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The Fuel Tank of Tomorrow – A Super Capacitor?

Energy storage is one of the biggest challenges facing a number of technologies from the Internet of Things to renewable energy to electric cars. Although batteries are making slow and steady progress, challenges with parameters such as energy density, rate of charge, temperature, safety, and life cycle have, in turn, slowed down the progress of end applications. The answer to how to jump-start progress in energy storage may reside in a 250+ year-old electronic component.

The idea of using a capacitor as a store of energy has been well-known for years and, in recent years, their have been practical implementations of so-called super capacitor technology to a variety of sectors from industrial (e.g. providing a boost of energy for peak needs), to consumer (replacing a battery in a remote control). Still, challenges slowing the implementation of super capacitors as a general battery replacement include; being able to discharge them slowly, stability in high voltage use-cases and achieving an energy density per kilogram that allows a desired form factor.

KiloWatt Labs CEO Omer Ghani explains in the above interview, filmed at the IDTechEX Show!, that his company has overcome these challenges and has begun shipping large-scale, super capacitor-based energy storage solutions for applications such as microgrid, renewable, utility and mobility.  He indicates their solution is a cost-competitive replacement for traditional battery approaches,

“We now have a product that is true alternative without the difficulties and limitations of chemical-based batteries.”

As part of its utility solution, KiloWatt Labs has a server that balances different energy inputs along with the storage capability to optimize efficiency. Telecom is another application for their technology, as the million cycle life specification means no maintenance and a lifetime that is orders of magnitude longer than the underlying telecom network.

Battery replacement in electric vehicles is another area that is ripe for disruption. Ghani points out that the challenge for battery technology is the recharge time (e.g 30 minutes for 80% charge). He says it takes 30 seconds to recharge their super capacitor. With a 30 second recharge time, range is no longer an issue. By being able to adapt to different form factors, the adaptation to existing electric cars should not require massive changes by the automakers.

Of course, there will need to be massive storage devices to enable the kind of current flow required for a fast-charge; storage devices that would be super capacitors. So, instead of having underground fuel tanks, the service station of tomorrow might have underground super capacitors.

[Note, Viodi isn’t affiliated with KiloWatt Labs. To inquire about availability of their products and/or distribution opportunities, please contact them at, http://www.kilowattlabs.com/contact.html]

33 responses to “The Fuel Tank of Tomorrow – A Super Capacitor?”

  1. Ken Pyle Avatar
    Ken Pyle

    it looks like super capacitors could be on the verge of changing energy storage, according to a new report from IDTechEx http://www.idtechex.com/research/reports/supercapacitor-materials-2017-2027-000534.asp

    1. Ken Pyle Avatar
      Ken Pyle

      And another development of supercapacitors combined with photo-voltaic cells on flexible substrates to create wearable devices that harvest energy from light and store it, eliminating the need for batteries and/or charging.

      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221128551830466X?via%3Dihub

    2. J. Michael Ricks Avatar
      J. Michael Ricks

      Ken,
      Would this tech be suitable for inverter-based applications, such as running the 110v systems on a boat, using the 12v alternator to charge it? Some boat systems can draw a surge of 2k+ watts (such as windlass, bow thrusters, HVAC, etc). I’d like to discuss this in more detail, if you have the time.

      Regards,

      Michael

      1. Ken Pyle Avatar
        Ken Pyle

        I’m not the expert Probably best to contact Kiliowatt Labs

  2. Danial Gray Avatar
    Danial Gray

    Good evening I’m very interested in Promoting your Products in the Vancouver BC Canada!

    Please send me more information on these Battery Packs

    Sincerely Danial Gray

  3. Nick Avatar
    Nick

    If i owned an electric car such as a Tesslar and i replaced its existing battery space and replaced the batteries with super capacitors.
    What would my range be and what type of equipment would i need to recharge it

    1. Ken Pyle Avatar
      Ken Pyle

      I don’t know the answer, but I will forward your question to the manufacturer.

  4. Manuel S. Llave Avatar
    Manuel S. Llave

    We are interested to be a distributor here in our country the Philippines. May we know if you have already an APPOINTED distributor? If none, what are your requirements?

  5. Emmanuel George Avatar
    Emmanuel George

    Am intrested in this product and wish to represent your company here in the UK and in AFRICA. Thanks .

  6. v vinod kumar Avatar
    v vinod kumar

    we have new technology generator which produces current from 1 amps to 2.2 amps ratio so for example we use 9 amps of current 415 volts 50 hz we produce 22 amps of current so we need to create a loop for our generator so that we can use 12 amps of current as out put using your technology to start the generator and recharge current.

  7. Waqas Siddiqui Avatar
    Waqas Siddiqui

    I’m considering use of this tech for inverters in rural areas in Africa. If the super cap is discharged completely, assuming it’s of a comparable capacity as a 220AH lead acid battery, what would the load impacted on say, a small petrol generator to fully charge it. There would normally be a massive surge as the capacitor charges. Most inverters give a 13v 20A charging current. Some give 10A. Would they just charge up slower or would it overload the charging system?

  8. […] The Fuel Tank of Tomorrow – A Super Capacitor? […]

  9. Mike hennigar Avatar
    Mike hennigar

    Hello my name is Mike hennigar I live in Iowa I seen your product on YouTube We Are making our cabin 100% solar and wind off-grid I was wondering if you could send more information to me I was going to use #15 6 volt golf cart batteries and I know they only live about 5to8 years even if you do battery maintenance every month thank you you guys got a very interesting concept and I hope one of these days fossil fuels will be the thing of the past because it won’t be here forever

  10. Nadeem Riaz Avatar

    Hi I am very interested in Promoting your Products in Lahore, Pakistan

    Please send me more information regarding he available productions, thanks

  11. M Avatar
    M

    you just need a resistor, if the unit has a short circuit protection..

