapacitor storage system provides voltage support in a location where LIRR has historically struggled to maintain adequate voltage support to avoid damage of railway equipment and reduced performance. Operating older railway cars on this area of the West Hempstead Branch Line would often result in equipment damage. As a result, LIRR will operate only newer railcars through this region. The EPX wayside energy storage system units are a much lower cost alternative to a traction substation, which cost approximately $10 million, while also avoiding modifications to the community at Malverne, The two containerized ultracapacitor units are installed on existing LIRR property. The system can also provide emergency type power when substations

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ULTRACAPACITORS are damaged or require maintenance or upgrades. The system itself comprises two 1MW ultracapacitor units, identical in size and spec. EPX developed the first using ultracapacitors from Maxwell, which was initially a prototype and then modified for installation on site. The first unit uses 1632 x 3000F Maxwell cells. By the time work on the second 1MW unit was starting Ioxus had developed its own 3000F ultracapacitor cell and 1632 x 3000F of the Ioxus manufactured cells are used in the other unit. Aside from the cells, the modules and all other equipment remains interchangeable between the containerized Maxwell cells and the containerized Ioxus cells. The 2MW system was installed on the LIRR site along with a test office and instrumentation. The units were tuned and demonstrated operating in their voltage support mode operation based on the needs of the LIRR. Ultimately, EPX will train and allow LIRR to use the wayside energy storage system and technology for different operational cases on the network. For instance, LIRR could potentially deploy the technology on different parts to support maintenance requirements or other activities. The system would need to be modified depending on the locations and the specific objectives or services of the site. If LIRR introduces trains with regenerative braking in future the wayside energy storage technology could be used to maximize the conservation of energy. Ioxus, in Oneonta in New York, was founded in 2007 by Chad Hall, who had previously worked on capacitor systems for military and other specialized applications. The company is now in its third round of funding (series C). Its investors include GE and NRG. These companies and their activities, from industrial power systems and storage to renewables integration and power plant operations give an idea of some of the markets in the coming years where ultracapacitors are going to be more prevalent. This January Ioxus began volume production of its iMOD X-Series, a range of 22 modules developed to make design and installation at system level simpler for customers, which are mainly in transport, industrial and energy storage fields. The modules have been used in the field for two years. Energy storage, hybrid bus and wayside recuperative

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braking energy storage for railways are some of the growth areas where Ioxus’ modules are being used. Projects include a multi-MW installation for a grid storage ramping application in Europe, currently under non-disclosure agreement but going through the final stages of testing. The company has also supplied in the region of 40 units each compris-

ing 4MW of ultracapacitors for commercial buildings in Japan. The ultracapacitors are grid-tied and reduce consumption from the grid at peak demand times, thus reducing electricity rates. The company began supplying this demand about four years ago and continues to see demand for this application in Japan. The complementary benefits of ul-

Win Inertia’s Eugenio Amarillo (above), one of the patent holders for the SHAD technology, says it provides three types of economic beneﬁts. Capital expenditure savings Using the technology you can size the ultracapacitors for the power events and the batteries for the energy events. If you try to do this only with batteries, they have to be over-sized, due to powerenergy sizing rules. With the SHAD technology using ultracapacitors power and energy can be decoupled, leading to a CapEx decrease. It also extends` the lifespan of the batteries. This is because the batteries are providing only energy. The charge and discharge proﬁles are controlled in power,

thus avoiding the kind of event that increases the degradation of the batteries. Operating expenditure savings In addition, by combining batteries with ultracapacitors you are decreasing the total throughput of the batteries per each service, so the degradation is lower. This reduces the OpEx costs of the system. Increased revenue streams This is because it provides energy and power services together. Using the SHAD technology with ultracapacitors you can provide both services to the grid at the same time. With a system that can provide more services and more ﬂexibility, revenues can be maximized or increased.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 91

ULTRACAPACITORS

Ioxus, in Oneonta in New York, was founded in 2007 by Chad Hall (pictured), who had previously worked on capacitor systems for military and other specialized applications. The company is now in its third round of funding. Its investors include GE and NRG. tracapacitors and batteries also has relevance in the UPS market. Recently JSR Micro, which makes lithium ion ultracapacitors used in a variety of applications, from wind turbines to power tools, announced an agreement with UPS systems supplier Socomec. The UPS system using JSR Micro’s Ultimo devices has been designed to provide short-term back-up power to critical support equipment. A system is already in operation at JSR Micro’s Belgium headquarters and factory, protecting its critical equipment. “The ultracapacitor UPS standalone system is not intended to replace lead acid. Instead it can reduce the total cost of ownership for UPS customers because it means lead acid batteries do not need to be oversized,” says Oliviero Galbiati, European sales manager at JSR Micro. The technology can protect plants from very short power drops from seconds to minutes range because of its ability discharge power and also charge rapidly. Using ultracapacitors can also extend the lifetime of the lead acid batteries. Ultracapacitors themselves have other benefits. They are low maintenance and can last for more than 10 years. The system has been developed for a niche segment of the UPS market, one where flywheels are being used or have the potential to be used to protect installations from power drops in the seconds to minutes range. Avoiding interruptions, even of just a few seconds, is imperative for certain times of manufacturing as sags or drops in electricity supply can interrupt critical processes, lead to downtime and incur productivity losses and costs. The company’s Ultimo ultracapacitors are used for UPS systems for chemicals manufacturing in Japan but it has potential for other industries including microelectronics. “Hospitals too can benefit. Many have back-up generators and batteries but an ultracapacitor would provide a short burst of power over 20-30 seconds, which is the time it takes some generators to start-up,” says Galbiati. Longer term he sees the potential of

92 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

ultracapacitors for grid storage and providing some grid services, such as frequency regulation. “Batteries take care of the majority of the requirements of these systems that have been installed to date. However, as this market is becoming more developed and better understood in terms of specific cases and applications lithium ion capacitors are also being considered,” he says.

Economies of scale As ultracapacitors have proven their suitability for a growing range of markets and applications, including mass transportation, manufacturers have invested in expanding production capacity, leveraging economies of scale. “The cost of devices today are cheaper than they were three years ago and we expect to see further reductions,” says Galbiati. McGrath agrees. “Across the industry, prices have declined over the past three years. The market can expect further price reductions as ultracapacitors proliferate further across transportation and grid market segments.” Earlier this year JSR Micro completed construction of a large factory for making its ultracapacitors. The new plant, in Japan, which cost $60 million to build, will be able to make up to three million cells a year. The factory will make all types of cell formats including a newer smaller flat prismatic cell developed for automotive, industrial machinery and construction markets. Two and a half years ago Maxwell doubled its production capacity with a new plant in Arizona. The company also works with contract manufacturers and has increased manufacturing capacity for its ultracapacitors across different sizes and formats. These include sizeable ones for hybrid and electric buses and braking energy recuperation, as well as its D-Cell products for wind turbine blade pitch systems and even its smallest modules for providing back-up power for solid-state drives used in enterprise computers. Maxwell is also investigating electrolyte materials and cell designs and

components to bring about further cost reductions in the longer term. Some developments in the field are trying to fuse the benefits of ultracapacitors and batteries in one device. Ecoult, part of East Penn, has managed to develop an advanced lead acid battery, now being commercialized for grid service markets, which is based on the design of a capacitor. (See feature on Ecoult elsewhere in this magazine.) In the US, BioSolar, a small start-up is developing a polymer-based ultracapacitor that can be integrated as the front-end of lithium ion batteries for storing solar energy, reducing the overall size of the battery and boosting performance. However this is still in the R&D stages. But whether there is more mileage in hybridizing actual devices remains to be seen. “The challenge is getting a device with more energy without compromising on the power strengths of the ultracapacitor, otherwise the risk is ending up with a device that neither works well as a battery or as an ultracapacitor,” says McGrath. “For the foreseeable future there is a lot of opportunity for hybridizing ultracapacitors at a system level, as we are seeing in areas such as wayside and grid storage.” This will rely on close collaboration between ultracapacitor manufacturers and systems integrators such as Win Inertia and Freqcon. These companies have the engineering expertise to design systems for specific applications and get the best out of the storage technologies that they incorporate to meet the various demands of the grid and provide services. The future for ultracapacitors and batteries in grid storage looks like it could be a good fit.

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ULTRACAPACITORS

The new high ﬂiers of outer space: ESA looks at supercaps

The European Space Agency is testing supercapacitors developed by Skeleton Technologies for possible use in orbit by 2018. While spacecraft, such as satellites, harvest the energy they need to operate using solar cells, they also spend time in darkness where they rely on stored energy to operate. Normally lithium-ion batteries do this function. “Although batteries can store more energy than ultracapacitors, they are slow to charge and discharge, lose 30% of their energy through heat alone and require frequent replacement,” says a Skeleton official. “Our supercaps are 60 times lighter and 30 times more efficient than the batteries they will replace. “Ultracapacitors charge almost instantly and deliver more power for weight compared to batteries. Using ultracapacitors for tasks such

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as adjusting antennae and moving solar arrays will reduce the amount of weight and room required for energy storage.” Bernard Zufferey, PECS nanager at the European Space Agency says: “Ultracapacitor technology has the potential to increase mission safety while reducing mission costs. Skeleton Technologies’ SpaceCap cells will allow us to package a large amount of power into a very small space, creating opportunities for new applications.” Skeleton Technologies is an Estonian startup firm that uses patented nanoporous carbide-derived carbon (CDC — also known as curved grapheme). “Our product range delivers twice the energy density and five times the power density of other ultracapacitor manufacturers,” says Skeleton Technologies’ chief executive Taavi Madiberk. “Our deal with the European Space

Agency will see ultracapacitors used in the European space programme for the first time, solving a key challenge in space transportation by reducing weight and cost,” says Madiberk. The next stage of the project will involve advanced spacelike environment testing of the ultracapacitors and developing the associated regulatory documentation for the ESA. The SpaceCap cells will be trialled under a range of conditions including in a vacuum, at working temperatures and radiation levels before being certified for space travel. Last year Skeleton Technologies opened a 1000m2 pilot plant and launched a new SkelCap series ultracapacitors for the motorsport, automotive and aerospace sectors. This project is funded by the Estonian government through an ESA contract under the PECS (Plan for European Cooperating States).

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 93

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WIRELESS CHARGING

Isidor Buchmann, founder of the Battery University and chairman of Cadex International explains how wireless charging works.

