Maxwell upgrades stamp-sized ultracapacitor

San Diego-based Maxwell Technologies (Nasdaq:MXWL) unveiled today a new model of its 10-farad ultracapacitor that triples its lifetime and offers better electrical performance.

The PC-10 ultracapacitor is 30 millimeters by 24 mm, and 4.9 mm thick, enabling applications in enterprise storage and smart meters, both of which require backup energy with longer lifespans than batteries, Maxwell Senior Marketing Manager Jason Lee said.

"It fits in the space they have available, and it lasts longer than any other technology," Lee told the Cleantech Group. "It really comes down to how long a part can last."

Lee said a longer lifetime means cost savings to companies using the ultracapacitors as a replacement for batteries in enterprise storage. Standard batteries need to be replaced every year, creating expenses. In addition, the companies run tests on the new batteries, which takes additional resources and time.

In high-temperature applications of about 70 degrees Celsius such as solid-state drives, the ultracapacitor can last five to seven years, which is the average lifespan of the drive. When exposed to the room temperatures facing smart meters, the ultracapacitor can last more than 10 years, Lee said.

"We designed our product to last the life of the application," Lee said.

The ultracapacitor offers 11 to 12 milliwatts of power, which Lee said was high for a device this size. The power exceeds most of the applications' requirements, but the energy demands of most applications would require two to four of the cells, he said.

See the ultracapacitor »

Shares of Maxwell were down 4.13 percent to close at $20.64 today but were up 4.3 percent in after-hours trading.

The newest version of the PC-10 includes Maxwell's proprietary electrode for the first time to enable it to offer tighter control over electrical parameters including resistance and capacitance. Lee said it's the final one of the company's ultracapacitors to incorporate the electrode, which has been phased in during the past eight years.

"We've put [the electrode] in the larger products sooner because they would benefit from some of the features of the electrode more strongly," Lee said. "Traditionally we've been very strong in large cells with about 3,000 farads, and this strengthens our small cell product line, which is an area we've been trying to expand into over the past one-and-a-half to two years."

Lee noted that the transition also leaves Maxwell less dependent on outside suppliers, as all its ultracapacitors are now using the proprietary electrode.

The new PC-10 triples the lifetime of the device and offers tighter control and less leakage—all resulting in better ultracapacitor performance, Lee said.

Existing customers have signed up for the new model of the PC-10, and Maxwell has signed a major new customer in the solid-state disk drive sector, Lee said, declining to provide the name.

Lee estimated that the new PC-10 could generate about $5 million to $10 million in annual revenue for Maxwell from the enterprise storage market, whereas the previous version had a market about one-tenth that size. The market for the PC-10 in automated meter reading is expected to be a similar size, he said.

Maxwell plans to begin shipping the new model at the end of the month, with initial production of 1.2 million per quarter. Maxwell plans to increase production as it captures more of the market.

Maxwell currently has the capacity to produce millions of cells a year for various applications, including energy storage in wind turbines. Other applications of P-10 include stablizing voltage in automobiles, wireless transmission, and medical devices. 

Maxwell has signed two deals with Hanover, Germany's Continental AG (OTC:CTTAY) to supply ultracapacitors for energy storage in Continental's voltage stabilization system (VSS), most recently in September. Maxwell plans to begin delivering ultracapacitors for one automaker in 2010, and a second in 2011 (see Maxwell Tech to boost fuel efficiency with ultracapacitors and Maxwell, Continental AG in ultracapacitor contract).

Also in the automotive sector, Maxwell signed a deal in 2007 with European automotive parts supplier Valeo to store energy in ultracapacitors as part of a regenerative braking system (see France gets EU approval for green car funding).

The company is also continuing to fill orders of ultracapacitors for about 850 hybrid transit buses in China. In April, Maxwell scored three contracts worth a total of $13.5 million to provide technology to support regenerative braking systems in diesel-hybrid drive trains (see Shares of Maxwell rise on Chinese ultracapacitor deals). 

The company is also working with Johnson Controls-Saft on developing cheaper, more effective, and more energy-efficient lithium-ion battery electrodes. Maxwell developed a dry process to make electrodes, as opposed to the typical solvent-based process (see Johnson Controls-Saft, Maxwell Tech collaborate on batteries).

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