2017 — NorthStar: Checking battery health from the cloud’s vantage

Gridtential: Continued from page 25

“Compared to traditional monoblocs, the Silicon Joule battery is lighter and has higher power densities. Gridtential’s approach to battery architecture is built upon a capital-light licensing model that partners with, rather than competes with, battery manufacturers. This allows them to compete against new and emerging technology threats without giga-scale capital investments.

“Lithium alone cannot satisfy the global demand for storage,” he said. “As the global EV market heats up and major car manufacturers scramble to secure supply, lithium sourcing challenges loom on the horizon. The same applies to cobalt, which is often used in lithium-ion batteries.”

Additionally, as the multi-billion dollar market for 48V battery systems swells to keep pace with newly increased voltage standards in hybrid-electric vehicles, Gridtential’s Silicon Joule technology will provide its global battery manufacturing partners with an economic, scalable and reliable platform.

Gridtential’s immediate focus is on 12V-48V mild hybrid automotive systems. However, it aims to offer power to a diverse range of technologies across an array of sectors, including material handling equipment, grid storage systems, mobile telephony, back-up power devices for cloud computing, and more.

The first commercial product produced in 2021 is a single-block 24V lead battery optimized for deepcycle applications. A 12V power version will follow late spring, with 48V versions of each appearing in the second half of the year.

Barton encourages lead acid battery manufacturers to embrace this opportunity — and go big.

“While Tesla was aiming for five gigafactories by 2020, existing lead acid battery manufacturers could license Gridtential’s Silicon Joule technology and convert their existing lines to compete with the evolving needs of the battery industry.

“That way, there could be roughly 70 lead acid gigafactories worldwide, with over 500GwH,” he said.

2017 — NorthStar

Checking battery health from the cloud’s vantage

Aground-breaking development in remote monitoring came from NorthStar — now part of EnerSys — on the basis of what its then CEO Hans Lidén called its most ground-breaking innovation: NorthStar ACE (Advanced Connected Energy).

This is an IoT service where it connects batteries to a cloud portal.

This means that the battery users can review the battery health and status at any time from anywhere. Furthermore, the embedded battery sensor communicates with both the site technician and the power system, to ensure correct installation and settings. The device has been primarily launched for the telecom sector, but can be expanded to new segments.

“It started in 2015 with a technology assessment to find a good solution for embedded sensors, and when this succeeded, we started developing the sensor communication system, including the cloud portal and mobile app,” Lidén said.

“The work was initiated as part of a broader development strategy, where we analyzed and identified the future growth regions for telecom back-up power and concluded that the growth in remote regions, with challenging conditions, was significant.

“This was a clear driver for developing a remote monitoring solution. In addition, our strategy is to continuously improve both performance and sustainability of our products and we wanted to provide a solution which makes battery usage more efficient and prolongs battery life.”

In addition, a sales and marketing team have in parallel been developing the business proposal for NorthStar ACE.

In terms of how this innovation could potentially change or benefit the battery

NorthStar’s ACE (Advanced Connected Energy), uses an IoT service where it connects batteries to a cloud portal — and from there to any internet connected device, here a smart phone.