Inductive coupling: how wireless charging works Wireless charging may one day replace plugs and wires similar to the way that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi have modernized personal communication. The concept rests on inductive coupling using an electromagnetic field that transfers energy from the transmitter to the receiver. Wireless transfer of power is not new. In 1831, Michael Faraday discovered induction in sending electromagnetic force through space. In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, Nicola Tesla demonstrated wireless broadcasting and power transmission. The experiments in Colorado Springs in 1899 led to the Wardenclyffe Tower in New York. Tesla wanted to prove that electrical power could be transmitted without wires, but lack of funding halted the project. It was not until the 1920s that public broadcasting began. Europe built massive transmitters to reach many countries. The transmitter at Beromünster in Switzerland could have transmitted

www.batteriesinternational.com 96 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

at 600kW, but legislation on electrosmog and protests from the local population limited the power to 180kW. Smaller FM stations have since replaced these large national transmitters.

Wireless charging is classiﬁed into inductive charging, radio charging and resonance charging. Most of today’s wireless chargers use inductive charging with transmit and receive coils in close proximity. Wireless charging shares similarities with radio transmission transmitting power by electro-magnetic fields. Wireless charging operates in a near field condition in which the primary coil produces a magnetic field that is

picked up by the secondary coil in close proximity. The radio transmitter, however, works on the far field principle by sending waves that travel through space. While the receiving coil of the wireless charger captures most of the energy generated, the receiving antenna of the radio only needs a few microvolts (one millionth of a volt) to recover a signal that becomes intelligent when amplified.

Types of wireless charging Wireless charging is classified into inductive charging, radio charging and resonance charging. Most of today’s wireless chargers use inductive charging with transmit and receive coils in close proximity. Electric toothbrushes were one of the first devices to adopt this method and mobile phones might become the largest growing sector because of convenience. Radio charging serves low-power devices operating within a 10 metre radius from the transmitter to charge

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WIRELESS CHARGING batteries in medical implants, hearing aids, watches, entertainment devices and RFID (radio frequency identification) chips. The transmitter sends a low-wattage radio wave and the receiver converts the signal to energy. Radio charging resembles a radio transmitter most; it offers high flexibility but has a low power capture and exposes people to electro-smog. Wireless charging needed a global standard and the WPC (Wireless Power Consortium) accomplished this in 2008 by introducing the Qi norm. This opened the door for device manufacturers to offer chargers for Qi-compatible devices with 5 watt of power; 10W is in preparation. In 2012, Powermat, a Qi participant, sprung loose over a disagreement and started PMA as a new competitive norm. PMA is similar to Qi but runs at a different frequency. Also in 2012, A4WP announced resonance charging that allows for more spatial freedom and parallel charging of multiple devices. A4WP has not yet been approved as a standard. Figure 1 illustrates the three norms. While the A4WP format may not be available soon in a charging station, the war will be fought over Qi and PMA. Manufacturers offer chargers and mobile devices that serve both standards as it was the case when the LP (Long Play) was released by Columbia Records in 1948. This market was disrupted by RCA Victor bringing out the 45 rpm record running at a different speed and featuring a larger hole than the LP. Dual-speed gramophones

Radiation issues WPC was very careful when releasing Qi; the ﬁrst version has a power limit of 5W. A mediumpower version of up to 120W is in the works but this norm must meet stringent radiation standards before release. Radiation prompts health concerns and these are shared with those living close to cell phone towers and Wi-Fi stations. This could be at the centre of the delay to develop the medium power standard, but interoperability and backwards compatibility to 5W systems also play a role. Electromagnetic energy from radio towers, mobile phones, Wi-Fi, and now wireless charging,

are categorized as non-ionizing radiation and are believed to be harmless. Ionizing rays from X-rays, however, have been shown to cause cancer. As the number of non-ionizing devices increases, people have begun to question the safety. Regulatory authorities are observing the health risk and will impose restrictions if a danger can be proven. A larger risk, if any, may be carrying a mobile phone close to the body. The device in standby mode is constantly seeking contact with a tower by transmitting signal busts. The transmit power is adjusted to the proximity to the tower and is higher in fringe areas.

Recognized standards for wireless charging WPC or Qi (Wireless Power Consortium)

PMA (Power Matters Alliance)

A4WP (Alliance for Wireless Power)

Established

2008, Qi was first wireless charging standard

2012, Procter & Gamble and Powermat

2012 by Samsung and Qualcomm

Technology

Inductive charging, 100–205kHz; coil distance 5mm;

Inductive charging, 277–357kHz; similar to Qi

Resonant charging, loosely coupled; serious emission issues remain.

Markets

Qi has widest global use; Over 500 products, more than 60 mobile phones

Tight competition with Qi, gaining ground, 100,000 Powermats at Starbucks

A4WP and PWA merged, no product available

Members & Companies

Samsung, LG, HTC, TI, Panasonic, Sony, Nokia, Motorola, Philips, Verizon, BMW, Audi, Daimler, VW Porsche, Toyota, Jeep

Powermat, Samsung, LG, TDK, TI, AT&T, Duracell, WiTricity, Starbucks Teavana, Huawei, FCC, Energy Star, Flextronics

Qualcomm, TediaTek, Intel, LG, HTC, Samung, Deutsche Telecom. No commercial products

Figure 1: Recognized standards for wireless charging. Qi and PMA are in completion while A4WP has no standard and no commercial products. Emission issues must be solved first.

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Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 97

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WIRELESS CHARGING and an insert solved the problem. (This could not be done with VHS and Betamax, or with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.) While mobile manufacturers are backing one wireless charging standard, coffee shops and food joints are supporting another. Ultimately, the war will be won by the consumer. Larger batteries for the electric vehicles adopt resonance charging by making a coil “ring.” The oscillating magnetic field works within a one metre radius. To stay in the power field, the distance between transmit and receive coil must be within the 1/4 wavelength (915Mhz has a wavelength of 0.328 meters). Resonance charging is not limited to high wattage wireless chargers; it is used at all power levels. While a 3kW system for EV charging achieves an efficiency of better than 95%, a typical 100W system exceeds 90%; the low-power 5W systems remains in the 75% to 80% efficiency range. Resonance charging is in its experimental stages and no approved standards exist.

Power Control

Control vector LD

Load Load voltage current

Coil current

TX Controller

RX Controller

Figure 2: Overview of Qi wireless charging system Several systems are competing that may not be compatible. The three most common are Qi, PMA, A4WP.

Qi logo, Chinese word meaning “natural energy”

Transmit and receive coils are shielded to obtain good coupling and to reduce stray radiation. Some charge mats use a free moving transmit coil that seeks the object placed above for best coupling, others systems feature multiple transmit coils by engaging only those in close proximity with the object.

Concept to practice In standby mode, the charging mat may send signals that sense the presence of an object. Detection occurs by a change in capacitance or resonance. Upon detecting an object, the mat transmits a burst signal, which transfers sufficient energy to power up the receiving device. It awakens and responds by providing identification and signal strength signals which can be used to improve the positioning of the receiver or to enhance magnetic coupling between mat and receiver. The charge mat only transmits power when a valid object is recognized, which occurs when the receiver fulfils the protocol as defined by one of the interoperability standards. During charging, the receiver sends control error signals to adjust the power level. Upon full charge or when removing the load, the mat switches to standby. Transmit and receive coils are shielded to obtain good coupling and to reduce stray radiation. Some charge mats use a free moving transmit coil that seeks the object placed above for best coupling, others systems feature multiple transmit coils by engaging only those in close proximity with the object. WPC calls the transmitter the TX Controller, or Base Station, and the receiver on the mobile device the RX

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Controller, or Power Receiver. There is a resemblance of a transformer with a primary and secondary coil. Figure 2 illustrates an overview of a Qi wireless charging system.

Pros and cons of wireless charging Wireless charging offers the ultimate convenience for consumers. It allows safe charging in a hazardous environment where an electrical spark could cause an explosion; it permits charging where grease, dust and corrosion prevent a good electrical contact. Eliminating contacts also helps doctors sterilizing surgical tools. Wireless charging is durable and does not wear out the contacts on multiple insertions. An EV driver simply parks the vehicle over a transmit coil. Engineers talk about embedding charging coils into highways for continuous charging while driving or when waiting at a traffic light. This is technically feasible, but cost, efficiency and field emission issues when transmitting high power remain insurmountable challenges. For household and business use, the California Energy Commission (CEC) Level V mandates that AC adapters must meet a minimum efficiency of 85%; Energy Star Level V requires 87% (European CE uses CEC as a

base). Adding the losses of the AC adapter to a wireless charger brings the overall efficiency further down as the inductive transfer efficiency of inductive charging is only 75%–80%. Such a loss adds up when considering that an estimated one billion mobile phone chargers remain plugged into an AC outlet worldwide. State-of-the art wireless power transmission combines the AC adapter providing regulated DC and isolating the AC mains into a single power conversion. This amalgamation results in better efficiencies that is comparable with the Energy Star requirements. Lost energy turns into heat and a wireless charger will warm during charging. If the generated heat is not controlled properly, temperature increase causes stress to the battery and reduces life. The heat build-up only occurs during charging; the charging pad cools down once the battery is fully charged. Going wireless adds roughly 25% to the charging station, a cost increase that also increases the cost of the receiver by about the same amount. This price should come down with volume but for many everyday applications, charging with wires through battery contact continues to be a practical alternative. ■

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WIRELESS CHARGING

A good charger, who can ﬁnd — more precious than jewels? In a price-competitive market, chargers often receive low priority. Engineers are often not fully aware of the complex power requirement of a portable device and the need to charge under adverse conditions. Chargers are divided into personal and industrial, “smart” and “dumb,” slow, fast and ultra-fast types. Consumer products come with a low-cost personal charger that performs well when used as directed. The industrial charger is often made by a third party and includes special features, such as charging at adverse temperatures. Although batteries operate below freezing, not all chemistries can be charged when cold and most Li-ion falls into this category. Lead and nickel-based batteries accept charge but at a lower rate. Some Li-ion chargers include a wakeup feature, or “boost,” to allow recharging if a Li-ion battery have fallen asleep due to over-discharge. A sleep condition can occur when storing the battery in a discharged state and the self-discharge brings the voltage to the cut-off point. A regular charger treats such a battery as unserviceable and the packs are discarded. Boost applies a small charge current to raise the voltage to between 2.20 and 2.90V/cell and activates the protection circuit, at which point a normal charge commences. Caution applies if Li-ion has dwelled below 1.5V/cell for a week or longer Lead and lithium-based chargers operate on Constant Current Constant Voltage (CCCV) by which the voltage is capped when reaching a set limit. At this point in the charge cycle, the battery begins to saturate and the current drops. Full-charge occurs when the current drops to a set level.

100 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

Although batteries operate below freezing, not all chemistries can be charged when cold and most Li-ion falls into this category. Lead and nickel-based batteries accept charge but at a lower rate. Lead acid requires a periodic full saturation to prevent sulfation. Nickel-based batteries charge with constant current and the voltage is allowed to fluctuate freely. Full charge detection occurs when observing a slight voltage drop after a steady rise. This method is known as the Delta Voltage Delta Temperature and works well with rapid and fast charge. To safeguard against anomalies, such as shorted or mismatched cells, the charger should include a plateau timer to terminate charge if no voltage delta is measured, as well as a temperature sensors. A temperature rise is normal with nickel-based batteries, especially when reaching the 70% charge level. Extended trickle charge on nickel-based batteries inflicts damage. NiCd and NiMH should not be left in the charger unattended for weeks and months. If not required, store them in a cool place

and apply a charge before engagement. Lithium-based should always stay cool on charge. Discontinue using the battery and/or charger if the battery heats up on charge. Liion cannot absorb over-charge and therefore does not receive trickle charge when full. It is not necessary to remove Li-ion from the charger, however, if not used for a week or more, it is best to place the pack in a cool place and recharge before use. The most basic charger is the overnight charger, also known as slow charger. This goes back to the old nickelcadmium days where a simple charger applied a fixed charge of about 0.1C (one-tenth of the rated capacity) as long as the battery was connected. Slow chargers have no full-charge detection; the charge stays engaged and a full charge of an empty battery takes 14–16 hours. When fully charged, the slow charger keeps NiCd lukewarm to the touch. Because of its reduced ability to absorb over-charge, NiMH should not be charged on a slow charger. Low-cost consumer chargers to charge C AA and AAA cells often use this charger method, so do some children’s toys. The rapid charger falls between the slow and fast charger — an empty pack refills in between three and six hours — and is used in consumer products. The fast charger offers several advantages most obviously the shorter charge times. Short charge times demand tighter communication between the charger and battery. At a charge rate of 1C, which the fast charger typically uses, an empty NiCd and NiMH charges in a little more than an hour. As the battery approaches full charge, some nickel-based chargers reduce the current to adjust to the lower charge acceptance. The fully charged battery switches to trickle charge, also known as maintenance charge. Most of today’s nickelbased chargers have a reduced trickle charge to also accommodate NiMH. Li-ion charges are most efficient and charge the battery to 70% in less than an hour. The extra time is devoted for the long saturation charge that is not mandatory as it is for lead acid.

Lead acid cannot be fast-charged and the term fast-charge is a misnomer. Most lead acid chargers charge the battery in 14–16 hours; anything slower is a compromise. www.batteriesinternational.com

It is better not to fully charge Li-ion batteries as they will last longer. Of all chargers, the Li-ion charger is the most simplistic. No trickery applies to improve battery performance and longevity. Only the CCCV method works. Lead acid cannot be fast-charged and the term fast-charge is a misnomer. Most lead acid chargers charge the battery in 14–16 hours; anything slower is a compromise. Lead acid can be charged to 70% in about eight hours; the all-important saturation charge takes up the remaining time. A partial charge is fine provided the lead acid occasionally receives a fully saturated charge to prevent sulfation.

Discharge capacity (mAh)

WIRELESS CHARGING

700

500

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2C Charge, 2C Discharge

300 Charge: 4.2V Discharge: 3.0V Temperature: 23˚C

100

3C Charge, 3C Discharge

200

300

400

500

Number of cycles

Ultra-fast charger Nowhere is ultra-fast charging in bigger demand than with the electric vehicle. Recharging an EV in minutes replicates the convenience of filling 50 litres of fuel into a tank that delivers 600kWh of energy. Such large energy storage in an electrochemical device is not practical as a battery with this capacity would weigh six tonnes. Current Li-ion only produces about 150Wh per kg; the energy from fossil fuel is roughly 100 times higher. Charging an EV will always take longer than filling a tank, and the battery will always deliver less energy per weight than fossil fuel. Breaking the-rule-of law and forcing ultra-fast charging adds stress, even if the battery is designed for such purpose. A battery is sluggish in nature and like an aging man; its physical conditions become less ideal with use. So is the ability to fast-charge. • When ultra-fast charging a battery: the battery must be designed to accept an ultra-fast charge and must be in good condition. • Ultra-fast charging only applies during the first charge phase. The charge current should be lowered after the battery reaches 70% state-of-charge (SoC). • All cells in the pack must be balanced and have ultra-low resistance. Aging cells often diverge in capacity and resistance, causing mismatch and undue stress on weaker cells. • Ultra-fast charging can only be done under moderate temperatures. Low temperature slows the chemical reaction. Unused energy turns into gassing, metal-plating and heat. A well designed ultra-fast charger should include temperature compensations and other safety features that lower the charge current when certain

1C Charge, 1C Discharge

Charging an EV will always take longer than ﬁlling a tank, and the battery will always deliver less energy per weight than fossil fuel. Breaking the-rule-of law and forcing ultra-fast charging adds stress, even if the battery is designed for such purpose. conditions exist and halt the charge if the battery is put under undue stress. A smart battery running on SMBus or other protocols instructs the charger to provide the maximum allowable charge current based on the battery system. What most “smart” systems ignore is the condition of the battery. They assume that packs are running close to the original capacity and that all cells are well balanced. Such a condition only exists when the battery is new. An ultra-fast charger should evaluate the condition of “chemical battery” and make adjustments if needed instead relaying fully on the orders given by the “digital battery.”

Design The maximum charge current a Li-ion can accept is governed by cell design, and not the cathode material as is commonly assumed. The goal is to avoid lithium-plating on the anode and to keep the temperature under control. A thin anode with high porosity and small graphite particles enables ultra-fast-charging because of the large surface area. Although these so-called Power Cells can be charged and discharged at high currents, the energy density is low. The Energy Cell, in comparison, has a thicker anode and lower porosity but this battery should

be charged at less than1C. Some hybrid Cells in NCA (nickelcobalt-aluminum) can be charged at 4C with moderate stress. When possible, apply the ultra-fast charge only when necessary. A properly designed ultra-fast charger should allow charge-time selection to give the user the option to choose the least stressful charge for the time allotted. The figure here compares the cycle life of a typical lithium-ion battery when charged and discharged at 1C, 2C and 3C rates. All batteries perform best at room temperatures with a gentle charge and discharge. However, such a sheltered life style does not always apply to real world situations requiring a compact pack that must be charged quickly and deliver a heavy load. Such batteries can by deployed safely but expect a short life expectancy. Typical applications are drones, EV races and hobbyist contests. If fast charging and high load requirements are prerequisites, the rugged Power Cell is ideal but this increases battery size and weight. An analogy is choosing a heavy diesel engine to run a large truck instead of a soupedup engine designed for a sports car. The big diesel will outlive the light engine even if they have the same horsepower. Going heavier will at the end be more economical. ■

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 101

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EVENT REVIEW: ENERGY STORAGE 2015 Energy Storage 2015 March 9-11, Dusseldorf, Germany

Looking for that breakthrough moment

The theme of energy storage as a conference and event has taken off in Europe reflecting the increasing importance of the subject and the meetings. The two largest annual conferences/ events are held in Dusseldorf in the spring — catering mostly to a professional, business audience — and Munich in the summer, which is more to end users. This year’s Dusseldorf meeting signalled a coming of age for the event which almost doubled in size from the year before. “The last time I came here this was a fraction of the size, this event seems to be growing exponentially,” one delegate told Batteries International. The conference organizer’s figures back this up and the conference and trade fair attracted some 1,800 specialists from 48 nations. There were over 80 speakers and almost 100 exhibitors. Talk of a breakthrough in the energy storage industry tends to be a generalization and cliché that is bandied around too much — we’ve had far too many brave new worlds of futures

104 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

dominated by fuel cells, electric vehicles and the like. That said the underlying theme of the conference — energy storage at the verge of a breakthrough — certainly sounded as being more than plausible. Many speakers made the point that energy storage at the grid level was now clearly way beyond the pilot programme or test project stage and that government and research finding was giving way to full commercial projects. “This has to be why a breakthrough is possible,” said one delegate. “What’s gone in in Germany, and parts of the US for that matter, is now going on around the world — the rapid uptake in renewables, particularly solar power, means that we’re living with an increasingly decentralized energy industry, energy storage is needed for the stabilization of networks. The alternative, say gas-fired peaker plants, is cumbersome, expensive and inflexible.” The issues of cost and profitability were never far away from discussions

at the conference. “Many studies that question the cost-benefit ratio of energy storage units, ignore their double use,” said Dirk Uwe Sauer, professor at the Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives at the RWTH Aachen University. “They only take into consideration the advantages of energy storage for one’s own consumption or only the stabilizing effect of storage units for networks, in the form of voltage regulation for example. “However, if it is possible to implement both functions simultaneously in a profitable manner, energy storage will spread more rapidly than many experts are predicting.” There was a call in some of the sessions for creating the right political framework conditions — as well as new business models — that can take the multiple uses of storage units into consideration. “Tasks that are technical in nature, such as standardization, would still have to be continuously worked on, but are no longer a crucial obstacle with regard to market

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EVENT REVIEW: ENERGY STORAGE 2015 growth,” said one speaker. Hildegard Müller, chair of the German Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) said: “We are moving from being a centralized energy industry to a strongly decentralized one — even though we’re not replacing the centralized energy industry completely. This will make us heavily reliant upon the system-supporting characteristics of energy storage units. To use these for the energy transition however, storage units also have to be capable of efficient operation. The BDEW is calling upon the government to implement measures to remove the obstacles that are standing in the way of energy storage. “For example, the current network charge controls results in storage unit operators having to still pay for the system services made available by them. A contradiction in itself.” Peter Röttgen, manager of E.ON Innovation Center Energy Storage, said: “The prognoses for long-term market development of energy units are fluctuating considerably. But all the studies are in agreement concerning a single thing: over the medium to long term, storage units for restructuring our energy system are essential and reduce costs. However, this won’t happen overnight. Installing them will require a decade or more. We cannot wait but have to introduce the technology now and build up the required knowledge piece by piece in the process. Another important message of the conference came from an animated discussion following a keynote speech by Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché. His point, very simply, was that too much focus was being put on the advantages and disadvantages of individual storage technologies and not enough on grasping the broad picture. Realism was needed. “Different storage applications often require different capabilities. While some areas of application need high output and quick reaction, others demand inexpensive storage technologies with a high capacity. Frequently these various features need to be combined seamlessly with each other. “These days, many people are on the lookout for a kind of miracle system that fulfils all their requirements equally as well,” says Srivastava. “Until such a concept exists, batteries, for example, will continue to be used in devices to which they are not ideally suited and oversized stor-

