I'm not a alkaline battery

A few minutes ago, I was crawling through the oft-dull posts that turn up in my RSS reader on Saturday mornings while downing the day's first cup of coffee. Not particularly momentous. Then I saw this TreeHugger post, Toshiba,and I was all wow, you know, in the way that Microsoft was hoping I'd react to Windows Vista. (I didn't, for the record.)

So what are these? They're called USBCell, and they're AA batteries that you charge in a USB port. What a cool idea! Of course, there's always the quality issue, but TreeHugger seems to approve: "The batteries are sturdy, powerful, and take the annoying clutter of a charger completely out of the equation." Hey, if they're helping to get rid of toxic waste that comes from alkaline batteries, they really should get a thumbs up just for that.

And considering the hordes of stupid USB devices out there,PA3399U-1BAS，PA3399U-2BAS, it's good to see one that actually appears to accomplish something.

Redox flow batteries

California start-up Deeya Energy said on Tuesday it raised $30 million to build "redox flow batteries" which it says will be a competitively priced way to replace diesel generators and store wind and solar energy.

Deeya Energy is one of many start-ups targeting large-scale storage systems which can act as back-up power for commercial applications, such as telecommunications towers, or electricity grid storage. Sony VGP-BPL8, Sony VGP-BPL8A.

The company's basic technology was first developed in the 1970s as part of a NASA research program. A flow battery uses electrolyte solutions of reactive chemicals that flow between two tanks to deliver an electrical current.

One advantage of flow batteries is that they can charge relatively quickly. Deeya Energy says its first product, called the Energy Storage Platform 24K, can store four hours worth of electricity to cell towers and takes only three hours to recharge. Sony VGP-BPS9，Sony VGP-BPS9/B.

Another advantage is that the material used in the flow battery is not toxic and can be recycled. Deeya Energy says its storage units will be far cleaner than diesel generators or lead-acid batteries.

Deeya Energy's series C round brought in new investor venture capital firm Technology Partners. The company has raised $53 million since it was founded in 2004. Initial investors BlueRun Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Element Partners and New Enterprise Associates participated in the latest round. Sony VGP-BPS9/S，Sony VGP-BPS9A.

The money will allow the company to build a few thousand of its 2-kilowatt cell phone tower back-up batteries it is marketing to the Indian telecommunications market, Deeya Energy CEO Isak Bencuya told Greentech Media.

The product is designed to last 20 years. The electrolytes need to be replaced every five years.

In the next year or two, the company intends to make 1-megawatt size flow batteries for power grid applications, such as storing energy from wind and solar farms. Sony VGP-BPS9A/B,Sony VGP-BPS10.

Energy storage has become one of the hottest areas in clean-tech investing with entrepreneurs developing a wide range of different technologies.

One of the biggest challenges is finding ways to make storage cheaper than existing alternatives. In the large-scale energy storage business, the incumbent technology is often lead-acid batteries or, for grid storage applications, pumped hydro, where water is pumped uphill and released at off-peak times to generate electricity. Sony VGP-BPS10A，Sony VGP-BPS10A/B.

Paper and carbon nanotube battery developed

Companies have been trying to figure out how to use carbon nanotubes in electronics. Batteries may be the answer, say researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The device is a piece of paper infused with carbon nanotubes and a salt, which serves as an electrolyte. Because it stores energy and conducts it, the device can act like a Sony battery.

A number of corporate labs and universities have come up with flexible batteries in the past. Power Paper from Israel makes a flexible battery printed on polymers that relies on zinc as an electrolyte. It sells it to the cosmetics industry. Japan Inc. also has trotted out a lot of prototypes. Still, these things haven't gone commercial so any advance is welcome. Sony VGP-BPS2，Sony VGP-BPS2A.

As an added bonus, the RPI device can deliver power over a long period of time, like a battery, or lots of power in a short burst, like a capacitor.

It's essentially a regular piece of paper, but it's made in a very intelligent way, said Robert Linhardt, the Ann and John H. Broadbent '59 Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer, Sony VGP-BPS2B，Sony VGP-BPS2C,in a prepared statement.

Carbon nanotubes have been the celebrity of the material science circuit for the past decade or so. Among their other attributes, nanotubes conduct electricity more efficiently than metal. They are also flexible, although stronger than steel. Right now, they are somewhat expensive, but mass manufacturing will drop the price. The only element is carbon, after all.

Conceivably, these paper Sony VGP-BPL2，Sony VGP-BPL2C could be stacked up in a device to give it power. They could be used to insert electronic computers into luggage tags or greeting cards or into larger devices.

But it is a long road. Battery technology, and the adoption by equipment makers, takes a long time. Sony VGP-BPS8, Sony VGP-BPS8A.

1

profile

Complete Profile

categories:

• laptop battery (3)

sindicate: