Energy Storage

In a quest for a smaller, more self-sustaining solar power source, an electrical engineer has proposed a design for solar panels that can simultaneously generate power from sunlight and store power reserves for later, all within a single device.

Elbit System is an international defense electronics company. They have diversified into energy storage technology through a comprehensive supercapacitor research program. They are focusing on aqueous electrolyte based supercapacitors, which are safer but with lower performance than organic electrolyte based supercapacitors. However based on improvements in electrode materials (such as carbon nanotubes) they are closing the performance gap. They are a company with high-level research capabilities.

Maxwell Technologies tells us that they have just had their best quarter ever. They have now delivered over 600,000 Ultracapacitors for micro-hybrids - conventional vehicles that switch off the engine whenever they stop and start it again when the accelerator is depressed.

Stanford University scientists have created an advanced zinc-air battery with higher catalytic activity and durability than similar batteries made with platinum and other costly catalysts.

Efficient energy storage is a cornerstone for a resilient and reliable energy transmission grid and graphene is a key element of the clean energy system.

Dr Bor Jang founded the company in 2007 and prior to this he had started Nanotek Instruments in 2002. Dr Bor Jang is a well-known figure in the field of graphene and claims to be the first to file patents on the material. Angstron Materials produces graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide powdres. Angstron Materials currently has a 20 tonne per year production capacity (by powdre weight). Their production technique is based on oxidization-reduction. Indeed, they sell both graphene oxide and graphene powdres. Recently, they have started moving up the value chain and are developing silicon anode materials for Li-ion batteries. This is because, as Mr Beech puts it, no one is going to get rich from supplying graphene alone.

Graphene has already come a long way towards commercialisation, despite its short history. But really hard questions still remain about what comes next and how to grow revenues.

Eesha Khare, 18, of Saratoga, California, recognized the crucial need for energy-efficient storage devices.

IDTechEx has recently launched an online browser-based Market Intelligence Portal , bringing you in-depth market intelligence and independent analysis throughout the year.

The day is coming when electric vehicles (EVs) land, water and airborne are as much as 80% electronics and electrics if we include the power components.

Researchers at MIT and Sandia National Laboratories have used transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging to observe, at a molecular level, what goes on during a reaction called oxygen evolution as lithium-air batteries charge; this reaction is thought to be a bottleneck limiting further improvements to these batteries.

The new report from IDTechEx titled Printed, Organic & Flexible Electronics: Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2013-2023 finds that the total market for these technologies will grow from $16.04 billion in 2013 to $76.79 billion in 2023.

Variously called Printed, Flexible or Organic Electronics, it is one of the fastest growing technologies in the world. It is of vital interest to industries as diverse as consumer goods, healthcare, mobility, electronics, media and architecture.

Might the automotive major lose out on the electric vehicle revolution? This was the question asked at the INTRASME Electric Vehicle Opportunity Workshop in the ICC Berlin (19th April).

IDTechEx held its Graphene LIVE! tradeshow and conference in Berlin over April 17-18, 2013. This event was co-located with Printed Electronics, TCF LIVE!, Energy Harvesting and Supercapacitor events.

A tiny, biocompatible battery in edible form that a patient could 'take' once a day.

This excellent event "7th Electric Aircraft Symposium" in Santa Rosa, USA was acclaimed as the best ever in the series. Over 150 people attended, an eclectic mix from NASA and Siemens to hobbyists, universities and technology startups were there.