Online Battery Retailer Partners With Leading Solar Panel Manufacturer To Promote Alternative Energy

Battery Web, a Florida-based supplier of batteries, battery chargers and accessories announces a new partnership with ICP Solar Technologies Inc. to help combat the growing global energy crisis by increasing the use of solar power for many consumer electronic devices.

Jacksonville, FL – January 20, 2009

As the global energy crisis worsens many industries are looking to solar technology to provide alternative sources of power that will prove cleaner, cheaper and more efficient than oil or gas. BatteryWeb.com and ICP Solar Technologies have announced a partnership that will combine the retail prowess of Battery Web with the innovative solar technologies of ICP to promote alternative energy as a next generation power source.

Throughout the world sustainable energy is fast becoming the top priority of every developed country since oil and natural gas supplies are finite and drilling has become more difficult and less productive. Conflicts due to energy shortages continue to plague Russia, Ukraine the European Union and every nation that depends on oil from the Middle East. Politics, war and a depressed global economy have severely hampered the delivery of gas and oil and now many nations and industries are investing in solar power research and development to harness the power of the sun and end the world’s dependence on crude oil.

Since 1988 ICP Solar Technologies has been leading the charge in finding new and better ways to produce sustainable energy for everything from consumer electronics and car batteries to solar panels and solar chargers. The search for renewable energy sources has become much more than a fad or trend. What used to be considered a fancy of environmentalists is now a paramount concern of every country and commercial industry hoping to transfer their dependence on oil and gas into more sustainable and renewable forms of solar power.

ICP will benefit from partnering with Batteryweb.com as their products and technology will now be available to the large number of unique visitors to the BatteryWeb.com site. BatteryWeb.com is one of the leading online retailers of batteries and battery technology and is also focusing their efforts on promoting better and more efficient forms of solar power. While large oil companies and natural gas providers have been slow to transition to solar research and development ICP and BatteryWeb.com are blazing a trail towards an energy renaissance.

ICP Solar has over 20 years experience in solar technology and continues to lead the way in the application of solar power to daily living. Through amorphous silicon (a-Si) and other technologies including polycrystalline and a rare hearth solar cell compound called copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) ICP is developing next generation panels and chargers that will rely on solar power rather than oil or gas to create renewable and sustainable forms of energy. ICP will capitalize on the popularity and credibility of the BatteryWeb.com web site as customers seek out alternatives for charging batteries, heating homes and powering portable electronic devices.

Battery Web offers a safe and secure web site featuring thousands of batteries and battery accessories. Battery Web stocks every top brand name, every volt and cc and has a knowledgeable staff on hand and ready to answer any questions you may have. Battery Web’s search engine optimization is provided by Keyword Performance in Wallingford, CT.

After two failed bids to acquire Sanyo Electric financial firm Goldman Sachs has finally accepted an offer from Panasonic to acquire Goldman’s stake in the company. Goldman will now join Sanyo’s other major shareholders, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, in relinquishing control of Sanyo and allowing Panasonic to create an electronics giant.

Panasonic announced their intentions to acquire Sanyo last month but had to revise offers made to Goldman in order to complete the deal. Daiwa and Sumitomo initially accepted the offer from Panasonic and are expected to go along with the final deal to be made official by both Panasonic and Sanyo on December 26th.

Goldman finally accepted an offer from Panasonic estimated to be 131 yen per share ($1.47) although that figure is still considered to be below Sanyo’s market price. The final offer price for the acquisition is expected to be near 560 billion yen, or $6.36 billion with a tender offer as early as February 2009. Panasonic is interested in acquiring anywhere from 50% to all of Sanyo’s shares.

The merger will create a consumer electronics giant that will be able to compete globally with other leading electronics and battery companies in China and South Korea. Panasonic, which manufactures everything from televisions to Blu-ray disc players, is interested in capitalizing on Sanyo’s industry leading “green” technology including solar panels and rechargeable batteries. The technology and patents owned by Sanyo will allow Panasonic to expand their reach into fields previosuly dominated by Sanyo and perhaps signal a shift in car manufacturing to include lithium-ion batteries and other renewable energy sources.

With global economies gripped by recession fears two leading Japanese electronics companies are seeking a merger to combat the decline in demand for consumer electronics. Panasonic and Sanyo, both based in Osaka, are in preliminary talks to have Sanyo join Panasonic as a subsidiary and will disclose the details of the proposed merger in December.

