COVER STORY, THE INNOVATORS: DIGATRON/GRIDTENTIAL Linking it with tablets or smartphones is possible, depending on the customer’s IT infrastructure and policy. The Repoweren™ units can be cascaded in standard 19 inch rack systems. Test circuits can be paralleled up to several kiloamperes. Extra expenses for climatization or acoustic insulation are unnecessary. The regenerative series’ modular construction allows easy servicing and replacement of assemblies. DC cassettes for single cells (6V) and 20V (SLI) can be mixed within the same module. Additional DC cassettes with new voltage and current ranges will be developed in the future. “The Repoweren™ Series is designed to provide several decades of reliable service when maintained properly,” says Digatron. Its modular construction simplifies complete recycling at the end of its service life.”
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Smaller, more efficient
Advanced batteries open new gigafactories of silicon-lead beckon Gridtential has developed a silicon-lead battery that offers a real and sustainable alternative to lithium, with clear power and price advantages. Gridtential, a Californian start-up that has taken successful university research and adapted it to the production line, has developed a proprietary technology for an advanced lead battery that replaces the metal grid in current lead battery designs with a silicon substrate. “We’re calling it Silicon Joule Technology,” says Christiaan Beekhuis, chief executive of Gridtential. “The advanced architecture and materials will provide up to two times faster discharge at the same efficiency, two times the greater available energy at the same weight, and up to five times longer life at 80% depth-of-charge compared with traditional lead-acid batteries. “Gridtential is able to target a $100/ kWh installed price for its drop-in lead-based battery replacement.” Perhaps most interesting for lead battery manufacturers is the fact that it has the potential to provide breakthrough performance with little disruption to the existing 500GWh global production capacity of the lead battery industry — the early processes of paste mixing and curing are unchanged as is the high investment for-
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mation and charging equipment. “The process changes for battery makers occur in the modular stack and seal assembly process that makes the product a manageable transition for a range of battery makers” says Beekhuis. “With respect to the stack and seal assembly, I expect some of the highend battery machine manufacturers to step up here to produce high quality, high speed lines. “To date two battery firms that are serious players are well down the road towards establishing pilot production of Silicon Joule batteries and four others are in the process of evaluating 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,” Beekhuis 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. The area
where Silicon Joule technology could have the greatest impact is in the new 48V power trains for micro- and mildhybrid vehicles.” One interesting perspective of the licensing model, and the fact that the Gridtential technology can be fitted into existing battery manufacturing lines worldwide, 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.
Batteries International • Spring 2016 • 37