eNewsletter

April 2010

Synchronous Boost Regulator from Microchip Enables Longer-Lasting Battery Applications
Microchip Technology, Inc. has released the MCP1640 Synchronous Boost Regulator, which features an operating voltage down to 0.35 V, quiescent current as low as 19 microamperes and shutdown current of less than one microampere. With integrated dual FET transistors and output currents up to 350 milliamperes, the 500 kHz MCP1640 regulator enables compact, longer-lasting battery applications in the consumer electronics market. 

The MCP1640 regulator’s operating voltage of down to 0.35 V and start-up voltage of 0.65 V allows use with even a single, completely drained alkaline, NiMh or NiCd battery cell.  A PWM/PFM option enables the device’s low quiescent and shutdown currents and provides up to 96 percent efficiency, allowing for longer battery run times. The regulator’s two integrated FET transistors reduce component count, resulting in smaller overall designs.

The MCP1640 Synchronous Boost Regulator is available in six-pin SOT-23 and 2 mm by 3 mm DFN packages, for $0.41 each, in 10,000-unit quantities. 

Motorola Introduces IMPRES Fleet Management for Two-Way Radio Batteries and Chargers
The Enterprise Mobility Solutions business of Motorola, Inc. has introduced IMPRES Fleet Management for Motorola’s exclusive IMPRES two-way radio batteries and chargers. As soon as a battery is inserted into an IMPRES charger, information is collected and shared with administrators to easily determine proper actions, such as proactively removing poorly performing batteries from the fleet or ensuring each user has the appropriate capacity battery based on their needs. Accumulated data is managed through pre-defined or customizable reports that provide key information to ensure users operate their batteries and chargers to maximum efficiency.

IMPRES Fleet Management allows system administrators to run reports that allow them to proactively manage their fleet of IMPRES batteries and chargers. They are no longer guessing when batteries need to be replaced within their fleet or keeping a significant stock of spare batteries on hand.

IMPRES Fleet Management is most beneficial for mid-to-large sized organizations that have at least 100 IMPRES batteries in their fleet such as public safety agencies, public works, utilities and manufacturing companies. IMPRES Fleet Management is scalable from a single site to a multi-site networked system and supports up to 25,000 IMPRES batteries in the same location or over geographically dispersed areas.

Interstate Batteries Introduce Golf Car/RV Power Technology
Interstate Batteries has introduced an advanced new golf car battery that offers 10 percent more drive time per cycle than  other batteries, along with an increased number of cycles.

The line, including the GC2-XHD, is used in golf cars and RVs and extends life cycle without a price increase. Other design improvements include better recharge acceptance for longer life, enhanced plate stability alignment for reliability and more out-of-the-box power.

Legislation Propels Growth of the European Batteries Waste Management Market
Batteries waste management has been a growing market across Europe principally because legislative pressure and impending deadlines are altering the way battery waste has been dealt with so far. The EU Batteries Directive is one of the most dominant tools that have shaped market demand, supported scientific advances and encouraged investment in the batteries waste management market. While automotive and industrial batteries have already achieved a high recycling percentage due to the economic benefits of recycling, the Directive now has stringent targets for the regulation of portable batteries, paving way for new opportunities for the market participants.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, European Batteries Waste Management Market, finds that the market earned revenues of $10.3 million in 2009, and estimates this to reach $74.0 million by 2016. The regions covered in this research service are the UK, Germany, France, Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Alpine (Switzerland and Austria), Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland), southern Europe (Italy, Spain and Portugal) and central and eastern Europe (CEE).

"The new battery directive imposes collection targets and recycling efficiencies for all batteries and introduces extended producer responsibility (EPR) as a regulatory instrument," says Frost & Sullivan Program Manager Suchitra Padmanabhan. "Therefore, the transposition of this directive is expected to have a radical impact on the countries that are not yet forerunners in this field."
The intensifying volumes of waste batteries in Europe widen the scope of market opportunities for battery disposal services companies. With fast-approaching deadlines for legislative compliance, the demand for efficient solutions and material recovery is on the rise.
However, the diverse nature of local legislation regarding batteries across the European Union has made the implementation as well as its potential interpretations extremely varied.

"Waste management companies find it challenging to manage these variations arising from lack of clarity, unified registration and reporting requirements across member states in the EU," explains Padmanabhan. "This has hampered development of an integrated unified waste management solution by these companies."

Companies are seeking to address these local variations by gradually formulating strategies depending on the state of compliance with the EU legislation and the availability of infrastructure to meet these demands.

GM Doubling Size of US Advanced Automotive Battery Lab
General Motors is doubling the size of the largest automotive battery lab in the US to expedite the development of electrically driven vehicles for consumers. The $8-million investment will improve on-site testing of all current and new battery cell, module and pack technologies by enlarging the Global Battery Systems Lab on the GM Technical Center campus by 30,000 sq. ft. to 63,000 sq. ft. The addition will be located adjacent to the existing lab inside the Alternative Energy Center facility. Areas previously used for engine testing will be renovated for battery development, with construction scheduled for completion in the summer.

