- The company had piloted a battery manufacturing process together with U.S. start-up 24M in June last year
- 24M said that the production process makes it possible to manufacture electrodes four to five times thicker than the industry standard
According to a report by pv-magazine, Japanese electronics company Kyocera will launch Enerezza residential storage devices. The company will make the products available in 5, 10, and 15 kWh models and the devices will feature semi-solid lithium-ion battery architecture said the report.
The report also said that the company had piloted a battery manufacturing process together with U.S. start-up 24M in June last year. It had used a new approach to lithium-ion battery production developed by MIT researcher Yet-Ming Chiang as per the report. As per the report, the residential storage devices will go into mass production by fall.
Cost reductions
The report said that partner companies claimed significant production cost reductions from the new process. Material costs for SemiSolid batteries are around 40 per cent less than standard lithium-ion battery architecture. The manufacturing time is also two-thirds shorter. As per the report, in SemiSolid electrodes the electrolyte is mixed with materials to form a clay-like slurry, eliminating the need for a binder. Due to this, inactive materials are removed along with expensive processing steps like drying, solvent recovery, calendaring and electrolyte filling.
Thicker electrodes
As per the report, 24M said that the production process makes it possible to manufacture electrodes four to five times thicker than the industry standard. This reduces the need for copper, aluminum and a separator. It claimed that last year, these benefits would add up to a capital requirement which is half that of conventional lithium-ion energy storage products.
