2010/10/28
耐電圧性に優れた電気二重層キャパシタ（ＥＤＬＣ）用フッ素系電解液を開発
更新日：2010年10月27日 / 提供：共同通信PRワイヤー
平成２２年１０月２７日
ダイキン工業株式会社
耐電圧性に優れた電気二重層キャパシタ（ＥＤＬＣ）用フッ素系電解液を開発
〜電気自動車、風力・太陽光発電装置などのエネルギー分野での採用に期待〜
ダイキン工業株式会社は、蓄電デバイスとして市場拡大が期待される電気二重層キャパシタ（ＥＤＬＣ：electric double-layer capacitor）※１ 用として耐電圧性に優れたフッ素系電解液を開発し、１１月からサンプル出荷を開始します。フッ素系電解液を使用することにより、３Ｖの高電圧で安定的に作動するＥＤＬＣの実用化が可能になりました。
３ＶのＥＤＬＣは汎用の２．５ＶのＥＤＬＣに対してエネルギー密度を４０％向上できます。例えばＥＶ（電気自動車）に使用されているＥＤＬＣモジュールの大きさを４０％小型化できるだけでなく、部品数を減らせるため、信頼性向上にも寄与します。
従来、汎用のＥＤＬＣでは、設計電圧の２．５Ｖを超える高電圧作動時には、電解液の分解や劣化に伴う蓄電容量の低下、抵抗値の増大などの問題がありました。フッ素系電解液を使用した場合では、フッ素化合物の優れた特性である化学的安定性が発揮されることに加え、高電圧に合わせた電極構造の最適化も行うことで、作動電圧が３Ｖでも安定的に作動します。
なお、この電解液は、韓国の電気二重層キャパシタ専門メーカーで、優れた生産技術を持つビナテック社※２の協力を得て、フッ素電解液を使用したＥＤＬＣを試作し、高温、高電圧作動時の耐久性評価を行い、実用性を確認しました。
ＥＤＬＣは、モバイル機器のメモリーバックアップ電源やパソコンの無停電電源装置※３および太陽光発電装置の電気貯蔵用などとして装置・機器に内蔵して使用されており、市場規模は世界で約５００億円（株式会社ＪＭＲサイエンス調べ）です。
エネルギー密度の向上により、今後は既存用途に加え、ＥＶ（電気自動車）、ハイブリッド車両（バス、フォークリフトなど）や風力発電装置、太陽光発電装置などのエネルギー分野での適用拡大が期待されます。
当社は、２０１１年度にフッ素系電解液の販売を開始し、２０１５年度には、２０億円の売上げを目指します。また、蓄電デバイス材料の用途開発を進め、リチウムイオン二次電池材料も含めた蓄電デバイス分野で２０１５年度には、１００億円超の売上げを目指します。
以上
【補足説明】
※１ 電気二重層キャパシタ
（ＥＤＬＣ：electric double-layer capacitor）
電気を貯める蓄電デバイス。活性炭電極（プラス、マイナス）と電解液とで構成される。充電時に、電極と逆電極の電解質イオンを電極の表面に物理的に吸着させ、電気二重層を形成して、放電時に離す原理を利用。リチウムイオン二次電池と比べて、電気容量は小さいものの充電や放電速度が極めて速く、充電・放電の際に化学反応を伴わないため、電極の劣化がほとんどなく、半永久的に使用できることが特徴。
※２ ビナテック株式会社の概要
１）本 社：韓国 軍浦市
２）代 表 者：ＣＥＯ ソン・ドギョン
３）会社設立：１９９９年
４）資 本 金：１２億ウオン（約８７．２百万円、１００ウオン＝７．２７円換算）
５）売 上 高：２００９年度 １６０億ウオン（１１．６億円、同換算）
６）事業内容：エネルギー事業（ＥＤＬＣなど）、光応用事業（ＬＥＤを利用した照明モジュール）の製造・販売、半導体の流通
※３ 無停電電源装置
（ＵＰＳ：uninterruptible power supply）
落雷による停電や不意な電源オフにより電気の供給が切れた場合でも、一定時間電力を供給し続ける電源装置。
●お客様からのお問い合わせ先
ダイキン工業株式会社 化学事業部 開発営業部
【本 社】〒530-8323 大阪市北区中崎西二丁目4番12号（梅田センタービル）
TEL (06)6373-4342（ダイヤルイン）
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2010/10/22
大気から電気を収集：金沢工大教授等の研究
太陽光や風や波が新しい電力源として期待されているが、最近は、大気中[の静電気]から電気を収集する技術も研究されている。
科学者たちは何世紀もの間、雷の電気を集めて利用するというアイディアに魅せられてきた。発明家ニコラ・テスラもさかんに実験を行なったが、大気電気学の分野を詳細に解明することは、最近まで困難だと考えられてきた。
しかし、ブラジルのカンピーナス大学のFernando Galembeck氏は、アメリカ化学会(ACS)の第240回国際会議において報告を行ない、すべての住宅の屋根に装置を取り付け、大気から安価でクリーンな電力を取得するという未来の構想を語った。
元来、大気中の水滴は電気的に中性であり、たとえ塵の粒子や他の液体の電荷と接触しても中性を保つと考えられてきた。しかしGalembeck氏は、一連の実験の結果、実際には水滴は電荷を帯びることを発見した。
Galembeck氏は、空気中に塵粒子として多くみられるシリカ粒子とリン酸アルミニウムを用いて実験を行ない、空気中の水蒸気の量が増える[湿度が高い]と、それら物質の粒子はますます電荷を帯びる傾向があることを突き止めた。
「これは、大気中の水が電荷を蓄積し、接触した他の物質にその電荷を移動させられることを示す明らかな証拠だ」とGalembeck氏は述べている。
特に熱帯地方などの湿度の高い地域においては、このような「湿度電気」(hygroelectricity)を大気中から「収穫」することが可能かもしれない。この技術を産業化するべく、Galembeck氏はすでに、大気中の電気を捕捉する収集パネルの素材に最も適している金属を特定するための実験を行なっている。
また、同様の仕組みを、落雷の被害防止に役立てることもできる。雷雨多発地域の建物に湿度電気収集パネルを設置し、周辺の大気中から電気を集めて取り除くのだ。
[大気中に存在する、雷にならない程度の比較的低圧の静電気を回収して電力として利用する技術を大気電流発電と呼び、日本では金沢工大の饗庭貢教授が研究を行なっている。
饗庭教授の研究では、雷雲が近づくたびに地表との間に流れる大気電流と、雷放電後の続流と呼ばれる弱い電流を蓄える仕組み。具体的には、地上5m以上に設置した数10メートル程度の避雷針を用い、大気中の500V以下の低圧の静電気を電気二重層キャパシタに回収し電力として利用する。雷を引き起こす500V以上の静電気は地中に逃がすため、落雷防止にも利用できる。
高さ65メートルの避雷針を用いた観測では、雷が多い冬の1カ月で105回の電流が計測され、推定400キロワット時の電気量が可能。一般家庭の月間平均電気使用量は約340キロワッ ト時とされるため、一世帯で必要な電気がほぼまかなえる計算になるという。
雷の専門家として知られる饗庭教授は、1977年から、ピアノ線をつ けた超小型ロケットを雷雲の中に打ち上げる実験を始め、ピアノ線の端に放電電極を取り付け、雷の電気で水を温める「雷温水器」の開発にも成功している]
[WIRED NEWS日本語版：ガリレオ-高橋朋子/合原弘子]
続きを読む...
科学者たちは何世紀もの間、雷の電気を集めて利用するというアイディアに魅せられてきた。発明家ニコラ・テスラもさかんに実験を行なったが、大気電気学の分野を詳細に解明することは、最近まで困難だと考えられてきた。
しかし、ブラジルのカンピーナス大学のFernando Galembeck氏は、アメリカ化学会(ACS)の第240回国際会議において報告を行ない、すべての住宅の屋根に装置を取り付け、大気から安価でクリーンな電力を取得するという未来の構想を語った。
元来、大気中の水滴は電気的に中性であり、たとえ塵の粒子や他の液体の電荷と接触しても中性を保つと考えられてきた。しかしGalembeck氏は、一連の実験の結果、実際には水滴は電荷を帯びることを発見した。
Galembeck氏は、空気中に塵粒子として多くみられるシリカ粒子とリン酸アルミニウムを用いて実験を行ない、空気中の水蒸気の量が増える[湿度が高い]と、それら物質の粒子はますます電荷を帯びる傾向があることを突き止めた。
「これは、大気中の水が電荷を蓄積し、接触した他の物質にその電荷を移動させられることを示す明らかな証拠だ」とGalembeck氏は述べている。
特に熱帯地方などの湿度の高い地域においては、このような「湿度電気」(hygroelectricity)を大気中から「収穫」することが可能かもしれない。この技術を産業化するべく、Galembeck氏はすでに、大気中の電気を捕捉する収集パネルの素材に最も適している金属を特定するための実験を行なっている。
また、同様の仕組みを、落雷の被害防止に役立てることもできる。雷雨多発地域の建物に湿度電気収集パネルを設置し、周辺の大気中から電気を集めて取り除くのだ。
[大気中に存在する、雷にならない程度の比較的低圧の静電気を回収して電力として利用する技術を大気電流発電と呼び、日本では金沢工大の饗庭貢教授が研究を行なっている。
饗庭教授の研究では、雷雲が近づくたびに地表との間に流れる大気電流と、雷放電後の続流と呼ばれる弱い電流を蓄える仕組み。具体的には、地上5m以上に設置した数10メートル程度の避雷針を用い、大気中の500V以下の低圧の静電気を電気二重層キャパシタに回収し電力として利用する。雷を引き起こす500V以上の静電気は地中に逃がすため、落雷防止にも利用できる。
高さ65メートルの避雷針を用いた観測では、雷が多い冬の1カ月で105回の電流が計測され、推定400キロワット時の電気量が可能。一般家庭の月間平均電気使用量は約340キロワッ ト時とされるため、一世帯で必要な電気がほぼまかなえる計算になるという。
雷の専門家として知られる饗庭教授は、1977年から、ピアノ線をつ けた超小型ロケットを雷雲の中に打ち上げる実験を始め、ピアノ線の端に放電電極を取り付け、雷の電気で水を温める「雷温水器」の開発にも成功している]
[WIRED NEWS日本語版：ガリレオ-高橋朋子/合原弘子]
続きを読む...
SOURCE: ZENN Motor Company
Information contained in this release relating to EEStor, Inc. or the energy storage technology being developed by EEStor has not been reviewed by EEStor and EEStor does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information.
----------------------------------------------------
press releaseOct. 6, 2010, 10:22 a.m. EDT
John Robert Wallace Joins Zenn Motor Company's Board of Directors
TORONTO, ONTARIO, Oct 06, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- ZENN Motor Company Inc. ("ZMC" or the "Company") /quotes/comstock/11v!e:znn (CA:ZNN 1.50, -0.06, -3.85%) today announced that John Robert Wallace has been appointed to its Board of Directors.
"I'm very pleased to welcome a director of John's caliber to the Board and look forward to working with him," stated Richard McGraw, Chairman of ZMC. "John adds an impressive wealth of knowledge from his extensive background in the electric vehicle, energy storage and power electronics industries."
"The potential of ZENN Motor Company is quite unique and is an exciting opportunity that I am delighted to be a part of," said Mr. Wallace. "Their strategy for enabling the mass adoption of electric vehicles through advanced energy storage and power efficiency solutions resonates with me and I look forward to contributing to the Company's achievement of its objectives."
Mr. Wallace's 40 year career spans the transportation, semiconductor and energy storage industries. He is currently Chairman of Enova Systems and was previously the Chairman of the World Electric Vehicle Association and Chairman of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium. Among the other positions held by Mr. Wallace during his career were CEO at Xantrex Technology Inc., a publicly traded company (TSX) whose product lines included power converters for cleantech applications; 20 years with Ford Motor Company, ultimately as Executive Director, Sustainable Technologies where he was responsible for all electric drive activities for the entire family of Ford Motor Company brands; and Founder & President, Precision Micro Design which produced custom integrated circuits for Fortune 500 companies and was ultimately acquired by Perkin Elmer.
Mr. Wallace received his BSEE and MSEE (Computer Science) from Rice University in 1969 and 1970, respectively.
In connection with Mr. Wallace's appointment, subject to regulatory approval, ZMC has agreed to grant 100,000 options to Mr. Wallace with an exercise price to be fixed at the time of grant in accordance with the Company's stock option plan and which will expire in five years.
Concurrent with the appointment of Mr. Wallace, Peter Mackechnie has resigned as a Director of the Company. A Director since 2006, Mr. Mackechnie provided valuable support to ZMC during its formative years and the Company and Board of Directors thank him for his contributions.
About ZENN Motor Company Inc.
ZENN Motor Company, Toronto, Canada, is dedicated to enabling emission-free, energy-efficient transportation through unique, yet widely applicable, technology offerings. Driven by quality, ingenuity and a philosophy of social responsibility, the ZMC team is redefining what is possible in the pursuit of zero emission transportation.
ZENNergy technologies and solutions, to be powered by EEStor's electrical energy storage units (EESU) are expected to enable OEM and Tier 1 partners to deliver advanced electric transportation solutions to their customers. The Company has a Technology Agreement with EEStor that provides certain exclusive and non- exclusive rights to purchase and deploy EEStor's EESU technology, which rights are detailed in the Company's AIF.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, may include forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties that face the Company; such statements may contain such words as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, and may be based on management's current assumptions and expectations related to all aspects of the automotive industry, consumer demand for zero emission transportation solutions and the global economy. Risks and uncertainties that may face the Company include, but are not restricted to: the EEStor energy storage technology may not be successfully commercialized at all, in a manner providing the features and benefits expected while under development, or on a timely basis or the Company may not be able to successfully incorporate this technology into its current or proposed products; the Company could fail in its efforts to develop viable ZENNergy technologies and solutions or do so on a timely basis; steps taken by the Company to protect its proprietary rights may not be adequate or third parties may infringe or misappropriate the Company's proprietary rights; the Company has a history of losses from operations and may not be able to obtain financing, if and when required, to fund future expenditures for general administrative activities, including sales and marketing and research and development, expansion, strategic acquisitions or investment opportunities or to respond to competitive pressures; competitors may develop products which offer greater benefits to consumers, have greater market appeal or are more competitively priced than those offered by the Company; the Company may be exposed to product liability claims which exceed insurance policy limits; the Company is dependent on the ability and experience of a relatively small number of key personnel; new products introduced by the Company may not be accepted in the market or to the extent projected; new laws and regulations may be enacted or existing ones may be applied or governmental action may be taken in a manner which could limit or curtail the production or sale of the Company's products; and the Company may be negatively affected by reduced consumer spending due to the uncertainty of economic and geopolitical conditions.
These risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ from information contained in this release, when estimates and assumptions have been used to measure and report results. There can be no assurance that any statements of forward-looking information contained in this release will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral statements containing forward-looking information are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any statements of forward looking information that speak only as of the date of this release. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in ZMC's current Annual Information Form and its other filings with the various Canadian securities regulators which are available online at www.sedar.com.
Information contained in this release relating to EEStor, Inc. or the energy storage technology being developed by EEStor has not been reviewed by EEStor and EEStor does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
ZENN Motor Company Inc.
Catherine Scrimgeour
Manager, Public Affairs
416-535-8395 ext. 201
cscrimgeour@ZENNcars.com
ZENN Motor Company Inc.
Ian Clifford
Chief Executive Officer
416-535-8395 ext. 202
ian.clifford@ZENNcars.com
続きを読む...
----------------------------------------------------
press releaseOct. 6, 2010, 10:22 a.m. EDT
John Robert Wallace Joins Zenn Motor Company's Board of Directors
TORONTO, ONTARIO, Oct 06, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- ZENN Motor Company Inc. ("ZMC" or the "Company") /quotes/comstock/11v!e:znn (CA:ZNN 1.50, -0.06, -3.85%) today announced that John Robert Wallace has been appointed to its Board of Directors.
"I'm very pleased to welcome a director of John's caliber to the Board and look forward to working with him," stated Richard McGraw, Chairman of ZMC. "John adds an impressive wealth of knowledge from his extensive background in the electric vehicle, energy storage and power electronics industries."
"The potential of ZENN Motor Company is quite unique and is an exciting opportunity that I am delighted to be a part of," said Mr. Wallace. "Their strategy for enabling the mass adoption of electric vehicles through advanced energy storage and power efficiency solutions resonates with me and I look forward to contributing to the Company's achievement of its objectives."
Mr. Wallace's 40 year career spans the transportation, semiconductor and energy storage industries. He is currently Chairman of Enova Systems and was previously the Chairman of the World Electric Vehicle Association and Chairman of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium. Among the other positions held by Mr. Wallace during his career were CEO at Xantrex Technology Inc., a publicly traded company (TSX) whose product lines included power converters for cleantech applications; 20 years with Ford Motor Company, ultimately as Executive Director, Sustainable Technologies where he was responsible for all electric drive activities for the entire family of Ford Motor Company brands; and Founder & President, Precision Micro Design which produced custom integrated circuits for Fortune 500 companies and was ultimately acquired by Perkin Elmer.
Mr. Wallace received his BSEE and MSEE (Computer Science) from Rice University in 1969 and 1970, respectively.
In connection with Mr. Wallace's appointment, subject to regulatory approval, ZMC has agreed to grant 100,000 options to Mr. Wallace with an exercise price to be fixed at the time of grant in accordance with the Company's stock option plan and which will expire in five years.
Concurrent with the appointment of Mr. Wallace, Peter Mackechnie has resigned as a Director of the Company. A Director since 2006, Mr. Mackechnie provided valuable support to ZMC during its formative years and the Company and Board of Directors thank him for his contributions.
About ZENN Motor Company Inc.
ZENN Motor Company, Toronto, Canada, is dedicated to enabling emission-free, energy-efficient transportation through unique, yet widely applicable, technology offerings. Driven by quality, ingenuity and a philosophy of social responsibility, the ZMC team is redefining what is possible in the pursuit of zero emission transportation.
