Nov 10 2009
Electronics and electrics are becoming ubiquitous, the devices appearing on and in higher and higher volume products including e-labels and e-packaging. This calls for different forms of battery, capacitor and other energy storage because priorities such as environmental credentials, thinness and compatibility with energy harvesting (eg. solar cells) come to the fore alongside life and cost.
Energy storage for small devices forms by far the largest mobile energy storage market today, being much larger and faster growing than the market for heavy energy storage such as automotive and enjoying greater innovation for the future, including transparent and printed batteries.
IDTechEx is following the progress in this field closely, and at the next conference dedicated to recent achievements and development in the field of printed electronics and photovoltaics, Printed Electronics & Photovoltaics USA, first-hand information will be provided by leading companies in the field:
Dr. Robert Miller, CTO of Paper Battery Company, will present on their ubiquitous, high power, energy storage solution, the flexible PowerWrapperTM. The scalable, nanocomposite capacitance sheet conforms to given structures and can fold into cases as linings or be integrated as a structural support component.
The Paper Battery Company is developing energy storage devices engineered as integrated nanocomposites, enabling properties that create strong customer value propositions. The disruptive technology platform promises to deliver a supercapacitor with 10X energy density, with space-fitting thin form, operating at widest reported temperature ranges, and made at a low cost using established scalable roll to roll printing technology. Currently in laboratory prototype development, the company is developing production processes that will leverage existing roll to roll manufacturing including printing processes to enable a cost effective first product launch in 2011.
A joint presentation will be given by Mr Matthew Ream, VP Marketing at Blue Spark Technologies and Dr. Kate Stone, MD at Novalia – printing electronics. Under the headline ‘The Role of Printed Carbon-Zinc Thin Film Batteries in Interactive Printed Media’ they will discuss examples and demonstrate Interactive Printed Media (IPM) using printed electronics such as batteries.
Blue Spark, a leading supplier of thin, flexible printed battery solutions located in Westlake, OH, USA, recently signed a joint marketing agreement with Novalia to drive the creation and launch of IPM products for the publishing, consumer, packaging, retail and other markets.
Blue Spark and Novalia’s co-development of IPM products will focus initially on items such as:
- Children’s books.
- Posters for kids and adults.
- Trading cards, novelty games and toys.
- Specialty consumer packaging.
- In-store retail merchandising displays.
- Promotional brochures.
- And potentially other “green” printed electronics products built on a thin, flexible form factor and easily manufactured using traditional printing methods.
Novalia puts interactivity into print. Touch sensitive input and light/sound output is coupled with transistor-based intelligence. They offer design, product development/creation services and work with partners to co-ordinate manufacture.
“In our world, virtually any printed item can be made interactive, which is why we believe the market potential for Interactive Printed Media is enormous,” Dr. Stone said. “Blue Spark’s disposable printed batteries provide the ideal power source to activate many of these products.”
The IDTechEx report “Batteries, Supercapacitors, Alternative Storage for Portable Devices 2009-2019“, focussing on use in small devices, forecasts the market for both single use and rechargeable batteries by numbers and value from 2009-2019 and the market size for supercapacitors, tracking a return to rapid growth from 2010, after the global financial meltdown ends. If you have any questions about this report, please do not hesitate to contact Raoul [email protected] or call + 1 617 577 7890 (US) / +44 (0) 1223 813703 (UK).
Printed Electronics USA will take place from December 2-3, with Masterclasses being held on December 1 and 4 at the Hilton Hotel in San Jose, California. In addition, tours to local centers of excellence have been arranged, giving delegates a chance to see products and operations first hand.