The merger would create a consumer electronics giant with combined annual sales of $111.5 billion. Panasonic, the world’s largest makers of plasma televisions, would benefit in several areas with the acquisition of Sanyo with rechargeable batteries and solar cell technology being of greatest importance.

Currently Sanyo is the world’s largest maker of rechargeable batteries that are primarily used to power cell phones and laptop computers. Sanyo also has advanced research and development in the increasingly popular field of solar cell technology. With many companies looking at reusable energy sources to deal with rising fuel costs and finite oil reserves Sanyo presents Panasonic with the opportunity to enter the solar market and compete with other consumer electronic manufacturers in South Korea and China.

Sanyo is the world’s 7th largest manufacturer of solar cells with a 4.4% global market share. With a larger capital investment from Panasonic analysts say Sanyo could become the leader in solar cell technology. Sanyo also maintains a 40% global market share of lithium-ion batteries and combined with Panasonic the two would control nearly half the world market.

Panasonic is also interested in Sanyo’s lithium-ion batteries for automobiles that could be used with Panasonic’s leading fuel cell technology in the pursuit of eco-friendly car engines. Car manufacturing is another industry in dire economic straits and the combined technology of Panasonic and Sanyo could be a key factor in winning the the race to produce clean, environmentally safe automobiles.

Both companies say the recent downturn in the consumer electronics industry as a result of a worsening global recession has forced each to consider new options for staying competitive.

Dave “Battman” attempts to help a customer solve a battery charging problem:

I received your battery yesterday from UPS and noted that the open circuit voltage was 11.2 volts. This is important becauseit tells me that this particular battery is probably “good” but just 100% electrically discharged.
 
A “good” fully charged battery has an open circuit voltage of about 12.65 to 12.70 volts depending on the manufacture’s design and the intended application.
 
If a known “good” battery has an open circuit voltage of 11.80 V or lower it is considered to be 100% discharged or like a car’s gas tank, completely empty. A voltage reading of about 10.0 volts would lead me to think the battery has one defective cell and is no  longer fit for service and needs to be replaced.
 
It is not easy to load test a battery that has less than 12.0 V to determine it serviceability so it is necessary to attempt to recharge it.  A complicating factor is that unless the battery has at least 11.8 volts the charger will not “see” a complete electrical circuit and will not start to charge the battery no matter the length of time it is hooked up to the battery.
 
Either the discharged battery has to be jumped with a battery that has a voltage of at least 12.4 volts or higher or a special charger must be used. Even then it might take quite a few minutes for the discharged battery to even start to accept a charge. Then of course it will take a number of hours for the battery to reach 12.6 volts and be considered fully charged.
 
Now at this point the now fully recharged battery can be tested but, as a further precaution it is best to let this battery return to a normal room temperature as a “hot” battery will test at a higher capacity and could appear good when in fact it is finished its service life.
 
So after recharging your battery yesterday afternoon I let it cool down overnight and upon coming to work this morning proceeded to test it. The results were exactly as I suspect when we first talked a few weeks ago and I tried to explain what I thought the problem really was.
 
I believe that your charger or the charger connections are not working properly. So when you finally receive the new batteryI believe that you are again going to have another “dead” battery situation. In this case, I suggest that you first replace your charger before attempt to charge the new battery.

Bottom line is, in an attempt to assuage a good customer and in order to provide the most sensitive customer service I did not assert my opinion when we first talked and had you check out the charger.

All in all I need your business and your good will to continue to be successful and hopefully we will hear from you again and quite possibly many of your friends and contacts.

Dave

A customer called up to express his joy at receiving his new wheel chair batteries. He was so happy with the performance that he felt he needed to call us to tell of his experience.

We have three grade levels of batteries for wheelchairs and this particular guy purchased our top of the line “Chairman” brand that is manufactured by Concorde Battery Co. They are nearly two times more expensive than the standard battery but he was so satisfied that it reminded me that quality is very, very important.

Dave Mead AKA “battman”

A very good customer of ours called me today to discuss buying a new battery for his 1100cc BMW motorcycle. Five years ago he bought a Panasonic battery from us for this same BMW motorcycle and it was still working but he was occasionally experiencing some difficulty starting the bike.

He wanted a battery with higher quick starting capacity so I offered the Odyssey PC680 motorcycle battery which fits his BMW and many other brands of motorcycles. I explained that because of the pure lead construction, less internal resistance and higher specific gravity acid the Odyssey would produce much higher Cold Cranking Amperege, CCA, for better starting capibility.

He lives in Canada and wanted to know if we could ship his battery north of the border. I told him that it would present no problem.