ZENNergy technologies and solutions, to be powered by EEStor's electrical energy storage units (EESU) are expected to enable OEM and Tier 1 partners to deliver advanced electric transportation solutions to their customers. The Company has a Technology Agreement with EEStor that provides certain exclusive and non- exclusive rights to purchase and deploy EEStor's EESU technology, which rights are detailed in the Company's AIF.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, may include forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties that face the Company; such statements may contain such words as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, and may be based on management's current assumptions and expectations related to all aspects of the automotive industry, consumer demand for zero emission transportation solutions and the global economy. Risks and uncertainties that may face the Company include, but are not restricted to: the EEStor energy storage technology may not be successfully commercialized at all, in a manner providing the features and benefits expected while under development, or on a timely basis or the Company may not be able to successfully incorporate this technology into its current or proposed products; the Company could fail in its efforts to develop viable ZENNergy technologies and solutions or do so on a timely basis; steps taken by the Company to protect its proprietary rights may not be adequate or third parties may infringe or misappropriate the Company's proprietary rights; the Company has a history of losses from operations and may not be able to obtain financing, if and when required, to fund future expenditures for general administrative activities, including sales and marketing and research and development, expansion, strategic acquisitions or investment opportunities or to respond to competitive pressures; competitors may develop products which offer greater benefits to consumers, have greater market appeal or are more competitively priced than those offered by the Company; the Company may be exposed to product liability claims which exceed insurance policy limits; the Company is dependent on the ability and experience of a relatively small number of key personnel; new products introduced by the Company may not be accepted in the market or to the extent projected; new laws and regulations may be enacted or existing ones may be applied or governmental action may be taken in a manner which could limit or curtail the production or sale of the Company's products; and the Company may be negatively affected by reduced consumer spending due to the uncertainty of economic and geopolitical conditions.
These risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ from information contained in this release, when estimates and assumptions have been used to measure and report results. There can be no assurance that any statements of forward-looking information contained in this release will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral statements containing forward-looking information are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any statements of forward looking information that speak only as of the date of this release. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in ZMC's current Annual Information Form and its other filings with the various Canadian securities regulators which are available online at www.sedar.com.
Information contained in this release relating to EEStor, Inc. or the energy storage technology being developed by EEStor has not been reviewed by EEStor and EEStor does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
ZENN Motor Company Inc.
Catherine Scrimgeour
Manager, Public Affairs
416-535-8395 ext. 201
cscrimgeour@ZENNcars.com
ZENN Motor Company Inc.
Ian Clifford
Chief Executive Officer
416-535-8395 ext. 202
ian.clifford@ZENNcars.com
続きを読む...
2010/10/19
CEATEC】太陽誘電の色素増感型太陽電池，低コスト化と安全性向上を実現
正極と電解液を改良
[クリックすると拡大した画像が開きます] 太陽誘電は，2009年のCEATECに展示した色素増感型太陽電池とLiイオン・キャパシタを組み合わせたユニットを改良して再び出展した。
色素増感型太陽電池では，正極を金属からプラスチックの導電性基板に変えて低コスト化したり，電解液に含まれていた揮発性の高いアセトニトリル系材料を除いて安全性を高めたりした。太陽電池部分の厚さは0.55mmで，昨年よりも若干薄いという。
電極材料や電解液を変えたことで，変換効率はいったん低下した。これに対して太陽誘電は，負極近傍で色素を担持する役割を担うセラミックスの成膜方法を改良して色素の量を増やし，変換効率を昨年よりも若干高めることに成功した。現在の変換効率は数％である。従来通りアセトニトリル系材料を含んだ電解液を使えば，10％に近いところまで変換効率を高められるとした。
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蓄電の新星、「リチウムイオン・キャパシタ」が急浮上
自然エネルギーの電力を蓄えて安定供給するための蓄電部品の新しい候補として「リチウム（Li）イオン・キャパシタ」が急浮上してきた。
太陽光発電や風力発電など、自然エネルギーを用いた発電は、その多くが天候まかせで出力が安定しないという問題を抱えている。こうした電力を安定的に取り出すには、発電量が増えたときに余った電力を一時的に蓄え、発電量が減ったらそれを補って放電するような、大容量の蓄電部品が必要となる。こうした用途の蓄電部品としてこれまで有力視されていたのは、NAS（ナトリウム・硫黄）電池とLiイオン２次電池である。このうち、NAS電池は比較的低コストで大容量化を実現できるものの、約300℃の高温を維持しないと電池として機能しないという難点がある。加熱・保温などに必要な周辺装置の構成が大掛かりになるので、利用場所がメガソーラーといわれる大規模発電施設などに限られてしまうのだ。もう一つのLiイオン２次電池は、単価は高いもののコンパクトに収まるので、家庭やビル、工場などに設置する中小規模の発電設備で有利とされていた。しかし、充放電に化学反応が必要で、電解液中でLiイオンの移動を伴うため、充放電の速度（出力密度）が十分ではなかった。充放電を繰り返すと劣化しやすいという点でも課題を抱えていた。
「いいとこ取り」の蓄電部品
これらの有力候補に対し、Liイオン・キャパシタはどのような性質を持っているのだろうか。まず、Liイオン・キャパシタとはどのような蓄電部品なのかを説明する必要があろう。
Liイオン・キャパシタは、電気２重層キャパシタという蓄電部品とLiイオン２次電池を組み合わせたハイブリッド構造の蓄電部品である。具体的には、電気２重層キャパシタの正極と、Liイオン２次電池の負極を組み合わせた。電気２重層キャパシタは、電極の表面にイオンが近づいてできる電気２重層をキャパシタ（コンデンサ）として利用するもので、極めて充放電が速い（出力密度が高い）が、一方でエネルギー密度が低かった（大型の装置でも少しの電気しか蓄えられない）。そこで負極を置き換えることで、出力密度や充放電の繰り返し可能回数をLiイオン２次電池に対しケタ違いに改善し、エネルギー密度を電気２重層キャパシタの数倍に高めてLiイオン２次電池に迫ろうというのが、Liイオン・キャパシタなのである。
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このように優れた性質を備えるLiイオン・キャパシタだが、これまでは容量が稼ぎにくく、内部抵抗によるロスも大きかったので、瞬間的な電圧低下や停電から産業機器を守るための電力補償装置といった一部の用途で実用化されてきただけだった。しかしここに来て、技術開発が進んだことで太陽光発電など自然エネルギーの安定化用途を意識した製品展開が活発になってきている。その一端は、2010年10月５日～９日に開催された「CEATEC JAPAN 2010」に見ることができた。
CEATECで改良品が登場
従来の弱点を補うような大容量で内部抵抗の低い開発品を展示したのが、JSRの子会であるJMエナジーと、旭化成である。JMエナジーは静電容量が2200F（ファラド）と大きく内部抵抗を0.8mΩ（同社従来品は1.4mΩ）に抑えたLiイオン・キャパシタのセル（蓄電部品の最小単位。セルを並べて蓄電にする）を披露した。一方、旭化成は1000Fで正規化内部抵抗を２ΩF未満（接線法）としたセルを出展した。この内部抵抗は「他社従来品の２分の１以下のレベル」（旭化成）とする。
太陽光発電への応用を前面に打ち出したのが、FDKである。同社のLiイオン・キャパシタ・モジュールは、沖縄電力が四つの離島で進める経済産業省の「離島独立型新エネルギー導入実証事業」のうち、３島（多良間島、与那国島、北大東島）において太陽光発電の安定化装置に採用された。2010年８月末から９月末にかけて３島のマイクログリッド・システム構築の工事が順次完了し、安定化装置は、多良間島が250kW、与那国島が150kW、北大東島が100kWの規模である。沖縄電力は４島のうち残りの宮古島でNAS電池を採用した４MW規模の安定化装置を導入し、それぞれを比較することでLiイオン・キャパシタの有効性を評価する予定になっている。
FDKはこうした実績を足がかりに、太陽光発電や風力発電など自然エネルギー用途に向けて売り込みをかける。CEATEC会場では、同社のLiイオン・キャパシタのセルやモジュール（写真１、２）の展示とともに、太陽光発電の出力安定化の効果をグラフで示しながら自社製品の特徴をアピールした。特に同社は単一セルだけでなく、複数セルを統合したモジュールにおいても強みがあるという。モジュール内で各セルの電圧がバラつくと充放電時に特定のセルに負荷が集中するなどの不具合が生じるが、「セル電圧を均等化させるバランス調整技術にノウハウがある」（FDK）とする。
３社の得意技術を結集
複数の企業が連携して研究開発を組織化する動きも出てきた。JSR、東京エレクトロン、イビデンの３社は、Liイオン・キャパシタの環境・エネルギー分野への事業拡大を狙った企業連合「次世代LIC（Liイオン・キャパシタ）総合技術研究組合」を設立したことを、この2010年９月に発表した。2010～2012年の３年間で、革新的なセル構造や新材料、独自の組み立て技術を開発し、単位当たりの容量が５倍でかつコスト２分の１の製品の実現を目指すという。JSRが材料開発やセル・モジュールの設計開発、東京エレクトロンが生産コスト削減のための製造装置開発、イビデンがパッケージや実装の組み立て技術開発と、それぞれの得意技術を持ち寄る。３社はこれによる成果として、太陽光発電の安定化といった用途だけでなく、電気自動車に搭載し、Liイオン電池と組み合わせる用途も想定している。「高出力が求められる走行始動時と、ブレーキをかけた時の電力回生にLiイオン・キャパシタを生かすことで効率的な動力システムを構成できる」（JSR）という期待がある。（テクノアソシエーツ 朝倉博史）
太陽光発電への応用を前面に打ち出したのが、FDKである。同社のLiイオン・キャパシタ・モジュールは、沖縄電力が四つの離島で進める経済産業省の「離島独立型新エネルギー導入実証事業」のうち、３島（多良間島、与那国島、北大東島）において太陽光発電の安定化装置に採用された。2010年８月末から９月末にかけて３島のマイクログリッド・システム構築の工事が順次完了し、安定化装置は、多良間島が250kW、与那国島が150kW、北大東島が100kWの規模である。沖縄電力は４島のうち残りの宮古島でNAS電池を採用した４MW規模の安定化装置を導入し、それぞれを比較することでLiイオン・キャパシタの有効性を評価する予定になっている。
FDKはこうした実績を足がかりに、太陽光発電や風力発電など自然エネルギー用途に向けて売り込みをかける。CEATEC会場では、同社のLiイオン・キャパシタのセルやモジュール（写真１、２）の展示とともに、太陽光発電の出力安定化の効果をグラフで示しながら自社製品の特徴をアピールした。特に同社は単一セルだけでなく、複数セルを統合したモジュールにおいても強みがあるという。モジュール内で各セルの電圧がバラつくと充放電時に特定のセルに負荷が集中するなどの不具合が生じるが、「セル電圧を均等化させるバランス調整技術にノウハウがある」（FDK）とする。
３社の得意技術を結集
複数の企業が連携して研究開発を組織化する動きも出てきた。JSR、東京エレクトロン、イビデンの３社は、Liイオン・キャパシタの環境・エネルギー分野への事業拡大を狙った企業連合「次世代LIC（Liイオン・キャパシタ）総合技術研究組合」を設立したことを、この2010年９月に発表した。2010～2012年の３年間で、革新的なセル構造や新材料、独自の組み立て技術を開発し、単位当たりの容量が５倍でかつコスト２分の１の製品の実現を目指すという。JSRが材料開発やセル・モジュールの設計開発、東京エレクトロンが生産コスト削減のための製造装置開発、イビデンがパッケージや実装の組み立て技術開発と、それぞれの得意技術を持ち寄る。３社はこれによる成果として、太陽光発電の安定化といった用途だけでなく、電気自動車に搭載し、Liイオン電池と組み合わせる用途も想定している。「高出力が求められる走行始動時と、ブレーキをかけた時の電力回生にLiイオン・キャパシタを生かすことで効率的な動力システムを構成できる」（JSR）という期待がある。（テクノアソシエーツ 朝倉博史）
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2010/10/06
ACTと早稲田大LIC-PVに関する新型PCS共同研究開始
2010 09 早稲田大学 環境総合研究センターと共同でNEDO新エネルギーベンチャー技術革新事業に応募し採択されました。開発テーマは「リチウムイオンキャパシタを適用した太陽光発電の出力安定化に関する技術開発」。今後導入拡大が予想される太陽光発電の系統連携の課題を解決する新型PCSの開発を目指します。期間は2010年8月～2011年7月の一年間です。
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旭化成、ＬｉＣの本格量産開始を前倒し
2010年10月5日（火）The Chemical Daily Co., Ltd
旭化成は、リチウムイオンキャパシター（ＬｉＣ）の量産開始時期を計画より３年早い２０１２年に繰り上げる方針を固めた。当初、市場の成長を待ち１５年に本格的な量産へ移行する考えだったが、自社製品を需要家に対し積極的に供給することで、市場を創出する方針に転換した。生産量は今後詰める考えだが、月間１００万個程度の生産規模が収益を確保できる一定のラインと判断していることから、将来的に同規模の量産体制確立を目指す。本格的な生産体制への移行に際しては、同事業の事業会社への移管と新たな生産立地を検討する。
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旭化成は、リチウムイオンキャパシター（ＬｉＣ）の量産開始時期を計画より３年早い２０１２年に繰り上げる方針を固めた。当初、市場の成長を待ち１５年に本格的な量産へ移行する考えだったが、自社製品を需要家に対し積極的に供給することで、市場を創出する方針に転換した。生産量は今後詰める考えだが、月間１００万個程度の生産規模が収益を確保できる一定のラインと判断していることから、将来的に同規模の量産体制確立を目指す。本格的な生産体制への移行に際しては、同事業の事業会社への移管と新たな生産立地を検討する。
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2010/09/08
JSRなど3社、次世代リチウムイオンキャパシタ総合技術研究組合を設立
2010/09/07 17:14浜田 基彦＝日経Automotive Technology
JSR、東京エレクトロン、イビデンの3社は、「次世代LIC総合技術研究組合」を設立した。3社の技術を結集し、回生・再生エネルギ有効活用の鍵となる蓄電デバイスである次世代Liイオンキャパシタ（LIC）の開発に取り組む。JSRは幹事会社であるとともに、エネルギ密度を高めるための材料開発と材料評価技術の開発、セル・モジュールの設計開発と評価技術の開発を担当する。東京エレクトロンは生産コスト削減のための製造装置システムを開発する。イビデンはエネルギ密度を高めるためのパッケージ開発とセル実装技術開発を担当する。
有力な蓄電デバイスとしては、ほかにリチウムイオン電池（LIB）がある。LIBに比べ、LICは急速な充放電ができ、特にエネルギ回生用途に適している。現在、LICは瞬時に大きなエネルギが得られる特徴を活かし、瞬時電圧低下を補償する装置などの産業機器に採用されている。
今回の技術研究組合では、LICの適用範囲を拡大し、さらに成長すると予想される自動車、太陽光・風力発電などの環境・エネルギ分野での事業拡大を図る。2012年度までの3年間で、革新的なセル構造、新しい材料などを使った独自の組み立て技術を展開し、エネルギ密度を現行のLICの約5倍に向上させた製品の実現を目指す。LICは、LIBとの併用も可能であり、幅広い分野への展開が期待される。
なお、この組合の活動は独立行政法人新エネルギー・産業技術総合開発機構（NEDO）のイノベーション推進事業「次世代戦略技術実用化開発助成事業」の助成対象（2010～2011年）として採択されている。東京都港区、三重県四日市市を拠点とし、事業予算は2010～2012年度の3年間で約7億円。
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JSR、東京エレクトロン、イビデンの3社は、「次世代LIC総合技術研究組合」を設立した。3社の技術を結集し、回生・再生エネルギ有効活用の鍵となる蓄電デバイスである次世代Liイオンキャパシタ（LIC）の開発に取り組む。JSRは幹事会社であるとともに、エネルギ密度を高めるための材料開発と材料評価技術の開発、セル・モジュールの設計開発と評価技術の開発を担当する。東京エレクトロンは生産コスト削減のための製造装置システムを開発する。イビデンはエネルギ密度を高めるためのパッケージ開発とセル実装技術開発を担当する。
