TOKYO: Starting in the end of April 2011, Sony will begin volume shipments of energy storage modules that use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries made with olivine-type lithium-ion iron phosphate as the cathode material. The company says the modules have a lifespan of more than 10 years, recharge rapidly and are highly scalable. Sample shipments began last June. Sony has now decided to begin volume shipments.
The modules have 1.2kWh capacity, and multiple units can be connected either in series or in parallel to expand voltage or capacity. When used in conjunction with a control device, the modules can be a backup power supply for data servers or cell phone reception towers, or used residentially as an energy storage system. They will be sold primarily to system integrators incorporating power supplies for cluster housing, offices, schools and installers of industrial power supply equipment.
Sony is aiming for sales of 30,000 units of its 1.2kWh energy storage module in the first year. Sony’s battery production operations are in Fukushima Prefecture, where radiation is leaking from a nuclear plant crippled by the March earthquake and tsunami.
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