Those hoping EEStor would reveal something interesting on 9/9/9 can thank the US Patent Office for updating EEStor patent application #11/400,875 with a "Issue Notification Mailed" log entry today.....in the 9am EST hour. According to a knowledgeable patent attorney, this means EEStor's third patent should be issued in 2-3 months. As for what this latest patent protects exactly, I can say three things: I don't understand. So, if you have questions, please do inquire with TheEEStory.com forums. To those anticipating a Sept 9, 09 announcement of a nanosolar powered ipod with EEStor EESU and Beatles tunes, you know you really should go outside and take a walk around. Talk to some people and in general get a grip.
Solyndra rival, Nanosolar, today announced the completion of a 640MW panel-assembly factory in Berlin and in the process unwrapped many hitherto unknown details about it's technology including most notably that it's panels have an efficiency as high as 16.4%!!! This figure rivals crystal solar cell power eficiencies which are much, much more costly to manufacture.
Nanosolar is claiming two new world records:
1) the most efficient printed solar cell of any kind 2) the most efficient solar cell on low-cost printed on low cost aluminum foil
Additionally, Nanosolar has secured $4.1Bil in panel purchases from the world's largest utility power producers. Of more interest to the technology geeks is nanosolar's BIG REVEAL of their technology on an unprecendented basis including two white papers, videos and plenty of photographs.
In a statement released to his blog, Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen offered the following observation:
"Our lab and production teams have managed to make more progress on efficiency than we had planned on in any of our business plans. Recall that we print CIGS onto inexpensive metal foil, that is, something that some have been skeptical can work while others have been wondering whether it can deliver cells better than 6% efficient (the highest published efficiency for CIGS — not even printed — on our type of low-cost metal foil).So we are pleased to announce that our low-cost printed-CIGS-on-metal-foil cell stack and process produces quite efficient cells: Earlier this year, NREL independently verified several of our cell foils to be as efficient as 16.4%."
Solar panel industry observer, Russ Browne, today shared this reaction to the news, "The effiecncy level is monumental in that it rivals effiency of the much more coslty and difficult to make silicon panels. Very good for the world indeed."
Nanosolar made these announcements today with an updated website touting "profitable solar."
I spoke to Carl Watkins today. He was just back from a trip to Eurobike. Watkins indicates that since we last checked in, his firm has made contact with just about everybody in the ebike world including the major 3 wheeled vendors out there. There have been tons of inquiries not just about production availability and timing but also about whether or not LightEVS will one day IPO. For now, Watkins doesn't see a need to go public. Once a demo units become available, his feeling is, understandably, that those willing to be supplied EESU's will finance the lift off of his company.
For now, everything is in wait and see mode until EEStor makes it's next move.
I will be posting an article before noon EST tomorrow, 9/9/9 concerning the "significant" news event coming out of Nanosolar. Just because I've been such a tease in the past, I should mention, it's not going to contain EEStor content. But that's ok because Nanosolar is one of those companies that on it's own is poised to transform the world....and with some luck, I'll have a thought or two from Martin Roscheisen on the grand old topic of energy storage. (although no guarantees, remember I said "with some luck.")
Update: Nanosolar will announce a monumental achievement tomorrow. A feast for the eyes and a pleasure for numbers crunchers.
You can read this blog post one of two ways. First, you can conclude that on the basis of extremely little evidence, almost any conclusion can be arrived at with imagination. Or, alternatively, you can examine an odd piece of evidence that doesn't really make much sense and thus, have your curiosity somewhat permanently marked for any related future developments. What you are looking at here is a Lockheed Martin logo-imprinted, promotional pen that an alert reader sent to my attention. If you have any initial thoughts upon seeing it, you might quickly jump to conclusions. But then if you give it a little bit of thought, it does leave you wondering which marketing person felt it made sense to purchase a set of promotional pens with a sporty little car on top. Sporty little cars do not exactly capture any of Lockheed Martin's strengths, of course. Then again, you can't completely dismiss the idea of Lockheed Martin being involved with electric cars since a few years ago, there were some press releases about innovations they had achieved with hybrid vehicles and batteries. Plus, there is that tiny nagging fact that any company who could make the Joint Strike Figher might also as a result be capable of producing something far less complicated such as an electric car.