有力な蓄電デバイスとしては、ほかにリチウムイオン電池（LIB）がある。LIBに比べ、LICは急速な充放電ができ、特にエネルギ回生用途に適している。現在、LICは瞬時に大きなエネルギが得られる特徴を活かし、瞬時電圧低下を補償する装置などの産業機器に採用されている。
今回の技術研究組合では、LICの適用範囲を拡大し、さらに成長すると予想される自動車、太陽光・風力発電などの環境・エネルギ分野での事業拡大を図る。2012年度までの3年間で、革新的なセル構造、新しい材料などを使った独自の組み立て技術を展開し、エネルギ密度を現行のLICの約5倍に向上させた製品の実現を目指す。LICは、LIBとの併用も可能であり、幅広い分野への展開が期待される。
なお、この組合の活動は独立行政法人新エネルギー・産業技術総合開発機構（NEDO）のイノベーション推進事業「次世代戦略技術実用化開発助成事業」の助成対象（2010～2011年）として採択されている。東京都港区、三重県四日市市を拠点とし、事業予算は2010～2012年度の3年間で約7億円。
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2010/08/19
2010/08/06
「電池のないEV」がなぜ走る？
nikkei-BP
http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/topics/20100802/215681/?P=1
【交通編4】発想の大転換、ちょこちょこ充電するクルマが拓く大きな未来
CO2削減による環境保護の観点から、自動車業界はガソリンから電気へと大きく転換しようとしている。しかし、電気自動車にはガソリン自動車には真似のできない様々な特技がある。それを活かすことで、我々のライフスタイルは大きく変わるかもしれない。今回は、東京大学新領域創成学研究科・先端エネルギー工学専攻の堀洋一教授が取り組んでいる、電池を持たず、ワイヤレスでエネルギーを補給する電気自動車を紹介しよう。
「おじいちゃんが若い頃にはガソリンスタンドというものがあってね、自動車は3、4日に1回、そこでガソリンを入れないと、走れなかったんだよ」――。
十数年後か、数十年後か、人々がガソリンスタンドの存在を忘れる日がやってくるかもしれない。ガソリンスタンドが減る一方で、現在、東京都内を中心に、電気自動車（EV）充電スタンドやバッテリー交換ステーションの設置が始まっている。
電池を持たない電気自動車の研究開発を行っている東京大学新領域創成学研究科・先端エネルギー工学専攻の堀洋一教授
「しかし、都心の街中ではそれすら必要なくなるかも知れない」
そう語るのは、東京大学新領域創成学研究科・先端エネルギー工学専攻の堀洋一教授である。堀教授が取り組んでいるのは、「電池を持たない電気自動車」。しかも、エネルギーをワイヤレスで供給しようという一風変わった仕組みだ。
現在、CO2削減による環境保護の観点から、自動車業界はガソリンから電気へと大きく転換しようとしている。そのため、世界各国が優れた蓄電池の開発にしのぎを削っている。主役は放電電圧と、蓄電装置の大きさに対する蓄積エネルギーの容量を示す「エネルギー密度」が高いリチウムイオン電池だ。例えば、三菱自動車の電気自動車「アイミーブ」も、総重量200kgのリチウムイオン電池を搭載している。
アイミーブの場合、本体に装備している車載充電器により、一般家庭用の交流200ボルトまたは交流100ボルトのコンセントから充電ができる普通充電システムと、今後、各所でインフラ整備が行われていく急速充電器による急速充電システムの2種類が用意されている。
コンデンサーの一種を活用
しかし、ここで問題となるのが、充電時間だ。最高時速は130kmで、充電1回あたりの航続距離は最長160kmである（カーナビもエアコンも一切使用しない場合）。ガソリン自動車の場合、満タンに給油した場合の航続距離が400～500kmということを考えると、3倍以上の頻度で給電しなければいけない計算だ。ところが、フル充電させようと思うと、一般家庭用の電源で8時間以上、急速充電器を使っても30分もかかってしまうのである。
そのため、給電回数を減らすには、よりエネルギー密度の高い蓄電池を開発するか、蓄電池をたくさん搭載するしかない。前者に関しては開発を待つしかないが、後者で解決しようとすれば車体が重くなり、エネルギーの効率が落ちてしまう。
電気自動車を普及させるには、いかに高速かつ簡単に給電できるようにするかが大きな鍵となる。その1つの解が、堀教授が提案する電気自動車である。
従来型の電気自動車と大きく異なるのは、電気を貯める蓄電装置に電池を使わず、「キャパシタ」という電気部品を用いる点だ。キャパシタとは、多くの電気製品に使われている電子部品「コンデンサー」の一種である。プラスとマイナスの電極が対になっていて、ここに電荷をとどまらせることで電気エネルギーを蓄える。その中でも、「電気2重層」という構造になっているキャパシタは、大容量であることが特徴だ。
100万～200万回の充放電が可能
キャパシタは、ほんの数十秒で充電を完了することができ、しかも充放電を繰り返しても劣化しない。これが、電気自動車の常識を大きく覆す可能性を秘めている。
電池内部で化学反応を起こしながら充放電するリチウムイオン電池は、充電時間が長いだけでなく、充放電のたびに劣化していく。充放電の回数は1000～2000回が限界とされる。現在実用化されている電気自動車のリチウムイオン電池の場合、毎日充放電を繰り返した場合、3年程度で寿命が来てしまう計算だ。
右の銀色のパッケージがキャパシタ。これを複数組み合わせて左のような白いケースに入れ、蓄電装置にする しかし、化学反応を伴わないキャパシタなら100万～200万回の充放電が可能だから、寿命は半永久的と言えるレベルに達する。しかも、リチウムイオン電池とは違って、端子間の電圧からエネルギーの残量を正確に測れるという利点もある。
「毎日、何度も充放電を繰り返すためには、寿命が長く、高速に充電できることが重要だ。その点、化学変化を伴わないキャパシタは最適と言える」と堀教授は主張する。
リチウムは鉄やアルミニウムなどに比べて産出量が少ない「レアメタル」に属する金属だ。しかも、生産の多くを中国に頼っており、将来に渡って安定的に確保することが不安視されている。キャパシタはこうしたレアメタルに依存する部材が少なく、“資源貧国”である日本と相性がいい蓄電装置だと言える。
電車のようなエネルギー供給方法
ただし、キャパシタには決定的な弱点がある。それは、エネルギー密度が小さいことだ。
現在の技術では、リチウムイオン電池の約10分の1しかない。例えば、堀教授が開発したキャパシタ電気自動車「C-COMS」の場合、1回充電して時速40kmで走った場合、10～20分程度で電気エネルギーが空になってしまう。
蓄電装置に使えるキャパシタが、電気自動車の分野で主役になれなかった理由は、まさにここにある。
しかし、堀教授は「これまでの固定観念を捨てることで、大きな可能性が見えてくる」と話す。ここで言う固定観念とは、「電気自動車も、ガソリン車に負けないようエネルギーをできる限り多く搭載し、航続距離を伸ばす」という考え方だ。
堀教授は電車を例に取る。「ほとんどの電車は、車両単体での航続可能距離はゼロkm。それでも走っているのは、架線からエネルギーを供給し続けているからだ。ガソリン車はタンクを積んで、時々、給油しなければならないが、電気自動車なら電車のようなエネルギー供給ができる」。
C-COMSの走行実験
画像をクリックすると動画をご覧いただけます。（WMV形式）
“満タン”の200ボルトになるまでにはほんの数十秒。メーターの数値がどんどん上がっていく（実験車両は充電プラグを利用している）。
画像をクリックすると動画をご覧いただけます。（WMV形式）
“満タン”の200ボルトになるまでにはほんの数十秒。メーターの数値がどんどん上がっていく（実験車両は充電プラグを利用している）。http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/topics/20100802/215681/215681_b.asx
C-COMSの走行実験
http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/topics/20100802/215681/215681_a.asx
道路に架線を張り巡らせるのは現実的ではないが、給電なしに10～20分走れるのならば、次善の策が取れる。それが「ちょこちょこ充電」である。
堀教授は言う。「100ボルト、10～15アンペア程度の電源なら、町中の至るところにある。これを電気自動車のインフラとして利用できるようにすればいい」。
「磁気共鳴方式」で1m離れても高効率送電
もちろん、走行10分ごとにクルマを停めて充電プラグを抜き差しするのは現実的ではない。そこで堀教授が有力視しているのが「ワイヤレス給電」である。文字通り、電源コードや接点を必要としない給電のことだ。給電装置の近くにクルマを置くだけで、キャパシタに充電できる。
実は、ワイヤレス給電は身近なところで実用化されている。電気接点を持たない充電式の小物家電が良く知られているだろう。電動歯ブラシや電動シェーバー、ゲーム機のリモコンなどである。
ただし、これらはすべて「電磁誘導」という原理を利用しているため、電気自動車のような大容量の装置には適していない。
充電器側と機器側のコイルの2つをかなり近づけないと充電できないのである。例えば、携帯電話に応用する場合、直径数cmの2つのコイルを1cm以内に近づける。しかも所定の位置から数mm、前後左右にずれると伝送効率が大きく下がってしまう。
ところが、2006年から2007年にかけて大きな発見があった。米マサチューセッツ工科大学（MIT）が、「磁気共鳴方式」と呼ぶ新たなワイヤレス送電技術の理論を発表したのである。
信号待ちの間に充電できる
磁気共鳴方式の最大の特徴は、コイルの位置が1mほど離れていても、高い効率でワイヤレス送電できることだ。つまり、位置合わせに高い精度が必要でない。また、特定の機器のみに電力を送る選択的送電も可能である。
「これを使えば、ワイヤレスで、電気自動車のちょこちょこ充電ができる！」
そう直感した堀教授は、ワイヤレス給電の研究も開始した。これまでに、50cm～1m離れているコイルの間で電力を送ることに成功しており、伝送効率も95％に達している。今年、堀教授はキャパシタ電気自動車C-COMSにワイヤレス給電システムを搭載して実験を始める計画だ。
ワイヤレス給電のデモ
http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/topics/20100802/215681/215681_c.asx
磁気共鳴という原理を使ったワイヤレス給電。50cm～1mの距離を、送受信アンテナがかなりずれても送電できる。間にコイルを挟めば、ある程度まで距離を延長することも可能。コイルを縦にしても大丈夫だ
サハラ砂漠を走破する必要はない
キャパシタ電気自動車の実用化を考える場合、クルマに対する考え方を大きく変える必要がある。というのも、この電気自動車を見て「これでは田舎や砂漠では使えない」という人がいるからだ。
「これに乗ってサハラ砂漠に行こうとするわけがない」と堀教授は笑う。そして「これまで自動車メーカーは、街中であろうと砂漠であろうと、どこでも走れる性能を持った自動車を目指して開発してきた。しかしこの考えはそろそろ改める時期に来ているのではないか」と続ける。
堀教授は、既存の自動車すべてが、キャパシタ電気自動車に置き換わると言っているのでは決してない。想定しているのは、街中の移動である。時速100kmもの高速で走れるわけではないし、インフラ整備も必要になるからだ。
この点に関しても、堀教授は、電車と自動車との違いを引き合いに出す。
アルプス登山鉄道やオリエント急行を見ても分かる通り、本来、鉄道はローカル色豊かな乗り物で、世界共通ではない。つまり、砂漠を走るのであれば、航続距離が長く、最高時速100km以上のガソリン車が適しているだろうが、1日20km走って時速数十km程度ならそれに適した自動車があるはず。用途や目的に応じて乗り分けていく時代になるというわけだ。
最後に堀教授は、自動車の今後についてこう語った。
「電気自動車の真髄は、実はモーターにある。そのため、『キャパシタ』と『ワイヤレス』の次に来るのが『制御』だ。つまりモーター、キャパシタ、ワイヤレス、この3つが今後、自動車の世界を大きく変えていくことになる」
堀教授が語る電気自動車の真髄、モーターの制御に関しては、次回、詳しくご紹介することにしよう。
続きを読む...
http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/topics/20100802/215681/?P=1
【交通編4】発想の大転換、ちょこちょこ充電するクルマが拓く大きな未来
「おじいちゃんが若い頃にはガソリンスタンドというものがあってね、自動車は3、4日に1回、そこでガソリンを入れないと、走れなかったんだよ」――。
十数年後か、数十年後か、人々がガソリンスタンドの存在を忘れる日がやってくるかもしれない。ガソリンスタンドが減る一方で、現在、東京都内を中心に、電気自動車（EV）充電スタンドやバッテリー交換ステーションの設置が始まっている。
「しかし、都心の街中ではそれすら必要なくなるかも知れない」
そう語るのは、東京大学新領域創成学研究科・先端エネルギー工学専攻の堀洋一教授である。堀教授が取り組んでいるのは、「電池を持たない電気自動車」。しかも、エネルギーをワイヤレスで供給しようという一風変わった仕組みだ。
現在、CO2削減による環境保護の観点から、自動車業界はガソリンから電気へと大きく転換しようとしている。そのため、世界各国が優れた蓄電池の開発にしのぎを削っている。主役は放電電圧と、蓄電装置の大きさに対する蓄積エネルギーの容量を示す「エネルギー密度」が高いリチウムイオン電池だ。例えば、三菱自動車の電気自動車「アイミーブ」も、総重量200kgのリチウムイオン電池を搭載している。
アイミーブの場合、本体に装備している車載充電器により、一般家庭用の交流200ボルトまたは交流100ボルトのコンセントから充電ができる普通充電システムと、今後、各所でインフラ整備が行われていく急速充電器による急速充電システムの2種類が用意されている。
コンデンサーの一種を活用
しかし、ここで問題となるのが、充電時間だ。最高時速は130kmで、充電1回あたりの航続距離は最長160kmである（カーナビもエアコンも一切使用しない場合）。ガソリン自動車の場合、満タンに給油した場合の航続距離が400～500kmということを考えると、3倍以上の頻度で給電しなければいけない計算だ。ところが、フル充電させようと思うと、一般家庭用の電源で8時間以上、急速充電器を使っても30分もかかってしまうのである。
そのため、給電回数を減らすには、よりエネルギー密度の高い蓄電池を開発するか、蓄電池をたくさん搭載するしかない。前者に関しては開発を待つしかないが、後者で解決しようとすれば車体が重くなり、エネルギーの効率が落ちてしまう。
電気自動車を普及させるには、いかに高速かつ簡単に給電できるようにするかが大きな鍵となる。その1つの解が、堀教授が提案する電気自動車である。
従来型の電気自動車と大きく異なるのは、電気を貯める蓄電装置に電池を使わず、「キャパシタ」という電気部品を用いる点だ。キャパシタとは、多くの電気製品に使われている電子部品「コンデンサー」の一種である。プラスとマイナスの電極が対になっていて、ここに電荷をとどまらせることで電気エネルギーを蓄える。その中でも、「電気2重層」という構造になっているキャパシタは、大容量であることが特徴だ。
100万～200万回の充放電が可能
キャパシタは、ほんの数十秒で充電を完了することができ、しかも充放電を繰り返しても劣化しない。これが、電気自動車の常識を大きく覆す可能性を秘めている。
電池内部で化学反応を起こしながら充放電するリチウムイオン電池は、充電時間が長いだけでなく、充放電のたびに劣化していく。充放電の回数は1000～2000回が限界とされる。現在実用化されている電気自動車のリチウムイオン電池の場合、毎日充放電を繰り返した場合、3年程度で寿命が来てしまう計算だ。
右の銀色のパッケージがキャパシタ。これを複数組み合わせて左のような白いケースに入れ、蓄電装置にする しかし、化学反応を伴わないキャパシタなら100万～200万回の充放電が可能だから、寿命は半永久的と言えるレベルに達する。しかも、リチウムイオン電池とは違って、端子間の電圧からエネルギーの残量を正確に測れるという利点もある。
「毎日、何度も充放電を繰り返すためには、寿命が長く、高速に充電できることが重要だ。その点、化学変化を伴わないキャパシタは最適と言える」と堀教授は主張する。
リチウムは鉄やアルミニウムなどに比べて産出量が少ない「レアメタル」に属する金属だ。しかも、生産の多くを中国に頼っており、将来に渡って安定的に確保することが不安視されている。キャパシタはこうしたレアメタルに依存する部材が少なく、“資源貧国”である日本と相性がいい蓄電装置だと言える。
電車のようなエネルギー供給方法
ただし、キャパシタには決定的な弱点がある。それは、エネルギー密度が小さいことだ。
現在の技術では、リチウムイオン電池の約10分の1しかない。例えば、堀教授が開発したキャパシタ電気自動車「C-COMS」の場合、1回充電して時速40kmで走った場合、10～20分程度で電気エネルギーが空になってしまう。
蓄電装置に使えるキャパシタが、電気自動車の分野で主役になれなかった理由は、まさにここにある。
しかし、堀教授は「これまでの固定観念を捨てることで、大きな可能性が見えてくる」と話す。ここで言う固定観念とは、「電気自動車も、ガソリン車に負けないようエネルギーをできる限り多く搭載し、航続距離を伸ばす」という考え方だ。
堀教授は電車を例に取る。「ほとんどの電車は、車両単体での航続可能距離はゼロkm。それでも走っているのは、架線からエネルギーを供給し続けているからだ。ガソリン車はタンクを積んで、時々、給油しなければならないが、電気自動車なら電車のようなエネルギー供給ができる」。
C-COMSの走行実験
画像をクリックすると動画をご覧いただけます。（WMV形式）
“満タン”の200ボルトになるまでにはほんの数十秒。メーターの数値がどんどん上がっていく（実験車両は充電プラグを利用している）。
画像をクリックすると動画をご覧いただけます。（WMV形式）
“満タン”の200ボルトになるまでにはほんの数十秒。メーターの数値がどんどん上がっていく（実験車両は充電プラグを利用している）。http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/topics/20100802/215681/215681_b.asx
C-COMSの走行実験
http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/topics/20100802/215681/215681_a.asx
道路に架線を張り巡らせるのは現実的ではないが、給電なしに10～20分走れるのならば、次善の策が取れる。それが「ちょこちょこ充電」である。
堀教授は言う。「100ボルト、10～15アンペア程度の電源なら、町中の至るところにある。これを電気自動車のインフラとして利用できるようにすればいい」。
「磁気共鳴方式」で1m離れても高効率送電
もちろん、走行10分ごとにクルマを停めて充電プラグを抜き差しするのは現実的ではない。そこで堀教授が有力視しているのが「ワイヤレス給電」である。文字通り、電源コードや接点を必要としない給電のことだ。給電装置の近くにクルマを置くだけで、キャパシタに充電できる。
実は、ワイヤレス給電は身近なところで実用化されている。電気接点を持たない充電式の小物家電が良く知られているだろう。電動歯ブラシや電動シェーバー、ゲーム機のリモコンなどである。
ただし、これらはすべて「電磁誘導」という原理を利用しているため、電気自動車のような大容量の装置には適していない。
充電器側と機器側のコイルの2つをかなり近づけないと充電できないのである。例えば、携帯電話に応用する場合、直径数cmの2つのコイルを1cm以内に近づける。しかも所定の位置から数mm、前後左右にずれると伝送効率が大きく下がってしまう。
ところが、2006年から2007年にかけて大きな発見があった。米マサチューセッツ工科大学（MIT）が、「磁気共鳴方式」と呼ぶ新たなワイヤレス送電技術の理論を発表したのである。
信号待ちの間に充電できる
磁気共鳴方式の最大の特徴は、コイルの位置が1mほど離れていても、高い効率でワイヤレス送電できることだ。つまり、位置合わせに高い精度が必要でない。また、特定の機器のみに電力を送る選択的送電も可能である。
「これを使えば、ワイヤレスで、電気自動車のちょこちょこ充電ができる！」
そう直感した堀教授は、ワイヤレス給電の研究も開始した。これまでに、50cm～1m離れているコイルの間で電力を送ることに成功しており、伝送効率も95％に達している。今年、堀教授はキャパシタ電気自動車C-COMSにワイヤレス給電システムを搭載して実験を始める計画だ。
ワイヤレス給電のデモ
http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/topics/20100802/215681/215681_c.asx
磁気共鳴という原理を使ったワイヤレス給電。50cm～1mの距離を、送受信アンテナがかなりずれても送電できる。間にコイルを挟めば、ある程度まで距離を延長することも可能。コイルを縦にしても大丈夫だ
サハラ砂漠を走破する必要はない
キャパシタ電気自動車の実用化を考える場合、クルマに対する考え方を大きく変える必要がある。というのも、この電気自動車を見て「これでは田舎や砂漠では使えない」という人がいるからだ。
「これに乗ってサハラ砂漠に行こうとするわけがない」と堀教授は笑う。そして「これまで自動車メーカーは、街中であろうと砂漠であろうと、どこでも走れる性能を持った自動車を目指して開発してきた。しかしこの考えはそろそろ改める時期に来ているのではないか」と続ける。
堀教授は、既存の自動車すべてが、キャパシタ電気自動車に置き換わると言っているのでは決してない。想定しているのは、街中の移動である。時速100kmもの高速で走れるわけではないし、インフラ整備も必要になるからだ。
この点に関しても、堀教授は、電車と自動車との違いを引き合いに出す。
アルプス登山鉄道やオリエント急行を見ても分かる通り、本来、鉄道はローカル色豊かな乗り物で、世界共通ではない。つまり、砂漠を走るのであれば、航続距離が長く、最高時速100km以上のガソリン車が適しているだろうが、1日20km走って時速数十km程度ならそれに適した自動車があるはず。用途や目的に応じて乗り分けていく時代になるというわけだ。
