Has there been a battery "breakthrough" in South Africa?
OK, doubters, get your comments ready. South Africa's Cape Times is reporting on an hybrid battery "breakthrough". This is hybrid as in a battery that can charge and discharge simultaneously, not hybrid as in vehicles (the article can be read here).The new battery was developed over seven years by Jan Human (nice name) of Somerset West. He claims the battery is scalable and the hybrid principle could be used in batteries that power everything from cell phones to vehicles to industrial sites. Human claims to have "found a new 'pathway' in the battery which allows it to charge and discharge at the same time," according to the Cape Times. "When a conventional battery is discharging, say to power a light, it cannot store energy at the same time. It's impossible. My battery does that. You can use wind and solar to charge my battery at the same time it is discharging," Human told the paper.
Gerhard Ebersohn, an electrical engineer at the University of Pretoria, told the paper that Human's idea was "definitely a new concept". Human and Ebersohn are in communication so Ebersohn can validate the claims. I leave it to our vocal readers to tell us all why this is nothing but hype.
[Source: Melanie Gosling / Cape Times via EV World]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Howard Lee Harkness 8:42PM (3/13/2007)
With a battery/charger system, if you are putting more energy in than you are taking out, the charge level increases, and vice versa. And you *can* pull current out of a battery/charger system while it is charging; happens all the time under the hood of your car.
I have even plugged my phone into a charger, and continued using it... Just how does one distinguish between that and simultaneous charge/discharge?
Just exactly how is this battery different? And, exactly who thinks this is even important? This whole thing reads like somebody babbling a bunch of doublespeak, hoping to impress the innumerate.
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Chris M 1:37AM (3/14/2007)
A battery that truly charged and discharged simultaneously would be less efficient than a battery that charges when surplus power is available and discharges when extra power is needed.
It sounds suspiciously like another "self-charging" battery scam. Whenever fuel prices go up, the overunity/perpetual motion/zeropoint energy scams come flooding out.
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Bob Seeley 2:16AM (3/14/2007)
I fail to see what the big deal is. My home power system does this already. Whenever there's more charging current available than I use, the rest either charges my batteries or is sold to the power company. What am I missing here?
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naggs 5:30PM (3/14/2007)
he is a hack, this doesnt make any sense and the reporters for the south african cape times got taken for a ride to crazy town.
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Mulad 3:43PM (3/14/2007)
HLH: Hmm. That may be how it appears to work, but I'm not sure things really function that way. A cell phone may have multiple paths for electricity to flow -- is it pulling power from the battery while charging, or is there a bypass that is bringing power directly from the plug to the electrical components? I can't say.
Similarly, conventional cars are generally running the electrics off the alternator, not the battery. The battery is only being used when the alternator isn't producing power (when the engine is off or if the alternator has failed). Of course, BMW has their new regenerative braking system which changes this idea a bit, but they just run the alternator less frequently and use the battery more.
But yeah, there are several ways to attack this problem anyhow. Hybrids with large battery packs have hundreds or thousands of individual cells. There wouldn't be any problem with charging some of the cells while draining others.
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Howard Lee Harkness 5:00PM (3/14/2007)
"There wouldn't be any problem with charging some of the cells while draining others." -- Mulad
My point is, exactly how is this of any benefit? Why is it even considered newsworthy?
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Bert Human 9:23AM (11/01/2008)
visit www.h-power.co.za and see why this a battery breakthrough.
Dave 6:33PM (3/15/2007)
And?
- Dave
http://walkthelion.wordpress.com
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