1955 portfolio company Gridtential won the 2018 Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Innovation Award for its silicon joule technology at this year’s BCI convention in Tucson, Arizona on April 30. The bipolar technology replaces the lead grids used as current collectors in traditional lead-acid monoblocs with silicon wafers. The associated boost in performance and reduced need for lead means that silicon joule enabled batteries can compete with lithium in emerging 48V automotive and other applications, the company says.
Gridtential chairman Ray Kubis told BESB after the conference that the most important thing about winning the award was the recognition for the technology in the industry, which gave commercialization a real possibility.