Gridtential Emerges as Safe, Economic Challenger to Lithium-ion Batteries; Wins DOE Support for Validation Analysis at Sandia National Labs

SAN JOSE, July 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Gridtential Energy, Inc., a provider of low-cost, high-performance energy storage technology, today announced that it has been selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) as one of a handful of companies to pursue validation analysis at Sandia's Energy Storage Analysis Laboratory. The grant is designed to further the DOE's strategic mission in the area of grid storage and coincides with Gridtential's completion of 140 alpha units based on its Silicon Joule™ technology.

Flying in the face of Tesla's recent declaration that lead acid is "dead", recent independent tests have confirmed that Gridtential's silicon-based approach to advance traditional lead acid significantly improves performance, while utilizing 40% less lead. The results point to Gridtential as an ideal solution for solar's urgent need for 2 to 4 hour grid storage applications. At Sandia, the test plan is designed to address two use case scenarios:

• Peak Shaving cycling. In compliance with Sandia's standard test protocols, Gridtential's batteries will run through a standard peak shaving application. Gridtential expects each to reach nearly 100% SOC after each charge cycle and 80-100% depth of discharge. 
• Partial State of Charge (PSoC) cycling. To gain a view of Gridtential's long-term performance in a PSoC environment, Sandia will charge the battery to 100% SOC and then begin cycling it at a medium rate which is designed to bring sulfation issues to light very quickly. 

Gridtential Energy has also been funded in part by an award from the California Energy Commission's Energy Innovations Small Grant Program. The company has developed and tested internal prototypes of an advanced battery design that has 75% lower LCOE of traditional lead acid, 2x cycle life improvement at 80% depth of discharge and 2x greater available energy at same weight as current products. The seed funding will be used to develop full-scale demonstration units for field tests within the next year.

"Tesla is not the only company capable of producing a smart, sexy battery; the difference is ours is safe and scalable today. Via our battery manufacturing partners, we have access to hundreds of operating 'gigafactories' that can bring our Silicon Joule™ technology to market without retooling or massive investment," said Christiaan Beekhuis, President and CEO of Gridtential Energy.

About Gridtential Energy
Gridtential Energy is developing a low-cost, scalable battery architecture that significantly improves energy density, cycling performance and battery life. Gridtential has relationships with key suppliers to accelerate development of highly repeatable, high-volume battery production capabilities. Gridtential Energy is located in Santa Clara. To learn more, visit http://www.gridtential.com/

SOURCE Gridtential Energy

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