Editor’s note: This cooperation is significant. Batteries and capacitors each store electric power in different ways and with different advantages and drawbacks. Properly connecting the two would allow taking advantage of the plusses of each and thereby overcoming their drawbacks. Resulting products could be useful in cars and storing power off grid.
Battery manufacturer Exide Technologies and ultracapicitor developer Maxwell Technologies, Inc. say they have formed a strategic alliance in which the two will work together in the development and marketing of advanced, integrated, battery-ultracapacitor energy storage units for use in a array of transportation and industrial applications.
Ultracapacitors store energy in an electric field, which is unlike batteries that produce and store energy by means of a chemical reaction, This electrostatic energy storage mechanism lets ultracapacitors charge and discharge in as little as fractions of a second, perform normally over a broad temperature range (-40 to 65C), and operate reliably for one million or more charge/discharge cycles. Maxwell offers ultracapacitor cells ranging in capacitance from one to 3,000 Farads and multi-cell modules ranging from 16 to 125 volts.
Principal elements of the strategic alliance include:
- Joint identification and evaluation of market opportunities for integrated products;
- Collaborative product development and testing; and
- Joint calls on prospective customers to establish demonstration projects.
“The integrated products developed through our alliance will provide a range of benefits for users who require the most that today’s battery technology has to offer,” said Paul Cheeseman, Exide’s Vice President, Global Engineering and Research. “These benefits will include high energy density, rapid charging and discharging, extended operational life, and superior performance in extreme temperatures.”
Exide provides products across a range of applications in transportation and industrial markets. With its Absorbent Glass Mat technology that allows for deep cycling combined with high charge acceptance, Exide supports Start-Stop vehicles, energy recuperation, intelligent charging and other advanced power train features to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.
“We have always believed in the synergistic nature of ultracapacitors and batteries, and this relationship will let us significantly accelerate development of products embodying the benefits of both technologies,” says David Schramm, Maxwell’s president and chief executive officer.
Exide Technologies
www.exide.com
Maxwell Technologies
www.maxwell.com
Filed Under: Energy storage, News
