Enable IPC Shareholder Update
Ultracapacitor
Applications
Enable IPC has aimed its technology at renewable energy applications. The Company has prepared and tested several prototypes, mostly under a grant from the State of Wisconsin, with the goal of filling this need — some prototypes are as low as a couple of farads while others are in the hundreds of farad ranges. Additionally, the Company is assembling larger units in the several thousands of farad ranges.
To date, progress is very encouraging as the Company has been able to exceed its initial goals. Enable is currently in discussions with customers involving renewable energy applications at both the residential and larger scale levels. Look for future updates from the Company along these lines.
What are ultracapacitors?
Ultracapacitors (also called supercapacitors or EDL capacitors) are similar to batteries, but with higher power and lower energy storage. Enable IPC, through its SolRayo subsidiary, is commercializing a technology that improves performance in ultracapacitors. For more about Enable’s technology, see the presentation here: http://www.enableipc.com/files/nanoTX_leonard_presentation.pdf
About renewable energy storage
There are many good reasons to embrace renewable (i.e., wind power and solar) energy:
— They lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce pollution;
— They could potentially eliminate the United States’ dependence on foreign oil;
— They are unlimited energy sources with no supply problems; and
— The technologies currently exist and are already being used
According to their websites, in 2008, 16% of the energy Southern California Edison supplied to its customers came from renewable sources, while Con Edison allows its New York customers the option of receiving their energy from "green" sources (i.e., wind turbines alone or wind energy and hydro) for an extra fee. Renewable energy is available and it is working.
The problem is that it is not supplying anywhere close to 100% of the energy needed. Still, wind energy now costs almost the same as coal (according to a report published by Yale University), once a system is in place. The remaining problem is two-fold. First is the capital costs to set up wind turbines. The second issue is the need for economic energy storage.
As clean and pure as wind and solar energy are, the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. We need to be able to store excess energy for use during the times when we can’t generate energy. According to market researchers, the intermittent downtimes, even for a second or two, can cost as much as $200 billion to industrial and commercial customers. In fact, it has been widely reported that Sun Microsystems once estimated that a blackout would cost them up to $1 million per minute.
The major roadblock for energy storage has to do with costs; not necessarily at the large-scale level, where compressed air energy storage (CAES) and pumped hydro have proven very reliable and extremely low cost (according to EPRI, a non-profit research organization), but rather in places where these technologies are (or may be) impractical, such as microgrids, commercial, industrial or residential. No single technology can meet all these issues; each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Today, experts believe that it will take a combination of technologies, honed to meet each of the specific applications, to address the issues.
The technologies in the running include several types of batteries (lead acid, sodium sulfur, lithium ion, zinc bromide, vanadium redox and others), flywheels, superconducting magnetic storage, and, of course, ultracapacitors.
How Enable’s ultracapacitors fit in
Enable’s ultracapacitors are unique, in comparison to market competitors, because certain configurations have been shown to address the biggest challenge of existing ultracapacitors — being able to store more energy at lower costs.
This storage capacity opens up a number of applications in the renewable energy market, especially to industrial and commercial customers, utilities with local wind and solar generation capabilities and some residential applications.
In addition, the energy density can be increased even more and cost/watt-hour can be driven down when ultracapacitors are paired with batteries, either through an asymmetric system or functionally side-by-side.
Enable IPC is pursuing these applications and is currently discussing specific opportunities with potential customers. The Company’s technology can meet the market thresholds and take advantage of the tremendous opportunity in this area.
Potentiostat Systems
Enable has received interest in its systems from a number of universities, corporations and labs. As the word continues to spread, Enable expects its sales to grow. For more information on the Company’s potentiostat models, click here: http://www.solrayo.com/SolRayo/Instruments.html. Enable IPC’s subsidiary, SolRayo, also offers competitively-priced potentiostat systems for sale.
We’re moving
Enable IPC will be moving its headquarters from Valencia, California to Madison, Wisconsin. Enable will be located in the same suite as the Company’s subsidiary, SolRayo, effective June 1, 2010. The move will allow the Company to work more effectively with SolRayo while saving tens of thousands of dollars a year.
SolRayo, Inc. is a Madison, Wisconsin-based company set up to commercialize an ultracapacitor technology licensed from the University of Wisconsin. In addition, the Company introduced its potentiostat/galvanostat equipment products in January 2010. SolRayo is a subsidiary of Enable IPC Corporation.
Enable IPC (http://www.enableipc.com) provides efficient, streamlined strategies for turning technologies into products and bringing them to market. Though not limited to nanotechnology or the energy industries, Enable IPC’s growing portfolio currently includes the exclusive rights to two break-through energy technologies — a microbattery and an ultracapacitor. The company seeks to turn technologies into products and is a transparent, fair turnkey partner for sub-licensing and joint development with other companies.
