Energy's Holy Grail: Long-Term Storage Batteries

One of the largest challenges facing the alternative energy industry has been coming up with a cost-efficient, long-term storage of storing electricity generated by wind and solar power.

That obstacle hasn't diminished growing international interest in alternative energy, however. Since 2009, the worldwide installation of solar power installations has reportedly increased annually by 40 percent, while the capacity of energy from wind turbines has doubled.

Energy storage technology has become a municipal and political issue as well. Last year, California became the first state to adopt an energy storage mandate. That mandate requires California's three major, investor-owned utilities to have electric storage capacity of 200 megawatts by the end of this year, and 1,325 megawatts (the amount of energy needed to power around one milion homes) by the end of 2020.

Related: GM Investing Heavily In Its Next-Gen Electric Vehicles And Batteries

"Storage really is the game changer in the electric industry.,” California Public Utilities Commissioner Mike Florio said at the time in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News. “And while this new policy is not without risk, the potential rewards are enormous.”

Among the companies looking to reap those potential rewards is Pennsylvania-based Axiom Power International AXPW, which has developed an advanced lead-carbon battery as an alternative to standard lead-acid batteries.

More than eight years of R & D on these PbC batteries, according to Axiom, have determined them to have faster recharge rates, longer lives and greater charge acceptance than lead-acid batteries. They also compare well against lithium-ion batteries.

Axiom CEO Tom Granville tells Benzinga the PbC batteries are more of an evolution, rather than a revolution, in energy storage technology. “It's not going to change (energy storage) as much as maybe people would like,” he said, “but it can do it more quickly. And in doing it more quickly you can take advantage of being able to store more wind power, for example.”

Granville says his company is gearing up for the micro-hybrid battery market – supplying the ancillary elecrical functions needed for hybrid vehicles, such as starting and stopping the engine, powering the brakes, lights, air conditioning and other electrical needs. “We're a solution for that stop-start market,” he says.

Axiom is now ready to “fully commercialize” its energy storage technology, although Granvile notes the industries they deal with – utilities, rail and automotive – take time to retool to new technologies. “They're slowest to adapt to a change,” he said, “and demand thorough testing.”