FYI: Zenn Still Planning on EEStor

ZENN (TSX: ZNN) the Canadian manufacturer of low speed electric car vehicles has a statement in its first quarter 2008 report that they anticipated EEStor technology being commercialized and is making plans to incorporate it into its products. In addition ZENN is invstigating longer-range highway capable vehicles both as a retrofit for certain existing automobiles and producing small to midsize cars that have a top speed of 65 to 75 MPH (105 to 120 KPH) and a single-charge range of 200 to 400 miles (325 to 650 Km).

This indicates that they must still believe that EEStor's potentially disruptive technology for unique capacitor based energy storage systems is progressing to the point that they are willing to expend time designing their vehicles to use EEStor's systems, although they did not indicate when such vehicles will be available. See this post and this one for more information on EEStor.

Thanks for the tip from Tyler of Clean Break

Comments

[Dale Jones, Ph.D., P.E.]

The EEStor ultracapacitor battery system would work OK if you have a high voltage (3500 VDC) converter either in your garage or in the car, so you could simply plug into 120VAC and charge the EEStor. That way, using electic power from the grid at night when demand is low, we get better energy utilization, since powerplant efficiencies range from 34% to 52% and gasoline engines in cars range from 14% to 22% efficiency. Hence, better use of energy resources and reduced pollution, not to mention reduced need for foreign oil imports. Too bad there is not a solar panel system that could produce 3500VDC, but that is not likely to happen in the near future.

[solarnetwork]

another application for the EEStor technology...

http://www.solarnetwork.net/

[Bob Wallace]

I have 120vac from PV panels available in my garage.

There's no difference between my PV powered 120vac and grid supplied 120vac.

(Except my power is more reliable. The grid around here goes down for some period of time every year. My system has been down once in over 15 years. ;o)

[Kit P]

“Except my power is more reliable.”

Except at night, when trees have leaves, and cloudy days. Bob maybe you should look up 'reliable' in the dictionary.

[Bob Wallace]

Hummm.....

Wonder why my lights work at night and my radio continues to play?

Why so ever does the milk in my refrigerator not spoil?

Could it be that my battery bank stores energy for the dark hours?

[Gordon]

Hi Bob,
I've been thinking of a solar panel system with a battery bank and inverter for my home. How many panels do you have and how large (and type) is your battery bank?

[Orion]

What's going to make or break this technology is wheither it's cheaper to buy one set of EEStor modules for the life of the system or periodically replace battery packs. Until they start shipping we just won't know.

[Bob Wallace]

Hi Gordon,

Just saw your post.

I'm running with 1.2kW of panels (16 75 watt on two racks).

I'm using 12 6 volt golf cart batteries wired into a 24 volt configuration for storage. Storage is designed to carry me for three days with no sun. After that I go to generator. (I don't run the shop stuff on dark days as a rule.)

I've crunched the numbers over and over and feel that golf carts are the best answer at the moment. They have to be switched out more often (5-8 years) but over time they are cheaper. Especially if you accidentally fry a set. (I've seen it happen.)

For an inverter I've got a Trace/Xantex 4024 which gives me plenty of oompf to power my shop tools (table saw, planer, etc.).

[Bob Wallace]

Hi Gordon,

Just saw your post.

I'm running with 1.2kW of panels (16 75 watt on two racks).

I'm using 12 6 volt golf cart batteries wired into a 24 volt configuration for storage. Storage is designed to carry me for three days with no sun. After that I go to generator. (I don't run the shop stuff on dark days as a rule.)

I've crunched the numbers over and over and feel that golf carts are the best answer at the moment. They have to be switched out more often (5-8 years) but over time they are cheaper. Especially if you accidentally fry a set. (I've seen it happen.)

For an inverter I've got a Trace/Xantex 4024 which gives me plenty of oompf to power my shop tools (table saw, planer, etc.).

[Master Anime]

"there is not a solar panel system that could produce 3500VDC"... dc to dc converters arnt that hard to do these days... a taser dosent use 50,000 volt batterys. Converting soler to 3500 would take less technology than an old school modem.

[Todd Hathaway]

You could utilize a torroid and electronics to charge one set of battery banks with ultracaps being charged while the other set of batteries and ultracaps is discharging. Go to the link for more info on related projects.

[Richard]

Getting 3500 volts DC is no big deal. In fact your microwave uses similar voltages on the anode of the klystron tube that's in it... those tubes require upwards of 2000 watts of power at 2.5 - 3.0kv... and we all know how much microwave ovens cost. They are cheap.

Photovoltaics are a non starter.. the minimum cost per watt using solar panels, using mono crystalline modules is currently somewhere around $4.50.. that cost is coming down, some say to $1/watt but that's way too small a power dividend to make any difference when thinking of electric cars; which literally consume kilowatts of energy. (1hp = about 750watts) At best photovoltaics are 15% efficient. (NASA has better more efficient panel$$) Just look at the huge field of solar panels needed to get 128kw of energy for the ISS.

Golf Kart batteries are not the best solution for long term PV storage. True, they tend to be cheaper, but their lifespan is sometimes as short as 3 years. They are usually not deep cycle and their self discharge rates tend to be higher. Be careful, in batteries you get what you pay for. Golf Kart batteries are not designed for PV storage... they are more like automotive batteries that have high charge/discharge rates and are consumer rated in "cranking amps" rather than ampere hours(AH).

A better but more expensive solution are the deep cycle batteries made by Gould or Surrette. Properly taken care of, these batteries can last upwards of 25 years or even longer.

[Richard]

Somehow the above post is shown from one Todd Hathaway... it is not...it's posted by Richard. There must be a bits and bytes screw-up somewhere...

[G.S. Tripp]

Hey guys, don't forget about passive solar collector concentrators. They are capable of heating the focal point to nearly 6000 degrees Fahrenheit. Nuclear power plants only operate at round 500 F and the rods will melt at 2000+ F. Passive solar is the way to go especially now that sodium is being investigated for its heat retention properties. I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but EEStor's new capacitor would be capable of nearly instant charge times so it would only be a matter of retrofitting current fuel stations to sell electricity.