A report out last month from 30-year plus veteran energy,
telecom, security and advanced computer tech analysis/forecasting firm, Winter
Green Research, indicates that the solid-state thin film battery market is set
to grow 44 percent from last year’s $9 million market by 2021, when it will hit
$1.3 billion. Key applications in emergent technologies, as well as
continuously evolving areas such as power bridging, permanent power and
wireless sensor networks, are among the chief growth drivers cited by the report.
Also noted was the fact that vendors recently trounced Q1 performance handily,
with two-fold revenue growth and a trebling of unit output. The
uninterruptable, standalone efficacy of these millimeters-thick, high energy
density battery systems has really caught on across all target markets, and the
industry has matured to a point where the focus has shifted from growth to
manufacturing efficiencies and profit margins.
This is where a lithium-ion battery developer, manufacturer
and marketer like Oakridge Global Energy Solutions can really shine, expanding
into a complementary product space which reinforces the company’s already
strong footing. Solid-state thin film is an attractive addition to the
company’s lineup as OGES continues working towards its goal of building a truly
industrial scale lithium-ion systems platform, one which spans both core
technologies and form factors. Oakridge Global Energy Solutions already has an
impressive lineup being churned out, covering such markets as NEV (neighborhood
electric vehicle) and golf carts, stationary and grid storage applications,
consumer and military ROVs (remotely operated vehicle), and the starter motor
battery market.
Solid-State Thin Film Battery Market Has Ripened
According to OGES the solid-state thin film battery market
is now finally ripe for some serious momentum, with a vast array of
technologically sophisticated products coming into existence, or ready to come
into existence commercially with the assistance of these wafer-thin
powerhouses, some of which can last for years without the need for recharging.
Steady power to a given device from a flexible form factor allows for
incorporation into wearables like smart clothing and the creation of a range of
products featuring smart surfaces or embedded sensors, even ones you might not
consider right away, such as automotive tires. The military market is quite
interesting here as well, with the emergence of smart combat gear and wearables
for the battlespace, as well as smart furniture on infantry armaments becoming
easier and easier to implement.
At any rate, after the much ballyhooed expansion of
Oakridge’s impressive new 68,718 square foot facility in Central Florida,
personally attended by Governor Rick Scott, news out of OGES is that the
company will likely already be out of pre-production prototyping early next
year on is solid-state thin film model. The company wants to be making and
shipping these high-tech American made beauties from another brand new facility
sometime starting in late 2016. Executive Chairman and CEO of OGES, Steve
Barber, said the company would harness all of its in-house expertise, as well
as the local bounty of talent contained in Florida’s neighboring Space Coast
region, in order to get a separate facility tooled with the requisite
capabilities needed to manufacture these “game-changing” new batteries. This
market is ripe for the picking too, with only a handful of companies such as
STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) (OTC: STMEF) really at the forefront of the
space. Products such as STM’s 220 µm EnFilm™, a rechargeable, solid-state unit
with a fast constant-voltage recharge, as well as a 10-year (4000 cycle)
lifespan, really shows what is possible in this market through creative
engineering.
Oakridge Already Is Where Experts Say Tesla Should Be
Focused
A recent article in The Washington Post on Tesla (NASDAQ:
TSLA) argued that Tesla would be better off as a battery arms dealer in a world
rapidly migrating towards electric vehicles and touted the explosion of the
Chinese low-speed electric vehicle (LSEV) market over the last several years.
Tesla sales are still dwarfed by traditional auto manufacturers, with the top
slot still in the EV market currently still held by the Nissan (OTC: NSANY)
Leaf at 12 percent market share. Nearly ten times the number of highly
versatile low-speed electric cars were sold in China during 2013 than Tesla
sold that year worldwide, with the epicenter of activity being Shandong
Province, which has around 100 million people, packed into bustling cities like
Linyi (population over 10 million). The low price point of LSEVs, which are
effectively more powerful versions of golf carts, could help the vehicle class
develop into a substantial market in the U.S. as well, especially in higher
population density cities such as Los Angeles.
Tesla is coming at the EV market from the luxury auto end of
things and trying to work high margin items to get its footing, but this has
been a difficult and harrowing endeavor to say the least. The easy street some
would argue, is servicing burgeoning demand for batteries to power all these
electric vehicles. This is a big opportunity for a domestic manufacturer like
OGES, which already has the appropriate tack worked out and is primed for
growth with cutting-edge products like those from its Pro Series of
maintenance-free rechargeable 40 Ah, 60 Ah, 100 Ah, and 160 Ah batteries, which
have been designed specifically for the golf cart/NEV market. Equipped with a
smart charging system that allows the user to retain their existing charger,
Pro Series lithium-ion batteries are good for over 2,000 cycles, can go up to
60 miles on a single charge, work with any golf cart, and have a software UI
driven by an Android app.
Harvard Business Review made the case quite succinctly in
its May 2015 issue, arguing that Tesla is not as disruptive as one might think,
because the company’s entire business model focuses on starting at the high end
of the EV market, with $100,000 plus luxury vehicles. Tesla is aiming to have a
$35,000 vehicle out sometime in 2017 aimed squarely at the mass consumer
market, but the big automakers could shift to electric more quickly than Tesla
can ramp up vehicle production capacity. OGES can step in here and be one of a
handful of companies filling the gap, providing the kinds of diverse battery
solutions needed at all levels of the EV space.
Learn more about Oakridge Global Energy Solutions by
visiting http://www.oakg.net
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