Cheers, Dave Mead AKA “battman”

We at Batteryweb strive to give the best customer service as possible. There is an old adage “You can’t please everybody” however we do give it a heck of a try. Below are a handful of the emails we receive from our customers letting us know how we’re doing.

John from OH writes: You have a great website, very easy to navigate through to get the right battery. Thank-you!

Don with us here in FL writes: thank you for a great website, very easy to navigate through to get the right battery.!

Bill from out west writes: Thanks for the info. You have restored my faith in ordering batteries online. I will look you up soon again.

Jay writes in: I never got back to you to thank you for the prompt replacement of my MC battery that was cracked in shipping. The response from Batteryweb was exceptional, and I appreciate it.

John tells us: I received my order in good condition, installed it and my shaver is up and running again, Thank you. The letter opener etc is a nice extra.

Wayne says: Received battery as ordered, sooner than expected.  WOW!  Keep up the good work.
 
Phil says: Thanks David.  I will let my classic motorcycle group know how it goes to send a little more business your way.

Holley Says: The battery arrived on Wednesday… gee whiz..I just ordered it on Monday.  Thank you so much for sending it so promptly and at such a reasonable price.  It is perfect.
 
Jan in CA writes in: I like your web site and I will be ordering other batteries from you in the future.

Frank says: You have a customer for life. I have another Harley and if I ever need anything form a battery source, either for my bikes or other types of batteries. I am ordering from you. Thank you so much for your great customer service.

Please don’t be afraid to let us know what you think, even if we’re not able to toot our horn about it. Besides we can’t fix something if we don’t know it’s broken.

Written by
  Ken

It looks like Volkswagen and Sanyo have joined forces to work on an efficient lithium-ion battery to go into the next generation of hybrids for Volkswagen.

As companies clamor over each other to perfect hybrids and eventually more all-electric vehicles the race is on to develop the best and brightest combination with balance between performance, safety, and cost.

Car companies are scrambling to create more efficient combustion engines and to develop technologies to capture some of the energy created while we drive then turn around and use the energy to extend mileage.

Aiming towards a 2010 date before we start seeing these products from Volkswagen, what other companies will be into the fray by then? Daimler, BMW and others have all mentioned doing similar projects while the Chevy Volt has been all over the news. I think the next year or two will see a virtual explosion of vehicles that are highly efficient hybrids or all-electric. What are your thoughts? Battery powered Bug anyone?

Written by
  Ken

Granted this is a question we hear mostly in the winter, it is however a question we get asked from time to time.

In a partially discharged state, the electrolyte in a lead acid battery may freeze. At a 40% state of charge, electrolyte will freeze if the temperature reaches approximately 16.0°F (8.9°C).

The freezing temperature of the electrolyte in a fully charged battery is -92.0°F (-68.9°C).

Don’t forget that a good percentage of the electrolyte in your lead-acid battery is water (approximately 75% in a fully charged lead-acid battery).

So those of you in colder climates give your batteries a blankie and keep them where it will not get quite as cold to prevent them from being frozen, just when they’re needed the most.

Written by
Ken

Now we all know that there is a time that the battery in your device will have gone through enough charge/discharge cycles that it decides to not play anymore and you need to replace it. There are ways you can tell that your battery just won’t last much longer. Such as when the device lasts for only a short time after a full charge, the cordless phone that only lasts 15 minutes into a conversation before sending you scrambling for the rarely used phone in the other room. Like when your laptop dies 30 minutes into a movie right after a good plot twist.

We had a call the other day for a camcorder battery, the device had all the earmarks of having a dead battery; it wouldn’t turn on, the charger “seemed” to be charging the battery, and it was an older battery having served faithfully for several years. As I searched for the battery for the camcorder (which the battery apparently is no longer made anymore) I learned something interesting had happened to the camcorder.

One thing about electronics that anyone who has dropped their cellphone in the toilet or other water can attest to, is the fact that electronics and water do not usually mix well. This person’s camcorder apparently got hot in the heat of the day and decided to go swimming in the lake.

Having served the family so long, the owner could not bear the loss and jumped in to rescue the electronic servant. After letting the camcorder dry out and carefully wiping it down with a towel it was turned on. Realizing that nothing was happening the owner assumed the battery had finally given its last hoorah and needed replacement. However unless you own a device that is either water-resistant or waterproof such as an underwater camera the chances are pretty good that the device committed suicide when it took that plunge into the briny deep.

Written by
  Ken