Technology

Storage technology needs a new approach

Energy storage has become the most important technology of the present time that will transform every aspect of daily lives. Renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar, wind, ocean, and biomass are intermittent and unreliable and can effectively replace fossil fuels only when combined with efficient ways to store energy for applications such as portable, motive, and stationary.
An energy storage device must deliver power for a long time, must have ability to deliver high current when needed, must be light weight and small volume, operate for high number of cycles and long time, be safe and environmentally friendly, and be manufactured from cheap and readily available materials. None of the currently available energy storage devices meets all these and constantly increasing requirements.
Energy storage methods may include mechanical systems such as pumped hydro, compressed air, and flywheel, superconducting magnetic method, or thermal energy storage, but the most promising are electrochemical energy storage devices such as batteries, fuel cells and double layer supercapacitors.

Batteries

Batteries have been the dominant technology used for energy storage, but their performance still falls short of increasing demand requirements. The most advanced family of batteries are lithium-ion batteries, with several options for anodes and cathodes. The most popular anodes are made of graphite, silicon, or titanium dioxide. The choice of cathodes includes cobalt oxide, manganese oxide, combination of oxides such as nickel/manganese/cobalt or nickel/ cobalt/ aluminum, and iron phosphate. Each combination of anode and cathode has different properties and batteries are typically matched with the applications based on their performance characteristics.
The newest trend in electrochemical energy storage is a hybrid device comprising a Li-ion battery and an electrochemical double layer supercapacitor (EDLS), that is expected to provide superior performance by exploiting the features of each technology. The hybrid device has lithium- ion anode and EDLS cathode and its high energy storage capacity comes from the battery while the high power, i.e., large current, from the supercapacitor. One of the most explored novel materials for EDLS cathodes is graphene, a single-layer allotrope of carbon with atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. While these new hybrid devices, i.e., supercapacitor batteries, as well as graphene as the choice of material, have considerable promise to improve the batteries, there has been a disturbing amount of outrageous performance claims and unrealistic promises attached to them.

WHAT MAKES MICROTRON'S HYBRID TECHNOLOGY UNIQUE?

Microtron’s energy storage solution is ideal for range of applications as it enables high energy content, high power, long cycle life, fast recharging, and unparalleled safety. The proprietary battery technology is based on a novel method to build high-surface area electrodes, which dramatically improves, by at least 50%, every performance characteristic such as energy density, specific energy, specific power, safety, cycle life, and charging time, all at a lower cost. The novel battery configuration is amenable to every type of anode, cathode, or the electrolyte and is “chemistry agnostic”. It is also suitable to build hybrid Li-ion/EDLC devices. The Microtron solution is the only concept patented to date that enables the best characteristics of both Li-ion batteries and electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLS) to be fully exploited.

Furthermore, the energy storage solution, ESS, is integrated into a smart system comprising advanced controls, cell balancing, array of sensors that monitor the battery performance, and smooth communication with the user. The key to success of Microtron solution is progressive battery performance improvement, from a conventional Li-ion battery, or a supercapacitor battery, to a solid-state Li battery in the second phase, and ultimately an advanced high-surface area electrode battery. Each subsequent battery generation improves the performance characteristics such as energy content resulting in increased driving range, faster charging, and longer cycle life. The final energy storage solution will set Microtron apart from any competition and provide solution that enable large scale implementation of low-speed vehicles.

GLOBAL IMPACT

With its proprietary battery in the heart of every system, from motive power for low-speed vehicles and home electrical energy storage to large scale energy networks, Microtron is creating an enterprise with global reach and impact. It is expected that significant contribution to lowering carbon emission will be accomplished by creating fleets of electric low-speed vehicles of grand proportions in developing countries, establishing line of home energy storage products, and ultimately delivering complete energy systems including energy generation, storage and supporting technologies.