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“We are moving from being a centralized energy industry to a strongly decentralized one — even though we’re not replacing the centralized energy industry completely. This will make us heavily reliant upon the system-supporting characteristics of energy storage units.” age systems or a reduced service life will continue to be endured. During my more than 20 years’ experience of working in the energy industry, I have never come across any miracle technology. This is why I am convinced that we should no longer invest merely in making certain types of storage devices stand out from their competitors.” Instead, he proposed that we would achieve more by using smart software to integrate the strengths of different storage technologies seamlessly into hybrid systems. This applies to both stationary applications and e-mobility. The search for the best possible system design does not merely extend to solutions developed for use in vehicles or homes. Srivastava argued that if we are to develop an efficient, flexible grid architecture able to manage large quantities of fluctuating renewable energy, a package of measures is actually needed: “Instead of trying to manage fluctuations in electricity demand and supply by continuously increasing power line capacity, we must tackle the problem at its source. “On the supply side, this involves using storage systems as an intelligent network resource, a practice that is

more economical than equipping each individual generator of renewable energy with their own storage option. On the demand side, major energy consumers must be given more financial incentives from the government to reduce peak loads. “This would lead to a grid and storage system architecture that overall is more beneficial to the economy than an uncoordinated set of yet more intertwined networks and a plethora of privately owned storage solutions.” The conference was also a success in other ways, Hans Werner Reinhard, managing director of Messe Düsseldorf said: “For the first time, five professional conferences and a trade fair took place in Düsseldorf at a single location. Together, the Energy Storage Europe, the IRES Conference, the OTTI Conference Power-to-Gas, the VDE Financial Dialogue Europe and the Storageday covered the entire range of energy storage topics. “The meeting point for the energy storage industry has ultimately been established in Düsseldorf, the heart of the largest energy region in Germany.” The next Energy Storage Europe is in Düsseldorf from March 15-17, 2016.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 105

FORTHCOMING EVENTS The Commercial Graphene Show Manchester, UK April 16-17 The Commercial Graphene Show is set to cut through the hype and hot air and directly tackle the challenges associated with applying graphene in the commercial environment. This meeting exists to bring those pioneering graphene production and commercial application together to share insight and exchange ideas that will shape the way that graphene impacts industry. The Commercial Graphene Show presents a unique opportunity to network and forge relationships with the largest gathering of industrial application developers. It will introduce exciting new applications of graphene that are revolutionary to many sectors. The Commercial Graphene Show is the definitive meeting place for the entire graphene value chain. Taking you right the way from ground breaking research in the lab all the way to mass industrial adoption. This meeting will bring graphene researchers improving production quality and quantities, and put them at

the same table as large multinational industrial powerhouses looking at industry wide adoption. Working with these large commercial application developers is no smooth process and only by working with all the stakeholders in this space can graphene suppliers truly realise the goal of commercial application. Contact www.terrapinn.com/conference/grapheneapplications-world-europe/about.stm

Next Generation Batteries 2015 San Diego, USA April 21-22 The Knowledge Foundation’s NextGeneration Materials, Chemistries & Technologies conference track showcases several of the more promising chemistries and materials that are hoped to be in production and commercially viable in coming years. We discuss optimal alignment of these technologies with application and address challenges such as cell to system, supply chain and manufacturing that need to be met as we proceed. Choose from three concurrent tracks, or register for all Access and “track

8th Energy Storage World Forum Rome, Italy • April 27-30

hop” between talks: • Next-generation materials, chemistries and technologies • Lithium battery safety • Grid-scale energy storage Contact Jay Mulhern, business development manager Tel: +1 781-972-1359 jmulhern@healthtech.com https://chidb.com/register/KnowledgeFoundation/15/ngb/reg.asp

Battery Conference 2015 in Aachen Aachen, Germany April, 27-29 The 7th Advanced Battery Power Conference with the proceeding Battery day NRW which takes place in the Eurogress in Aachen will be three days packed full of insights into battery competence. Advanced Battery Power has developed into one of the leading events in the battery technology sector. Its significance to the trade extends well beyond just the use of batteries in automobiles, making advanced battery power a must for all engineers, researchers and developers involved in energy storage devices in general, new materials, grid integration or battery recycling. Contact www.battery-power.eu/en/registration.html

Energy Harvesting & Storage 2015 Berlin, Germany April 28-29

Returning to Rome, the 8th Energy Storage World Forum will allow you to meet the industry’s movers and shakers in person and benefit from their extensive connections — an incredible networking experience. This year’s forum will feature speakers from over 25 utilities/TSOs/DSOs from around the world. Our forums are carefully tailored to attract all stakeholders of the industry. You will rub hands with figures from utilities, DSOs, government regulators, manufacturers, operators, EPCs, and many more. The four conference days include the 2nd Residential Energy Storage Forum.

106 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

We believe in dialogue and partnerships, and our precisely manicured program reflects that. Our forum is designed to facilitate communication through coffee breaks, luncheons, visits to exhibitions, drinks reception, and interactive group discussions, resulting in no less than 10 hours of Contact time for attendees to meet and greet. Contact Singapore + 65 6243 0050 London: +44 20 8090 1613 USA: +1 978 263 9931 www.energystorageforum.com/europe/ register-now

This seventh annual IDTechEx event provides insight into energy harvesting technologies, case studies and markets, ranging from consumer electronics and sensors all the way to vehicles, building and industrial automation. Attendees to this event will learn: * Who needs energy harvesting, the ROI and sectors close to adoption. End user and integrators from a diverse range of markets present their needs and experiences • All the technology options — from energy harvester choices, energy storage options, through to the latest in low power electronics and wireless sensors and related technologies such as thin film harvesters and supercapacitors • The current state of the technology at the event tradeshow. More than 2000 people attend this event to aid their critical business and technology development strategy decisions in this emerging, high growth topic. Contact Corinne Jennings, event director Tel: +44 (0)1223 812300 c.jennings@IDTechEx.com

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SEPTEMBER 15 – 17, 2015 THE EXPO FOR ADVANCED BATTERIES RETURNS TO NOVI, MI, USA IN 2015

JOIN THE INDUSTRY’S LEADING EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE!

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“There was constant traffic and bandwidth from both the domestic and international customers at our booth. I found this an excellent platform for networking, evaluating options and gaining a sound insight for future development. And…yes we are committed with a larger booth and additional staff next year!”

Peter J. Gunia, BD & Sales Manager - Americas, Saft Batteries, Vehicle Business Unit

Co-located with

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We are delighted to announce that the 16th Asian Battery Conference and Exhibition (16ABC) will be held from 8 to 11 September 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Participate in a sparked-up show with an interactive and lively Exhibition, a program that showcases presentations from experts in battery technology, science and business and ramped-up social events. As both a forum and an expo, the Asian Battery Conference (ABC) continue s to be the premier lead battery event in Asia. It will appeal to everyone with a serious interest in the interaction between energy usage, storage and the environment. 4TH INTERNATIONAL

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS Batteries, Super Capacitors, Fuel Cells & EVs Seminar Wezep, The Netherlands April 30-May 1 The seminar program focuses on present and future needs of portable and stationary electrochemical energy sources and highlights the latest technological developments designed to satisfy application requirements. Primary, rechargeable, reserve batteries, fuel cells, ultra-capacitors systems and their accessories are covered. The seminar program reviews typical cycle life aspects of designing and manufacturing energy source solutions: from application energy requirements, power source electrical and mechanical design, cells selection, cells evaluation tests, battery prototype, acceptance tests, design and manufacturing techniques, testing, mass production, safety issues, transportation, use and disposal. Topics include military batteries, thermal & reserve batteries, lithium rechargeable cell manufacturing process, grid storage, EV batteries, fuel cells and metal air systems and EV charging infrastructure. Contact Shmuel De-Leon Energy, Ltd Email: shmuel@sdle.co.il Marnix Ten Kortenaar Marnix@drten.nl Tel: +31-06-20619140

Battcon 2015 — International Stationary Battery Conference Orlando, Florida, USA May 12-14 Featuring leading stationary battery experts, Battcon 2015 presents papers by users and manufacturers that relate to everyday battery applications, technical advances, and the diverse concerns of the battery industry. Here you will learn about manufacturing, maintenance trends, testing issues, and safety. Each group of papers is followed by direct audience interaction with the presenters. Panels are comprised of experts discussing specific concerns or areas of interest. Members of the panel are selected based on their knowledge, expertise, and background. After the panel discussion, you can share relevant knowledge and experiences, offer comments, and ask questions. Throughout the conference, you are encouraged to ask questions, exchange ideas, and interact with the authors of the papers, members of top-specialized panels, and other attendees. Breakout workshops will allow you to interact with users of similar interests to discuss innovations and solutions that relate directly to your industry or application. • Experience industry-specific education and networking.

BCI’s 127th Convention and Power Mart Expo Savannah, Georgia, USA • May 3-6

Members of the battery industry are recharging their business energy at Battery Council International’s 127th Convention and Power Mart Expo. Join us on May 3-5 in Savannah, Georgia as we discuss topics in the foreground of energy storage today. At the 127th Convention and Power Mart Expo, you can expect to gather in-depth knowledge on the latest technologies and environmental issues, learn about the impact of global economy on the battery marketplace, network with renowned industry experts, share experiences and challenges with your peers, hear worldwide regulatory and legislative

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issues affecting the manufacturing and distribution of batteries, and so much more. The Power Mart Expo provides a complete display of the battery industry’s newest technologies, products and services. This premier forum is specifically designed so attendees can see product demonstrations and pose questions to company experts, allowing you to get the knowledge you need to stay ahead of your competition. Contact http://batterycouncil.org/?127Convention +1 (312) 644-6610 info@batterycouncil.org

• Visit the vendors you’ve been wanting to see. • Attend an optional battery seminar to learn of the latest advancements. • Listen to presentations and panel discussions given by the leading authorities in the field. • Participate in breakout workshops specifically geared for industry segments. • Ask questions and get answers! Battcon offers three preconference seminars that focus on battery basics, advanced techniques, or a special topic. These optional Monday seminars let you brush up on skills and discover new directions the industry is taking. Contact Jennifer Stryker Business Development Manager, Alber Tel: +1 954 623 6660 x23806 jennifer.stryker@alber.com

The Guangzhou International Lithium Battery New Energy Fair 2015 Guangzhou, China May 16-18 With the strong support of domestic and overseas exhibitors, visitors and media, and the collaboration of the organizer, “The Guangzhou International Lithium Battery New Energy Fair ” was successfully held in Guangzhou in June 2014. This exhibition has been highly praised by exhibitors who thought that it was successful in the number of visitors, organization and management. According to the requirements of exhibitors, “The Guangzhou International Lithium Battery New Energy Fair 2015” (BNEF CHINA 2015) will be held at Guangzhou Pazhou Poly World Trade Expo Center in China from between May 16-18. The organizing committee will continue to provide exhibitors with a highquality international trading platform where they can expand business, conduct technology exchange, display new products and find cooperative partners, and will provide more cooperation opportunities for global Lithium Battery New Energy industry, promote China Lithium Battery New Energy products to fully enter the global procurement system, and cooperate with global automobile industries to achieve a winwin situation and enjoy mutual development and progress. The exhibition has an exhibition area of 67,000m2, over 3,000 standard booths, and expected 62,551 visitors, among which there are over 30,000 professional buyers, 25,000 terminal consumers and 7,551 foreign buyers. Contact Miss Li Tel: +86-20-8922 0050 / 8922 0105 E-mail: info@fce.cn

