DoE funds Planar Energy Battery technology

Planar Energy, the developer of large-format, solid-state, ceramic-like batteries at half the cost and triple the performance of lithium-ion batteries, today received a $4,025,373 award from the U.S. Department of Energy, as part of its Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) initiative to accelerate transformational energy research projects.

The award to Planar Energy, announced in Washington, D.C., today by Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu at a Recovery Act Cabinet meeting, will support the company’s development of solid-state, high capacity secondary lithium batteries targeted at transportation scale electrical power-storage applications.

“With our breakthrough technology, which couples a fundamental electrolyte materials innovation with our proprietary low-cost, chemical deposition platform and manufacturing process, Planar Energy is creating scalable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective technology that will enable the U.S. transportation industry to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reestablish U.S. leadership in energy storage,” said President and CEO Scott Faris.

He added that the DOE award will enable Planar Energy to accelerate the development and commercialization of all solid-state lithium batteries, which will encourage the adoption of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

Earlier this month, Planar Energy was one of four companies selected to collaborate in a DOE research-and-development initiative at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to address energy-storage challenges presented by lithium-based batteries.

Source: Earth Time, April 30th, 2010