最後に堀教授は、自動車の今後についてこう語った。
「電気自動車の真髄は、実はモーターにある。そのため、『キャパシタ』と『ワイヤレス』の次に来るのが『制御』だ。つまりモーター、キャパシタ、ワイヤレス、この3つが今後、自動車の世界を大きく変えていくことになる」
堀教授が語る電気自動車の真髄、モーターの制御に関しては、次回、詳しくご紹介することにしよう。
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2010/07/08
太陽電池飛行機、初の夜間飛行に成功
写真は同国西部パイエルヌ付近の上空を朝日を浴びて飛行するソーラー・インパルス
【ジュネーブ時事】スイスで製作された太陽電池を動力とする飛行機「ソーラー・インパルス」の試作機が8日、初の夜間飛行の実験に成功した。同機は世界一周飛行への挑戦を控えており、プロジェクト成功へ大きく前進した。
ソーラー・インパルスは7日午前7時（日本時間同日午後2時）前にスイス西部のパイエルヌを離陸。日中、太陽エネルギーをバッテリーに蓄積した後、夜間飛行に挑み、8日午前9時（同午後4時）ごろ、無事、着陸した。
AFP通信によると、プロジェクトを率いるスイスの冒険家のピカール氏は記者団に対し、「太陽電池飛行機が夜間を通じて飛行したのは初めてだ。世界一周飛行のプロジェクトが成功することが証明された」と、夜間飛行の成果を評価した。
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住宅用の蓄電装置販売へ
パナソニックは８日、太陽光発電の電力を蓄えて家庭内で使う「住宅用蓄電装置」を、２０１１年度にも販売する方針を明らかにした。価格は１台数十万円の見込み。住之江工場（大阪市住之江区）で、実用化に向けた実験を６月から始めた。同社は、７月から三洋電機製の太陽電池の販売を始めており、蓄電装置とのセット販売を検討している。蓄電装置は、リチウムイオン電
池などが組み込まれ、晴天時に電力を蓄えて夜間や雨天時に使用する。大きさはエアコンの室外機ほどで、一般的な家庭が１日に消費する電力の半分程度を賄えるという。
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池などが組み込まれ、晴天時に電力を蓄えて夜間や雨天時に使用する。大きさはエアコンの室外機ほどで、一般的な家庭が１日に消費する電力の半分程度を賄えるという。
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2010/06/23
リチウム電池設置の住宅--大和ハウスが来春発売へ
大和ハウス工業は23日、リチウムイオン蓄電池を設置し、太陽電池で発電した電力の有効利用と、光熱費の大幅削減を目指す環境配慮型の一戸建て住宅を２０１１年春に発売すると発表した。価格は未定。日照量に左右される太陽電池と蓄電池を組み合わせて電力供給を安定させる仕組み。また、太陽光発電の普及拡大に伴う送電網への影響の緩和や災害時の非常用電源としても使用可能という。リチウムイオン蓄電池は大和ハウスなどが出資するベンチャー企業のエリーパワー（東京）製を採用。今年７月に埼玉県と名古屋市の住宅展示場で実証実験を開始。各電池が効率的に作動するかの確認や、家庭内の各種機器をネットワーク化し、住宅全体の省エネ性を高めるための検証を行う。実証実験では従来の省エネ住宅と比べ、二酸化炭素排出量を65％削減し、光熱費をゼロにすることを見込んでいる。
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「カーボン・ナノチューブ電極で出力が10倍」，MITがLiイオン2次電池開発
共同研究のメンバー（の一部）。左から，学生のBetar Gallant氏，第一著者の一人のSeung Woo Lee氏，教授のYang Shao-Horn氏と同 Paula Hammond氏。（写真提供：MIT）
米Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT）は，カーボン・ナノチューブを含む混合材料を正極材料に用いたLiイオン2次電池を開発した。Liイオン2次電池とキャパシタの両方の性能を備えるという。具体的には，出力密度は一般的なLiイオン2次電池の10倍，エネルギー密度は一般的なキャパシタの5倍になった。論文が2010年6月20日付けの「Nature Nanotechnology」に掲載された。この電池を開発したのは，MITのDepartment of Chemical Engineering ProfessorのPaula T.Hammond氏と，同Department of Mechanical Engineering兼同Department of Materials Science and Engineering ProfessorのYang Shao-Horn氏の研究グループ。ちなみに，論文の第一著者は，同大学 学生のSeung Woo Lee氏と，ポスト博士課程の薮内直明氏の二人である。開発した電池では，正極に多層カーボン・ナノチューブ（MWNT）と有機材料の混合材料，負極にチタン酸リチウム（Li4Ti5O12：LTO）を用いた。「正極にMWNTを用いたのはこれが初めてのはず」（MIT）という。正極の構造を詳しく説明すると，MWNTとカルボキシル基を結合させたMWNT-COOHの層，およびMWNTとアミノ基を結合させたMWNT-NH2の層を，それぞれの溶液に電極を浸すことで交互に100層弱から最大400層（2種類の層を1組とすると最大200組）重ねて作製する。2種類の層の一方は正に，もう一方は負に帯電しているため，積層することで互いに強固に結合するという。論文によれば，この電池の特徴は非常に高い出力が可能で，しかもその際にエネルギー密度が高いこと。「低出力時のエネルギー密度は，一般のLiイオン2次電池とあまり違いがないが，高出力時には今回の電池がより大きな性能を示す」（論文）という。具体的には，今回の電池の単位質量当たりのエネルギー密度は，出力密度が100kW/kgの場合に200Wh/kg。低出力時の最大エネルギー密度は約500Wh/kgである。ただしこれらは，電極のみの質量に対する値である。電池全体の質量に対しては，「これらの値のおおよそ1/5になる」（論文）。つまり，出力密度が約20kW/kgの場合にエネルギー密度約40Wh/kg，低出力時の最大エネルギー密度は約100Wh/kgとなる。「一般的なLiイオン2次電池は，電池の質量に対して出力密度1kW/kgの場合にエネルギー密度が150Wh/kg。一般的なキャパシタなら，その質量に対して電力密度10kW/kgの場合に5Wh/kg」（論文）。これらの既存の電池やキャパシタと比較すると，今回の電池は，「出力密度でLiイオン2次電池の約5倍，エネルギー密度でキャパシタの約10倍の性能を備える」（論文）。電池の充放電サイクル特性は，1000回以上充放電を繰り返しても性能の劣化は見られなかったという。
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2010/06/11
シチズン、環境にやさしい電気二重層コンデンサ蓄電池を採用した太陽電池式屋外電波時計 新発売
2010年6月2日16時11分
Tokyo, June 2, 2010 - (JCN Newswire) - シチズン時計株式会社の連結子会社であるシチズンTIC株式会社は、環境に優しい電気二重層コンデンサ蓄電池*1を採用した太陽電池式屋外電波時計を6月7日より発売します。
◆電気二重層コンデンサ蓄電池採用 太陽電池式屋外電波時計
発売日: 6月7日
モデル: 電波修正(長波式)モデル「SLシリーズ」
(丸型4モデル・角型3モデル)
価格:
丸型 320,250円-850,500円(税込)
角型 467,250円-1,176,000円(税込)
(壁掛型、1面ポール型、2面ポール型、3面ポール型対応)
*他、スタンダードモデル「STシリーズ」、電波修正(FMラジコン式)モデル「SRシリーズ」もあります。
環境に配慮する社会意識が高まっている中、企業として環境負荷軽減製品が求められています。弊社の既存シリーズでは自然エネルギーを利用した太陽電池搭載の製品を発売しておりますが、更に環境に配慮した製品を追求し、今回の新シリーズでは次世代蓄電池として注目されています「電気二重層コンデンサ」を採用しました。
これらの製品は環境に優しいだけではなく、長寿命によるメンテナンス費用の軽減と製品の安全性向上を実現しました。
■主な特長
- ニカド電池を使用していた従来品は、約5年周期での蓄電池交換が必要でしたが、電気二重層コンデンサ蓄電池を採用したことにより、充放電による特性劣化が少なく、約15年間は蓄電池の交換が不要です。
- 電気二重層コンデンサは、有害な重金属(カドミウムや鉛)を使用していません。
- 太陽電池式電波時計なので、時刻修正や電源工事・電気代が不要です。
- 充電効率がよく、曇りや雨の日でもその日に必要とする電力量を充電できます。
■主な仕様
価格: 320,250円-1,176,000円(税込)
駆動: 太陽電池
ケース: 鋼板製 チョコレート色
サイズ: 丸型:φ700mm 角型:□750mm
面数: 壁掛型(1面)、ポール付(1面、2面、3面)
制御部ケース: 銀メタリック色(ポール取付けタイプは外装箱(チョコレート色)に内装)
水晶発振周波数: 32.768kHz [週差±1.2秒以内]
精度: 長波JJY時刻修正により積算誤差0秒
使用温度範囲: -20度-+60度
精度保証温度範囲: 0度-+40度
蓄電部: 電気二重層コンデンサ 1300F×2
*1 電気二重層コンデンサ蓄電池とは
固体として活性炭、液体として電解液を用いて、それらを接触させるとその界面にプラス、マイナスの電極が極めて短い距離を隔てて相対的に分布する仕組みの蓄電池です。
詳細は下記URLをご参照ください。
http://www.citizen.co.jp/release/10/100602sl.html
■お問い合わせ
製品についてのお問い合わせ先
シチズンTIC株式会社営業企画部
TEL: 042-386-2296
報道関係の方のお問い合わせ先
シチズン時計株式会社広報宣伝部
TEL: 042-468-4973(直)
シチズンホールディングス株式会社IR広報室
TEL: 042-466-1232(直)
シチズンホールディングス株式会社
詳細は www.citizen.co.jp をご覧ください。
Copyright 2010 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved.
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Tokyo, June 2, 2010 - (JCN Newswire) - シチズン時計株式会社の連結子会社であるシチズンTIC株式会社は、環境に優しい電気二重層コンデンサ蓄電池*1を採用した太陽電池式屋外電波時計を6月7日より発売します。
◆電気二重層コンデンサ蓄電池採用 太陽電池式屋外電波時計
発売日: 6月7日
モデル: 電波修正(長波式)モデル「SLシリーズ」
(丸型4モデル・角型3モデル)
価格:
丸型 320,250円-850,500円(税込)
角型 467,250円-1,176,000円(税込)
(壁掛型、1面ポール型、2面ポール型、3面ポール型対応)
*他、スタンダードモデル「STシリーズ」、電波修正(FMラジコン式)モデル「SRシリーズ」もあります。
環境に配慮する社会意識が高まっている中、企業として環境負荷軽減製品が求められています。弊社の既存シリーズでは自然エネルギーを利用した太陽電池搭載の製品を発売しておりますが、更に環境に配慮した製品を追求し、今回の新シリーズでは次世代蓄電池として注目されています「電気二重層コンデンサ」を採用しました。
これらの製品は環境に優しいだけではなく、長寿命によるメンテナンス費用の軽減と製品の安全性向上を実現しました。
■主な特長
- ニカド電池を使用していた従来品は、約5年周期での蓄電池交換が必要でしたが、電気二重層コンデンサ蓄電池を採用したことにより、充放電による特性劣化が少なく、約15年間は蓄電池の交換が不要です。
- 電気二重層コンデンサは、有害な重金属(カドミウムや鉛)を使用していません。
- 太陽電池式電波時計なので、時刻修正や電源工事・電気代が不要です。
- 充電効率がよく、曇りや雨の日でもその日に必要とする電力量を充電できます。
■主な仕様
価格: 320,250円-1,176,000円(税込)
駆動: 太陽電池
ケース: 鋼板製 チョコレート色
サイズ: 丸型:φ700mm 角型:□750mm
面数: 壁掛型(1面)、ポール付(1面、2面、3面)
制御部ケース: 銀メタリック色(ポール取付けタイプは外装箱(チョコレート色)に内装)
水晶発振周波数: 32.768kHz [週差±1.2秒以内]
精度: 長波JJY時刻修正により積算誤差0秒
使用温度範囲: -20度-+60度
精度保証温度範囲: 0度-+40度
蓄電部: 電気二重層コンデンサ 1300F×2
*1 電気二重層コンデンサ蓄電池とは
固体として活性炭、液体として電解液を用いて、それらを接触させるとその界面にプラス、マイナスの電極が極めて短い距離を隔てて相対的に分布する仕組みの蓄電池です。
詳細は下記URLをご参照ください。
http://www.citizen.co.jp/release/10/100602sl.html
■お問い合わせ
製品についてのお問い合わせ先
シチズンTIC株式会社営業企画部
TEL: 042-386-2296
報道関係の方のお問い合わせ先
シチズン時計株式会社広報宣伝部
TEL: 042-468-4973(直)
シチズンホールディングス株式会社IR広報室
TEL: 042-466-1232(直)
シチズンホールディングス株式会社
詳細は www.citizen.co.jp をご覧ください。
Copyright 2010 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved.
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ＪＳＲ（４１８５）１１／３期業績は大幅営業増益を予想、中長期的にも有望…
【経済ニュース】 2010/05/26(水) 15:15
＜株価は評価不足と考える＞
株価の上値余地はあるだろう。その理由は、（1）11／3期業績は会社計画を上回る見込み、（2）続く12／3期も新製品の拡大などが加わり業績回復が続く、（3）新製品開発が順調に進捗しており中長期で業績貢献が期待できる、（4）ＴＩＷ予想ＰＥＲに割安感がある、と考えるからである。
＜11／3期は会社計画以上の回復を予想＞
会社側11／3期業績予想は、売上高3，470億円（前期比12％増）、営業利益380億円（同88％増）と大幅増益を計画。営業利益の内訳は石化系115億円、多角化は265億円を見込んでいる。ＴＩＷでは、新製品の新規配向膜材料（光配向膜）の通年寄与による製品ミックス良化や会社想定以上に半導体、ＦＰＤ市場が堅調と考え、会社計画は上回ると予想する。加えて同社は、抗体磁性粒子（診断薬用原料）、リチウムイオンキャパシタ（小型風力発電機などに使用）、ＬｉＢバインダー（民生二次電池用途）などの有償販売を開始しており、順次業績に貢献するだろう。（高橋 俊郎）
アナリスト見解（アナリスト・インプレッション）も含めたＴＩＷレポート詳細をご覧になりたい方は、弊社レポート提供先までお問い合わせ下さい。
ｈｔｔｐ：／／ｗｗｗ．ｔｉｗ．ｊｐ／ｓｅｒｖｉｃｅ／ｄａｔａｂａｓｅ．ｈｔｍｌ＃ｉｎｓｉｄｅ（情報提供：株式会社ティー・アイ・ダヴリュ）
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＜株価は評価不足と考える＞
株価の上値余地はあるだろう。その理由は、（1）11／3期業績は会社計画を上回る見込み、（2）続く12／3期も新製品の拡大などが加わり業績回復が続く、（3）新製品開発が順調に進捗しており中長期で業績貢献が期待できる、（4）ＴＩＷ予想ＰＥＲに割安感がある、と考えるからである。
＜11／3期は会社計画以上の回復を予想＞
会社側11／3期業績予想は、売上高3，470億円（前期比12％増）、営業利益380億円（同88％増）と大幅増益を計画。営業利益の内訳は石化系115億円、多角化は265億円を見込んでいる。ＴＩＷでは、新製品の新規配向膜材料（光配向膜）の通年寄与による製品ミックス良化や会社想定以上に半導体、ＦＰＤ市場が堅調と考え、会社計画は上回ると予想する。加えて同社は、抗体磁性粒子（診断薬用原料）、リチウムイオンキャパシタ（小型風力発電機などに使用）、ＬｉＢバインダー（民生二次電池用途）などの有償販売を開始しており、順次業績に貢献するだろう。（高橋 俊郎）
アナリスト見解（アナリスト・インプレッション）も含めたＴＩＷレポート詳細をご覧になりたい方は、弊社レポート提供先までお問い合わせ下さい。
ｈｔｔｐ：／／ｗｗｗ．ｔｉｗ．ｊｐ／ｓｅｒｖｉｃｅ／ｄａｔａｂａｓｅ．ｈｔｍｌ＃ｉｎｓｉｄｅ（情報提供：株式会社ティー・アイ・ダヴリュ）
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ACT、Liイオン・キャパシタの量産工場を披露2010/05/18 18:14吉田 勝＝日経ものづくり
アドバンスト・キャパシタ・テクノロジーズ（ACT、本社東京都昭島市）は、立ち上げ中のLiイオンキャパシタ（LIC）の新工場を披露した。本社建屋の1～2階が工場となっており、現在はLICセル「Premlis」の本格量産に向けて試験稼働に入っている。同社は、2010年3月までは親会社である日本電子の本社昭島製作所内を拠点としていたが、同年4月に同製作所近くの現在の場所に本社を移転していた。
ACTは、2009年8月に第三者割当増資を実施しており、双日と太陽誘電から出資を受けてPremlisの量産体制を整えると発表していた。新工場では、それぞれ静電容量が5000F、2000F、1000Fの「A5000」「A2000」「B1000」の3タイプのPremlisを生産する。設備の生産能力は2万セル/月で、2010年度下期からの本格量産を始める計画だ。従業員数は、出資先からの常駐者と派遣を含めて40人程度。生産設備は性能評価装置を除けばほぼ整っており、すでにサンプル出荷用のPremlisの製造が始まっている。
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Saying goodbye to batteries
Professor Joel E. Schindall of electrical engineering and computer science believes that what’s needed is a novel way of thinking. “I’m intrigued with the idea of using nanotechnology to transform ‘discarded’ technologies into the technology of choice,” he said. Now, using nanotube structures, he and his colleagues Professor John Kassakian and graduate student Riccardo Signorelli at MIT’s Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems are making a “synthetic battery” based on the ultracapacitor, an energy-storage device that’s been around since the 1960s and is used in many electronic devices to provide quick bursts of energy.
Conventional batteries store energy by using chemical reactions to trap ions that move from one electrode to the other. Batteries have a huge storage capacity, but—because of the chemistry involved—electricity can go in and out only so fast, and some is lost as heat.
In contrast, capacitors store energy in an electric field. The absence of chemical reactions has advantages. Capacitors can deliver energy quickly, and they can be charged up in minutes or even seconds. They can withstand temperature changes, shocks, and vibrations. And they can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times before they wear out. They’re thus much easier on the environment than today’s batteries, which must be tossed out after a few hundred charges.
But their capacity for storing energy is limited. The best version is the ultracapacitor. It contains an electrolyte, a fluid containing positive and negative ions; and its electrodes are coated with activated carbon, which is extremely porous and so provides a large surface area for storing the ions. Nevertheless, today’s commercial ultracapacitors store around 25 times less energy than a similarly sized lithium-ion battery can. As a result, they need to be much larger than batteries to hold the same charge.