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 109

FORTHCOMING EVENTS 5th Israeli Power Sources Conference Herzelia, Israel May 21 The 5th Israeli conference for Power Sources, Batteries, Fuel Cells and EV will meet to discuss and provide a platform for technological innovations and business opportunities. The conference will discuss the latest advances in the field found in Israel and abroad and support the electrochemical, e-Mobility and the smart grid industry in Israel. All presentations will be in English. The conference will be held once a year and is the leading Israeli Power Sources & EV conference, bringing together worldwide participants from leading private and public companies, start-ups, investors, academics and businesses that are interested in the energy field. Senior keynotes and experts will present the lectures. An exhibition will run alongside the conference. Contact Tel: +972 77 500 1674 Tel/fax: +972 77 501 0792 Cell: +972 52 860 1517 Email: shmuel@sdle.co.il

10th International Lead Battery Fair Beijing, China May 20-22 Thanks for the support from the exhibitors and delegates from over 50+ countries, and thanks for the participants of traders, buyers & visitors concerned worldwide, the previous nine events of the International Lead Battery Fair have been held in Beijing China an have been the great success. The ILBF CHINA has been the largest trade fair in the lead battery industry, and became the regular grand gathering of the manufacturers, suppliers, traders, buyers and all people concerned with business of lead batteries worldwide: • For all buyers & traders of lead batteries worldwide, the ILBF CHINA has been the best place to meet with all lead battery manufacturers in Asia for sourcing qualified automotive, motorcycle, motive power and sealed VRLA batteries; • For all lead battery manufacturers worldwide, the ILBF CHINA has been the best place to meet with all suppliers worldwide for purchasing advanced equipment, materials & components. To provide better services and more business opportunities to our exhibitors & partners, a series of worldwide business promotion will be provided to ILBF CHINA 2015 exhibitors at no

110 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

extra cost. The business information of ILBF CHINA 2015 exhibitors will be sent to potential buyers worldwide and the ILBF CHINA 2015 will also be promoted worldwide. The ILBF CHINA 2015 may be your company’s best opportunity in 2015 to increase your business and raise your profit, throughout Asia, and worldwide! Contact Tel: +86 10 6232 6669 Fax: +86 10 6234 0078 bcc@bcc-intl.org

227th ECS Meeting Chicago, USA May 24-28 Thousands of scientific leaders from around the world will gather this spring in Chicago for the 227th ECS Meeting. Every ECS Meeting is a forum for sharing the latest scientific and technical developments in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology. The 227th ECS Meeting will be held downtown at the historic Hilton, Chicago and will include over 50 topical symposia consisting of over 2,000 technical presentations, full-day short courses, professional development workshops, career opportunities, poster sessions, a dynamic technical exhibit and the 3rd annual Free the Science 5K Run. The 227th ECS Meeting is expected to attract over 2,000 scientists and engineers from industry, government, and academic institutions. Scientists, engineers, and industry leaders come from around the world to attend the technical symposia, poster sessions, panel discussions, professional development workshops, special summits, and networking and social events offered throughout the course of each meeting. Contact General Meeting Inquiries: meetings@electrochem.org Abstracts: abstracts@electrochem.org ECS Transactions: ecst@electrochem.org

7th Annual Electric Mobility Canada Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada May 25-27 Electric Mobility Canada welcomes you to the seventh annual national event. The theme for the 2015 conference is EVs Coast to Coast: Innovation & Infrastructure and encourages a focus on the rapid changes in many aspects of electric mobility for all modes of transport. Our conference committees are hard at work designing the conference program to reflect the theme and are organizing plenary sessions and technical tours of interest. EV2015VÉ will be of particular interest to those supplying, operating or planning to market electric vehicle technologies in Canada. The three-day event presents plenary sessions, technical sessions as well as special sessions aimed at academics, new technology developers and vehicle manufacturers. This is your chance to experience some of the latest electric vehicle technologies. We are delighted that Nova Scotia Power, the Halifax Regional Municipality and Nova Scotia Department of Energy are hosts this year. Nova Scotia continues to be a noted centre for battery research, storage technology and support for EV infrastructure. We are pleased with the support of key businesses and organizations in bringing the themes of this conference to Canada’s East Coast. The EV-VÉ Conferences and Trade Shows are the only national events on EVs in Canada. EMC is always seeking to bring new electric-transport related ideas, technologies and business models to our delegates. As a result, our 2015 conference will look at research and academic topics to be announced as planning progresses. Contact http://emc-mec.ca/ev2015ve/en/ contact.html

Chicago will host the 227th ECS Meeting

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS ESA’s 25th Annual Conference and Expo

Battery Expo China

Dallas, Texas, USA May 27-29

Beijing, China • June 3-6

For more than two decades, the ESA has hosted the forum for industry engagement and advancement, and the annual conference has drawn rapidly increasing attendance in recent years. Due to this growing interest, ESA’s 25th Annual Conference and Technology Expo is set to be on May 27-29, in Dallas, TX at the Hyatt Regency — opening up more space for the expanding exhibition hall and even more room for keynote sessions and panels. Oncor Electric Delivery Company will be the host utility for this year’s event, giving attendees the added benefit of visiting sites to see energy storage systems in action and learn about the company’s bold proposal for as much as 5GW of energy storage to be deployed across the state. Contact http://annual-conference.energystorage.org/about

2015 Australian Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition Sydney, Australia June 3-4 Changes in the clean energy industry and the growing importance of NSW to the market have prompted Exhibitions & Trade Fairs (ETF) to bring the event to Sydney. The event will focus on the energy storage industry at all levels — for utilities, energy businesses, building management and the emerging electric vehicle markets. Following the successful 2014 event in Melbourne, Australian Energy Storage Exhibition will continue its to focus on the latest state-of-the-art energy storage technologies, but also expand to incorporate ‘Lighting & Building Automation’ and ‘Emergent Business Technologies’ zones to offer trade visitors the most comprehensive energy solutions for their businesses. We are pleased to confirm our association with the California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA), which is a group committed to advancing the role of energy storage through policy, education, and research. Although Australia shares many traits with California, we are being left behind by technology, so there are many things we can learn from California’s experiences and the progress and knowledge of the CESA. The two day conference will feature over 40 speakers who will discuss the most recent trends and developments in energy storage. This is the only event of its kind in Australia and we invite everyone involved in the energy storage and allied industries to attend. Contact www.australianenergystorage.com.au/conference

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Since 1995, the Chinese Battery Industry Association has held China International Battery, Raw Material, Producing Equipment and Battery Parts Fair (Battery China) for 10 sessions. During the past two decades, Battery China has become one of the top three battery exhibitions in Asia. It is an influential platform and an eye-catching brand name. It helped in the growth of the Chinese battery industry and became a beacon in the battery trade in China as well as in Asia. Since 2014, Battery Expo China has been headed by the Chinese Battery Industry Association, the Electric Power Industry Office of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Beijing Tiger Exhibition and Messe Düsseldorf (Shanghai). Battery Expo China aims at building brands, improving international interactions in the battery business, and assisting businesses exploring overseas market. As a pillar of the rapidly expanding market of the Chinese battery industry, Battery Expo China not only supplies Chinese brand names with Asian/International market updates and tech support, but also provides policy trending and cooperation support to foreign brand names coming to China/Asia. Over the ups and downs of the past 20 years, Battery Expo China has grown up from a governmental pet project to an industrial leader. Battery Expo China has led the Chinese battery industry in its quest to go global and is the No.1 choice for exhibitors and professional visitors alike. Battery Expo China will promote the continuous progress of the bat-

tery industry, improve the communication and cooperation between China and the rest of the world, publicize the premium brands in the industry, populate the advanced and feasible technological procedures, promote virtuous development of the industry, bring favourable media attentions to the Chinese battery industry, publicize the idea of environmentally-friendly and energysaving manufacturing, and improve the stature of the battery industry in China and the rest of the world. Battery Expo China 2015 will have nearly 600 standard booths with an exhibition space totalling 20,000 m2, showcasing the latest products and technology covering the complete industrial chain of the battery industry. Exhibitors will come from 20 countries and regions including China, South Korea, the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, India, Hong Kong China and Taiwan China. Furthermore, Battery Expo China sincerely invites all relevant corporates to further explore cooperation networks, and to build their brands for the global market, and to improve their global competitiveness. Contact Ted He, Messe Düsseldorf (Shanghai) Tel: +86-10-6590-7101 Mobile: +86-18500-288-499 Email: energystorage@mds.cn/ted.he@ mds.cn www.mds.cn Beijing Tiger Exhibition Co., Ltd. Zhang Yingzhe Tel: +86-10-8460 0665 Fax: +86-10-8460 0892 Email: info@tigerzl.com

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 111

MUST-ATTEND EVENT FOR THOSE DRIVING THE ENERGY STORAGE INDUSTRY FORWARD!

JUNE 10 –12, 2015 MUNICH GERMANY

CHARGING THE FUTURE ENERGY STORAGE MEETS NORTH AMERICA'S MOST-ATTENDED SOLAR EVENT! INDIA’S LARGEST SOLAR EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS ENERGY STORAGE INNOVATIONS

JULY 14–16, 2015 SAN FRANCISCO USA NOV 18–20, 2015 MUMBAI INDIA

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION SERIES FOR BATTERIES, ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS AND INNOVATIVE PRODUCTION

www.ees-events.com

FORTHCOMING EVENTS EUROBAT AGM & Forum 2015 Brussels, Belgium • June 11-12

Event details to follow at: http://www.eurobat.org/eurobat-agm-forum-2015-brusselsbelgium

4th International Symposium on Enhanced Electrochemical Capacitors (ISEE’Cap15)

EES — International Exhibition for Batteries, Energy Storage Systems and Innovative Production (co-located with Intersolar 2015)

Advanced Automotive & Industrial/Stationary Battery Conference

Montpellier, France June 8-12

Munich, Germany June 10-12

After Nantes in 2009, Poznan in 2011 and Taormina in 2013, the 4th edition of the International Symposium on Enhanced Electrochemical Capacitors, ISEE’Cap15, will be held in Montpellier in the south of France between June 8-12. The main objective of ISEE’Cap15 is to gather the most renowned international experts together with nonspecialist engineers and researchers who share interests in electrochemical capacitors and the related subject matter including:

Electrical Energy Storage, the international exhibition for batteries, energy storage systems and innovative production, is the industry hotspot for suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and users of stationary and mobile electrical energy storage solutions. It takes place annually with Intersolar Europe, the world’s largest exhibition for the solar industry, in Munich, Germany. Covering the entire value chain of innovative battery and energy storage technologies — from components and production to specific user applications — EES is the ideal platform for all kinds of stakeholders in the rapidly growing energy storage market. The focus at EES is on energy storage solutions suited to energy systems with increasing shares of renewable energy sources. A conference track of several days, co-organized with Intersolar Europe Conference, is accompanying EES 2015. The energy storage sessions cover the entire spectrum of energy storage related aspects stretching from global market analysis, to technologies, from small and large-scale applications, to second-hand use concepts and the recycling of batteries. In addition, issues related to safety and battery production technologies are presented.