  12. Don Clavecilla Avatar

    how do you recharge this ultra capacitor batt. is it the same as recharging ie. car battery charger or throught alternator gen.?

    1. Ken Pyle Avatar
      Ken Pyle

      My thought is that the same mathematical principles that would apply to any other capacitor would apply to this as well, but I don’t know the details. Best to contact Kilowatt Labs directly.

  13. Dr. Khalid Basalama Avatar
    Dr. Khalid Basalama

    Great step for much better future for humanity

  14. Ken Pyle Avatar
    Ken Pyle

    A minority $2.5 investment from NorthWestern Corporation (“NorthWestern’), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, NorthWestern Energy Solutions, Inc., is a major endorsement for KiloWatt Laboratories. NorthWestern Energy serves over 700,000 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska plus Yellowstone National Park. This is pure speculation, but the KiloWatts Lab solution could be a good way to store energy from NorthWestern’s Spion Kop wind farm and, Two Dot wind farm. http://www.northwesternenergy.com/our-company/media-center/current/news-article/2018/11/01/Kilowatt-Labs-announces-investment-from-NorthWestern-Corporation

  15. Mihindu Pulukkody Avatar
    Mihindu Pulukkody

    a thought occurred to me that if it could be possible to store more power in a lithium-ion cell the same way data is stored in a USB flash or an SSD. An SSD uses floating gate transistors to store data. If power can be stored in floating gate transistors, in this case, cells, arranged in an X and Y grid, couldn’t it be possible to store more power per sheet of lithium and carbon graphite. If you take a MOSFET transistor in an SSD, it has only an extra layer between the control gate and the body, called the floating gate, which stores the data we want to store or read. But for our purpose, if that extra layer can be made out of aluminium, lithium, a separator, carbon graphite and copper, and arrange all those cells in an X and Y grid, couldn’t a better battery be made?
    If it is possible, then 3D NAND method of storing data on SSD could be applied to storing power in these grids of cells of floating gate transistors, with lithium ion and carbon graphite in its floating gate. The 3D NAND method is easy to manufacture and would create more uniformity in the chemical composition of lithium-ion and carbon graphite, which would give more power and more battery life. I want to think of this as a super-transistor, like a super-capacitor.? a thought occurred to me that if it could be possible to store more power in a lithium-ion cell the same way data is stored in a USB flash or an SSD. An SSD uses floating gate transistors to store data. If power can be stored in floating gate transistors, in this case, cells, arranged in an X and Y grid, couldn’t it be possible to store more power per sheet of lithium and carbon graphite. If you take a MOSFET transistor in an SSD, it has only an extra layer between the control gate and the body, called the floating gate, which stores the data we want to store or read. But for our purpose, if that extra layer can be made out of aluminium, lithium, a separator, carbon graphite and copper, and arrange all those cells in an X and Y grid, couldn’t a better battery be made?
    If it is possible, then 3D NAND method of storing data on SSD could be applied to storing power in these grids of cells of floating gate transistors, with lithium ion and carbon graphite in its floating gate. The 3D NAND method is easy to manufacture and would create more uniformity in the chemical composition of lithium-ion and carbon graphite, which would give more power and more battery life.
    I want to think of this as a super-transistor, like a super-capacitor.?

  16. Gersh Avatar

    Hello. Is this company still in business? How do we get in contact? Thanks!

    1. Ken Pyle Avatar

      Best to contact KiloWatt Labs directly at https://kilowattlabs.com/contact

  17. test@test.com Avatar

    Hi, on your website, no product, no price, have a nice day

    1. Ken Pyle Avatar

      Viodi doesn’t sell this product. Please go to https://kilowattlabs.com/buy

  18. Ken Pyle Avatar
    Ken Pyle

    To be clear, Viodi does not sell the KiloWatt Laboratories’ product. To purchase it, please check out their website at: https://kilowattlabs.com/buy

  19. Sudhir chakkarwar Avatar

    Would like to become franchisee owner

    1. Ken Pyle Avatar
      Ken Pyle

      Best to contact KiloWatt Labs directly at https://kilowattlabs.com/contact

      1. daclhill Avatar

        I do not see any outlets in USA. Is the oil industry somehow influencing the development in the USA.

        1. Ken Pyle Avatar
          Ken Pyle

          I don’t know what the reason for the slow rollout in the U.S. It will be interesting to what the investment by the Montana utility, referenced above, will influence the rollout of the product in the U.S. (e.g. will the primary market be as temporary storage to shave the need for peaker electricity generation plants?).

  20. Oscar Dean Windham Avatar
    Oscar Dean Windham

    Super-capacitors are obviously the future for energy storage and discharge, in my opinion, but there is the befuddlement, when it comes to the e-car, as to why you people haven’t already figured out a way to harvest the kinetic energy from the rotation of the wheel or wheels by say, building coils into the wheels which rotate and maybe even using (CRP) counter rotating propeller technology coupled with ratio induction while the stator, if my memory of basic electronics is correct, remains fixed, as in being a component of the axle. The major problem may be how to dump the excess energy produced. P.O.O.F.O.O.S.I.E.

    1. Ken Pyle Avatar
      Ken Pyle

      I am not an expert by any means, but it sounds like what you are describing is regenerative braking, which is widely deployed on hybrid and pure electric vehicles.

  21. Marty Snyder Avatar

    Kilowatt Labs Sirius supercapacitors are now available in the USA. CIC is the United States distributor for the modules and can assist in helping users design systems. see https://cicusa.com/energy-storage-supercapacitors/ for more information.

  22. […] the comments from a 2016 interview with Kilowatt Labs CEO, Omer Ghani, Snyder is bullish on the role that supercapacitors will have in creating a more […]

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