Humanity depends on battery power now more than ever, with all portable electronic devices being powered by batteries from cars, smartphones, fitness gadget and toys amongst other electronic components products.
Over the past millennium, battery technology has transformed from one glory to another and although the battery tends to hold low power volumes and can only manage to power electronics for a short time, they are improving capacity by at least 6% annually but on microelectronics the gains are more. According to Carol, Chief product designer at Rangersdog.com dog tracker devices are experiencing a longer battery life to the tune of up to 5-7 days.
Although batterie stend to be bulky and heavy in all sense, technology advancement especially for microelectronics has seen the sizes reduce and as batteries become smaller so do the gadgets making it possible new products to be released in the market and enhanced application developed in consumer products for example laptops, PC and smartphones are all shrinking in size with the same or even more capability.
Types of Batteries?
There are various types of batteries, and we will list them below:
- Lead based batteries
- AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat)
- Nickel
- Lithium
- Li-polymer
- Supercapacitor
- Zinc batteries
- Fuel cell
Batteries are used for storing energy and therefore, there could be other types of batteries technology being developed but for now, the above cover majority of the technology in the market today. According to Samsung, oemsecrets.com electronic parts finder search engine, they have seen an increase in searches for battery parts and connectors from OEM manufacturers in the past year.
The Future of Battery
Battery as an energy source is so important that design engineers tend to create models of their products around the battery they tend to use. Designers am sure would like that they would not have to be restricted by this, but it is the actual determining factor of most electronics especially the portable handheld devices like phones and watches.
As it stands, full cell technology could be the future of battery but far from it we know how expensive it is and multiple projects that have trialled this technology like the Gemini project in the 1960s but attempts to mass produce seem far than likely. Based on research the total cost per watt needs to be 10x to become a viable product for use in consumer products.
Lithium-Ion battery remains the king of the batteries with electronic vehicle manufacturers powering through with car designs based on this technology. There are several things that still limit and affect the usage of batteries in bigger products like cars and every manufacturer has to thing of these 6 factors:
- Safety
- Lifespan
- Performance
- Energy
- Power
- Cost
The conversion efficiency in terms of net calorific value (NCV) of diesel-powered cars in comparison to Li-ion and hydrogen cell is far greater. An internal combustion car is way cheaper than just the value of the battery alone of an electric vehicle thus making battery technology expensive overall.
Conclusion
Although fossil fuel is dirty for the environment, we give it due respect because of the empowerment it has offered mankind. Steam could not have powered us to the 21st century, however, time for change has come and battery technology needs to be embraced irrespective of the costs.
