Energy Storage

John Petersen This morning Reuters is reporting that A123 Systems, Inc. (AONE) increased the number of shares offered in its IPO from 25 million to 28.1 million and sold those shares at a price of $13.50. If the underwriters exercise their overallotment option, which is usually the case in IPOs of this size, the total IPO proceeds will be $437.5 million before costs, commissions and discounts. This IPO has been a long time coming but it was worth the wait. I want to congratulate the A123 team and the underwriters on a job well done. Assuming full...

John Petersen The greatest truth in micro-cap corporate finance is that small companies have a lot in common with small children in third world countries – they rarely die of starvation but they frequently die of dysentery. In hard times, small companies that need additional capital can usually find the cash if their management has enough humility to accept the price the new financiers are willing to pay. The problems can quickly become life threatening, however, if management fails to adjust spending to accommodate business conditions or rejects available financing because the terms seem predatory. My advice to...

David Gold Grants for smart grid projects. Grants for battery manufacturing lines. Loan guarantees for renewable energy project development. Grants to private companies for energy efficiency projects. And with each it seems that the cleantech world cheers. Yet for all our desire to create sustainability in our consumption and use of energy, this model of getting us there is not only unsustainable but is of questionable value. I want to emphasize that I am speaking about government grants to the private sector where the government is not the end customer and...

Ultralife Batteries Inc (ULBI) has been awarded a new production contract for its BA-5390/U battery valued at approximately $7.4 million, by the U.S. Defense Department. This contract is independent of the Next Gen II, Phase IV five-year battery contract for the BA-5390 and four other rectangular military batteries, which the company was awarded in December 2004. Deliveries under this $7.4 million contract are required to be completed by May 14.

by Debra Fiakas CFA A comment left recently on one of my earlier articles mentioned Vendum Batteries, Inc. (VNDB:  OTC/BB), a developmental stage company working on battery power solutions.  When looking into Vendum I expected the usual flowery promises investors hear from every other battery developer  -  some new metal alloy for the electrodes, an alternative electrolyte, or maybe a creative form factor.    However, Vendum is not just any battery “wanna-be.” Ok, Vendum does have an alternative electrode, but it is not just a tweak of the usual metal mixes.  It also has an alternative form factor,...

John Petersen Hardly a day passes without some talking head breathlessly describing electric vehicles as the opportunity of the decade. The fine point most investors miss, however, is that the decade they're describing won't begin until 2020 and for the next seven to ten years electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla Motors (TSLA) and lithium-ion battery manufacturers like Ener1 (HEV) and A123 Systems (AONE) will hemorrhage cash as they try to traverse the trough of disillusionment that runs through the cruel black heart of the valley of death. The following graph is a stylized view of the...

Beacon Power Corp (BCON) announced that on November 17 it received a letter dated November 16, 2004 from the Nasdaq Stock Market, stating that the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel has granted the Company an additional 180 days to regain compliance with marketplace Rule 4310(c)(4). What this means is that Beacon is going to do everything in its power to get the stock price back above $1. They had a nice run up to .80 in October but have since fallen back down to the .40 range. Shares in BCON are up 10% today on this reprieve.

by Debra Fiakas CFA While the rest of the battery industry is trying to perfect new technologies, Axion Power International (AXPW:  OTC/QB) has been working on a fix for conventional lead acid batteries.   Low cost made the lead acid batteries popular even from the early days when a French scientist first introduced the configuration in the mid 1800s.  Lead-acid technologies represent about half of batteries made today.  Unfortunately, lead-acid batteries have low energy-to-weight and volume.  Storage times are limited.  They also have corrosion problems.  The active materials in lead-acid batteries change physical form during charge...

John PetersenToday I'm going to begin with an apology because I've done a terrible job of describing the basics of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology for energy storage investors. Many of my earlier articles dove straight into the mind-numbing details of battery technology without first providing an overview of what those batteries will be used for. In other words I'm guilty of putting the cart before the horse. It's time for me to make amends. While the differences between HEV technologies have always been important to automobile manufacturers, the public's understanding of those differences is limited. That...

John Petersen I’ve recently learned that lithium-ion batteries might be a triple threat – Borgia batteries – cherished by eco-royalty, poisonous in the extreme, and explosive enough to wreak havoc in a $25 million laboratory that was built to safely manage battery explosions. Is it a battery or a WMD? On April 11th five employees of the advanced battery laboratory at the General Motors (GM) Technical Center in Warren, Michigan were hurt when extreme testing of a prototype lithium-ion battery pack from A123 Systems (AONE) released chemical gases that exploded inside a testing chamber. Four were...

by Debra Fiakas CFA For better or worse various government agencies in the United States have provided significant financial support for advanced battery development and production.  The federal government has a goal of deploying one million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles by the year 2015.  The replacement of gas-burning cars and trucks is expected to reduce economic dependence upon foreign oil and reduce carbon emissions that threaten our health and climate.  We all understand this line of reasoning. Public funds for battery development have been channeled through a mix of contracts for products and services, research grants, loan...

Comparison of Energy Storage Technologies from Solar 2009 Tom Konrad, Ph.D. A reader and  CEO of a fuel cell startup sent me an email asking for a copy of my presentation comparing energy storage technologies which I referred to in last months article on Renewable Energy integration.  Since other readers may be interested as well, here it is: Economic Comparison of Electricity Storage Technologies (Power Point Show, 721 kb) Here is also the spreadsheet where I gathered most of the data for the graphs. (Excel spreadsheet 74 kb) Visual Comparisons These following graphs can also be found in the...

Equitex, Inc. (EQTX) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Hydrogen Power, Inc. ("HPI") through a newly formed Equitex subsidiary which will be the surviving entity and renamed Hydrogen Power, Inc. HPI is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Equitex which controls all of HPI's licensed intellectual property rights to patented hydrogen generation technology in the United States, South America, Mexico and Canada.

Hydrogen stocks are publicly traded companies whose business involves the use of hydrogen as energy storage or a transportation medium.  See also fuel cell stocks. This list was last updated on 8/27/2021. AFC Energy (AFC.L) Ballard Power Corporation (BLDP) Bloom Energy Corporation (BE) Cell Impact AB (CI-B.ST) Defiance Next Gen H2 ETF (HDRO) FuelCell Energy (FCEL) Fusion Fuel Green PLC (HTOO) Green Hydrogen Systems A/S (GREENH.CO) Hazer Group Limited (HZR.AX) HydrogenPro AS (HYPRO.OL) HydroPhi Technologies Group, Inc. (HPTG) HyperSolar, Inc (HYSR) Hynion AS (HYN.OL) ITM Power PLC (ITM.L, ITMPF) MagneGas Corporation (MNGA) McPhy Energy SA (MCPHY.PA) myFC Holding AB (MYFC.ST) Nel ASA (NEL.OL) Nikola Corporation (NKLA) PowerCell Sweden AB (PCELL.ST, PCELF) Plug Power (PLUG) PowerHouse Energy Group plc (PHE.L) Proton Power Systems (PPS.L) Quantum...