鋰電池發展訊息部落

美國IBM邀請日美歐的電池研究人員作演講人而舉辦的演講會“Almaden Institute 2009”。由於主題是“後鋰離子充電電池”，因此，不僅有電池廠商及材料廠商，還有來自大型汽車廠商的近300名聽眾會聚一堂，把會場擠得滿滿。

2009年6月，IBM宣佈了將電池領域作為今後的重要主題積極推進的研發方針。IBM為什麼要涉足電池領域？解開這一謎團的鑰匙，在於美國的國情。美國目前對於蓄電池抱有很大期待。美國總統歐巴馬表示，作為“美國復甦與再投資法（ARRA：American Recovery And Reinvestment Act）”的一環，將為能源相關政策劃撥一大筆預算。其中因預算額巨大而引人關注的，是汽車電動化及電力網升級換代計劃。

汽車電動化方面，為了促進可以電動方式行駛一定距離的插電式混合動力車及電動汽車的普及，美國政府將向生產電動車輛的汽車廠商、電池廠商及材料廠商等提供24億美元的資助。另一方面，將向電力網的升級換代提供110億美元資助，但其中，估計有針對為吸收再生能源的變動而設置的蓄電池的資助。

目前，美國已開始著手設立電動車輛用鋰離子充電電池的製造基地。美國通用汽車（GM）宣佈將設立電池組工廠（電池單元由LG Chem供應），日產汽車宣佈將設立電動汽車用電池的製造基地，等等。

今後，對更高性能蓄電裝置的需求將越來越高是毋庸置疑的，正是著眼于這種狀況，以IBM為代表的眾多企業才積極投身到比現有性能更高的“後鋰離子電池”的開發中。

 除了電動車需要性能更好的電池外，儲能裝置的電池也是一項不錯的投資喔~ 以下有一篇關於A-123開發的20Ah的單電池報導~

資料來源: http://www.altdotenergy.com

Battery Energy Storage Explained

Batteries, single purpose devices that most of us take for granted unless they need to be recharged or replaced, are an essential enabling technology for renewable energy and the sixth industrial revolution. With this week’s impressive launch of A123 Systems, it appears as if investor interest is picking up.

Energy storage is a varied industrial sector that encompasses a variety of mechanical, electrochemical and electrostatic devices and eighteen pure play public companies that range from well known to unknown. This article takes a look at the current state of the technology and the major players involved.

Batteries rely on chemistry, rather than physics, so the rapid rates of change we’ve come to expect from information technology and electronics will be rare in the battery industry. Moore’s Law simply does not apply. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that battery technologies will continue to improve at single digit annual rates, but expecting disruptive changes that result in huge cost reductions or performance gains is unreasonable. Which is why when EEStor says that they are working on an “electrical energy storage unit” that would hold ten times the amount of power as todays most advanced batteries at the same weight. Their claims have to be meet with a fair degree of let’s wait and see.

The battery business is hard-core manufacturing and revenue growth will be tied to the construction of new factories, a process that requires substantial amounts of time and money. Accordingly, the time lag between a new product announcement and the receipt of substantial revenue from product sales will typically be measured in months or years, rather than weeks.

Battery manufacturing requires huge amounts of raw materials that typically account for 70% to 80% of total production costs. So while material constraints have not been major issues in many new industries, they can be important issues for batteries that are based on scarce or expensive raw materials.