Have you ever noticed how electronic devices such as radios and computers become warm with they are used? That’s because heat is generated when electricity flowing through the device’s electronic components encounter internal resistance. Some appliances, such as toasters, intentionally use high resistance wires to generate heat. For most devices though, the heat represents wasted money and energy.
Flexible working hours are touted as a nicety or an additional benefit of working at startups, and most companies blindly follow the trend because you can't be worse than your competition. For the on-lookers this leaves the impression of another gratuitous perk, along with unlimited beer and Red Bull, of the new working style of faux companies operating inside their own bubble of an ecosystem while the honest man toils away at his 9-to-5 as he always has. Neither the blindly following companies nor the on-lookers understand that it needs to be about practicalities. When you're trying to achieve the biggest possible impact in the shortest amount of time, you always have more on your plate and you need to make sure that you're constantly working in the most optimal way.
A battle as old as the technologies themselves: ultracapacitors and batteries rule the energy storage industry, fighting for a place at the top. Batteries, as the older and more established technology, wear the crown, but ultracapacitors have taken huge technological leaps forward in the past decade, and are now closing in and overtaking batteries in effectiveness in many areas of energy storage.
Ultracapacitors and batteries differ in one significant way: ultracapacitors store energy in an electric field and batteries store energy in a chemical reaction. Now, if you just need to power your flashlight, you can buy a set of Alkaline batteries and go on your merry, well-lit, way. But if your application requires something more sophisticated, it's vital to understand the benefits of each technology.
The first truly successful hybrid car was the Toyota Prius. Launched first in 1997 for the Japanese market only and introduced globally in 2000, the Prius has gone on to sell 5.7 million units. Since then, a number of successful electric and hybrid cars have entered the market, with the Tesla Model S, the Nissan Leaf, and the BMW i3 leading the charge on the electric front.
Ultracapacitors have significantly longer lifetimes than batteries, but why is that? As we've established before, ultracapacitors store energy in an electric field, whereas batteries rely on a chemical reaction. Being free of chemical reactions means that ultracapacitors, or supercapacitors, can survive over a million charge-discharge cycles. For batteries, depending on the technology, the cycles are counted in the thousands.
Download the Ultracapacitor Voltage, Temperature, and Lifetime white paper here!
The temperature in which an ultracapacitor or a battery is used has a big influence on how long its charge lasts. Many of us living in cold climates are familiar with starting problems with our car engines when the temperature plummets below -15°C. Especially older batteries have problems operating at colder temperatures, and at times, that results in having to call for a taxi. If you are totally out of luck, it's cold enough that your phone's battery is also handling the cold poorly and refuses to cooperate, at which point trampling through the snow to the nearest bus station is your only option if you want to get to work.
The 4th international conference on Automotive 48V Power Supply Systems is in full swing in Berlin, Germany, and Skeleton Technologies CEO Taavi Madiberk presented on ultracapacitor solutions for 48v automotive applications to a room full of industry experts.
In the last installment of our Skeleton Management Profiles blog series we talk to Renee Joost, the Chief Technical Officer at Skeleton Technologies. Dr. Joost has experience working on multi-million euro projects and is now spearheading the development of the next generation of ultracapacitor-based energy storage.
Ultracapacitors, supercapacitors, electric double-layer capacitors, pseudo capacitors, and hybrid capacitors - can you tell the difference? If you can't, don't worry. The amount of different types of capacitors is confusing even for people in the industry, because the terms are used interchangeably (and sometimes incorrectly), which just serves to increase the confusion. What makes it worse is that there's a lot of mystery surrounding energy storage technologies, especially supercapacitors, because companies and research institutions publish press releases, white papers, and research papers about breakthrough technologies, promising the moon. Yet here we still stand, staring at it. Yes, we've been on the moon, but you get my point: no capacitor, no matter the prefix, will power my moon rocket, nor the imaginary Tesla on my front yard any time soon.
The cost of lithium-ion batteries has been going down significantly during the last years - from thousands of USD per KWh to below USD150. The cost of 100 USD/KWh is seen by some analysts as the tipping point where electric vehicles will be as attractive as internal combustion engine cars in terms of production costs.
Hybrid buses are now around us in the big cities.
Things come in all shapes and sizes because they need to fit particular spaces.
We have started our grid focused campaign with the Blackout Club message. This message is no way trying to link specific companies with expensive blackout bills. The Blackout Club is the club nobody wants to be part of yet they find themselves there, billed for more than they would like to pay. (Links to the information related to the particular blackout costs is shown at the bottom of this blog).
Who would have thought?
Today it is apparently possible to use the energy from the waves not just for surfing or getting back to the beach without having to swim, but to generate electricity.
What prevention methods are in place in the small machining outfits at the edge of town, or for large factories?
A lot of people subscribe to insurance programs that "should" compensate for blackout damages. It is all very well until a blackout occurs and the small print gets scrutinized.
Lifeboats have been around for centuries with varying amounts of success at saving people's lives at sea.The reliability of a lifeboat is crucial and they have to operate in all weathers no matter what.
Imagine a small city on water, this is how large ships are like. The critical functions of a small city are also replicated. Light, water, food, medical care... It all has to fit on board and be ready.
How the future of e-mobility today and "made in Germany" is already being set in motion by concrete applications and innovative energy storage technologies
"In order to win a race, you have to first start it and finish it."
The wind power industry has been criticized for receiving substantial subsidies from public funds, fixing the revenue for wind farms. The windmills have also been criticized for being out of place in fields and very dangerous for wild birds and particularly birds of prey.
