Education
The Challenge: Recharge an Alkaline Battery
Batteries store electrical energy in the form of chemical energy. Some, like conventional flashlight and toy batteries, are used until they are empty and then thrown away; these types of batteries are referred to as 'Primary Batteries'. Others like Car, Laptop Computer, Cell Phone or Cordless Phone batteries can be used over and over again; these types are referred to as 'Secondary' or 'Rechargeable Batteries'. The chemical energy is converted into electrical energy when a device needs it for power.
Primary batteries have been in use for over 135 years now and are in ever growing
demand as our modern devices become more and more portable without being
connected to an electrical plug for power. Portable/wireless power has
become an essential ingredient in our modern on-the-move world. Battery
technologies have been improved over the years to provide the portable
power needed for an unplugged society. As a result, huge numbers of batteries
are sold and thrown away after use each year. In the United States alone an
estimated 3 billion (3,000,000,000) primary alkaline cells are being sold
and thrown away every year. This translates into approx. 100,000 tons of
solid battery waste going to the dump. Worldwide, the total amount of solid
waste from alkaline batteries would be approx. 10 times higher or 1,000,000 tons.
While the concept of portable power is a great convenience and everybody appreciates wireless devices, nobody much talks about the huge amount of waste that is generated along the way.
Hence, we have taken on the challenge of making alkaline batteries rechargeable to contribute a new power option to consumers that produces up to 90% less waste!!!.
Battery Types: Which Batteries to Use?
Unfortunately there is no single battery technology available on the market today that can be considered as "The Solution" for all classes of portable battery operated devices.
There are a variety of batteries in use, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. There are two main categories of batteries:
- (1) Primary Batteries, sometimes also called single-use, or "throw-away" batteries because they have to be discarded after they run empty as they cannot be recharged for reuse; and
- (2) Secondary Batteries, mostly called rechargeable batteries because they can be recharged for reuse.