It's been pointed out many times previously in following the EEStory that electric cars are far less complicated to build and maintain than those with internal combustion engines. The hope by some is that this simplicity of technology (never mind which battery technology prevails) will lead to a renaissance of new competition in personal transportation...extending of course to industrial uses of transportation as well. So, on the basis of this, why couldn't Lockheed Martin be slightly more involved with electric cars than anyone is at this time comfortable to admit? I leave it to more curious journalists or bloggers to advance the thesis with Lockheed. At the very least, the denials of interest in electric cars would afford the opportunity to inquire about an update with EEStor Inc. So how is it coming with EEStor these days Lockheed? How is the integration with weapons systems going?
NOTE: If you work for Lockheed Martin and know the story behind these pens, shoot me an email: eestorblog@gmail.com
According to alert TheEEStory.com user SmackYYZ, Zenn Motor Company posted some new jobs online. The project management positions would report to VP of Engineering, Michael Bergeron. According to the fine print of the job description, the new hires would be expected to also invent a new 52kWh barium titanate based energy storage solution. I'm kidding.
"There is no technology on the horizon which can replace oil to satisfy colossal needs of U.S. industry, transport and armed forces. Any future scenario will be characterized by mix of renewable and non-renewable energies whether you like it or not," Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki al-Faisal said.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- 09/03/09 -- ZENN Motor Company Inc. ("ZMC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: ZNN) a leading developer of zero emission transportation solutions and technologies, today announced that it will participate in the Rodman & Renshaw Annual Global Investment Conference on September 10, 2009 at the New York Palace Hotel. Ian Clifford, Founder & CEO, will review the company's growth strategy at 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time.
A live audio webcast of the presentation will be accessible via the ZENN Motor Company website. To hear the presentation please visit the website atwww.zenncars.com for the appropriate link. A replay option will be available for ninety days.
About ZENN Motor Company Inc.
ZENN Motor Company, Toronto, Canada, is dedicated to being a global leader in zero emission transportation solutions and technologies for markets around the world. Driven by quality, ingenuity and a philosophy of social responsibility, the ZMC team is redefining what is possible in both urban and business fleet transportation.
The ZENN(TM) (Zero Emission No Noise) provides an excellent alternative transportation solution for environmentally conscious drivers who want to dramatically reduce their operating costs and free themselves from dependence on oil. The current ZENN low speed vehicle is perfect for urban commuters and commercial fleets such as resorts, gated communities, airports, college and business campuses, municipalities, and parks and is sold through a network of retailers across the United States and directly by the Company in Quebec.
The planned commercialization and implementation of the ultra capacitor being developed by ZENN Motor Company's strategic partner EEStor, Inc., is expected to enable future ZMC vehicles and ZENNergy(TM) drivetrain powered vehicles to travel at speeds and distances similar to internal combustion powered vehicles but at a fraction of the cost and with zero emissions!
Contacts: ZENN Motor Company Catherine Scrimgeour Public Affairs 416-535-8395 ext. 201 cscrimgeour@ZENNcars.com
ZENN Motor Company Ian Clifford Chief Executive Officer 416-535-8395 ext. 202
Founder of Jacob Securities Inc., Sasha Jacob with former Ontario Premier Ernie Eves
I was able to interview Khurram Malik from Jacob Securities Inc today. They released coverage of Zenn Motor Company on Sept. 2, 2009. Malik and team visited EEStor Inc. in June along with 2 other companies. They were given a tour of the production line and even saw the powders produced by it (Malik could not reveal the color of the powder as he had signed an NDA). He was not shown components or EESU's.
