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Aquion Energy
IndustryElectronics
Founded1 January 2008 Edit this on Wikidata
HeadquartersLawrenceville
Key people
CEO Scott Pearson[1]
CTO Jay Whitacre
ProductsAqueous Hybrid Ion (AHI) battery
Websiteaquionenergy.com

Aquion Energy is a Pittsburgh-based company that manufactures sodium ion batteries and energy storage systems.

The company claims to provide a low-cost way to store large amounts of energy (e.g. for an electricity grid) through thousands of battery cycles, and a non-toxic end product made from widely available material inputs and which operates safely and reliably across a wide range of temperatures and operating environments.[2]

An individual battery stack was expected to store 1.5 kWh, a pallet-sized unit 180 kWh and a shipping-container-size box holds 2.88 MWh.[3][4] The battery cannot overheat.[5]

The company expects its products to last for more than 3,000 charge/discharge cycles while retaining 80% of capacity,[6] twice as long as lead-acid batteries. Costs are expected to be about the same as with lead-acid.[7][8]

History

The company was founded in 2008 by Jay Whitacre, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and Ted Wiley. They set up research and development offices in Lawrenceville, where it produced pilot-stage batteries.

The company claims to have raised funding from Kleiner Perkins, Foundation Capital, Bill Gates, Nick and Jobey Pritzker, Bright Capital and Advanced Technology Ventures, among others.[9]

The company was the corporate winner in the energy category at the 2011 World Technology Awards.[10]

In October 2014 they announced a new generation[11] with a single stack reaching 2.4 kWh and a multi-stack module holding 25.5 kWh.[12]

In 2015, the company announced that it would supply batteries for a Hawaii microgrid to serve as backup for a 176-kilowatt solar panel array. The system will store 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity.[13]

In April 2015 they announced they have been Cradle to Cradle Certified.[14] to Bronze level[15] It was also reported they were reducing headcount.[16]

In September '15 Whitacre won the Lemelson–MIT Prize[17]

Technology

Main article: Sodium-ion battery

The battery materials are non-toxic.[18] As of early 2014 the cathode used manganese oxide and relies on intercalation reactions. The anode was a titanium phosphate (NaTi2(PO4)3).[19] The electrolyte was <5M NaClO4.[20] A synthetic cotton separator was reported.[21] The electrode layers were an unusually thick (>2 mm), which reduces power density. The device used Siemens power inverter technology.[22]

Production

The company set up manufacturing facilities at a former Sony television assembly plant in East Huntingdon,[23] initially proposing a capacity of 500 megawatt-hours per year in 2013 and 2014.[24] In March 2014 they announced that commercial shipments of batteries would begin in mid-2014,[25] and in May 2014 announced they had shipped 100 units.[26]

Key personnel

Jay Whitacre

Dr. Jay F. Whitacre received a BA in Physics from Oberlin College and a PhD in Materials Science from the University of Michigan. He held various positions at Caltech (as a Postdoctoral Scholar at JPL) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, studying energy-related topics ranging from fundamental materials function to systems engineering. In 2007 he accepted a professorship at Carnegie Mellon.[27][28]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Grid Energy Storage Management Team". Aquion Energy. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  2. ^ "Technology". Aquion. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  3. ^ Martin LaMonica (2011-07-22). "Aquion Energy takes plunge into bulk grid storage". News.cnet.com. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  4. ^ aquionenergy.com (2013-10-28). "Grid scale batteries". aquionenergy.com. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  5. ^ Bogo, Jennifer; Gertz, Emily (December 2014). "Clean, Cheap Energy Storage". Popular Science. 285 (6): 026. Retrieved 26 December 2014. It's nontoxic, low-cost, and modular, and it can't overheat.
  6. ^ "Aquion Technical Presentation" (PDF). Aquion Energy. Aquion Energy. 2014. Retrieved February 2015. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ Kevin Bullis (18 February 2014). "Storing the Sun". MIT Technology review.
  8. ^ Kevin Bullis (14 November 2014). "A Battery to Prop Up Renewable Power Hits the Market". MIT Technology review.
  9. ^ "Aquion Energy Announces $35 Million Financing Round to Support Commercialization and Launch of Novel Energy Storage Systems". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  10. ^ "THE 2011 WORLD TECHNOLOGY AWARD WINNERS". Wtn.net. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  11. ^ Katie Fehrenbacher. "Startup Aquion Energy shows off the next generation of its battery for solar and the grid". gigaom.com.
  12. ^ "Aquion Energy Reveals Second-Gen AHI Battery Technology, 40% Increase In Energy". CleanTechnica.
  13. ^ Bullis, Kevin (January 8, 2015). "Grid Batteries for Wind, Solar Find First Customers". Technology Review. Retrieved February 2015. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  14. ^ Hanley, Steve. "Aquion Energy Aqueous Hybrid Ion Battery Is Cradle To Cradle Certified". cleantechnica. cleantechnica. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  15. ^ Eco-Business. "WEnergy Global wins bid to light up bicycle track around Bangkok International Airport". Eco-Business. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ Coyne, Justine. "Aquion Energy cuts jobs in Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Business Times. Pittsburgh Business Times. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  17. ^ Smit, Deb. "CMU's Jay Whitacre wins the Lemelson-MIT Prize for his incredible, edible (nontoxic) battery". next pittsburgh. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  18. ^ "Reinterpreting the Process of Innovation: Jay Whitacre at TEDxCMU 2012". TED. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  19. ^ Whitacre, J. F.; Shanbhag, S.; Mohamed, A.; Polonsky, A.; Carlisle, K.; Gulakowski, J.; Wu, W.; Smith, C.; Cooney, L. (2015-01-01). "A Polyionic, Large-Format Energy Storage Device Using an Aqueous Electrolyte and Thick-Format Composite NaTi2(PO4)3/Activated Carbon Negative Electrodes". Energy Technology. 3 (1): 20–31. doi:10.1002/ente.201402127. ISSN 2194-4296.
  20. ^ Wu, Wei; Shabhag, Sneha; Chang, Jiang; Rutt, Ann; Whitacre, Jay F. (2015). "Relating Electrolyte Concentration to Performance and Stability for NaTi2(PO4)3/Na0.44MnO2 Aqueous Sodium-Ion Batteries" (PDF). Journal of The Electrochemical Society. 162 (6): A803–A808. doi:10.1149/2.0121506jes.
  21. ^ {{Cite Whitacre, J.; Shanbhag, S.; Mohamed, A.; Polonsky, A.; Carlisle, K.; Gulakowski, J.; Wu, W.; Smith, C.; Cooney, L.; Blackwood, D.: A Polyionic, Large-Format Energy Storage Device Using an Aqueous Electrolyte and Thick Format Composite NaTi2(PO4)3 / Activated Carbon Negative Electrodes. Energy Technology 2015, 3, 20-31. }}
  22. ^ "A new power grid battery emerges with a deal from Siemens — Tech".
  23. ^ "Aquion chooses Sony site for battery plant". Pittsburghlive.com. 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  24. ^ "Aquion Energy's Disruptive Battery Tech Picks Up $35M in VC". Greentech Media. 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  25. ^ Doom, Justin (2014-03-19). "Aquion to Begin Commercial Battery Shipments This Year, CEO Says". Businessweek. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  26. ^ "Aquion gearing up for battery production". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  27. ^ "Dr Jay Whitacre". The Battery Show. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
  28. ^ "Jay Whitacre - Google Scholar Citations". Scholar.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
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