gg cox:
I have been lurking on this thread since it was started by Dan. I appreciate all of the information that has been posted, particularly your information. The technology is very interesting and I believe VRB Power finally has its act together and is going get its commercialization moving. VRB should become a very big winner. I suspect that this thread will become very active over the next few months and that the company will be bought out as the technology become better understood..
I haven't noticed mention of the recent release announcing an electrolyte with a 50 percent improvement in the capacity. It is, in my view, a most important development. While the electrolyte may be more expensive and the reduction in overall initial cost of systems may be only 20 percent, the reduction in space required is also important and applications that were marginal become winners. This is going to increase the attractiveness of the technology dramatically.
I was also pleased to see the release announcing the deal with Magnetech because I believe the technology fits well into a variety of telecom applications. This market could well be a company maker itself. Every telephone central office has a battery room to assure that power is not interrupted. However, line concentrators or remote switches, as well as equipment on Cellular Towers, require power backup and the technology should replace lead acid batteries in all of these applications. Power back up for Cellular Towers may be the initial focus but Bell South has more telephone-service-related remote vehicles than cellular towers and power backup is required for all. And, as DSL grows, all Telcos will be using more remote vehicles and I believe they will find it necessary to provide power backup, particularly if they start providing voice service over them (VOIP). FWIW, cable companies providing internet access have equivalent installations and power backup is required and all of their servers require power backup. The market for reliable power backup systems in the communications business is huge.
About a year ago we had a power outage that lasted several days for several nearby towns. It exceeded the nominal 8-hour backup capability of most battery systems in the telecommunications installations. Central offices have their own motor generators but generators had to be moved out to maintain power at cellular towers. I'm not aware of any other remote vehicles that were impacted. However, I am aware of the noise that such generators make and how it is one of the reasons given by neighbors who object when a tower installation is proposed for their area. A redox-battery-system could avoid the need for portable generators. The electrolyte tanks could simply be replaced with tanks containing charged electrolyte. The charged electrolyte could be stored at a central location where the used electrolyte is recharged. One can envisage treating the electrolyte just like fuel for the motor generators. The fact that a redox battery system can have its electrolyte replaced with fully charged electrolyte without the delay for recharging, will stimulate a whole range of applications.
The railroad application mentioned is interesting and, as society comes to understand that the cost of power is increasing, conservation applications will grow. FWIW, I was in San Francisco recently and was reminded that the trolleys are equipped to deliver the power derived from braking as a trolley moves down a hill back into the system so that it can be used by a trolley climbing up a hill. This doesn't mean they couldn't benefit from additional energy storage. It just demonstrates the practicality of a provision to use the energy generated from braking in transportation applications. I understand that one of the original stimulants for the development of the system was the problem of dissipating the energy from braking. Anyone who has driven a car down a mountain road like down Mt. Washington, knows something about this
problem.
Larry |