GM's Global Battery Systems Lab began operations in January 2009 and became fully operational in May 2009. It is used by GM's team of more than 1,000 engineers working on advanced batteries and electrically driven vehicles. More than half of the current lab is dedicated to testing the electrochemical battery cells and their enclosures, known as modules. The lab's remaining floor space is committed to evaluating completed battery packs.

The Global Battery Systems Lab recently received world-class accreditation from the ISO-certified American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), a nonprofit, public service group that evaluates the competency and capability of labs across all fields of testing. Auditors from the A2LA reviewed testing procedures and results, equipment calibration, operations documentation, personnel competency and the lab's quality policy. The benefits of being an ISO-certified lab include ensuring that data is accurate and avoiding expensive retesting from unreliable results.

The lab is equipped with 176 test channels and 49 thermal chambers duplicating extreme real-world driving patterns, hot and cold temperatures and calendar life.

This lab includes many environmentally conscious features such as a center hallway with high-efficiency LED lighting and a floor made from recycled tires. Approximately 90 percent of the electricity used for battery testing can be returned to the local energy grid for use by homeowners and businesses. The Global Battery Systems Lab received an honorable mention for Green Project of the Year by the Construction Association of Michigan.

Additional benefits offered by the Global Battery Systems Lab include a thermal shaker table for testing the structural integrity of the battery and electronic controls; a battery teardown area for failure analysis and competitor benchmarking; an integrated test automation system and improved Design of Experiments methodology, an information-gathering exercise that allows GM to perform more thorough battery tests more quickly.

This smart grid project will demonstrate how community battery systems can enhance grid stability and decrease overall electricity costs by practicing “peak shaving.” Homeowners can avoid higher peak power costs during evening hours when multiple appliances are typically running after Valence Technology dynamic energy systems kick-in to power the smart appliances.

As part of the regional demonstration project entitled “Technology Solutions for Wind Integration in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT),” the “Smart Grid Community of the Future” will serve as a test model for the development of future distributed energy-generation communities utilizing clean technologies. The project includes improved technologies to monitor the ERCOT electric grid and expanded smart portal capability to support demand response in the new development, Discovery at Spring Trails. With $13.5 million in funding from the US Department of Energy, the $27.4 million project is scheduled to break ground this year.

Valence Technology stationary energy storage systems are designed for use in frequency regulation, community energy storage, telecommunications back-up power, auxiliary power units and uninterruptible power supply projects around the globe.

PowerGenix Develops Vehicle Batteries for Purchase by US Army's TARDEC
PowerGenix has announced that the US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) has purchased NiZn batteries for test as a possible replacement for the lead-acid batteries currently in use. PowerGenix's NiZn technology offers significant performance gains, delivering twice the energy in half the space of lead-acid batteries.

The most widely deployed battery format, 6T, is used in 95 percent of US military vehicles. In 2008, the military purchased roughly 700,000 6T batteries. Last year, after recognizing the need to develop more advanced vehicle batteries, TARDEC formed the Advanced Automotive Battery Initiative to pursue cost-effective, lightweight and reliable battery components and materials.

The cost, safety and performance advantages make PowerGenix's technology well suited for a variety of applications in military vehicles including starting, lighting and ignition; silent watch; equipment actuation; and hybrid-electric propulsion systems. Testing of PowerGenix's Nickel-Zinc packs is anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Battery Power 2010 Program: New Sessions Added

Battery Power 2010, October 19-20 in Dallas, Texas, is the industry leading conference designed specifically for battery manufacturers, distributors, OEMs, design engineers and power integrators. This is a once-a-year opportunity to learn and discuss the latest capabilities, design issues, trends and market forecasts in batteries and battery-powered products and systems.

The conference program evolves every year to feature more than 35 presentations on the latest advancements in the industry and we are pleased to announce newly added sessions for 2010.

Battery System Integration, Energy Management and Testing
This presentation looks at the requirements for automotive battery packs, including testing and the battery management system. It will highlight the differences between the requirements for hybrid vehicle, PHEV's and EV's. Using a real battery pack as an example the various steps required to specify, design and test the pack and configure / calibrate the BMS will be described. Thee focus will be on li-ion based packs, but it will be shown that some "micro" hybrid applications can be well served with lead-acid based solutions.
Neil Johnson, Senior Project Engineer, Advanced Systems Engineering • Ricardo, Inc.

