Energy Storage

Last year finally saw the kick-off in sales of electric cars with 2014 seeing a new impetus on fuel cell cars.

This year's IDTechEx event on energy harvesting and storage was held in Berlin, Europe. Following attendee feedback and a successful introduction of parallel tracks on the topic of the Internet of Things (IoT) in Santa Clara, California at the end of 2013, the event saw the transformation of the wireless sensor networks (WSN) part of the conference to an event that incorporated significant attention to the advent of the IoT and the way the technologies covered would interact in order to create further adoption and proliferation.

Lithium-ion batteries power a vast array of modern devices, from cell phones, laptops, and laser pointers to thermometers, hearing aids, and pacemakers. The electrodes in these batteries typically comprise three components: active materials, conductive additives, and binders.

Ioxus, a manufacturer of premium performance ultracapacitor technology for use in transportation, industrial and energy applications, today announced the completion of its series C funding with receipt of $21 million from investors.

The 11th annual IDTechEx Printed Electronics event took place in Berlin last week. The conference and tradeshow looked at a diverse range of technologies - both within printed electronics and also related technologies, such as Graphene, Wearable Technology, the Internet of Things, Energy Harvesting and 3D Printing, reflecting the broad opportunities for the technology.

The flexible battery management system of Fraunhofer IIS is able to work with different cell numbers and combinations. It can monitor any series or parallel connection of battery cells.

IDTechEx recently organised a co-located conference and tradeshow on printed electronics, energy harvesting, 3D printing, graphene and supercapacitors. In this article series, we will provide some of the latest highlights from these conferences.

The electrochemical reactions inside the porous electrodes of batteries and fuel cells have been described by theorists, but never measured directly. Now, a team at MIT has figured out a way to measure the fundamental charge transfer rate — finding some significant surprises.

This electric vehicle segment is usually underestimated by companies, however it is becoming interesting for those companies developing Micro EVs and off road electric vehicles.

High-tech "smart windows," which darken to filter out sunlight in response to electric current, function much like batteries. Now, X-ray studies provide a crystal-clear view into how the color-changing material in these windows behaves in a working battery - information that could benefit next-generation rechargeable batteries.

Daimler AG and Evonik Industries AG are restructuring their activities in the field of electric mobility in Kamenz and Kirchheim/Teck, and are thus reflecting the changed market conditions.