In the report, they predict a milestone announcement in September 2009. I asked about the source of this info and Malik points to ZMC but adds that he can't reveal any NDA information concerning certification and testing of components and EESU's. Malik admits that he isn't certain what would be announced if anything but believes that it would be a component or EESU certification. The topic of safety and certification was discussed with EEStor but Malik says that is covered by NDA. In Malik's words, "They've put quite a bit of thought into the safety aspect of it. There are technology and designs in place to address that. That's about as far as I can take that question."
Malik admits he did not have a technical person accompanying him on the visit and that there was no way to conduct a true verification of capabilities but "at the end of the day, I think myself and all of the parties down there were reasonably impressed with what we saw and heard."
The report is the most comprehensive one so far that is publicly accessible and written by someone who has visited the site. It contains, too, balanced caution as when they point out the following which I will quote at length:
If EEStor delivers there are three reasons why the world will not be revolutionized overnight:
1. ZMC and EEStor management are pragmatic people looking to maximize the return on their
investment and the reach of the technology over the long term. They will not sign deals to
just flood the market with product as quickly as possible.
2. The world is structured today along the lines of economies and societies that rely on
industries producing and consuming fossil fuels. Both in democracies and autocracies, these
very powerful industries will not just wilt away.
3. You will still need to generate electricity. And fossil fuels like coal are still the cheapest and
most prevalent fuels for power generation in the world today. So fully electric cars are not
really zero emission under most circumstances. However, there is more to a fully electric car
than simply its “green” reputation.
Finally, I asked Malik if there was anything not in the report that he might want to add. He explained that with EEStor, obviously the technology is exciting if they can produce even one of them. But for Malik, he was equally impressed with the manufacturing methodology which would allow EEStor to produce the technology at the fraction of the cost of lithium ion batteries.
"... the fact that they've built a manufacturing methodology and process which can be scaled up to produce these things at a very low cost and by using very low cost materials, it is just as important as the technology itself. When you build lithium ion batteries, it requires hundreds of millions of dollars to produce X amount of annual watt hours of production. These folks can do it at a fraction of that number in my understanding due to the screen printing technology. I think that is as impressive as the EESU itself. "
Malik spoke about scaling. He said, EEStor is not trying to build a single production line and scale it up by increasing throughput on it but rather "when they build out their commercial facility, they will add rows of production lines."
All of this recent disclosure of EEStor's increasing openness causes one to wonder if and when Kleiner Perkins may wish to finally say something about this investment in which they have a 20+% stake. How about it KPCB?
It all started with an innocuous June 30, 2009 tweet on Twitter, "well, it's only taken me a year, but I get to meet EEStor this morning." The author of the message was Larry Holt, Economic Development Specialist for Cedar Park, TX. Accompanying Holt to this meeting would be his boss, Phil Brewer and Texas Congressman John Carter with a staff assistant. The meeting included "an extensive tour" of the production line which was "fully staffed with a very busy team." One attendee concluded that there was "a lot of money being spent" in the EEStor facility, adding, "they're not building pet rocks in there." As well, Dick Weir reportedly said with a chuckle, "Now, the bloggers say we can't do this... but we're doing it!"
The tour was a typical outreach effort from a representative like Congressman John Carter, where local businesses are contacted to gain feedback.
I contacted Phil Brewer and Larry Holt from the Cedar Park Economic Development Council for comment on this tour, however, both declined official comment besides acknowledging that it did indeed occur. This blogger's presumption is that they are adhering to EEStor's desire for secrecy.
Via email, Congressman Carter issued this statement regarding his visit to EEStor facilities:
"It is exciting that we have a Central Texas company this close to revolutionizing transportation as we know it in America. The electric storage technology that I saw at EEStor can dramatically change the entire automotive industry and our overall economy when placed in mass product. I'm looking forward to great things in the very near future from this company." - U.S. Rep. John Carter (R-TX31)
Congressman John Carter R (TX) pictured with former CIA Director James Woolsey (left) at a 2006 DC Plug-in Hybrid event
