Mega Amps International Ltd, the global pioneer in stored energy solutions and Energy-Storage-as-a-Service solutions business, has added a future technology prospect within Li-ion chemistry to their technology integration growth path to support their ESaaS model.
“We have over the last decade developed novel current collectors for lead-acid batteries, but with an intensified focus on advanced chemistries and our vision of a technology agnostic Mega Amps in the future, our Research and Development arm has moved to transfer our expertise into alternative chemistries” , said Neill Human, board member. “We have developed a current collector structure that allows access to the battery active material for both the charge and discharge reactions in unison, which basically means we have a new class of battery we like to call a tertiary battery based on how primary and secondary batteries are defined. We call it the “uni-cycle””
“Mega Amps will endeavour to partner with third-parties that have competencies in Li-ion prototype manufacturing and product development to build the initial prototypes for testing, transferring know-how from the existing lead-acid based prototypes already demonstrating the solution and taking Li-ion application to the next level” said Frank Pretorius, MD of Mega Amps UK.
Neill Human continued: “We have demonstrated within the lead-acid chemistry that we can access the active material with a charge and discharge process at the same time, where a quasi-independent dual set of electrical circuits exist for the opposing reactions that both modify the active material at their respective rates and we believe that this can be transferred directly into other chemistries by modification of the current collector designs”
Mega Amps will target Uninterruptable Power Supply, Hybridisation of combustion vehicles and Grid services such as frequency regulation as core market applications for this technology in the future. “The applications are very specific, with this new technology offering the very first “In-Line” double-conversation UPS topology as opposed to the current “On-line” double-conversion UPS systems. We have also demonstrated a significant fuel saving potential with integration of lead-acid based versions of this technology on commercial combustion driven vehicles, where the battery now acts as a chemical reservoir directly instituted between supply and load, with both charge and discharge proceeding at varying rates through the battery chemistry in real-time” said Human.
Mega Amps will now be seeking relevant industry partnerships to develop the technology further and transition it from its current form in Lead-Acid to various other chemistries, with an initial focus on Li-ion and are inviting companies with expertise in Li-ion prototype manufacturing to contact us in this regard.
About Mega Amps
With its head-office in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK and a R&D facility in Cape Town South Africa, Mega Amps has been pioneering energy storage solutions since 2010. Recently nominated as a finalist in the Battery Council International 2020 Innovation awards, Mega Amps continually strives to push the boundaries of what’s possible in energy storage.
