lithium-ion

Lithium battery manufacturer A123 Systems LLC (A123) has appointed Patrick Hurley as chief technology officer.

Hurley previously worked for power management company Johnson Controls’s power solutions business unit and was the industrial contact between Johnson Controls and the US Department of Energy’s research partnership, the Joint Center for Energy Storage.

Samsung SDI broke ground on August 18 on a lithium-ion battery factory in the Chinese city of Xian.

The factory will be operational by October 2015 and produce some 40,000 units of battery cells annually to equip electric cars, the company said in a statement.

Chinese Highpower International and Californian Andalay Solar have teamed up for the development of a solar energy storage system (ESS).

The ESS is aimed to enable Andalay Solar’s customers to go off-grid or to deploy a hybrid system, which should reduce utility grid fees.

Highpower International’s ESS comprises six 2.4KWh lithium-ion battery modules and an output converter. The ESS is to be integrated with Andalay Solar’s solar AC/DC systems. In case of the hybrid system option, the utility grid network and the solar system will generate the energy. The system will be designed to provide enough power to sustain household and electronic appliances and all power outlets.

“Energy storage has become an important focus of the solar industry and will be an essential component of system design and installation," said Steven Chan, CEO of Andalay Solar. Chan said that the company wants to focus on customer’s cost-savings and return on investments.

“Andalay Solar's extensive technical know-how, first-hand experiences and understanding about the demand from end customers in the solar market is ideal for commercializing our advanced storage solution,” said Bryan Bai, vice president of sales at Highpower International.

Battery storage maker Corvus Energy is to supply an energy storage system (ESS) to Spanish shipyard LaNaval for the production of a hybrid compressed natural gas (CNG) ferry.

The ESS comprises 48V lithium-ion battery modules with 1.6MWh capacity. The ESS will be used for backup power and aims to increase the energy efficiency of the ferry. The ESS can also be used to provide power-up and power-down capabilities.

The price of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems (ESS) have fallen by a third in the past year, according to a report by Korea’s Electronic Times.

It reports the price of mid-to-large lithium-ion secondary battery cells dropped from $500-600/kWh last year to $350/kWh. In South Korea, said to be less competitive than the global market, batteries are traded at $400-500/kWh.