Battery Japan 2014 was held in Odaiba, Tokyo. EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce, indicated that Taiwanese battery manufacturers’ performances this time were impressive. From raw material, cell, module manufacturers, to equipment manufacturers, we could see Taiwan’s potential towards each niche market. Thus, Taiwan will still have its competitiveness to compete with Japanese and Korean battery manufacturers.
Phoenix Silicon International Corporation recently expanded their production from cell to module. In order to avoid scattered module size, 2kWh module that passed Smark in 2013 has become the standard. Modules were produced in parallel horizontally. Combining with clients’ inverters, they have started toprovide a variety of residential backuppower applications.On the other hand, battery life has exceeded 2000 times the standard as cell technology matures gradually, which highlighted the durability of Li-ion battery.
GET Green Energy emphasized on the next generation ofhigh capacity cathode materials - graphite silicon production. They developed Nano Transduction Technology (NTT), which suited lithium battery, through past silicon material production experiences. By turning silicon material into powder that improves the compatibility with graphite, NTT can solve the low conduction rate issue of silicon material/Li-ion and effectively control the inflation problems caused by negative electrode materials. Currently, they can provide 200nm of silicon powder and even 100nm in the short run. In addition, per customer’s request, they can transform all kinds of NTT powder through second generation granulation technology and uniformlyadded into different cathode materials.
Lausdeo also showed its high-intensity round-shaped anode materials. Once these materials being processed into nano-size (<12μm), it can effectively increase the energy density (In thecase of 0.1C discharging, density can achieve 162Ah/kg). The stable structure and the easiness to be coated with carbon lead to extremely lowinternal resistance. Compare to the same size cell like A123, cell internal resistance can drop by about 1/3. Moreover, because of the stable structure, Lausdeo begins to focus on fast charge backup power products. As for vehicle development, they pay attention to low-temperature to create a wider market for Li-ion materials.
Ideas Energy Technology presented its smart-grid systems, which mainly focused on residential use. Through inverters, modules, and energy management software, customers can not only provide electricity to their own households, but also monitor and control their residential systems. The current target customers are those that live in whole new smart apartment buildings.
Mobile Energy Technology has been developing module brand for a long time. This time, they showed unique parallel control technology – users can boost the electricity endurance through unique in-parallel power management design and it’s easier to use. MET demonstrated three in-parallel modules, but the design can support up to six in-parallel modules now.
Molicel revealed server modules which can become the backup power for series/parallel server hosts. The type of systems is for Emergency Power off (EPO) use, thus it usually requiresdischarge max current of 3-5C. Molicel is relatively familiar with how it operates since they have been in the power tool field for awhile. Furthermore, they released the JBAH-1000 portable backup power, which can be the power source of lighting and external power. This product has received many positive feedbacks in Europe and USA.
JMS also participated in Battery Japan 2014. They displayed stand-aloneand multi-parallel chargers for walkie-talkie. In fact, JMS has been emphasizing on the niche market. They have built close relationship with clients by cooperating with them in the initial phases. Also, they expanded the branches in Europe and USA to satisfy customers’ requests. Recently, they have shifted to production automation, which further enhanced the value of operators.
Chen Tech Electric revealed energy recovery system this time. The battery power consumed in the activation process can be transferred to other modules (that are waiting to be charged) through Chen Tech Electric’s energy recovery system. The power can also be recycled after connecting to the grid. The overall recycle efficiency can reach 98% maximum.
Lanyang have been focusing on rectangularbattery and power/energy storage applications in Taiwan.Given the decreased price gap between lead-acid and Li-ion battery, they have paid more attention on lead-acid applications. They also showed stainless steel cells and aluminum cells without tank battery to cope with different applications.