Join us at the leading international forum where automakers and energystorage system developers discuss the recent progress in advanced battery technology and its implementation in automotive, stationary, and industrial applications. The 2015 Advanced Automotive & Stationary Battery Conference will feature two parallel technology focused symposia and two parallel application focused symposia. Technology focused symposia: Large Lithium Ion Battery Technology & Application (LLIBTA) • Chemistry track: cell materials and chemistry • A thorough examination of material development and advanced high-energy cell chemistries • Engineering track: cell and battery engineering • An inside look at cell, module, and battery design, as well as electrical, mechanical, and thermal components and integration for modules and packs Application focused symposia • Automotive symposium • A review of the expanding xEV and xEV-battery technology and markets and of competing technologies • Industrial/stationary symposium • A focused look at the emerging market for advanced batteries in utility, telecom and industrial applications

• Electrochemical double layer capacitors, electrode materials and mechanisms • Pseudo-capacitors, electrode materials and mechanisms • New concepts, new devices and new fabrication processes in supercapacitors • Asymmetric and hybrid devices • Electrolytes and interfaces • Characterization techniques, insitu and in-operando methods • Modelling of phenomena and systems • Devices, system integration and applications Contact Nathalie Cros Tel:+33(0)467 149 098 ncros@pretexo.com

www.batteriesinternational.com

Contact Sabine Kloos Tel: +49 7231 58598-13 kloos@ees-europe.com

Detroit, Michigan, USA June 15-19

Contact +1 (530) 692-0140 registration@advancedautobat.com

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 113

FORTHCOMING EVENTS International Flow Battery Forum Glasgow, Scotland June 16-17 The meeting place for flow battery developers, suppliers and users. Our next planned IFBF 2015 will be the sixth conference in this series. It always is a great opportunity for all those interested in flow battery research, development, manufacture, operation and commercialisation to meet and discuss almost everything about flow batteries. The 2015 programme and other information will be available soon at: www.ﬂowbatteryforum.com/

Batteries, Super Capacitors, Fuel Cells & EVs Seminar Vimercate, Italy June 22-23 The seminar program focuses on present and future needs of portable and stationary electrochemical energy sources and highlights the latest technological developments designed to satisfy application requirements. Primary, rechargeable, reserve batteries, fuel cells, ultra-capacitors systems and their accessories are covered.

The exhibition focuses on the areas of photovoltaics, PV production technologies, energy storage and solar thermal technologies. It is co-located with SEMICON West and, since its founding, has become the international industry’s meeting point for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, service providers and partners of the solar industry. In total, 576 exhibitors and 17,881 trade visitors participated in 2013. The conference featured more than 50 sessions with over 200 speakers and catered to about 1,600 conference attendees. This year, Intersolar will be presenting the Intersolar AWARD for the eighth time running in honour of especially innovative solutions in the solar industry. Companies are invited to submit their applications between February 2 and March 27. Contact Dorothea Eisenhardt Tel: +49 7231 58598-174 Fax: +49 7213 58598-28

Battery Power 2015 Denver, Colorado, USA August 5-6 Battery Power 2015 is an international conference highlighting the latest developments impacting mobile and portable battery systems for consumer and commercial products, including the Internet of Everything, power tools, smart phones, tablets, laptops and medical devices. The 13th annual event will be held August 5-6 in Denver, Colorado. Conference topics will include new battery designs, improving power management, predicting battery life, regulations and standards, safety and transportation, battery authentication, charging technology, emerging chemistries and market trends. Join hundreds of OEM design engineers and system engineers involved in battery powered products and systems and discover what is driving innovation, capabilities and features, application trends and performance improvements.

FENIBAT – 2nd National and International Lead Batteries Fair and Conference Londrina, Brazil • August 24-25

Contact Shmuel De-Leon Energy, Ltd shmuel@sdle.co.il

Batteries, Super Capacitors, Fuel Cells & EV`s Seminar Lansing, Michigan, USA July 6-8 Shmuel De-Leon and Doron Aurbach in partnership with XG Sciences invite you to join a unique Batteries, Super Capacitors, Fuel Cells & EV`s seminar. The seminar program focuses on present and future needs of portable and stationary electrochemical energy sources and highlights the latest technological developments designed to satisfy application requirements. Primary, rechargeable, reserve batteries, fuel cells, ultra-capacitors systems and their accessories are covered. Contact Shmuel De-Leon Energy, Ltd shmuel@sdle.co.il

EES – co-located with Intersolar North America San Francisco July 13-16 Intersolar North America takes place annually in San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Since its establishment in 2008, the exhibition and conference have developed into the premier platform for the solar industry in North America.

114 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

FENIBAT will gather all managerial and technical personnel of Brazilian and Latin American industry of lead acid batteries and lead recycling. Its goal is to promote new products, services and technologies for national and international battery manufacturers and lead recyclers. For the second time, and already established as one of the largest in the world, the country will have a technical-commercial fair in the sector and your company is invited to participate. If your company is a supplier of the industry, you may participate as an exhibitor and also presenting a lecture on the FENIBAT Commercial Forum about your products and services for this industry. FENIBAT is for people involved with the lead-acid battery and lead re-

cycling industries, involving the entire supply and administrative chain. The aim of the FENIBAT is to strengthen these industries, bringing updated information and stimulating business nationally and internationally. Free admission to all concerned, subject to prior registration though the web site (recommended) or onsite registration. The FENIBAT Expo will feature nearly 100 stands for companies providing products and services to the lead-acid battery and lead recycling industry. Both Brazilian and international manufacturers and distributors will be exhibiting. Contact Jayme Gusmão +55 43 9937 4911 gusmao@FENIBAT.com

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS The interactive exhibit hall will feature the latest battery technology and power management capabilities. Network with battery manufacturers, charger manufacturers, IC companies, materials and manufacturing equipment providers, testing services & systems providers, as well as an array of component and sub-system providers. The pre-conference workshops provide an in-depth education experience, providing valuable information for both the new and seasoned engineer.

16th Asian Battery Conference (16ABC) and Exhibition Bangkok, Thailand • September 8-11

Contact www.batterypoweronline.com/conferences/ Contact-us/

Battery Osaka — 2nd International Rechargeable Battery Expo Osaka, Japan September 2-4 BATTERY OSAKA is a specialised exhibition held in Osaka, Japan for manufacturing and R&D of rechargeable battery. All kinds of materials, manufacturing technologies, inspection/ analysis equipment services as well as the battery itself will be gathering. The event is organised by Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd and will be held at INTEX Osaka. Battery Osaka 2015 will be held along with the following concurrent expos: PV EXPO OSAKA — a specialised exhibition gathering all kinds of technologies, materials/devices, equipment for manufacturing solar cell/module and solar cell/module itself PV SYSTEM EXPO OSAKA — a specialised exhibition gathering all kinds of products/technologies for PV system installation/integration 2nd INTERNATIONAL SMART GRID EXPO OSAKA — all kinds of technologies and services related to smart grid, power generation, transmission and distribution. Contact http://www.battery-kansai.jp/en/

8th edition of the International Conference on Advanced Lithium Batteries for Automobile Applications, ABAA-8 Bilbao, Spain September 30-October 2 We are pleased to welcome you to the 8th edition of the International Conference on Advanced Lithium Batteries for Automobile Applications, ABAA-8. This will take place in Bilbao (Basque Country) hosted by CIC Energigune – Energy Storage Research Center. Starting in 2008, the ABAA conferences were conceived with the mission

116 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

Centara Hotel, downtown Bangkok

Over the years, the conference content and its drivers have changed over the years, from a very technical and scientific format to one that now also addresses the commercial and socio economic aspects of a growing, developing industry. At the time of the first ABC, back in 1988, the world lead tonnage consumed was 5.5 million tonnes with 65% entering the battery market, today we consume over 11 million tonnes with 85% being converted to batteries. The range and types of batteries we now produce have also changed during this period with VRLA a standard product and designs for stop–start vehicles becoming commonplace. It’s a far cry from 2ABC when the market was dominated by the use of antimonial alloys and when many Asian producers were only starting to think about converting the negative into a calcium alloy and producing their first ‘hybrid’ battery. So it is with this history and background that we have great pleasure in welcoming all delegates to the 16ABC in Bangkok, which aims to deliver an enhanced knowledge and a greater appreciation of our wonderful and growing industry. What’s new The EXPO of 16ABC will be sparked up with fresh show features and a

dynamic booth layout plan with a variety of different exhibition booths along with floor space only exhibition options. An interactive themed cafe in the centre of the EXPO. Sponsors and exhibitors will be able to conduct meetings and host clients in this space. The cafe will also house our barista’s making perfect coffees all day long and serving on demand snack items. Take a break in our fun Side Show Alley area within the EXPO Hall. The area will include arcade style games. Start practising your Atari skills and your muscle man swings! — great prizes to be won… 16ABC will see the introduction of scheduled appointments. Buyers will be able to review exhibitors profiles on line and request appointments through the Exhibitor Online Diary prior to the event. Stay tuned for heaps more program enhancements. Contact General/registration Lucy Cote e. events@conferenceworks.com.au Tel: +61 3 9870 2611 Sponsorship/exhibition Mark Richardson Cell: + 61 412 160 133 e. mark@conferenceworks.com.au

www.batteriesinternational.com

FORTHCOMING EVENTS The Battery Show Novi, Michigan, USA • September 15-17

Taking place September 15-17, in Novi, Detroit, Michigan, The Battery Show 2015 is the premier showcase of the latest advanced battery technology. The exhibition hall offers a platform to launch new products, make new Contacts and maintain existing relationships. With more qualified buyers and decision makers than any other event in North America, The Battery Show 2015 is the key to unlocking your future business opportunities. The Battery Show is attended by technical leaders, scientists, engiof enhancing global R&D of advanced lithium batteries for vehicles, accelerating the discussion and communication of R&D progress, as well as strengthening global collaboration in this field. Here, academia and battery and automotive industry will showcase the latest research and development in advanced lithium batteries focused on automotive applications, which are critical to achieve fuel-efficient automobiles. This event will feature talks and posters on materials research, electrochemistry and battery engineering delivered by international experts. Topics will include: • Development of novel materials: cathodes, anodes, electrolytes and electrolyte additives • Safety and degradation mechanisms of lithium ion batteries • System design including the latest market trends affecting the automotive industry • New chemistries for energy storage Contact Tel: +34 945 297 108 Email: abaa8@cicenergigune.com

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neers, project leaders, buyers and senior executives concerned with advanced energy storage and will host the very latest advanced battery solutions for electric and hybrid vehicles, utility and renewable energy support, portable electronics, medical technology, military and telecommunications. Contact steve.bryan@smartershows.com mindy.emsley@smartershows.com Europe tel: +44 1273 916300 US toll free: +1 855 436 8683 Fax: +44 1273 774341

66th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry Taipei, Taiwan 4-9 October The 66th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry to be held in Taipei will address batteries in Symposium 3 at this year’s event: Batteries for Tomorrow’s World — sponsored by: Division 3, Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage The performance of current electrical energy storage systems falls well short of requirements for using electrical energy efficiently in transportation, smart grid, commercial, and residential applications. Fundamental knowledge is needed to uncover the underlying principles that control the basic processes that determine and govern their function, operation, performance limitations and failure. With this underpinning knowledge, wholly new concepts in cell design and operation can be developed for a new class of electrical energy storage systems.

