PEOPLE NEWS
Kubis retires from Eco-Bat, moves to bipolar lead acid start-up Gridtential Ray Kubis — one of the most high profile names in the battery business — stepped down as president and managing director at Eco-Bat Technologies on October 30. Kubis, citing family priorities and some other private interests to adjust to less global travel, chose to join the board of Gridtential, a start-up firm with a new bipolar lead acid battery. He will continue as a non-executive board member for Eco-Bat and will also remain as an advisor. Howard Meyers, chairman of Eco-Bat and other senior management will act in an interim capacity. “When I was approached by Gridtential I was intrigued by the firm,” Kubis told Batteries International. “Throughout my career I’ve always been interested in new products and positioning of products, and though many of these start-ups don’t stand the test of time, some do. And Gridtential looked as if it had both a great product, a good operations process strategy, as well as great people to work with. “Bipolar batteries have always struck me as where the greatest potential for lead acid can be found, but also the most difficult to execute — and Gridtential have come up with a product that has overcome these difficulties.” At its simplest, Gridtential’s battery — known as the Silicon Joule technology — replaces the metal grid in leadacid batteries with a silicon substrate. The substrate is a spin-off from the mature production of silicon cells for the solar industry, yielding cost and quality advantages. (See picture of the battery interior.) The firm’s chief executive, Christiaan Beekhuis, says the battery has more than two times the available energy for the same weight, double the cycle life at 80% depth of discharge and twice the discharge speed but with the same efficiency. “Gridtential is able to target a $100/ kWh installed price for its drop-in lead-based battery replacement.” Perhaps most interesting for lead acid battery manufacturers is the fact that making the new batteries requires only minor modifications to the existing production line — the early processes of paste mixing and curing are
16 • Batteries International • Autumn 2015
“Bipolar batteries have always struck me as where the greatest potential for lead acid can be found, but also the most difficult to execute — and Gridtential have come up with a product that has overcome these difficulties.” unchanged as is the high investment charging or formation equipment. “The process changes for battery makers occur in the substrate manufacturing and plate assembly, that makes the product a manageable suitable transition for a range of battery makers” says Kubis. “With respect to the plate making and assembly I expect some of the high-end battery machine manufacturers to step up here to produce highspec, high speed lines. “To date two battery firms are serious players that are well down the road in their evaluation of our product and four others are in the process of starting to evaluate the product.” Gridtential’s business model is based on licensing the technology to customers which makes its initial capital requirements comparatively light. “Initially we’re focusing on licensing firms involved in the diverse industrial and specialty markets,” he says. “These are the ones that are easiest to
bring in as adopters, and some of the markets most challenged by lithium batteries. “But the eventual aim is to tap into the huge automotive sector. However, given the long testing times that they demand — often up to five years — this won’t be an immediate target for the firm.” One interesting perspective of the licensing model and the fact that the Gridtential technology can be fitted into existing battery manufacturing lines in the world is that it creates the possibility of the industry as a whole providing an almost immediate counter-balance to the so-called “gigafactory” of Tesla. Lead battery gigafactories could be just a couple of years away. Kubis’ main responsibilities on the board will be two-fold — providing the technical and commercial expertise from a lifetime of experience in the industry as well as acting as an ambassador for Gridtential. The fact that such a well known battery figure as Ray Kubis is joining the firm is a huge endorsement to Gridtential’s credentials. Kubis will work with the CEO — Christiaan Beekhuis, co-founders Peter Borden and Michele Klein, and other board members. Beekhuis, joined the company in 2011. In 2003 Beekhuis was chief technology officer and founder of Fat Spaniel Technologies a provider of renewable energy performance monitoring services. In 2010, Fat Spaniel Technologies was sold to Power-One, a California-based power management company. Borden advises on renewable energy product strategies, and is on the energy advisory board of two venture capital funds. Previously, with the company Applied Materials, he developed both silicon and thin film technologies in the Solar Business Group. He was involved in the design production of equipment now being implemented for silicon solar cell manufacturing. The firm is a spin-off from research funded by the California Energy Commission where Borden helped develop the battery. From 2006-2010, Klein was senior director of Applied Ventures, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials,
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