Big Battery Explosion - Batteries Everywhere: UPS Batteries - Laptop Battery - Battery Charger

• The battery business has been growing at a staggering rate in recent times. There is an incredible amount batteries being used today, like: notebook battery, cell phone battery, camcorder battery, the laptop battery, and ups batteries.
• Disposable batteries like the alkaline battery and the battery for hearing aids do not need to be recharged and are disposed when depleted.
• Batteries are hazardous waste and should not be thrown in the trash. If thrown in the trash, they would eventually eventually wind up in our land fills.
• Each year a staggering number of new consumer devices being created each year, with many of them needing special batteries (like the PDA battery that is needed for all of the new PDAs).
• There are rechargeable batteries like the nimh battery, the lithium battery, and the nicad batteries require some type of battery charger.
• Home, industrial and commercial locations that are protected with security systems are powered by an alarm system battery. This is done so that the security system will work, even in a blackout. In homes many, the power is often easily turned off from the outside circuit breaker. If the home were not powered by a battery, the security system would be easily disabled by an intruder.
• Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS), which provide power to computer systems in blackouts and brown outs, all must contain batteries ( APC battery ) which can be replaced. Larger computer installations, like data centers for large corporations, often have huge backup systems that store power in large batteries. In blackout times, the battery power is run through a power inverter which converts the DC electricity from the batteries into AC current, which is what the computers run off of. When power goes out, the emergency light battery will provide the power needed to light emergency exit routes.
• In boats and RV's, batteries are often kept in a battery box to protect the battery from the elements. A motorcycle battery is generally not kept in a battery box, like the harley davidson battery.
• A jump starter, which is used to start a car with a dead battery, contains sealed lead acid batteries.
• In remote locations, a solar battery charger can be used to charge a battery or battery system. The battery system could then be used to (through an inverter) to provide AC power to the location.

I saw that many of the distributors were too specific in their product focus. They were trying to focus on only one or a couple of products. So many customers with broader needs couldn't get them all filled at the same place. There was a need for a "one stop shop" where customer could have all their battery/power needs filled at the same place.

The battery industry has evolved quite a bit in the last 20 years. And at the time I saw the growth potential of the industry. I believed that a broader range of products could be carried in a single distributorship and that that would work out well for the customer. I could be an all around supplier of batteries and related products and not just the car battery supplier or a truck battery supplier.

There are rechargeable and disposable batteries. Most people are familiar with alkaline batteries, which are a popular type of disposable battery. They're an inexpensive form of energy. There are many types of rechargeable battery chemistries. The order of evolution of rechargeable battery chemistries is roughly as follows: first there’s nickel cadmium, then nickel metal hydride. In going from nickel cadmium to nickel metal hydride, you have roughly doubled the capacity of the battery without increasing the size or weight.

Nickel metal hydride is now a very common form of rechargeable battery. There’s more chemistries out there like polymer batteries. It’s still not widely used. It can be recharged fast and it’s very, very light (it has a high energy density ratio).

We also have conventional lead acid batteries and they come in many different forms such as batteries for your car, truck, or boat. Lead acid batteries can be broken down into free liquid batteries and sealed batteries. In the free liquid batteries, the battery has an open cell that expels gasses. They may need some maintenance from time to time like adding water or sometimes acid. Free acid batteries are an old technology that has been around for a hundred years or more.

Sealed lead acid batteries have become quite popular in the last 20 plus years. They are used in many applications. They are also known as valve regulated batteries. The electrolytes (acids) are immobilized in a gel form. The acid is mixed with silica or other material which turns into a paste material and a paste material goes into a cell. There is a pressure release valve that keeps the cell pressure from building too high and also allows the gases to recombine internally within the gel under pressure.

Another form is sealed lead acid batteries are absorbed glass mat often referred to as AGM. In AGM batteries the electrolyte is suspended in a sponge like fiber glass material.