A new paradigm is required to design new stable anodes, cathodes and electrolytes to provide electrochemical cells with high energy density, high power, long lifetime and adequate safety at a competitive manufacturing cost. The goal of this symposium is to review recent R&D efforts in this field to elucidate fundamental chemical, transport, electrical, and physical processes that can help improve the existing state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries and stimulate development of next generation rechargeable batteries e.g., Li-S, Me-air batteries, Na-ion, redox flow and multi-valent systems etc. Topics will include: • Advanced materials, electrodes and electrolytes for rechargeable batteries • Novel rechargeable battery systems • Interfacial phenomena • Cell testing, performance evaluation, failure mechanisms • New computational and characterization tools • Safety Contact Robert Kostecki (coordinator), Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, E-mail: r_kostecki@lbl.gov) She-Huang Wu (co-coordinator), Tatung University E-mail: shwu@ttu.edu.tw http://annual66.ise-online.org/index.html

Batteries Event – International Energy and Power Supply Conference and Exhibition Nice, France October 7-9 For 17 years, the Batteries event remains today one of the world’s most attractive event and the meeting place of technologies (lead acid, NiMH, Liion and more), applications (from micro batteries to large format batteries) and the value chain (chemists OEMs and end users). During three days, the conference will gather 70 speakers and internationally known experts. Contact Christophe Pillot, chairman c.pillot@avicenne.com Sonia Jouneau, congress director sjouneau@lepublicsysteme.fr Tel : +33 1 41 34 21 75

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 117

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS World of Energy Solutions Stuttgart, Germany October 12-14

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The World of Energy Solutions is an international trade fair and conference – and thus an important platform for speeding up the change to alternative energy sources. It addresses all players involved in the manufacturing of battery and energy storage systems for mobile and stationary implementation. All areas are dealt with, from raw materials to turnkey battery systems. Be a part of our network and use our innovative platform to promote your research approaches, products, technologies and applications. The three exhibition areas are: • BATTERY+STORAGE: Battery and energy-storage technologies • f-cell: Fuel cell and hydrogen technology • Future mobility solutions: Mobility technologies, applications and concepts The World of Energy Solutions conference, which takes place parallel to the trade fair, is not only a basic component of the overall event, but also a who’s who from research and industry. In over 100 presentations German and international experts will report about current developments in hydrogen and fuel cells, battery and energy storage technology, as well as about future mobility solutions. Both conferences also place a strong emphasis on successful case studies and specific issues of a practical nature. Contact www.messe-stuttgart.de/en/wes/

Interbattery, The Battery Conference Seoul, South Korea October 20-22

The biggest international conference in Korea, The Battery Conference, will be held as a concurrent event alongside InterBattery. The Battery Conference will present optimal opportunity for sharing information and technology with global opinion leaders from all over the world. Get a unique insight into the latest global corporate trends and policies relating to the cell industry, and experience in-depth analysis of technologies, policies and market trends home and abroad. The battery conference attracts top industry players from countries around the world. Hear from and mingle with secondary cell industry leaders from corporations like Samsung SDI, and international energy policymakers. Achieve multiple goals at one event – expand business opportunity at InterBattery 2014 while grasping worldwide market trends at The Battery Conference. Contact InterBattery Secretariat Ofﬁce Tel: 82-2-6000-1087/8241 Fax: 82-2-6944-8309 interbattery@coex.co.kr

Energy Storage North America San Diego, California • October 13-15

Energy Storage Summit Japan Tokyo, Japan November 12

The Energy Storage Summit Japan 2014 brought together leading international researchers from Europe and the US with experts from India, China and Japan to discuss energy market deregulation and the opportunities this presents for Japan. Additional topics covered included energy storage applications and solutions for renewable energy integration, power transmission and distribution, smart grid, micro grid, off grid and decentralized energy supply, as well as the cost efficiency and bankability of energy storage solutions. Details about the event will be published at: http://www.worldenergystorage.com/

3rd Dresden conference ‘Energy in the Future’ Dresden, Germany November 10-11 Innovations in energy research become more and more important to secure the future of economy and society. Energy resources have to be used in a most efficient and cost-saving way. The 3rd Dresden conference ‘Energy in Future’ will present the latest research results in the field of energy storage and energy efficiency. We are happy to invite you to participate in this conference, to meet renowned scientists and economic experts and to take part in the accompanying exhibition. Contact www.zukunftenergie-dresden.de/en.html

3rd Annual Energy Storage India Conference and Expo December 2015

This is the largest grid energy storage event in North America. It will provide” • Critical insights into market developments and technology integration • 1500+ leading customers, technology providers, and partners • 40+ conference sessions, hands-on workshops, and site tours in the Silicon Valley

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Our 2014 programme focused on the convergence of transportation, distributed, and utility-scale applications. Contact Daniela Knoll – director, Messe Düsseldorf North America E-mail: dknoll@mdna.com Tel: +1 312 621-5838

The 2nd annual Energy Storage India Conference and Expo, hosted by the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) from December 3-5, 2014, in New Delhi, was a successful event that brought together 532 industry professionals and 65 speakers from 15+ countries. It was the largest such gathering ever held in India, and highlighted the many opportunities available in a fast-growing market. The 3rd such conference and expo should be held again in December. Visit www.worldenergystorage.com/ for more information about the 2015 event.

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 119

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BATTERY HEROES: JEANNE BURBANK Much of our present lead-acid theory is based on the work of one individual — electrochemist Jeanne Burbank. Battery historian, Kevin Desmond, reports on her enormous contribution to battery knowledge.

Pushing back the boundaries of lead Figures such as, Esther Takeuchi, Cristina Lampe-Önnerud. Kathryn Bullock and Anne-Marie Sastry prove that the international world of batteries nowadays is not exclusively a male domain. But decades before, when it was virtually a man’s world, one woman gained huge respect from her fellow electrochemists: Jeanne Burbank. Born, Jeanne Beadle, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in May 1915, she was the eldest of three children, to John Bookwalter Beadle and his wife Isabelle. Her father worked as a civil engineer for the US Reclamation Service and helped explore and map many parts of the still uncharted country. She spent most of her childhood in Washington, DC and was home-schooled by her father until high school. Since she was home-schooled, she had time to spend with her grandfather, “Grandpa Bill” (William Peacock) a scientist and an inventor, with a well equipped laboratory in his basement. As his oldest grandchild, he took her under his wing teaching her how to do experiments in chemistry and physics.

First brush with academia

Her ﬁrst patent proposed an improved and more resistant thin grid and plate for a lead-acid battery using an alloy of tin, antimony and lead. 122 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

It was perhaps a natural progression that after high school she should study chemistry we she did at the American University in Washington. It was there that fate and music came together. Enter Robert Burbank, a charismatic intellectual — also a chemistry major — with a passion for playing the piano. Jeanne, a music lover and cello player, fell in love. They graduated in 1936, both cum laude. Within weeks of finishing their degrees — on July 1, 1936 — the two married. She was just 21. They moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they both worked at

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BATTERY HEROES: JEANNE BURBANK

Burbank was a leader in the difﬁcult analysis of the entirely different roles played by the two polymorphs of lead dioxide in the battery operation. One markedly increased the physical stability of PbO2, while the other was the principal source of reactive energy the family-connected Peacock Laboratories (bought out by Libby-Owens-Ford Glass in 1940) as chemists while earning MSc degrees in colloidal chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania.

The gathering storm While life carried on as normal in Philadelphia the clouds of war had gathered over Europe. So it was just a normal Sunday trip out for Jeanne and Robert when one winter’s day the two went out to a concert. Suddenly, the music stopped for an announcement — something that had never happened before. A hushed audience was told Pearl Harbor had been attacked. It was December 7, 1941. Life in the US would never be the same. The enormous build-up of the navy that started from that moment was also to be a major factor in her life’s work. It was also momentous in another way. Jeanne was almost certain she was pregnant; she worried about the kind of world that she was going to bring a child into. In the summer of 1942 she had her only child, Carey Lea. But the joy in her daughter’s birth was tempered by the first signs of Robert’s illness. He was sent home for a month of bed rest; there was something wrong with his blood. Robert’s battle with Hodgkin’s Disease was ultimately to prove unsuccessful. He died from cancer of the lymph gland on September 21, 1946. Bravely, she put her life back together. She moved back to Washington DC where, hired by Joseph Clark White, she began to work as a research chemist for the Naval Research Labora-

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Top: A young portrait of Jeanne Burbank. Below: Jeanne as a baby with her father John Bookwalter Beadle in 1915.

tory (better known as NRL). White’s main work, sponsored by the Bureau of Ships was to improve the habitability of submarines during their sorties under the ocean, which of course included their battery emissions. In 1949, she co-authored a report on Phosphate Coatings on Steel, then in 1952 came ground-breaking work — “Positive-grid corrosion in the lead-

acid cell: corrosion rates of tin alloys and the effect of acid concentration on corrosion” and “Subgrain structure in lead and lead-antimony alloys” Her first patent — US2821565 filed in October 1955 and issued in January 1958 — was co-researched with Al Simon (who became a long-time collaborator) and John Lander. In this the three proposed an improved and

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 123

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BATTERY HEROES: JEANNE BURBANK “Your methods of applying X-ray and electron microscopy to the materials and components of leadacid and silver-zinc batteries have made a substantial contribution to the understanding of battery grid corrosion and active materials reactions”

Jeanne with mother Isabelle in 1915

more resistant thin grid and plate for a lead-acid battery using an alloy of tin, antimony and lead. During the 1960s, Burbank with her colleague Charles Wales, worked on a lead-calcium battery for portable cells. They also developed the electrolytic cell for X-ray diffraction studies of electrodes, such as lead and silver-zinc, to provide analysis for the battery companies such as Gates and Johnson Controls. Among her other accomplishments, Burbank was a leader in the difficult analysis of the entirely different roles played by the two polymorphs of

lead dioxide in the battery operation. One markedly increased the physical stability of PbO2, while the other was the principal source of reactive energy. Significant groups in the US and Germany were struggling with this question, which influenced both battery design and the processing of materials in manufacture. Her work is still discussed today. The cooperative work resulted in a better understanding of the crystallographic structure of active materials. Her colleague, Al Simon did parallel studies with the very latest technology from an scanning electron microscope.

