Tokyo (SCCIJ) – The Swiss start-up Swistor is developing a novel energy storage solution that redefines how we store and use energy. They propose using novel supercapacitor devices to enable efficient use of energy harvesters for continuous use during their entire lifetime.
Swistor develops high energy density energy storage devices that last longer and are environmentally friendly and safe (Image: © Swistor).
New storage solution
During the period between 1980 and 2021, electricity consumption increased more than threefold. But battery energy density only tripled, as batteries have reached fundamental limitations, creating an urgent need for improved solutions and at the same time a huge opportunity for innovation impact. Today’s lithium-ion batteries suffer from low power, slow charging, and limited lifetime, and have a negative social and environmental impact due to their need for lithium and cobalt.
To solve this problem, Swistor, a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, is developing a revolutionary energy storage solution. They propose combining novel supercapacitors with conventional batteries to enhance performance and lifetime. A second proposal is the use of supercapacitors to enable efficient use of energy harvesters for continuous use of devices for their entire lifetime. The goal is to achieve a more performant and more importantly a sustainable way of powering them.
Shorter charging time
By coating dense nanocarbon electrodes with nanoscale active materials, Swistor created high-performance supercapacitors that can operate both at very low and very high currents. In contrast to batteries and most hybrid supercapacitors, the new devices are environmentally friendly, exhibit ten times more power than conventional batteries, have an extended service life, and are usable in a wide range of operating temperatures without security problems. The proposed technology can be scaled up using industrial manufacturing techniques.
While the technology will eventually apply more broadly, Swistor is initially targeting the portable electronic device market and Internet of Things self-powered sensor nodes. By combining them with a harvester technology like solar or piezoelectric, they will enable autonomous devices to last 50 times longer than a battery, without requiring maintenance. Swistor tested the technology with an automotive partner, powering a safety feature in a car and proving the value of our technology in efficient portable systems.
Currently, the Swiss start-up is working towards product industrialization and launching a competitive product in the energy storage market. They won the well-known Swisscom Startup Challenge 2023 and will be participating as part of the Swiss National Startup Team at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2024. On the financial side, Swistor raised above 2 million Swiss francs since the start of the project, out of which 1.1 million for the company, since incorporation.
Text: Swiss.tech (Editing by SCCIJ)
