Energy Storage

IDTechEx Show! on emerging technologies is taking place November 16-17 in Santa Clara California with record attendance and display of electric vehicle technologies of the future. Coverage is exceptionally comprehensive with land, water and airborne electric vehicle technologies in evidence.

The very structure of the bus is changing with electrics, mechanics and electronics previously made as "components-in-a-box" being replaced by structural electronics - the roof is the solar, the dashboard is the instruments - all as smart materials.

Gildemeister was the first company to commercialise vanadium redox flow batteries, with 25 MWh already installed worldwide. They are now planning double-digit growth to retain their market leadership.

Buses are very important. Injuries and deaths from two wheelers have not reduced very much in decades whereas vehicles with four wheels or more have seen huge improvements.

nanoFlowcell has developed a primary battery for electric vehicles that runs on cheap, non-flammable electrolytes. Their aim is to displace the oil industry with a cheaper, water-based alternative that can be produced anywhere in the world.

Unienergy Technologies is a rising star in the redox flow space, with MWh-scale projects around the globe and a clear ownership of the whole supply chain.

Leyden-Jar is a Dutch start-up developing silicon anodes for Li-ion batteries via PECVD. They claim they can give batteries a 30% boost in energy density and have already raised €600k in funding.

WattJoule is a company located in Massachusetts that has developed a hybrid vanadium-based electrolyte capable of increasing both the lifetime and temperature range of redox flow batteries.

Dendrites, whiskers of lithium that grow inside batteries and can cause fires like those in the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, are the bane of next-generation lithium batteries.

In 2016, Li-ion batteries celebrated their silver jubilee, i.e. they have been on the market, virtually unchanged, for the last 25 years. While this anniversary marks and underscores their worldwide success and diffusion in consumer electronics and, more recently, electric vehicles, the underlying technology begins to show its limitations in terms of safety, performance, form factor, and cost.

ESS Inc has developed a hybrid iron flow battery that can be significantly competitive with vanadium-based ones, with an electrolyte that is one order of magnitude cheaper.

Watch our preview of the IDTechEx Show! coming up in Santa Clara on Nov. 16-17 (www.idtechex.com/usa).

In this article, analyst Lorenzo Grande looks at the available chemistries both in terms of inorganic and polymer electrolytes, with mentions of which company is working on which technology. A watch list is also provided that includes companies worth keeping an eye on in the solid battery space.

Novel technique may lead to longer battery life in portable electronics and electrical vehicles

Researchers have developed an inexpensive, energy-efficient way to create silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries from the fossilized remains of single-celled algae called diatoms. The research could lead to the development of ultra-high capacity lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and portable electronics.

Chemists have discovered that one or more organic compounds in a family that traditionally has been known as pollutants could offer an important advance to make cheap, reliable batteries.

eChemion is an Oregon-based start-up that has developed a process to surface-treat graphitic electrodes for redox flow batteries. The company is a spin-off of Oregon State University and is now completing its Series A round of funding.

ITN is spinning off its daughter company Storion, which is developing vanadium redox flow batteries for the German, US, and Indian markets. Dr Lorenzo Grande interviewed Ashutosh Misra, VP of Administration.

Volterion is a company spun off the Fraunhofer Institute of Oberhausen in Germany. They have developed novel graphitic bipolar plates for vanadium redox flow batteries that are flexible and intelligently welded.

Kemwatt is a French startup working on organic redox flow batteries based on quinones. They claim lower OpEx than traditional redox flow technologies.