Novel nanostructure
While ultracapacitors have many uses, they can’t compete with batteries when it comes to storing lots of electrical energy, noted Schindall. But a few years ago he read a journal article about vertically aligned nanotubes and began to wonder what would happen if he replaced the activated carbon with nanotubes. While the pores in activated carbon are irregular in size and shape, a nanotube “forest” might provide straight pathways so the ions could come in and out easily and pack together neatly—like sucking up paint with a paintbrush rather than a sponge.
Schindall and his colleagues have now developed a technique for growing nanotubes on an aluminum electrode. They put down droplets of a catalyst on the surface and pass a hydrocarbon gas over it at high temperature. The droplets grab carbon atoms out of the gas, and carbon nanotubes start growing upward, just like hair. Within ten minutes the surface is covered with millions of vertically aligned nanotubes, each one a thirty-thousandth the diameter of a human hair and 50,000 times as long as they are wide. By controlling the size and spacing of the droplets, they have made samples in which the nanotubes are just two ion-diameters apart—ideal for dense ion packing.
Detailed simulations suggest that their new device will work well. Indeed, the predicted energy-storage capacity is comparable to that of a lithium battery of equivalent dimensions—a similarity that they realized is no coincidence. The lattice structure of their device provides roughly the same storage space for ions as a battery does.
"When we were done, we realized that it wasn’t really a capacitor anymore," Schindall said. "Our adapted ultracapacitor actually mimics the molecular lattice of a battery but without the chemical reactions. It’s sort of a synthetic battery." The device could be made in all the sizes needed to replace today’s commercially available batteries—at roughly the same cost.
Schindall expects to have a working prototype finished in the next few months. If all goes well, the new nanotube-enhanced ultracapacitor could be on the market within five to ten years.
—Nancy Stauffer
This work is partially funded by a grant from the Ford-MIT Alliance.
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Nanotube Superbatteries
Dense films of carbon nanotubes store large amounts of energy.
By Katherine Bourzac Friday, January 09, 2009
Pure power: Pure thin films of carbon nanotubes can store and carry large amounts of electrical charge, making them promising electrode materials. This scanning-electron-microscope image shows a film made up of 30 layers of the nanotubes on a silicone substrate.
Credit: Journal of the American Chemical Society
Researchers at MIT have made pure, dense, thin films of carbon nanotubes that show promise as electrodes for higher-capacity batteries and supercapacitors. Dispensing with the additives previously used to hold such films together improved their electrical properties, including the ability to carry and store a large amount of charge.
Carbon nanotubes can carry and store more charge than other forms of carbon, in part because their nanoscale structure gives them a very large surface area. But conventional methods for making them into films leave significant gaps between individual nanotubes or require binding materials to hold them together. Both approaches reduce the films' conductivity--the ability to convey charge--and capacitance--the ability to store it.
The MIT group, led by chemical-engineering professor Paula Hammond and mechanical-engineering professor Yang Shao-Horn, made the new nanotube films using a technique called layer-by-layer assembly. First, the group creates water solutions of two kinds of nanotubes: one type has positively charged molecules bound to them, and the other has negatively charged molecules. The researchers then alternately dip a very thin substrate, such as a silicon wafer, into the two solutions. Because of the differences in their charge, the nanotubes are attracted to each other and hold together without the help of any glues. And nanotubes of similar charge repel each other while in solution, so they form thin, uniform layers with no clumping.
The resulting films can then be detached from the substrate and baked in a cloud of hydrogen to burn off the charged molecules, leaving behind a pure mat of carbon nanotubes. The films are about 70 percent nanotubes; the rest is empty space, pores that could be used to store lithium or liquid electrolytes in future battery electrodes. The films "can store a lot of energy and discharge it rapidly," says Hammond. The capacitance of the MIT films--that is, their ability to store electrical charge--is one of the highest ever measured for carbon-nanotube films, says Shao-Horn. This means that they could serve as electrodes for batteries and supercapacitors that charge quickly, have a high power output, and have a long life.
The MIT group is not the first to use the layering technique to create nanotube films. But previously, researchers using the method layered a positively charged polymer with negatively charged nanotubes, resulting in films that were only half nanotubes. No polymer can equal the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes, so these films' electrical properties weren't as impressive as those of Hammond and Shao-Horn. Others have made films by growing the nanotubes from the substrate up, but the resulting forest of vertically aligned nanotubes is insufficiently dense.
"I see particular importance of these findings for supercapacitors, because all-nanotube materials can potentially store a greater amount of charge," says Nicholas Kotov, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the University of Michigan.
In addition to their high capacitance, the nanotube films have other advantages as electrode materials, says Shao-Horn. Conventional high-energy-density electrodes are made of carbon powder held together with a binder. But particles of the binder in the surface of the electrode reduce its active area and make it difficult to modify. With carbon nanotubes, says Shao-Horn, "you have systematic control of surface chemistry." Adding charged molecules to the electrodes' surface, for example, could increase their capacitance and energy density.
"Many researchers are pursuing thin films of carbon nanotubes for diverse applications in electronics, energy storage, and other areas," says John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. The MIT group is primarily focused on developing the films for electrochemical applications like batteries, but the layering technique is versatile. By varying the pH of the nanotube solutions and the number of layers in the films, it's possible to tailor the films' electrical properties. This is "an attractive feature of this approach," says Rogers. The technique could be used to make nanotube films for flexible electronics, for example. Kotov also sees other potential uses of the nanotube films. When immersed in liquid, the films swell. "This will be useful, because it changes both the conductivity and capacity of the material, which opens up a lot of prospects for sensing applications and smart coatings," says Kotov.
The layer-by-layer method is time consuming, however. Typical electrodes are 10 to 100 micrometers thick; those that the MIT group has made so far are only about 1 micrometer thick. But Hammond, a pioneer in layer-by-layer assembly of polymers, has developed a layer-by-layer spraying technique that should be adaptable to nanotubes. "This reduces the time it takes by an order of magnitude, which will be necessary for commercial development," says Shao-Horn.
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By Katherine Bourzac Friday, January 09, 2009
Credit: Journal of the American Chemical Society
Researchers at MIT have made pure, dense, thin films of carbon nanotubes that show promise as electrodes for higher-capacity batteries and supercapacitors. Dispensing with the additives previously used to hold such films together improved their electrical properties, including the ability to carry and store a large amount of charge.
Carbon nanotubes can carry and store more charge than other forms of carbon, in part because their nanoscale structure gives them a very large surface area. But conventional methods for making them into films leave significant gaps between individual nanotubes or require binding materials to hold them together. Both approaches reduce the films' conductivity--the ability to convey charge--and capacitance--the ability to store it.
The MIT group, led by chemical-engineering professor Paula Hammond and mechanical-engineering professor Yang Shao-Horn, made the new nanotube films using a technique called layer-by-layer assembly. First, the group creates water solutions of two kinds of nanotubes: one type has positively charged molecules bound to them, and the other has negatively charged molecules. The researchers then alternately dip a very thin substrate, such as a silicon wafer, into the two solutions. Because of the differences in their charge, the nanotubes are attracted to each other and hold together without the help of any glues. And nanotubes of similar charge repel each other while in solution, so they form thin, uniform layers with no clumping.
The resulting films can then be detached from the substrate and baked in a cloud of hydrogen to burn off the charged molecules, leaving behind a pure mat of carbon nanotubes. The films are about 70 percent nanotubes; the rest is empty space, pores that could be used to store lithium or liquid electrolytes in future battery electrodes. The films "can store a lot of energy and discharge it rapidly," says Hammond. The capacitance of the MIT films--that is, their ability to store electrical charge--is one of the highest ever measured for carbon-nanotube films, says Shao-Horn. This means that they could serve as electrodes for batteries and supercapacitors that charge quickly, have a high power output, and have a long life.
The MIT group is not the first to use the layering technique to create nanotube films. But previously, researchers using the method layered a positively charged polymer with negatively charged nanotubes, resulting in films that were only half nanotubes. No polymer can equal the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes, so these films' electrical properties weren't as impressive as those of Hammond and Shao-Horn. Others have made films by growing the nanotubes from the substrate up, but the resulting forest of vertically aligned nanotubes is insufficiently dense.
"I see particular importance of these findings for supercapacitors, because all-nanotube materials can potentially store a greater amount of charge," says Nicholas Kotov, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the University of Michigan.
In addition to their high capacitance, the nanotube films have other advantages as electrode materials, says Shao-Horn. Conventional high-energy-density electrodes are made of carbon powder held together with a binder. But particles of the binder in the surface of the electrode reduce its active area and make it difficult to modify. With carbon nanotubes, says Shao-Horn, "you have systematic control of surface chemistry." Adding charged molecules to the electrodes' surface, for example, could increase their capacitance and energy density.
"Many researchers are pursuing thin films of carbon nanotubes for diverse applications in electronics, energy storage, and other areas," says John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. The MIT group is primarily focused on developing the films for electrochemical applications like batteries, but the layering technique is versatile. By varying the pH of the nanotube solutions and the number of layers in the films, it's possible to tailor the films' electrical properties. This is "an attractive feature of this approach," says Rogers. The technique could be used to make nanotube films for flexible electronics, for example. Kotov also sees other potential uses of the nanotube films. When immersed in liquid, the films swell. "This will be useful, because it changes both the conductivity and capacity of the material, which opens up a lot of prospects for sensing applications and smart coatings," says Kotov.
The layer-by-layer method is time consuming, however. Typical electrodes are 10 to 100 micrometers thick; those that the MIT group has made so far are only about 1 micrometer thick. But Hammond, a pioneer in layer-by-layer assembly of polymers, has developed a layer-by-layer spraying technique that should be adaptable to nanotubes. "This reduces the time it takes by an order of magnitude, which will be necessary for commercial development," says Shao-Horn.
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Directory:MIT Nanotube Super Capacitor
image: MIT/Riccardo Signorelli
Official Website
No official company yet. Still in research and development at MIT.
http://lees.mit.edu/lees/schindall_j.htm
Carbon Nanotube Enhanced Double Layer Capacitor (pdf)
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Eco-friendly, wireless buses on trial for Expo
By Jessie Dong|2009-7-2|NEWSPAPER EDITION
SUPER-CAPACITOR electric buses will be put into service this year on a downtown route to test how well they could work on a planned World Expo transit route in Pudong starting next May.
The super-capacitor electric buses are more energy efficient than trolley buses and don't need overhead wires.
A small number have been used on a trial basis in Shanghai. Trolley Route 11 started adopting similar vehicles about two years ago.
Another trolley line, Route 26, running past downtown Huaihai Road, Changle Road and Jinling Road, will have five super-capacitor electric buses by October.
The Local Transit Bus Association said yesterday that the five buses would have better technology and design than those used on Route 11. Chargers will be installed at bus stops along the route.
"It only takes 30 seconds to recharge the bus. Passengers would hardly notice the stop," said an association official.
The transport authority will open a transit route in Pudong crossing the World Expo site next May with 36 such super-capacitor buses. Visitors could take these eco-friendly vehicles to travel between different exhibition halls at Expo.
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SUPER-CAPACITOR electric buses will be put into service this year on a downtown route to test how well they could work on a planned World Expo transit route in Pudong starting next May.
The super-capacitor electric buses are more energy efficient than trolley buses and don't need overhead wires.
A small number have been used on a trial basis in Shanghai. Trolley Route 11 started adopting similar vehicles about two years ago.
Another trolley line, Route 26, running past downtown Huaihai Road, Changle Road and Jinling Road, will have five super-capacitor electric buses by October.
The Local Transit Bus Association said yesterday that the five buses would have better technology and design than those used on Route 11. Chargers will be installed at bus stops along the route.
"It only takes 30 seconds to recharge the bus. Passengers would hardly notice the stop," said an association official.
The transport authority will open a transit route in Pudong crossing the World Expo site next May with 36 such super-capacitor buses. Visitors could take these eco-friendly vehicles to travel between different exhibition halls at Expo.
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Enable IPC's Ultracapacitor Technology to Be Presented Today at ISEE'Cap 09 in Nantes, France
Jun 30, 2009 09:00ET
VALENCIA, CA--(Marketwire - June 30, 2009) - Enable IPC Corporation (PINKSHEETS: EIPC) announced that today Dr. Marc Anderson, a Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin and one of the inventors of Enable IPC's ultracapacitor technology, will be presenting the technology at ISEE'Cap 09, the First Annual Symposium on Enhanced Electrochemical Capacitors in Nantes, France. The presentation, co-authored by Dr. Anderson and Kevin Leonard (the Chief Technology Officer of Enable IPC's SolRayo subsidiary), is titled "Electrochemical Capacitors Using Novel Nanoporous Insulating Oxide Materials." The presentation will include some of the latest data on Enable IPC's ultracapacitor performance and potential applications.
Additional information can be found at: http://www.iseecap09.org/squelettes/index.html
Corporate Overview Webcast
Enable IPC CEO David Walker recently released an on-demand Webcast designed as a 5 minute introduction of the Company's management, subsidiary operation SolRayo, and current projects and opportunities to interested individuals. Additionally, the Webcast provides a brief description of the Company's technologies:
-- A microbattery that provides greater power at less cost than competing
technologies for use in "smart" cards
-- An ultracapacitor for use in consumer, transportation and industrial
applications, including renewable energy
The Webcast is available now at: http://www.enableipc.com/presentations_intro.html and can be viewed at your convenience.
Enable IPC's Ultracapacitors Used in High Profile Renewable Energy Project
Enable IPC has recently completed ultracapacitor electrode shipments to IMDEA Energia in Madrid, Spain for a renewable energy demonstration project. The electrodes will be incorporated into a power conditioning unit by IMDEA and Green Power, a Spain-based renewable energy manufacturer, for a demonstration as part of the SA2VE project -- a Spanish government-sponsored program focused on new energy solutions, particularly relating to "green" power. If the project is successful, the Company will have a multi-million dollar opportunity in renewable energy.
The Company's ultracapacitor technology combines nanoparticles with common carbon sheets for a low cost, easy-to-implement process that improves the performance of ultracapacitors as clean energy storage devices. The enhanced ultracapacitors are simpler, cheaper and longer lasting than conventional devices, including some batteries, but perform just as well for many applications including renewable energy.
$600 Million Ultracapacitor Market
Enable IPC / SolRayo's ultracapacitor technology is aimed at a market estimated to grow to over $600 million by the year 2012. While the company has been mostly focusing on the use of ultracapacitors in renewable energy, there are also huge opportunities for this technology in consumer, other industrial and transportation applications as well. For more detailed information on ultracapacitors, please visit the corporate website at: http://www.enableipc.com/ultracapacitor.html.
About Enable IPC (www.enableipc.com)
Enable IPC provides efficient, streamlined strategies for turning technologies into products and bringing them to market. Enable IPC's growing portfolio currently includes the exclusive rights to two break-through energy technologies: a nanoparticle-based ultracapacitor and a nanowire-based microbattery. For more information, please visit www.enableipc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, such as "believes," "should," "targeted" and similar terminology, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Enable IPC intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that are identified from time to time in the company's SEC reports and filings, and are subject to change at any time. Enable IPC's actual results and other corporate developments could differ materially from that which has been anticipated in such statements.
Investor relations:
Rich Kaiser
(800) 631-8127
ir@enableipc.com Click here to see all recent news from this company
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VALENCIA, CA--(Marketwire - June 30, 2009) - Enable IPC Corporation (PINKSHEETS: EIPC) announced that today Dr. Marc Anderson, a Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin and one of the inventors of Enable IPC's ultracapacitor technology, will be presenting the technology at ISEE'Cap 09, the First Annual Symposium on Enhanced Electrochemical Capacitors in Nantes, France. The presentation, co-authored by Dr. Anderson and Kevin Leonard (the Chief Technology Officer of Enable IPC's SolRayo subsidiary), is titled "Electrochemical Capacitors Using Novel Nanoporous Insulating Oxide Materials." The presentation will include some of the latest data on Enable IPC's ultracapacitor performance and potential applications.
Additional information can be found at: http://www.iseecap09.org/squelettes/index.html
Corporate Overview Webcast
Enable IPC CEO David Walker recently released an on-demand Webcast designed as a 5 minute introduction of the Company's management, subsidiary operation SolRayo, and current projects and opportunities to interested individuals. Additionally, the Webcast provides a brief description of the Company's technologies:
-- A microbattery that provides greater power at less cost than competing
technologies for use in "smart" cards
-- An ultracapacitor for use in consumer, transportation and industrial
applications, including renewable energy
The Webcast is available now at: http://www.enableipc.com/presentations_intro.html and can be viewed at your convenience.
Enable IPC's Ultracapacitors Used in High Profile Renewable Energy Project
Enable IPC has recently completed ultracapacitor electrode shipments to IMDEA Energia in Madrid, Spain for a renewable energy demonstration project. The electrodes will be incorporated into a power conditioning unit by IMDEA and Green Power, a Spain-based renewable energy manufacturer, for a demonstration as part of the SA2VE project -- a Spanish government-sponsored program focused on new energy solutions, particularly relating to "green" power. If the project is successful, the Company will have a multi-million dollar opportunity in renewable energy.
The Company's ultracapacitor technology combines nanoparticles with common carbon sheets for a low cost, easy-to-implement process that improves the performance of ultracapacitors as clean energy storage devices. The enhanced ultracapacitors are simpler, cheaper and longer lasting than conventional devices, including some batteries, but perform just as well for many applications including renewable energy.
$600 Million Ultracapacitor Market
Enable IPC / SolRayo's ultracapacitor technology is aimed at a market estimated to grow to over $600 million by the year 2012. While the company has been mostly focusing on the use of ultracapacitors in renewable energy, there are also huge opportunities for this technology in consumer, other industrial and transportation applications as well. For more detailed information on ultracapacitors, please visit the corporate website at: http://www.enableipc.com/ultracapacitor.html.
About Enable IPC (www.enableipc.com)
Enable IPC provides efficient, streamlined strategies for turning technologies into products and bringing them to market. Enable IPC's growing portfolio currently includes the exclusive rights to two break-through energy technologies: a nanoparticle-based ultracapacitor and a nanowire-based microbattery. For more information, please visit www.enableipc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, such as "believes," "should," "targeted" and similar terminology, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Enable IPC intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that are identified from time to time in the company's SEC reports and filings, and are subject to change at any time. Enable IPC's actual results and other corporate developments could differ materially from that which has been anticipated in such statements.
Investor relations:
Rich Kaiser
(800) 631-8127
ir@enableipc.com Click here to see all recent news from this company
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ON Semiconductor Introduces Industry’s First 10 A Supercapacitor-Based LED Flash Driver for Ultra-Slim Camera Phones and Digital Cameras
The New NCP5680 is an Integrated LED Flash and Power Management Solution Offered in a 0.55 mm Low-Profile Package That Extends Battery Life and Significantly Improves Digital Photo Quality
PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ONNN), a leading global supplier of high performance, energy efficient, silicon solutions has introduced the NCP5680 supercapacitor-optimized LED flash driver, capable of delivering up to 10 amperes (A) for photo flash and video light in ultra-slim camera phones and compact digital cameras.
