Solarbox project – Experiences and opportunties on second life energy storage applications in developing countries

Energy Futures Lab hosts a seminar from Prodip Chatterjee of Solarbox to discuss the experiences and opportunties on second life energy storage applications in developing countries.

Abstract

The rise and uptake on electric vehicles (EV) is leading to emerging activities worldwide in research and industry on 2nd life battery applications for stationary storage systems.

However, the opportunities and challenges of non-EV Lithium-Ion batteries (e.g. from Consumer electronics devices like old Laptops and Smartphone batteries) is mostly untapped and not in the spotlight across research and on-the-ground applications.

On the end-user side, there has been little no analysis on the feasibility and functionality of these 2nd life batteries from consumer electronics cells for smaller and highly standardized energy storage systems (<2 kWh) for rural electrification in developing countries.

The Solarbox Project is an early stage open source initiative that wants to create low cost energy storage products with used consumer electronics batteries for rural electrification with an initial focus on India. It started in 2017 and has been working on a first prototype, battery tests and further in-depth technical, commercial and legal analysis on this topic.

The goal of this seminar is share the experiences so far, outline and discuss fundamental challenges and opportunities of this approach on a global level.

Biography

Prodip Chatterjee is one of the Co-Founders of the Solarbox Project since its inception in 2017, focusing Partnerships, Product Development, Strategy & commercials. He studied Business Administration in Germany and has 8 years of experience in the Telecommunications & High-tech Sector.

His main areas of work has been in Incubation Sales & Marketing as well as applied R&D Projects in Edge Computing, Robotics, Cloud Computing and Analytics. He was previously working for a large telecommunication incumbent in Germany as well as in a technology Consulting company.

Venue

The talk will be held in Room 611 of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (building 16 On the campus map). The room is known as the Gabor Suite.

If you are entering the building from Dalby Court/through the building’s main entrance take the lift to the sixth floor, turn right through the double doors and it is near the end on your left hand side.