Li-Ion Myth-Buster
Many widely held beliefs about Li-Ion batteries and their BMSs may be untrue, or at least not entirely accurate. In this session we will try to poke holes into some of those beliefs: that cell capacity depends on rate of discharge, and decreases with number of cycles; that fewer electrons come out of a cell than you put into it; that balancing protects a battery, allows use of the entire charge in a battery, and compensates for variations in cell resistance and capacity; that top balancing is counterproductive, and balanced batteries die more readily that batteries without a BMS; that Li-Ion cells will be damaged if allowed to go below a certain voltage; that there's no need for a BMS if using a CCCV charger and a motor controller with a low voltage cutoff.
Davide Andrea, Engineer • Elithion

Advancement of Ultrasonic Metal Weld Tooling for Battery Applications
Lithium-ion batteries are finding increasing application due to their high voltage, high power density, and low weight compared to competing battery chemistries. Assembling lithium-ion batteries, however, presents new manufacturing challenges. One major difference, lithium-ion cell technology requires dissimilar tab materials. Assembling these batteries requires joining of the thin aluminum, copper, or nickel tabs, often in multiple-layers and to thicker (and often dissimilar) interconnects. When compared with other potential welding processes, ultrasonic welding is able to consistently produce reliable joints. Additionally, the process produces minimal heat, requires no flux, can be used with coated materials, produces low-resistance joints, and is low cost. A collaborative study with EWI and the Ohio State University was conducted to study the effect of ultrasonic tool designs, weld parameters and the number of foil layers on the weld quality. This presentation will discuss the approach and results of this study.
Matthew C. Bloss, Project Engineer • Edison Welding Institute

Sodium Metal Halide Batteries for Stationary Applications
This presentation will provide an overview of GE's new Sodium Metal Halide battery technology. Discover the key performance parameters for stationary applications such as UPS, telecommunications and utilities.
Ganesh Balasubramanian, Product Manager - Energy Storage • General Electric

Click Here to Read the Complete Session Descriptions

Click Here to Register for Battery Power 2010

April

27-28 - 3rd China & Global Lithium Battery Industry Summit 2010, Beijing, China

May

ESA
May 4-6
Charlotte, N.C.

Electricity Storage Association’s 20th annual meeting—ESA 2010 “Delivering Energy Smarter”—is scheduled May 4-6, 2010 in Charlotte, N.C.
 
Attendees, Exhibitors and Sponsors have an excellent opportunity at ESA 2010 to learn more about the development of energy storage technologies that are transforming the U.S. electric power grid into a more reliable, secure and efficient network.
 
Sign up today to attend the conference at The Westin Charlotte, centrally located in downtown Charlotte and a short distance to Duke Energy, the new NASCAR Hall of Fame, and many unique local restaurants, galleries and museums.
 
For more details on ESA 2010 and registration visit: www.electricitystorage.org

Battcon 2010 International Stationary Battery Conference
May 17–19
Hollywood, Fla.

The Battcon Stationary Battery Conference is a three day, noncommercial, technical event for storage battery users from the power, telecom, UPS and other industries.

This well-established event brings over 500 end-users, engineers, battery and battery test equipment manufacturers, installers, and standards and safety experts together to discuss storage battery innovations and solutions for existing systems.

Presentations by users and manufacturers address everyday battery applications, technical advances, and industry concerns. The dialogue between the audience and the presenters make Battcon a truly interactive experience. A two evening trade show featuring storage power related vendors is also part of the conference.

For more information contact Jennifer Stryker, Albér, 3103 N. Andrews Ave. Ext., Pompano Beach, FL 33064. (954) 623-6660 or visit www.battcon.com.

Sensors Expo & Conference
June 7-9
Rosemont, Ill.

For 24 Years, Sensors Expo & Conference Has Been the Leading Industry Event Focusing Exclusively on Sensors & Sensor-Integrated Systems! The in-depth conference program features the world's leading authorities, in a carefully designed program, including topics such as: Energy Harvesting, Wireless Networking, Low-Power Sensing, Bio-Sensing, MEMS & MCUs, Monitoring Tools & Applications, Novel Approaches to Measurement, Power/Smart Grid Monitoring & Control, and more!  PLUS – save months of time researching, by examining solutions to your toughest sensing challenges from best-in-class vendors on the Expo floor!  Whether you're looking to find the latest sensing solutions, evaluate emerging standards, find and compare suppliers, or solve new design challenges, you can't afford to miss Sensors Expo & Conference! 

Visit www.sensorsexpo.com for details!

The 2010 EDS Conference would like your assistance in gaining perspective on the component manufacturers and distributors that areexhibiting “best practices” during this economic recovery period. The following link takes you to a first-of-its-kind EDS All-Industry Survey—addressing engineering, purchasing and corporate management professionals in the electronic components industry.

The results of this survey will be presented at the 2010 EDS conference in Las Vegas, on Monday, May 10, 2010, at 5 p.m. The top three manufacturers and distributors in each category will be recognized at the EDS All-Industry Event.

To help thank you for your time, your name will be entered in a drawing to win one of three 500-Gig external hard drives.  

We thank you again for your interest and support.   

EDS All Industry Survey links to:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EDS2010

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