“The NCP5680, combined with an ultra-thin prismatic supercapacitor, delivers an ideal LED flash and power management solution for slim camera phones and digital cameras”
“The NCP5680, combined with an ultra-thin prismatic supercapacitor, delivers an ideal LED flash and power management solution for slim camera phones and digital cameras,” said Marie-Therese Capron, ON Semiconductor director of low voltage power management products. “This total LED flash solution supplies comparable light energy to xenon flash, but with only half of the comparable solution height, and no need for an extra LED for video capture. Because the NCP5680 enables the Lithium-ion battery to support more power-hungry functions for a longer time, this new supercapacitor-based power management solution enables smart phones to offer ever richer functionality.”
When combined with the latest thin, prismatic supercapacitors - such as those offered by CAP-XX and licensed by Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Japan with a capacitance of up to 0.9F at 5.5 V - and the high-power LED OSLUX from Osram - ON Semiconductor’s NCP5680 complements the Lithium-ion battery by supplying high-peak-current of up to 10 A for flash lighting optimized for use with the BriteFlash™ Power Architecture developed by CAP-XX. Fully programmable control of charging and discharging of the supercapacitor and unique overload protection ensures the right amount of light is provided for high-quality photography. The integrated driver can also power other high-peak-current circuits in portable systems, such as audio amplifiers, extending the useful battery operating time.
To produce high-resolution pictures in low-light conditions, cameras of 5 megapixels or more require a high-intensity flash. Today’s WLEDs can deliver this level of light energy, but require up to 400 percent more power than a camera battery can provide. To support the battery, ON Semiconductor’s NCP5680 manages a supercapacitor to drive the LED flash to full intensity, supplying high-peak-current up to 10 A. The integrated driver in the NCP5680 also manages the supercapacitor to handle other peak-power needs – zoom, auto-focus, audio, video, wireless transmissions, GPS readings and RF amplification – extending battery life without compromising slimline design.
The NCP5680 integrates all circuitry required to charge the supercapacitor, manage in-rush current and control LED current, thus saving designers development time, board space and component cost. Fully programmable control of charging and discharging of the supercapacitor ensures the right amount of light for high-quality photography.
Flexible Control Through I2C Interface
The I2C registers in the NCP5680 allow users to adjust the output current and flash duration of each of the two LEDs in real time. This solution can therefore perform different lighting effects, such as indicator light, pre-flash, and power flashlight for photographing and torchlight for video recording. When connecting to an ambient light sensor, the NCP5680 will automatically limit the flash duration to prevent photo over-exposure, thus preserving the photo quality. Additionally, the supercapacitor charging current is adjustable through an I2C register. NCP5680 can disable the charging operation during global system for mobile (GSM) transmission, in order to limit the current drawn from the battery.
Safety Protection Features
Additionally, the NCP5680 has multiple built-in protection mechanisms, including flash time out, temperature detection, overload protection and short circuit protection. The device protects the flash circuitry from any faulty conditions of the driving circuit, as well as for the LED.
Packaging and Pricing
Available in the 3.5 mm x 3.5 mm x 0.55 mm µQFN-24 (micro-QFN-24) package, the NCP5680 is budgetary priced at $1.10 USD per unit in 3,000 unit quantities.
For additional technical information, visit http://www.onsemi.com or contact Helene Acrosse at helene.acrosse@onsemi.com.
About ON Semiconductor
With its global logistics network and strong product portfolio, ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ONNN) is a preferred supplier of high performance, energy efficient, silicon solutions to customers in the power supply, automotive, communication, computer, consumer, medical, industrial, mobile phone, and military/aerospace markets. The company’s broad portfolio includes power, analog, DSP, mixed-signal, advance logic, clock management, non-volatile memory and standard component devices. Global corporate headquarters are located in Phoenix, Arizona. The company operates a network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and design centers in key markets throughout North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions. For more information, visit http://www.onsemi.com.
ON Semiconductor and the ON Semiconductor logo are registered trademarks of Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC. All other brand and product names appearing in this document are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders. Although the company references its Web site in this news release, such information on the Web site is not to be incorporated herein.
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PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ONNN), a leading global supplier of high performance, energy efficient, silicon solutions has introduced the NCP5680 supercapacitor-optimized LED flash driver, capable of delivering up to 10 amperes (A) for photo flash and video light in ultra-slim camera phones and compact digital cameras.
“The NCP5680, combined with an ultra-thin prismatic supercapacitor, delivers an ideal LED flash and power management solution for slim camera phones and digital cameras”
“The NCP5680, combined with an ultra-thin prismatic supercapacitor, delivers an ideal LED flash and power management solution for slim camera phones and digital cameras,” said Marie-Therese Capron, ON Semiconductor director of low voltage power management products. “This total LED flash solution supplies comparable light energy to xenon flash, but with only half of the comparable solution height, and no need for an extra LED for video capture. Because the NCP5680 enables the Lithium-ion battery to support more power-hungry functions for a longer time, this new supercapacitor-based power management solution enables smart phones to offer ever richer functionality.”
When combined with the latest thin, prismatic supercapacitors - such as those offered by CAP-XX and licensed by Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Japan with a capacitance of up to 0.9F at 5.5 V - and the high-power LED OSLUX from Osram - ON Semiconductor’s NCP5680 complements the Lithium-ion battery by supplying high-peak-current of up to 10 A for flash lighting optimized for use with the BriteFlash™ Power Architecture developed by CAP-XX. Fully programmable control of charging and discharging of the supercapacitor and unique overload protection ensures the right amount of light is provided for high-quality photography. The integrated driver can also power other high-peak-current circuits in portable systems, such as audio amplifiers, extending the useful battery operating time.
To produce high-resolution pictures in low-light conditions, cameras of 5 megapixels or more require a high-intensity flash. Today’s WLEDs can deliver this level of light energy, but require up to 400 percent more power than a camera battery can provide. To support the battery, ON Semiconductor’s NCP5680 manages a supercapacitor to drive the LED flash to full intensity, supplying high-peak-current up to 10 A. The integrated driver in the NCP5680 also manages the supercapacitor to handle other peak-power needs – zoom, auto-focus, audio, video, wireless transmissions, GPS readings and RF amplification – extending battery life without compromising slimline design.
The NCP5680 integrates all circuitry required to charge the supercapacitor, manage in-rush current and control LED current, thus saving designers development time, board space and component cost. Fully programmable control of charging and discharging of the supercapacitor ensures the right amount of light for high-quality photography.
Flexible Control Through I2C Interface
The I2C registers in the NCP5680 allow users to adjust the output current and flash duration of each of the two LEDs in real time. This solution can therefore perform different lighting effects, such as indicator light, pre-flash, and power flashlight for photographing and torchlight for video recording. When connecting to an ambient light sensor, the NCP5680 will automatically limit the flash duration to prevent photo over-exposure, thus preserving the photo quality. Additionally, the supercapacitor charging current is adjustable through an I2C register. NCP5680 can disable the charging operation during global system for mobile (GSM) transmission, in order to limit the current drawn from the battery.
Safety Protection Features
Additionally, the NCP5680 has multiple built-in protection mechanisms, including flash time out, temperature detection, overload protection and short circuit protection. The device protects the flash circuitry from any faulty conditions of the driving circuit, as well as for the LED.
Packaging and Pricing
Available in the 3.5 mm x 3.5 mm x 0.55 mm µQFN-24 (micro-QFN-24) package, the NCP5680 is budgetary priced at $1.10 USD per unit in 3,000 unit quantities.
For additional technical information, visit http://www.onsemi.com or contact Helene Acrosse at helene.acrosse@onsemi.com.
About ON Semiconductor
With its global logistics network and strong product portfolio, ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ONNN) is a preferred supplier of high performance, energy efficient, silicon solutions to customers in the power supply, automotive, communication, computer, consumer, medical, industrial, mobile phone, and military/aerospace markets. The company’s broad portfolio includes power, analog, DSP, mixed-signal, advance logic, clock management, non-volatile memory and standard component devices. Global corporate headquarters are located in Phoenix, Arizona. The company operates a network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and design centers in key markets throughout North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions. For more information, visit http://www.onsemi.com.
ON Semiconductor and the ON Semiconductor logo are registered trademarks of Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC. All other brand and product names appearing in this document are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders. Although the company references its Web site in this news release, such information on the Web site is not to be incorporated herein.
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Adaptec’s new controller bids goodbye to Li-ion batteries
June 24, 2009 - by Lisa Sibley, Cleantech Group
New technology out of California-based company features flash memory powered by a supercapacitor instead of a battery, offering a maintenance free design.
Milpitas, Calif.-based Adaptec (Nasdaq:ADPT) launches a new patent-pending product today that it says eliminates the need for lithium-ion batteries in data centers.
The company makes hardware and software for the data storage industry, with some products that can help manage power use. Adaptec says its new Series 5Z RAID family of controllers is the first in the industry to render lithium-ion batteries obsolete.
“It’s the cleanest, greenest platform you can buy with end-to-end cache and data protection,” Scott Cleland, Adaptec’s director of marketing, told the Cleantech Group.
Lithium-ion batteries have traditionally been used in battery back-ups of cache—a block of memory that temporarily stores data—in computer servers. The batteries are in use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and Cleland said they have to be serviced, maintained and replaced regularly. The battery’s charge can also degrade over time, like a cell phone. If there’s a power failure or unplanned event, the batteries can offer up to 72 hours of back-up protection. But some people don’t turn the cache on, Cleland said, which can result in lower performance.
“Lithium-ion battery technology used in most battery back-up implementations has not advanced measurably for many years, and is far from a truly green solution,” said Jeff Byrne, a senior analyst and consultant with Taneja Group, an independent analyst and consulting group focused on storage and storage-centric server technologies.
Adaptec’s new technology requires zero-maintenance cache protection. The product is intended for deployments related to unattended remote installations, Web hosting, digital surveillance, medical imaging and communications. Adaptec said the new product also performs five times faster than competitive RAID controllers.
Byrne said the zero-maintenance cache protection in Adaptec’s Series 5Z controllers is “a pretty big deal” for IT managers who have had to put up with the monitoring, maintenance and disposal requirements of conventional lithium-ion batteries.
“It’s an even bigger deal for IT managers who have lost cached data at some point,” he said.
Most importantly, Cleland said the new product line replaces the “lingering necessary evil in the space”—the lithium-ion battery. The new RAID controller features flash memory powered by a supercapacitor instead of a battery, offering a maintenance free design, the company said. The supercapacitors are made by Ellisville, Mo.-based Cooper Bussmann. The Series 5Z products also feature Adaptec’s Intelligent Power Management, which the company said reduces storage power and cooling costs by up to 70 percent.
“It’s a perfect storm of decision makers,” Cleland said. “Supercapacitor technology is now cost effective enough to integrate into this application, and the adoption of lithium-ion back-ups has grown significantly."
According to a report from Lux Research released earlier this month, the market for supercapacitors is likely to grow from $208 million in 2008 to $877 million in 2014. Supercapacitors are electrical storage devices that can store a high density of energy in a short time based on increased surface area by using nanomaterials (see Researchers see spike in supercapacitor demand).
In March, University of Maryland professors said they are using nanotechnology to increase the energy density of a new type of electrostatic capacitor as a method for storing energy. Electrostatic capacitors store energy as an electric charge (see Next-gen car solution? Scientists expand uses for electrostatic capacitor).
Adaptec’s new product eliminates environmental issues associated with maintaining, transporting and disposing lithium-ion batteries, Byrne said. Heat dissipation is also less than that of lithium-ion batteries, according to the company.
Switzerland-based ReVolt Technology said its rechargeable zinc-air batteries avoid problems in lithium-ion batteries of thermal runway, in which batteries can become overheated and combust. The company brought in $13.1 million in funding in January (see ReVolt plans for zinc-air battery to trump Li-ion with $13M in funding).
Lithium-ion batteries currently face transport regulations from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) when being moved from country to country because they are hazardous.
“These regulations are costly and a hassle to meet,” Byrne said.
In 2008, the European Union also implemented some tough environmental standards for batteries, including banning some chemicals and changing labeling requirements (see EU readies new battery mandates).
In the Series 5Z products, the cache can be turned on all the time. That allows volatile memory to be transferred into nonvolatile memory in 120 seconds, providing nearly immediate protection, according Adaptec.
“This is like a USB stick on steroids,” Cleland said.
Cleland said customers can expect to save about $600 over four years on the approximately $800 purchase. Byrne said most of the cost savings are expected to come from reduced material and administrative costs.
The warranty and life expectancy of an Adaptec Series 5Z controller is three years, while the warranty and life expectancy of a supercapacitor is seven years.
The $800 price point is more than double the cost of two lithium ion batteries, Cleland said, so there may be some initial “sticker shock” from customers. However, Cleland said Adaptec already has more than 20 customers lined up to purchase the product.
“Adaptec channel partners and ultimate end-users will find this capability attractive, and will likely boost Adaptec’s controller sales in the intermediate term,” said Byrne. He declined to speculate on the revenue impact.
The product, being manufactured in Singapore, is expected to be seeded with customers in 30 days to three months. Cleland wouldn’t disclose how many new controllers Adaptec expects to produce, but said it would be in the thousands. He also wouldn’t indicate revenue projections associated with the new class of product.
Cleland and Byrne both indicated LSI (NYSE:LSI), which is Adaptec’s biggest competitor, would most likely follow with a similar product. Byrne said he wasn’t aware of any specific projects LSI has underway.
Copyright © 2009 Cleantech Group LLC. All rights reserved, including right of redistribution.
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New technology out of California-based company features flash memory powered by a supercapacitor instead of a battery, offering a maintenance free design.
Milpitas, Calif.-based Adaptec (Nasdaq:ADPT) launches a new patent-pending product today that it says eliminates the need for lithium-ion batteries in data centers.
The company makes hardware and software for the data storage industry, with some products that can help manage power use. Adaptec says its new Series 5Z RAID family of controllers is the first in the industry to render lithium-ion batteries obsolete.
“It’s the cleanest, greenest platform you can buy with end-to-end cache and data protection,” Scott Cleland, Adaptec’s director of marketing, told the Cleantech Group.
Lithium-ion batteries have traditionally been used in battery back-ups of cache—a block of memory that temporarily stores data—in computer servers. The batteries are in use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and Cleland said they have to be serviced, maintained and replaced regularly. The battery’s charge can also degrade over time, like a cell phone. If there’s a power failure or unplanned event, the batteries can offer up to 72 hours of back-up protection. But some people don’t turn the cache on, Cleland said, which can result in lower performance.
“Lithium-ion battery technology used in most battery back-up implementations has not advanced measurably for many years, and is far from a truly green solution,” said Jeff Byrne, a senior analyst and consultant with Taneja Group, an independent analyst and consulting group focused on storage and storage-centric server technologies.
Adaptec’s new technology requires zero-maintenance cache protection. The product is intended for deployments related to unattended remote installations, Web hosting, digital surveillance, medical imaging and communications. Adaptec said the new product also performs five times faster than competitive RAID controllers.
Byrne said the zero-maintenance cache protection in Adaptec’s Series 5Z controllers is “a pretty big deal” for IT managers who have had to put up with the monitoring, maintenance and disposal requirements of conventional lithium-ion batteries.
“It’s an even bigger deal for IT managers who have lost cached data at some point,” he said.
Most importantly, Cleland said the new product line replaces the “lingering necessary evil in the space”—the lithium-ion battery. The new RAID controller features flash memory powered by a supercapacitor instead of a battery, offering a maintenance free design, the company said. The supercapacitors are made by Ellisville, Mo.-based Cooper Bussmann. The Series 5Z products also feature Adaptec’s Intelligent Power Management, which the company said reduces storage power and cooling costs by up to 70 percent.
“It’s a perfect storm of decision makers,” Cleland said. “Supercapacitor technology is now cost effective enough to integrate into this application, and the adoption of lithium-ion back-ups has grown significantly."
According to a report from Lux Research released earlier this month, the market for supercapacitors is likely to grow from $208 million in 2008 to $877 million in 2014. Supercapacitors are electrical storage devices that can store a high density of energy in a short time based on increased surface area by using nanomaterials (see Researchers see spike in supercapacitor demand).
In March, University of Maryland professors said they are using nanotechnology to increase the energy density of a new type of electrostatic capacitor as a method for storing energy. Electrostatic capacitors store energy as an electric charge (see Next-gen car solution? Scientists expand uses for electrostatic capacitor).
Adaptec’s new product eliminates environmental issues associated with maintaining, transporting and disposing lithium-ion batteries, Byrne said. Heat dissipation is also less than that of lithium-ion batteries, according to the company.
Switzerland-based ReVolt Technology said its rechargeable zinc-air batteries avoid problems in lithium-ion batteries of thermal runway, in which batteries can become overheated and combust. The company brought in $13.1 million in funding in January (see ReVolt plans for zinc-air battery to trump Li-ion with $13M in funding).
Lithium-ion batteries currently face transport regulations from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) when being moved from country to country because they are hazardous.
“These regulations are costly and a hassle to meet,” Byrne said.
In 2008, the European Union also implemented some tough environmental standards for batteries, including banning some chemicals and changing labeling requirements (see EU readies new battery mandates).
In the Series 5Z products, the cache can be turned on all the time. That allows volatile memory to be transferred into nonvolatile memory in 120 seconds, providing nearly immediate protection, according Adaptec.
“This is like a USB stick on steroids,” Cleland said.
Cleland said customers can expect to save about $600 over four years on the approximately $800 purchase. Byrne said most of the cost savings are expected to come from reduced material and administrative costs.
The warranty and life expectancy of an Adaptec Series 5Z controller is three years, while the warranty and life expectancy of a supercapacitor is seven years.
The $800 price point is more than double the cost of two lithium ion batteries, Cleland said, so there may be some initial “sticker shock” from customers. However, Cleland said Adaptec already has more than 20 customers lined up to purchase the product.
“Adaptec channel partners and ultimate end-users will find this capability attractive, and will likely boost Adaptec’s controller sales in the intermediate term,” said Byrne. He declined to speculate on the revenue impact.
The product, being manufactured in Singapore, is expected to be seeded with customers in 30 days to three months. Cleland wouldn’t disclose how many new controllers Adaptec expects to produce, but said it would be in the thousands. He also wouldn’t indicate revenue projections associated with the new class of product.
Cleland and Byrne both indicated LSI (NYSE:LSI), which is Adaptec’s biggest competitor, would most likely follow with a similar product. Byrne said he wasn’t aware of any specific projects LSI has underway.
