Company attributes
Other attributes
Urban Electric Power (UEP) is a Pearl River, New York-based clean energy company spun-out of the CUNY Energy Institute, commercializing the advanced zinc anode rechargeable battery technology. The zinc manganese dioxide battery technology was originally developed by professor of chemical engineering, Sanjoy Banerjee, at the City University of New York before Urban Electric Power was given an exclusive license to bring the battery technology to market.
The zinc battery licensed by Urban Electric Power is similar in its core technology and chemistry to that found in alkaline primary batteries (such as common AAs or AAAs), but works to make the battery rechargeable at scale. These common alkaline batteries are unsuitable for recharging because a recharge cycle leads to irreversible degradation of the electroactive components that the chemistry Urban Electric Power has circumvented. The intention of the company is to develop a reliable, rechargeable battery using materials that are common in existing supply chains and with safe supply chains. As well, some of these materials can be recycled and reused in Urban Electric Power's batteries.
An example of UEP's battery system.
Zinc-manganese oxide batteries can be recharged thousands of times without the typical decrease in the length of the battery's lifetime. The materials used in the battery are already abundant in US- and Canada-based mining supplies. Urban Electric Power has achieved rechargeability of these batteries though using chemical dopants, such as copper ions, to stabilize the MnO2 cathodes in the batteries, which leads to recharging without degradation. The company has also structured and stabilized the Zn anodes with electrode and electrolyte additives that work to allow full utilization of the battery capacity while mitigating problems that degrade the Zn anode lifetime. These problems include dendrite formation, shape change, and passivation.
The company says the batteries can be produced for around $50 per kWh.
The ZEUS 1.0 is a zinc manganese dioxide energy storage system, a large scale energy storage system that is scalable to the specific requirements of differing sites. The system is capable of operating in grid-tied or micro-grid settings. ZEUS 1.0 offers a modular inverter capable of multiple configurations and integration with solar panel systems. The ZEUS 1.0 includes 1,260 battery modules and can be configured for two to ten hour charge to discharge cycles.
The company hopes to develop a battery that will be affordable enough to replace the lead-acid batteries often used in poorer areas and nations. Lead-acid batteries can lead to increased toxicity of groundwater supplies in areas without battery recycling regulations. Urban Electric power suggests their batteries are also useful for off-grid and grid-tied systems. Use cases for the battery concept include:
- Backup power
- Uninterruptible power supply
- Microgrids
- Demand management
Images from the Mumbai grid-tied solar system.
In October 2020, Urban Electric Power designed and installed a 120 kWh grid-tied solar system in Mumbai, India. The system, tied to 44 kW of solar panels, is intended to provide power to a factory and can be used for backup power and demand response. The system is housed in a shipping container and uses a 30 kW Ideal Power bi-directional inverter. The system has become a template for other Urban Electric Power projects.
UEP's battery backup system in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Installed in Norwalk, Connecticut, Urban Electric Power's 112 kWh battery backup system is in the commercial office of a computer consulting firm that delivers IT support and network management for businesses. The company's previous portable generator was too small to maintain their business operations and UEP's battery system provided an alternative to a larger, permanent generator.
Urban Electric Power has partnerships with Godrej & Boyce, the United States Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, the Empire State Development, and NYSERDA.
Image of the hand sanitizer manufactured by UEP.
In August 2020, Urban Electric Power made a partial pivot to manufacturing hand sanitizer. The company recognized it could help with the sanitizer shortage experienced in April 2020, and utilized a gelling agent it uses in the development of its environmentally-friendly battery pack to produce it. The company manufactured the hand sanitizer under the Ohm Products brand, and it was largely sold in Rockland County with no stated ambitions to expand the product on a national scale.