Making a name

1942: The Burbank family, Jeanne and Robert with baby Carey

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Her influence was widely acknowledged across the industry — she regularly presented her reports to meetings of the Electrochemical Society across the US and even north of the border in Montreal and Ottawa. In 1962 she travelled to the UK for the Third International Symposium on Batteries, held in Bournemouth where she presented a paper about the positive plate characteristics in the floating lead calcium cell. Although her research work gained her international respect, her daughter paints a picture of a different woman relaxing in the home. She talks of summer vacations on the east coast and later with Jeanne’s parents in Florida and particularly of her love of music and dance. Carey was taught to play the piano and violin with Jeanne accompanying her on the cello and Jeanne’s sister Joan the viola. In 1967 Burbank and Charles Wales received the NRL Battery Division Research Award for their pioneering work. In 1969, she received the sixth annual William Blum Award from the National Capital Section of the Electrochemical Society where the award tribute said: “your methods of applying X-ray and electron microscopy to the materials and components of lead-acid and silver-zinc batteries have made a substantial contribution to the understanding of battery grid corrosion and active materials reactions.”

Batteries International • Spring 2015 • 125

BATTERY HEROES: JEANNE BURBANK The following year, she received the first Frank Booth Award for outstanding technical merit at the International Power Sources Symposium held at Brighton in the UK. Much of Burbank’s work concerned submarine batteries, and she was able to study the microstructure of lead acid submarine batteries under working conditions on the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the first nuclear submarine which was commissioned in 1954. “She visited the Nautilus while it was docked and was able to see what the conditions were for ‘her’ batteries,” her daughter later recalled. “She replicated the battery conditions and set-up at the NRL. She was so pleased when NRL provided her with own building with additional space to set up the configuration of batteries. “I remember her being very proud when NRL got their first nuclear reactor. She took me to see it as soon as visitors were allowed in. “My mother had one regret about her professional accomplishments: that she never had the time to pursue a PhD in chemistry or other subjects. She had been faced early in life with providing for a sick husband, a daughter, and later in life, for her sister at times of crises, and for her parents after their retirement. “But she lived both her work and her life to the full.”

She had been faced early in life with providing for a sick husband, a daughter, and later in life, for her sister at times of crises, and for her parents after their retirement. But she lived both her work and her life to the full professional journals, and received numerous awards for her work and publications. Several of these were published in four co-authored papers in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society and Electrochimica Acta. One of these, edited by the legendary Charles Tobias, was Advances in Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering. Her final reports concern the crystallization of lead oxides on anodes of lead-antimony alloy. In 1971 she retired to Tucson, Arizona. There she was able to devote time to that strange mixture of science and art that seems to characterize many in the battery industry. She had always been interested in minerals and crystals, about which she had learned so much in her work and in Arizona there was a huge assortment on her doorstep. She built up a fine mineral collection of several hundred pieces. She began to study native American peoples. She also took up painting in oils and did volunteer work for confer-

ences at the University of Arizona and also volunteer work for the League of Women Voters. “She was able to live on several acres in her beloved Sonoran desert, and had a house full of her oil paintings of the desert and also of Native Americans. One of her best is a painting of Ishi, a native American who was found in California, near death, after losing all members of his tribe and then had tried to remain hidden and unknown to the outside world. In 1986 Jeanne and her sister, Joan moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. Soon after her sister’s death in 1997, Jeanne moved to the Life Care Center of Paradise Valley of Phoenix. She was studying Oglala Lakota — one of the languages of the Great Sioux Nation — when she started failing. She died on March 2, 2002, aged 86. ■ Batteries International would like to thank Carey Friesen for her help in the compilation of this article.

‘A beautiful personality’ John Devitt, one of the key figures in the development of the valve regulated lead acid battery, recalled: “Jeanne was able, in spite of many obstacles, not the least being the fact the professional women in her field were almost unheard of, to accomplish much in research in electrochemistry. She was a lady in all the best ways — a beautiful personality.” However, Jeanne said she always thought of herself as being one of the Battery Boys and that her gender had nothing to do with her accomplishments. She was an original believer in equal rights for women. “I remember her complaining that many of her co-workers, mostly male, but also some of the women secretaries, didn’t understand her point of view,” her daughter recalls. “Equal rights for women was in its infancy, and women had only gotten the right to vote in 1920. The right to vote was often talked about in our household and was especially celebrated by her mother.” She published over 35 articles in

126 • Batteries International • Spring 2015

1966: Jeanne stands beside giant Saguaro cactus on land she bought before retiring to Tucson, Arizona. She is pictured with her daughter, Carey Lea, and a family friend.

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Man’s best friend: whale blubber Arctic snows. Wild Polar bears. Icebergs. Just a routine summer for those that live in the land of the midnight sun aka Newcastleupon-Tyne in the UK. But battery hero Steve Barnes, Hammond’s vice president for Europe, Emerging Markets (and presumably Frozen Wastes Of The North) — and based in Newcastle — is cycling 120 miles in three days in a charity this June. He’s aiming to be one of the helpers to raise £50,000 ($75,000) for Alex Turner, a

15-year-old who’s just beaten throat cancer, and wants to help others fighting the illness via the Teenage Cancer Trust, “I know I’ll feel a bit sore after the ride,” says Steve. “But us Northerners are a hardy lot. I’ll just dab some extra whale blubber on to the aching bits. “The rest, of course, I’d’ve smeared all over already — those Arctic winds from the North Sea are bitter.”

More seriously, let’s supportt him: www.justgiving.com/Stevie-Barnes www.justgiving.com/Stevie-B Barnes

Powdered wdered grapes grapes

Something for the bookshelf … or the littlest room Steve Levine’s latest book “The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World” tells the story of a race among top US scientists to develop a battery that could change the face of the car forever. Even if you don’t believe lithium ion variants will be that solution, the book provides a great insight into the challenges of scientific advancement — particularly the difficulty of translating victories in the lab to the manufacturing line.

David Imach, internationally erna er naati tion onallly ffamous am mo ou us for for hi fo h hiss ability to eat 12 inch h cakes cak akes ((pictured p ct pi ctur ured ed dw with ith it h wi wife wife) fe)) without breaking into to a sweat s eatt or eeven sw veen ch chewing, hew ewin in ng, m may ay have moved to pastures urres ures e n new ew w iin n Ca Cali California. lifo fo orn rnia ia. a. Bu But yo you u can’t keep a good batteryman att t er tt erym ymaan d ym down. o n ow Within weeks of relocating from MAC to northern California for Terex he was talking about his new-found better standards of life. “I want to take my old buddies at Sorfin on some great wine tastings. Back in Michigan, grape juice made from powder never made a particularly distinctive vintage. I p rremember my French pal Pierre ssaying what I guess were very rude words when he visited one of our w llocal cellars. “But that was then, here we’ve got both types of h wine: red and white. w “They’re going to llike that.”

When the going gets tough W B Batteries ies International gives a warm welcome to our new sales executive — and that oof sister er magazine Energy Storage Journal — Jade Beevor. Jade, who’s been in sales for the past five years, says she’s well prepared to deal with this t hard-bitten rd-bitten battery industry: “My university experience in drama and English can only o be an asset if they start talking mean about electrolytes, cathodes and lead acid.” 127

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Birthday celebrations planned In the jumble of names surrounding planning this year’s must-attend ABC meetings in Bangkok — which one is Mark Stevenson and which one is Mark Richardson? We ask because we hear that a mystery birthday party is being planned. One of the Marks (the Australian one) will be celebrating his 35th birthday. That’s the number he claims. And surely with three decades of experience in the battery business

behind him, he doesn’t make mistakes. “I’m not perhaps as convinced about that as you seem to be,” the Other Mark told Batteries International. “But ABC is going to be a blow-out conference, the intellectual content will be superb, the topics relevant and it’ll be fun too,” says the Other Mark. “And Mark’s surprise party — he’s secretly sending the invites out now — I guess’ll be fun too.”

Mystery man: Birthday Mark or the ‘Other Mark’? Conference regalia will be a must in Bangkok

Brace, brace, bang, bang Another day, another lithium fire. If it wasn’t a home going up in flames in New Zealand (lithium battery charger in the garage), it was one of those pesky lithium batteries catching fire in a plane. Again. Nobody hurt, thank heavens, but it felt like a close call to those on KLM 675 after it landed at Bangkok in March. So too for two other aircraft emergencies reported in April. With lithium batteries everywhere in the cabins of international jets — think mobile phones, tablets and ipads — surely there’s a greater chance of

a fire than ever before? So step forward two problem solvers — Highwater w water Innovations’ George Brilmyer m and myer ndd Mike Gilchrist, pioneer off the PlaneGard. Unlike the existing product d that duct looks a lot like a doggie pooperp scooper, PlaneGard resembles m mbles an executive briefcase. It uses e toxic es gas filters to keep the flames, m mes, heat, smoke and flammable b ble solvent fumes out of the airplane a cabin. Sorted? Kind of. But what w about the hold?

It’s publicity Jim, but not as we know it In all the media jabber about Tesla’s giga-factory and the excitement about where it was going to be located — was it to be California, Nevada, Southendon-Sea or Paris (Texas, France, Brazil etc? ) — a little known fact escaped us. 128

For while the Great Debate was raging, complete with hints and mysterious utterances coming from the great Musk himself, work started on May 19 last year on a plot at the TahoeReno Industrial Center in Nevada www.batteriesinternational.com

where brush and vegetation were being cleared. Oddly enough it turns out to be the new location of a giga factory. Just fancy that while the Media Debate raged on and on ...

Pasting ► Dividing ► Flash Drying ► Stacking ► Curing ► C.O.S. ► Assembly

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