Patent family applications for batteries suitable for stationary energy storage have doubled. From 2006 to 2011, the number of patents increased from 2,800 to 5,900, according to a study by Technical University Munich.
The lithium segment is most dynamic with a steep upward trend since 2008 and 4,900 patent family applications in 2011. Simon Müller, physicist and economist at TUM told BEST: “A lot of companies have high market expectations for lithium batteries that result in extensive research development.
“As soon as the techno-economic data are good enough, research and development activities will attract more investments, which will generate an even stronger lead”. The growing EV industry is also a factor that increases the patents, he added.
In second place in terms of the number of patent applications filed are lead batteries with only around 580 new patent families in 2011. The scientists noted, however, a recent marked increase, albeit to a low level, for redox flow batteries, in which the energy-storing chemical compounds are used in liquid form: From 2009 until 2011, the number of applications more than doubled from 90 to 200.
The number of new patent families for alkaline batteries dropped slightly to 240 and sodium-sulphur technologies played a consistently marginal roll with 20 applications.
Asian countries submitted almost four times as many patent applications as European battery developers. In 2011, 2,100 Asian applications were noted, 530 European and 410 US. “If you look at the EV industry, the big car makers Audi, Tesla and BMW have Asian battery suppliers.
The success drives research and development at the companies and patent applications already reflect that and will in the future,” said Müller. The top ten lithium battery developers consists of eight Japanese companies, Korea’s Fuji and Valence from the US.
The study researched the worldwide annual number of patent applications for energy storage systems between 1991 and 2011.
The report, ‘Monitoring innovation in electrochemical energy storage technologies: A patent-based approach’ can be downloaded here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261914006679
