CONTENTS BIRTHDAY SPECIAL: THE 100TH ISSUE
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EDITORIAL
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Chaos, opportunity and 100 more issues ahead ...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BATTERIES INTERNATIONAL!
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... and a big thank you for all those who sent us those well-wishing cards!
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: A TIMELINE
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A short history of battery storage milestones, from 1990 till now
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEAD ACID BATTERY
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THE ALABC STORY
28
VRLA BATTERIES — THE FIRST HALF CENTURY
35
CHARITABLE GIVING: THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS
44
100TH ISSUE BATTERY PIONEERS
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The way we were
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John Devitt, David Prengaman, Michael Thackeray, Ken Peters, Detchko Pavlov, Stanley Whittingham, Maria Skyllas-Kazacos, Lan Lam and Jun Furukuwa
SADLY NO LONGER WITH US
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Alvin Salkind, electrochemist; Vladmir Bagotsky, space power; Tom Bacon, fuel cell pioneer; DeLight Breidegam Jr, manufacturer, philanthropist; Gordon Ulsh, Exide turn-around king; Sally Miksiewicz, leader in advanced lead; Bill Wylam, maintenance free batter champion; Brian Conway, the father of supercapacitors; Otto Jache, creator of the gel battery; Jim Sudworth, master of molten salt and Ernst Voss, discoverer of a-PbO2
An industry with a heart 44
DAVID RAND: AN ELECTROCHEMICAL JOURNEY
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EARLY DAYS AT BATTERIES INTERNATIONAL
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HOW VRLA ALL BEGAN: PATENT NO 3,862,861
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WORKER PROTECTION AND RESPONSIBLE CARE
115
An electrochemical journey 94
AUSTRALIAN RESIDENTIAL SOLAR PLUS STORAGE MARKET 117 PEOPLE NEWS
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Amber Kinetics appoints Bakholdin as CTO • ILA appoints health scientist • UE Technologies appoints co-founder of ESA as present and former US Saft sales VP joins firm • ALABC elects executive board, new technical programme to be approved in September
GRID NEWS
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Supercaps to the fore!
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Tesla acquisition of SolarCity provides yet another business model developing • Starwood Energy invests $100 million to Stem, brings project finance pool to $350 million • Greensmith Energy, Wärtsilä form partnership agreement • AGL prepares ‘world’s largest virtual power plant’ • Gaelectric to get further EU funds for CAES project • Imergy goes into ABC insolvency agreement — intellectual property and assets up for sale • EnSync sells first PPAs, opens up Hawaii • National Grid tenders for grid services problematic for developers RES snares battery project ahead of launch of UK’s frequency response market • Doosan acquires 1Energy, MESA co-founder Kaplan stays on as COO • GE Ventures takes stake in Sonnen www.batteriesinternational.com
Down-under plugged in
Batteries International • Summer 2016 • 1