Copyright © 2009 Cleantech Group LLC. All rights reserved, including right of redistribution.
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F10 BMW M5 to offers KERS boost system?
June 24, 2009 at 2:02 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars
When BMW first announced that the BMW Sauber F1 team would be implementing electric KERS, they had this to say: “The BMW Group can transfer the knowledge gained within the BMW Sauber F1 Team directly into the development of standard production vehicles. This makes Formula One the ideal pre-development platform for innovative drive technologies.”
And it looks like it really happened after all! It seems that the next generation F10 BMW M5 will have a type of KERS system! Scott27, a BMW insider of sorts on the German Car Zone forums has revealed that the final engine to be slotted into the next generation F10 BMW M5 has not quite been decided yet. But what is confirmed is a kind of KERS system that will be exclusive to the M5. It will forge a big link between BMW M and BMW’s EfficientDynamics program because it will be taking what is essentially wasted energy but recycling it and turning it into power.
As BMW’s F1 cars uses a electric implementation of KERS, the BMW M5’s KERS system will likely use Brake Energy Regeneration to recover energy and store it via some kind of battery of supercapacitor system. This energy can then power a high-powered motor that can boost up power by a certain amount for a few seconds.
The F1 car’s KERS system weighs under 40kg and stores enough energy under braking for 60kW of output for 6.5 seconds. BMW picked an electric KERS system instead of a mechanical (flywheel-based) or a hydraulic system (abandoned) likely because it was already using similiar technology in the EfficientDynamics program and it would be easier to transfer the knowledge gained to production road cars.
Back to the engine – there are two engine options being evaluated right now. One is very likely some form of tuned up version of the same M TwinPower Turbo V8 engine in the X5 M and X6 M, but the other is something a little more exciting than that, though it was not revealed towards which option management is leaning towards.
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When BMW first announced that the BMW Sauber F1 team would be implementing electric KERS, they had this to say: “The BMW Group can transfer the knowledge gained within the BMW Sauber F1 Team directly into the development of standard production vehicles. This makes Formula One the ideal pre-development platform for innovative drive technologies.”
And it looks like it really happened after all! It seems that the next generation F10 BMW M5 will have a type of KERS system! Scott27, a BMW insider of sorts on the German Car Zone forums has revealed that the final engine to be slotted into the next generation F10 BMW M5 has not quite been decided yet. But what is confirmed is a kind of KERS system that will be exclusive to the M5. It will forge a big link between BMW M and BMW’s EfficientDynamics program because it will be taking what is essentially wasted energy but recycling it and turning it into power.
As BMW’s F1 cars uses a electric implementation of KERS, the BMW M5’s KERS system will likely use Brake Energy Regeneration to recover energy and store it via some kind of battery of supercapacitor system. This energy can then power a high-powered motor that can boost up power by a certain amount for a few seconds.
The F1 car’s KERS system weighs under 40kg and stores enough energy under braking for 60kW of output for 6.5 seconds. BMW picked an electric KERS system instead of a mechanical (flywheel-based) or a hydraulic system (abandoned) likely because it was already using similiar technology in the EfficientDynamics program and it would be easier to transfer the knowledge gained to production road cars.
Back to the engine – there are two engine options being evaluated right now. One is very likely some form of tuned up version of the same M TwinPower Turbo V8 engine in the X5 M and X6 M, but the other is something a little more exciting than that, though it was not revealed towards which option management is leaning towards.
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ZF and ISE Corporation Agree to a Strategic Partnership to Supply Electric Hybrid Drive Systems and Components to North American Vehicle Market
NORTHVILLE, Mich., June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- ZF Friedrichshafen (ZF), a leading manufacturer of vehicle driveline and chassis technology, and ISE Corporation (ISE ), a leading designer and manufacture of hybrid propulsion systems and components for heavy duty vehicles, today announced plans to collaborate on the development and supply of a complete line of Parallel-electric hybrid drive systems and components for the North American vehicle markets.
ZF and ISE have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines plans for an intended Strategic Collaboration and Development Partnership. The combined expertise of the two companies will result in a product portfolio of Series and Parallel hybrid-electric drive systems and components unrivaled in the world.
Collaboration details of the MOU include ZF's intention to utilize ISE expertise for integration engineering, sales, subsystem assembly, and service support for ZF Hybrid systems and components into the North America commercial vehicle market. Respectively, ISE intends to develop and market an ISE branded parallel hybrid drive system for the North America commercial vehicle market that incorporates ZF Hybrid Systems & Components. ZF has developed several parallel-hybrid configurations for various applications for the transit bus and truck industries, and as a result of this agreement, North American sales of ZF Hybrid Systems and Components will be sold through ISE and jointly marketed by both companies.
"We are very excited about this groundbreaking relationship where ZF's worldwide expertise in driveline products and parallel hybrid drive systems, combined with ISE's top level expertise in Series Hybrid Drive Systems and high performance energy storage systems, will provide the broadest and most capable product range to meet all commercial vehicle applications," said Wolfgang Schilha, Senior Vice President Bus Driveline Technology, ZF Friedrichshafen AG.
"ISE is thrilled with the opportunity to partner with ZF, who are without question, the world's most capable provider of driveline products and parallel hybrid drive systems for medium and heavy duty applications. With our combined resources, expertise and complementary products, along with ISE's hybrid market expertise in North America, this partnership is without question, the envy of the industry," said Rick Sander, President and CEO of ISE. "There is no question that the synergies of this relationship will help accelerate and expand the world wide adoption of commercial hybrid drive systems resulting in substantial environmental and sustainability improvements, along with improved business solutions."
About ZF
ZF is one of the world's leading automotive industry suppliers specializing in driveline and chassis technologies. With a workforce of 63,000 employees, the company operates 125 plants in 26 countries. ZF Group revenues in 2008 totaled $16.3 billion. ZF ranks as one of the top-10 automotive industry suppliers worldwide.
About ISE
As a world leader in the area of electric "Series Hybrid" drive systems, ISE has demonstrated innovation and production capability in both the transit bus and commercial truck markets providing hybrid systems tailored to high duty cycle applications with substantial improvements in Fuel Economy, Exhaust Emissions, Environmental Noise Reduction, Maintenance Costs and a path toward Battery Dominant Electric vehicles. ISE's offerings include gasoline hybrid, fuel cell hybrid, diesel hybrid and battery dominant drive systems. ISE also provides industry leading energy storage systems including, Lithium-Ion Battery based systems for high energy density requirements for the most practical solutions for battery dominant commercial electric vehicles, and Ultracapacitor based systems, providing optimized high-power regenerative braking.
ISE, the ISE logo, and Transportation Recharged are trademarks of ISE Corporation. ZF and the ZF logo are trademarks of ZF Friedrichshafen. Other brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
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Charged up over cutting-edge battery
Michael Vaughan speaks to Ian Clifford, Founder and CEO of Zenn Motor Co., about why his electric car company is betting the farm on an energy-storage device no one has seen
Michael Vaughan
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published on Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2009 11:59PM EDT
Last updated on Friday, May. 15, 2009 2:53PM EDT
He's president of the Toronto-based company that builds the all-electric ZENN Car (Zero Emissions No Noise) but he's not focusing on making many more of the little low-speed runabouts.
Says Ian Clifford: "This is nothing to do with building cars, it's all about energy storage."
There are about 500 ZENNs on the road in the 40 U.S. states where-low speed cars are legal. It's a little French-built micro-car that ZENN outfits with an electric motor and enough lead acid batteries to run it about 60 kilometres (in warm weather) on an eight-hour charge.
That's useful enough for buzzing around in local neighbourhoods but it's not the disruptive technology Clifford is seeking.
He has now bet the farm on a unique energy storage device from a company in Texas. The company is EEStor and the device is an ultra capacitor that, on a five-minute charge, can supposedly hold 52 kilowatt-hours in a 136-kg unit. That would be enough power to drive an electric car about 400 kilometres. It would also be enough to send most gasoline engines to the scrap heap.
The only problem: No one has ever seen this thing.
Vaughan: Ian, you've come a long way from when I first met you and you were stuffing an electric motor and a ton of batteries in an old Renault Dauphine, which I think you called the Feel Good Car.
Clifford: Oh, I've learned a lot.
With ZENN, we've sold 500 electric cars, which makes us one of the largest electric car companies in the world if you put it in that context.
But it's a drop in the bucket — there are 250 million cars in the United States.
We have revenue, we make profit on the cars we sell, but we are totally in investment mode. It's all focused heavily on EEStor's technology.
You need a better battery.
Electric cars in huge numbers are do-able with the right battery technology.
This is nothing to do with building cars; it's all about energy storage.
Isn't the answer with the battery companies doing lithium-ion or lithium-polymer?
They don't have a clue four years out what's going to happen to their batteries. They really don't.
You know what's going to happen in a cellphone, but 50 kilowatt-hours of energy storage in a car — forget it, they don't have a clue.
Even with some of the established lithium battery companies — they don't know how to price their technology because of all the uncertainty in the technology.
They're setting up massive government-backed trust funds to settle warranty claims on the batteries because they don't know how they'll behave.
So you're going a different way.
Back in 2002, we started looking at battery technologies seriously and that's when we met EEStor, which was developing ultra-capacitor technology.
People had taken runs at ultra capacitors, but typically the problem they hadn't been able to get over was the voltage limitations. EEStor has developed new materials that get over it.
The only capacitor that I can think of is in a flash camera.
A flash camera has a battery that dumps power into a capacitor.
Capacitors in their current form are really great at taking power very quickly and discharging it very quickly. They're not good at storing it; they lose the power very, very quickly.
Capacitors have been around for a long time and they're a buffer technology — in the case of flash photography, they're in between the flash tube and the plug in the wall.
They're able to hold a whole bunch of power and displace it really, really quickly and recharge really, really quickly.
They have not typically been able to store large amounts of energy for a long period of time and that's what EEStor is doing.
Can you show me one of these or show an investor one of these even if it doesn't power a car but maybe an electric can opener?
No. Because of the way our agreement is structured with EEStor, it's all milestone-based and the next milestone is a chemical milestone with third-party verification of the science.
The following milestone is delivery of a production prototype unit for a car and that's late next year.
Who is EEStor anyway? I couldn't find much about them.
The guys who have developed this technology come from hard-disk manufacturing.
If you think of a hard drive 10 years ago — think about a one-gigabyte hard drive 10 years ago — it was [huge] and it spun up like a jet. In my BlackBerry now, I've got 16 gigabytes of information storage.
They're basically taking the best of battery technology and the best of capacitor technology to mash it into a solid-state energy storage device that doesn't have any of the limitations of a chemical battery.
You found them in 2002 and you still can't show me an example of what they do. Are they years late?
They're not years late.
Everyone keeps saying that. But they developed the technology about 12 years ago — that's when they did the patent work and the lab work. But they didn't have a facility until 2006.
Now, in Austin, Texas, they have a state-of-the-art production facility that's ready to deliver production units in 2009.
They've gone from a standing start to production in a three-year period. It's pretty extraordinary.
They sure keep a low profile.
Lockheed Martin is involved, Kleiner Perkins (venture capital behind Google) is involved. They've got heavy hitters in this thing and they're total stealth.
It's not a scam because they're not raising money and they're not talking to anybody.
We have a unique relationship with them because I got it at the angel-investor level. If I'd met them after Kleiner, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Your deal is what?
ZENN invested $2.5-million (U.S.) in 2007 for an equity position of 3.8 per cent of EEStor plus options.
And we have a $2.5-million technology agreement that we inked back in 2004 and we're halfway through the milestones on that.
It gives us an exclusive licence to use their technology in compact and subcompact cars.
But we don't want to be in the car-building business. We've used the Intel model — our idea is that our drive system becomes kind of ubiquitous. The Intel inside of the car.
You're more excited than even in the Feel Good days.
This kind of energy storage changes how we consider energy, period.
It displaces fossil fuel entirely. It's not just about cars; it's about energy. It's for new cars and it's for existing cars.
There are 800 million cars that are already on the planet — we can retrofit them, too.
Michael Vaughan is co-host with Jeremy Cato of Car/Business, which appears Fridays at 8 p.m. on Business News Network and Saturdays at 2 p.m. on CTV.
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Michael Vaughan
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published on Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2009 11:59PM EDT
Last updated on Friday, May. 15, 2009 2:53PM EDT
He's president of the Toronto-based company that builds the all-electric ZENN Car (Zero Emissions No Noise) but he's not focusing on making many more of the little low-speed runabouts.
Says Ian Clifford: "This is nothing to do with building cars, it's all about energy storage."
There are about 500 ZENNs on the road in the 40 U.S. states where-low speed cars are legal. It's a little French-built micro-car that ZENN outfits with an electric motor and enough lead acid batteries to run it about 60 kilometres (in warm weather) on an eight-hour charge.
That's useful enough for buzzing around in local neighbourhoods but it's not the disruptive technology Clifford is seeking.
He has now bet the farm on a unique energy storage device from a company in Texas. The company is EEStor and the device is an ultra capacitor that, on a five-minute charge, can supposedly hold 52 kilowatt-hours in a 136-kg unit. That would be enough power to drive an electric car about 400 kilometres. It would also be enough to send most gasoline engines to the scrap heap.
The only problem: No one has ever seen this thing.
Vaughan: Ian, you've come a long way from when I first met you and you were stuffing an electric motor and a ton of batteries in an old Renault Dauphine, which I think you called the Feel Good Car.
Clifford: Oh, I've learned a lot.
With ZENN, we've sold 500 electric cars, which makes us one of the largest electric car companies in the world if you put it in that context.
But it's a drop in the bucket — there are 250 million cars in the United States.
We have revenue, we make profit on the cars we sell, but we are totally in investment mode. It's all focused heavily on EEStor's technology.
You need a better battery.
Electric cars in huge numbers are do-able with the right battery technology.
This is nothing to do with building cars; it's all about energy storage.
Isn't the answer with the battery companies doing lithium-ion or lithium-polymer?
They don't have a clue four years out what's going to happen to their batteries. They really don't.
You know what's going to happen in a cellphone, but 50 kilowatt-hours of energy storage in a car — forget it, they don't have a clue.
Even with some of the established lithium battery companies — they don't know how to price their technology because of all the uncertainty in the technology.
They're setting up massive government-backed trust funds to settle warranty claims on the batteries because they don't know how they'll behave.
So you're going a different way.
Back in 2002, we started looking at battery technologies seriously and that's when we met EEStor, which was developing ultra-capacitor technology.
People had taken runs at ultra capacitors, but typically the problem they hadn't been able to get over was the voltage limitations. EEStor has developed new materials that get over it.
The only capacitor that I can think of is in a flash camera.
A flash camera has a battery that dumps power into a capacitor.
Capacitors in their current form are really great at taking power very quickly and discharging it very quickly. They're not good at storing it; they lose the power very, very quickly.
Capacitors have been around for a long time and they're a buffer technology — in the case of flash photography, they're in between the flash tube and the plug in the wall.
They're able to hold a whole bunch of power and displace it really, really quickly and recharge really, really quickly.
They have not typically been able to store large amounts of energy for a long period of time and that's what EEStor is doing.
Can you show me one of these or show an investor one of these even if it doesn't power a car but maybe an electric can opener?
No. Because of the way our agreement is structured with EEStor, it's all milestone-based and the next milestone is a chemical milestone with third-party verification of the science.
The following milestone is delivery of a production prototype unit for a car and that's late next year.
Who is EEStor anyway? I couldn't find much about them.
The guys who have developed this technology come from hard-disk manufacturing.
If you think of a hard drive 10 years ago — think about a one-gigabyte hard drive 10 years ago — it was [huge] and it spun up like a jet. In my BlackBerry now, I've got 16 gigabytes of information storage.
They're basically taking the best of battery technology and the best of capacitor technology to mash it into a solid-state energy storage device that doesn't have any of the limitations of a chemical battery.
You found them in 2002 and you still can't show me an example of what they do. Are they years late?
They're not years late.
Everyone keeps saying that. But they developed the technology about 12 years ago — that's when they did the patent work and the lab work. But they didn't have a facility until 2006.
Now, in Austin, Texas, they have a state-of-the-art production facility that's ready to deliver production units in 2009.
They've gone from a standing start to production in a three-year period. It's pretty extraordinary.
They sure keep a low profile.
Lockheed Martin is involved, Kleiner Perkins (venture capital behind Google) is involved. They've got heavy hitters in this thing and they're total stealth.
It's not a scam because they're not raising money and they're not talking to anybody.
We have a unique relationship with them because I got it at the angel-investor level. If I'd met them after Kleiner, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Your deal is what?
ZENN invested $2.5-million (U.S.) in 2007 for an equity position of 3.8 per cent of EEStor plus options.
And we have a $2.5-million technology agreement that we inked back in 2004 and we're halfway through the milestones on that.
It gives us an exclusive licence to use their technology in compact and subcompact cars.
But we don't want to be in the car-building business. We've used the Intel model — our idea is that our drive system becomes kind of ubiquitous. The Intel inside of the car.
You're more excited than even in the Feel Good days.
This kind of energy storage changes how we consider energy, period.
It displaces fossil fuel entirely. It's not just about cars; it's about energy. It's for new cars and it's for existing cars.
There are 800 million cars that are already on the planet — we can retrofit them, too.
Michael Vaughan is co-host with Jeremy Cato of Car/Business, which appears Fridays at 8 p.m. on Business News Network and Saturdays at 2 p.m. on CTV.
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National Grid takes on wind energy critics
Report concludes it is possible to increase wind energy capacity without expansion in fossil fuel-fired backup power
James Murray, BusinessGreen, 19 Jun 2009
National Grid has today released a major new report debunking the myth that the variability of wind energy means that planned increases in renewables capacity will require a similar increase in fossil fuel-based backup capacity.
Opponents of wind energy, such as the recently launched National Alliance of Wind Farm Action Groups, have long maintained that the variable nature of wind energy means that investments in wind farms will not deliver net reductions in emissions.
However, the new 82-page report from National Grid categorically rejects the suggestion that huge increases in backup power will be required as the UK's reliance on wind energy increases. It concludes that "challenges from moving to a low-carbon electricity system with increased variable wind generation and larger nuclear power stations are manageable".
The report, which will now be subject to a consultation period, states that increased backup generation is not the only means of managing variable levels of wind energy, arguing that the emergence of new energy storage and smart grid systems, coupled with improvements in grid infrastructure, will allow wind energy to play a greater role in the UK's energy mix.
Chris Bennett, National Grid’s future transmission networks manager, welcomed the report as the "most comprehensive view yet" of how Britain could balance electricity supply and demand, adding that it "moves the debate firmly beyond the simplistic view that we just need more backup generation".
