Capacitors As Long Duration Energy Storage Devices
By
docdave
on September 2, 2007 at 06:33 am
9 Comments
For the techies (and others) who blog and comment here, this intriguing article describes a technology breakthrough in capacitive storage that allows an small automobile to travel 500 miles on a 5 second charge.
The device is basically a capacitor.
Capacitors are not considered to be long duration energy storage devices so this could be a monumental technological breakthrough.
Of course, there is a lot of skepticism.
However, the founders of the company have excellent credentials.
And they have a customer that believes that their technology is real
Technological breakthrough claims are often made that are not realized. Even when a concept is proven in the laboratory, bringing it into production may be impractical. This is definitely a ‘wait and see’ proposition.
An Austin-based startup called EEStor promised “technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries,” meaning a motorist could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles roundtrip between Dallas and Houston without gasoline.
The device is basically a capacitor.
EEStor’s secret ingredient is a material sandwiched between thousands of wafer-thin metal sheets, like a series of foil-and-paper gum wrappers stacked on top of each other. Charged particles stick to the metal sheets and move quickly across EEStor’s proprietary material.The result is an ultracapacitor, a battery-like device that stores and releases energy quickly
Capacitors are not considered to be long duration energy storage devices so this could be a monumental technological breakthrough.
Batteries rely on chemical reactions to store energy but can take hours to charge and release energy. The simplest capacitors found in computers and radios hold less energy but can charge or discharge instantly. Ultracapacitors take the best of both, stacking capacitors to increase capacity while maintaining the speed of simple capacitors.
Of course, there is a lot of skepticism.
Yet the speculation and skepticism have continued, fueled by the company’s original assertion of making batteries obsolete
However, the founders of the company have excellent credentials.
EEStor’s founders have a track record. Richard D. Weir and Carl Nelson worked on disk-storage technology at IBM Corp. in the 1990s before forming EEStor in 2001. The two have acquired dozens of patents over two decades
And they have a customer that believes that their technology is real
."It’s a paradigm shift,” said Ian Clifford, chief executive of Toronto-based ZENN Motor Co., which has licensed EEStor’s invention. “The Achilles’ heel to the electric car industry has been energy storage. By all rights, this would make internal combustion engines unnecessary.”
Technological breakthrough claims are often made that are not realized. Even when a concept is proven in the laboratory, bringing it into production may be impractical. This is definitely a ‘wait and see’ proposition.
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