The report predicts that in the medium term, variable wind and larger nuclear power stations can be accommodated into the grid without the need for major technology innovations.
In the longer term, it predicts that smart grid systems that can automatically turn off fridges during times of peak demand and draw on energy from electric car batteries, will limit the requirement for backup power, while improved large-scale battery and supercapacitor technologies will have a similar effect.
An anticipated doubling of the capacity for importing energy using interconnectors linked to Europe will also allow wind intermittency to be balanced out across a wider area, again limiting the need for backup power.
Maria McCaffery, chief executive of the British Wind Energy Association Chief Executive, said the report should deliver a blow to opponents of wind energy who have repeatedly used the argument that it is a variable energy source to undermine the sector.
"This report shows that large quantities of wind power can be integrated into our grid without the lights going out and at reasonable cost," she said. "It knocks on the head the myth that large amounts of capacity of "hot" standby is the only way to deal with the variability of wind."
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CAP-XX Demonstrates Surface Mountable Supercapacitors: Meets industry requests for supercapacitors capable of mass assembly
Sydney, Australia | Posted on June 17th, 2009
CAP-XX engineers sent several working prototypes of the SMT supercapacitors though a reflow oven at 260 degrees C. Before reflow, the thin, prismatic prototypes had ESRs (equivalent-series resistance) of 60 and 100 milliohms, capacitances of 1.0 and 0.5 Farads, and voltage ratings of 2.75 and 5.5V, respectively. The process had only minimal impact on performance, changing the ESR and capacitance by less than 10%.
"A high-power, surface-mountable supercapacitor with the CAP-XX characteristics of a thin, small form factor has been the holy grail for the portable electronics industry, particularly mobile handsets," said Anthony Kongats, CAP-XX CEO. "The preservation of performance demonstrated in this trial meets the requirements of these customer groups."
CAP-XX is developing SMT devices to facilitate the adoption of supercapacitor-enabled power architectures in high-end feature phones and other consumer electronics devices. Current CAP-XX devices are manually soldered onto the PCB (printed-circuit board).
"Supercapacitors will soon become a key component in mobile computing products," said Craig Mathias, a principal with Farpoint Group, an advisory firm specializing in wireless networking and mobile computing. "A supercapacitor handles the large instantaneous power demands of flash photos, audio, video, and wireless transmissions, maximizing battery life and enabling the use of smaller batteries. Given ever-increasing demands on battery power from higher clock rates and greater functionality, the supercapacitor is about to take center stage in mobile-power applications."
Mathias continued, "CAP-XX's SMT capability is an impressive development from a leader in the supercapacitor space."
CAP-XX supercapacitors store charge on nanoporous carbon electrodes on aluminum foil, arranged in multiple layers and connected in parallel to minimize resistance and maximize capacitance. This packs the highest energy and power densities possible into thin (0.9 to 3.8mm), prismatic packages.
The company did not disclose expected availability for its SMT devices.
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CAP-XX engineers sent several working prototypes of the SMT supercapacitors though a reflow oven at 260 degrees C. Before reflow, the thin, prismatic prototypes had ESRs (equivalent-series resistance) of 60 and 100 milliohms, capacitances of 1.0 and 0.5 Farads, and voltage ratings of 2.75 and 5.5V, respectively. The process had only minimal impact on performance, changing the ESR and capacitance by less than 10%.
"A high-power, surface-mountable supercapacitor with the CAP-XX characteristics of a thin, small form factor has been the holy grail for the portable electronics industry, particularly mobile handsets," said Anthony Kongats, CAP-XX CEO. "The preservation of performance demonstrated in this trial meets the requirements of these customer groups."
CAP-XX is developing SMT devices to facilitate the adoption of supercapacitor-enabled power architectures in high-end feature phones and other consumer electronics devices. Current CAP-XX devices are manually soldered onto the PCB (printed-circuit board).
"Supercapacitors will soon become a key component in mobile computing products," said Craig Mathias, a principal with Farpoint Group, an advisory firm specializing in wireless networking and mobile computing. "A supercapacitor handles the large instantaneous power demands of flash photos, audio, video, and wireless transmissions, maximizing battery life and enabling the use of smaller batteries. Given ever-increasing demands on battery power from higher clock rates and greater functionality, the supercapacitor is about to take center stage in mobile-power applications."
Mathias continued, "CAP-XX's SMT capability is an impressive development from a leader in the supercapacitor space."
CAP-XX supercapacitors store charge on nanoporous carbon electrodes on aluminum foil, arranged in multiple layers and connected in parallel to minimize resistance and maximize capacitance. This packs the highest energy and power densities possible into thin (0.9 to 3.8mm), prismatic packages.
The company did not disclose expected availability for its SMT devices.
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Maxwell Technologies, ISE Ink Deal Around Hybrid Bus and Truck Power
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
San Diego-based Maxwell Technologies and Poway-based ISE Corporation reported this morning that the two companies are in a strategic alliance around development of energy storage systems for hybrid buses and trucks. Maxwell--which manufacturers energy storage products--and ISE Corporation, a developer of hybrid propulsion systems for heavy duty vehicles--said they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding around development and marketing of high voltage, energy storage systems for hybrid buses and trucks, including sharing of technical resources; use of Maxwell's ultracapacitors by ISE; and sourcing and marketing of ISE's ultracapacitor modules through Maxwell's channel. The two companies have been working together since 2002. ISE Corporation is venture backed by such firms as Siemens Venture Capital, Macquarie Clean Technology Fund, DTE Energy Ventures, RockPort Capital Partners and NGP Energy Technology Partners.
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San Diego-based Maxwell Technologies and Poway-based ISE Corporation reported this morning that the two companies are in a strategic alliance around development of energy storage systems for hybrid buses and trucks. Maxwell--which manufacturers energy storage products--and ISE Corporation, a developer of hybrid propulsion systems for heavy duty vehicles--said they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding around development and marketing of high voltage, energy storage systems for hybrid buses and trucks, including sharing of technical resources; use of Maxwell's ultracapacitors by ISE; and sourcing and marketing of ISE's ultracapacitor modules through Maxwell's channel. The two companies have been working together since 2002. ISE Corporation is venture backed by such firms as Siemens Venture Capital, Macquarie Clean Technology Fund, DTE Energy Ventures, RockPort Capital Partners and NGP Energy Technology Partners.
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2010/06/03
Heavy duty flashlight recharges in 90 seconds
If you find yourself using a powerful flashlight on a regular basis, the above-pictured “Light for Life” lasts for 90 minutes on a single charge and recharges in an astonishing 90 seconds.At $170, you’re not going to buy it and keep it in your kitchen’s junk drawer but you’ll never have to buy flashlight batteries ever again, as it can be recharged 50,000 times before needing to be replaced.Light is provided by three big LEDs that put out up to 270 lumens. The quick-charging technology is apparently an “ultracapacitor energy storage system from Ivus Energy Innovations,” according to CNET.Light for Life Flashlight UC3.400 [5.11 Tactical via CNET]
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2010/05/17
フォルクスワーゲンの電気自転車(動画)
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2010/05/01
Battery Technology Events To Take Place In San Jose In October 2010
April 29, 2010
ALL-NEW ‘BATTERY TECHNOLOGY EXPO' AND ‘THE BATTERY SHOW' TO TAKE PLACE IN SAN JOSE IN OCTOBER 2010
Two all-new industry shows, ‘Battery Technology Expo' and ‘The Battery Show', will be launching at the San Jose Convention Center, California on October 5- 7, 2010. Battery Technology Expo showcases the leading component manufacturers, raw material suppliers and highly specialized service providers to the battery and ultracapacitor supply chain. Visitors will discover the perfect solutions for anything related to the design or manufacture of batteries. The show will be a crucial opportunity for visitors to get close to the entire supply chain from the primary and secondary battery industry and experience the latest products from the growing community of lithium-ion, advanced lead-acid, nickel metal hydride or nickel cadmium battery component suppliers.
The Battery Show will exhibit all the latest cells, batteries and ultracapacitors available to the global transportation, personal electronics, healthcare, utilty and grid, space and military markets. Visitors will discover the perfect energy storage solution for anything from a laptop computer to a satellite, electric vehicle or smartphone, as well as network with the entire battery industry, and discuss developments in efficiency, disposal and cost across a wide range of applications.
"Running these two complimentary shows under one roof offers visitors a unique perspective across the entire battery industry, from core technologies and materials, through the research and development to the latest fully developed products for thousands of industrial applications", says James Reader, Managing Director of the two events. "We live in an increasingly wireless world with portable devices and technology developing at an unbelievable pace. Couple this with 21st century environmental concerns, and batteries have never been more important to industry."
Alongside the exhibitions will be two fantastic conference programs for each show. Each conference will be a three-day program, challenging all aspects of battery and ultracapacitor design, manufacturing and usage. Leading industry speakers, in-depth panel discussions and often-controversial topics will make for a useful and enjoyable industry debate. While strongly supported by key industry bodies, the conference is independent and encourages a free and frank exchange of views and ideas, and sometimes even heated debate. Topic streams include: the role of batteries and ultracapacitors in renewable energy systems; the developing market for pure electric vehicles; the role of batteries in electricity generation and SmartGrid electricity networks; advanced batteries for military and aerospace applications; recycling advanced batteries; raw material supply, demand and pricing for battery applications; battery management for high-voltage battery systems; battery options for stationary energy storage; batteries and nanotechnology.
Numerous industrial sectors will be catered for within the 100,000ft2 (10,000m2) of exhibition space shared between the two shows, including automotive and mass transit, aerospace, marine, consumer electronics and computing.
For more information or to register for a press pass, please visit: www.batterytechexpo.com or www.thebatteryshow.com
About Smarter Shows
Smarter Shows is a fresh, new company in the world of highly focused exhibitions and conferences. Created to deliver the very best return on investment for exhibitors and visitors alike, the company offers a smarter approach to face-to-face business, combining invaluable meeting time between customers and their supply chains with added benefits including sophisticated but simple-to-use pre-show networking technologies and onsite meeting scheduling. At Smarter Shows we recognise the need to justify every cent spent on marketing and enhancin g business reach. Smarter Shows is a truly 21st-century exhibition organizer, owned and supported by some of the most respected people in the exhibitions business; the founders have around 50 years' combined industry experience to draw on.
SOURCE: Battery Technology Expo
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ALL-NEW ‘BATTERY TECHNOLOGY EXPO' AND ‘THE BATTERY SHOW' TO TAKE PLACE IN SAN JOSE IN OCTOBER 2010
Two all-new industry shows, ‘Battery Technology Expo' and ‘The Battery Show', will be launching at the San Jose Convention Center, California on October 5- 7, 2010. Battery Technology Expo showcases the leading component manufacturers, raw material suppliers and highly specialized service providers to the battery and ultracapacitor supply chain. Visitors will discover the perfect solutions for anything related to the design or manufacture of batteries. The show will be a crucial opportunity for visitors to get close to the entire supply chain from the primary and secondary battery industry and experience the latest products from the growing community of lithium-ion, advanced lead-acid, nickel metal hydride or nickel cadmium battery component suppliers.
The Battery Show will exhibit all the latest cells, batteries and ultracapacitors available to the global transportation, personal electronics, healthcare, utilty and grid, space and military markets. Visitors will discover the perfect energy storage solution for anything from a laptop computer to a satellite, electric vehicle or smartphone, as well as network with the entire battery industry, and discuss developments in efficiency, disposal and cost across a wide range of applications.
"Running these two complimentary shows under one roof offers visitors a unique perspective across the entire battery industry, from core technologies and materials, through the research and development to the latest fully developed products for thousands of industrial applications", says James Reader, Managing Director of the two events. "We live in an increasingly wireless world with portable devices and technology developing at an unbelievable pace. Couple this with 21st century environmental concerns, and batteries have never been more important to industry."
Alongside the exhibitions will be two fantastic conference programs for each show. Each conference will be a three-day program, challenging all aspects of battery and ultracapacitor design, manufacturing and usage. Leading industry speakers, in-depth panel discussions and often-controversial topics will make for a useful and enjoyable industry debate. While strongly supported by key industry bodies, the conference is independent and encourages a free and frank exchange of views and ideas, and sometimes even heated debate. Topic streams include: the role of batteries and ultracapacitors in renewable energy systems; the developing market for pure electric vehicles; the role of batteries in electricity generation and SmartGrid electricity networks; advanced batteries for military and aerospace applications; recycling advanced batteries; raw material supply, demand and pricing for battery applications; battery management for high-voltage battery systems; battery options for stationary energy storage; batteries and nanotechnology.
Numerous industrial sectors will be catered for within the 100,000ft2 (10,000m2) of exhibition space shared between the two shows, including automotive and mass transit, aerospace, marine, consumer electronics and computing.
For more information or to register for a press pass, please visit: www.batterytechexpo.com or www.thebatteryshow.com
About Smarter Shows
Smarter Shows is a fresh, new company in the world of highly focused exhibitions and conferences. Created to deliver the very best return on investment for exhibitors and visitors alike, the company offers a smarter approach to face-to-face business, combining invaluable meeting time between customers and their supply chains with added benefits including sophisticated but simple-to-use pre-show networking technologies and onsite meeting scheduling. At Smarter Shows we recognise the need to justify every cent spent on marketing and enhancin g business reach. Smarter Shows is a truly 21st-century exhibition organizer, owned and supported by some of the most respected people in the exhibitions business; the founders have around 50 years' combined industry experience to draw on.
SOURCE: Battery Technology Expo
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2010/04/28
Supercapacitors Boost Electric Performance
Berkeley Lab chemist John Chmiola is developing a new breed of micro-supercapacitors that could substantially boost the performance and longevity of portable electric energy storage devices. Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab Public Affairs
April 27, 2010
Berkeley Lab chemist John Chmiola is developing a new breed of micro-supercapacitors that could substantially boost the performance and longevity of portable electric energy storage devices.
“Just think how often your fancy new mobile phone or computer has become little more than a paperweight because the battery lost its zeal for doing its job,” says John Chmiola, a chemist with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). “At a time when cell phones can do more than computers could do at the beginning of the Clinton presidency, it would be an understatement to say that batteries have not been holding up their end of the mobile device bargain.”
Chmiola is a staff scientist in the Advanced Energy Technologies Department of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division. His research is aimed at addressing this problem of relatively short-lived portable energy storage devices. Chmiola believes he has found a solution in electrochemical capacitors, which are commonly referred to as “supercapacitors” because of their higher energy storage densities than conventional dielectric capacitors and higher abuse tolerance than batteries.
In a paper published in the April 23, 2010 issue of the journal Science, titled “Monolithic Carbide-Derived Carbon Films for Micro-Supercapacitors,” Chmiola and Yury Gogotsi of Drexel Univ., along with other co-authors, describe a unique new technique for integrating high performance micro-sized supercapacitors into a variety of portable electronic devices through common microfabrication techniques.
By etching electrodes made of monolithic carbon film into a conducting substrate of titanium carbide, Chmiola and Gogotsi were able to create micro-supercapacitors featuring an energy storage density that was at least double that of the best supercapacitors now available. When used in combination with microbatteries, the power densities and rapid-fire cycle times of these micro-supercapacitors should substantially boost the performance and longevity of portable electric energy storage devices.
“The prospect of integrating batteries and supercapacitors with the micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) they power represents a conceptual leap forward over existing methods for powering such devices,” Chmiola says. “Furthermore, since the same fabrication processes that produced the devices needing the electrical energy also produced the devices storing that energy, we provide a framework for potentially increasing the density of microelectronic devices and allowing improved functionality, reduced complexity, and enhanced redundancy.”
A technique in which high temperature chlorination is used to etch carbon electrodes into a film of titanium carbide has the potential to yield a supercapacitor compatible with the fabrication of a silicon microchip and boasting a high power density and practically infinite cycle life.
The two principal systems today for storing electrical energy are batteries and supercapacitors. Batteries store electrical energy in the form of chemical reactants and generally display even higher energy storage densities than supercapacitors. However, the charging and discharging of a battery exact a physical toll on electrodes that eventually ends the battery’s life after several thousand charge-discharge cycles. In supercapacitors, energy is stored as electrical charge, which does not impact electrodes during operation. This allows supercapacitors to be charged and discharged millions of times.
“We have known for some time that supercapacitors are faster and longer-lasting alternatives to conventional batteries,” Gogotsi says, “so we decided to see if it would be possible to incorporate them into microelectronic devices and if there would be any advantage to doing so.”
Chmiola and Gogotsi chose titanium carbide as the substrate in this study because while all metal carbides can be selectively etched with halogens so that a monolithic carbon film is left behind, titanium carbide is readily available, relatively inexpensive and can be used at the same temperatures as other microfabrication processes.
“Plus, we have a body of work on titanium carbide precursor carbons that provided us with a lot of data to draw from for understanding the underlying science,” Chmiola says.
The process started with titanium carbide ceramic plates being cut to size and polished to a thinness of approximately 300 micrometers. The titanium was then selectively etched from one face of the plate using chlorine at elevated temperatures, a process that is similar to current dry-etching techniques for MEMS and microchip fabrications.
Chlorinating the titanium removed the metal atoms and left in place a monolithic carbon film, a material with a proven track record in supercapacitors produced via the traditional “sandwich construction” technique.
“By using microfabrication techniques to produce our supercapacitors we avoided many of the pitfalls of the traditional method,” says Chmiola, “namely poor contact between electro-active particles in the electrode, large void spaces between particles that don’t store charge, and poor contact between the electro-active materials and the external circuitry.”
The electrical charge storage densities of the micro-supercapacitors were measured in two common electrolytes. As promising as the results were, Chmiola notes the impressive figures were achieved without the “decades of optimization” that other electronic devices have undergone. This, he says, “hints at the possibility that the energy density ceiling for microfabricated supercapacitors is, indeed, quite high.”
Adds Gogotsi, “Given their practically infinite cycle life, micro-supercapacitors seem ideal for capturing and storing energy from renewable resources and for on-chip operations.”
The next step of the work is to scale down the size of the electrodes and improve the dry etching procedure for removing metal atoms from metal carbides to make the process even more compatible with commercial microfabrication technology. At Berkeley Lab, Chmiola is working on the development of new electrolytes that can help increase the energy storage densities of his micro-supercapacitors. He is also investigating the factors that control the usable voltage window of different electrolytes at a carbon electrode.
“My ultimate goals are to increase energy stored to levels closer to batteries, and preserve both the million-plus charge-discharge cycles and recharge times of less than five minutes of these devices,” says Chmiola. “I think this is what the end users of portable energy storage devices really desire.”
Co-authoring the Science paper with Chmiola and Gogotsi were Celine Largeot, Pierre-Louis Taberna and Patrice Simon of Toulouse Univ. in France.
Source: Berkeley Lab
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