The HPB Solid-State Battery -
our contribution to the energy transition

We develop solid-state batteries that truly deserve the title “sustainable”: extremely durable and with a unique combination of features. Non-flammable, fast-charging and with up to 50 % better environmental balance than conventional lithium-ion batteries. And all this at competitive manufacturing costs.

Battery ageing is the linchpin of battery sustainability. After a few thousand charging cycles at the latest, a conventional battery has to be replaced by a new one, the production of which in turn consumes energy and resources.
Battery ageing is not only the root cause of short life, but also of the oversizing of conventional batteries, which are thus - at least partially - made fast-charging capable.

The accidental discovery of a new basic technology
Our actual research goal was to solve the ageing of batteries at the chemical root. With the solution, we then “accidentally” stumbled across the discovery of the HPB Solid-State Electrolyte. Our penicillin moment.
 
This globally unique electrolyte has extreme longevity and other outstanding properties due to its inorganic chemistry. To date, over 12,500 full charge cycles have been completed with hourly charging and discharging, from 0 to 100 % state of charge. The HPB Solid-State Battery is therefore approx. 10 times longer lasting than conventional batteries under comparable conditions. The embedding of the HPB Solid-State Electrolyte in a fully-fledged cell system ultimately led to the invention of the HPB Solid-State Battery.

_{Image: Cycle measurements of HPB test cells with hourly charging and discharging
from 0-100% state of charge, carried out at room temperature}

The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, from a centralized to a decentralized energy supply, from combustion engines to electric motors is one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Battery storage is seen as a key element for the success of the energy transition. At the same time, it must be borne in mind that batteries also consume energy and raw materials - to a very considerable extent with today's technology.

The foreseeable demand for lithium-ion batteries is gigantic and carries the risk of replacing one sustainability problem with another. Because every new battery also means lithium mining, CO₂ emissions and, at some point, hazardous waste.
So the question is which technology we want to scale up.

The key is longevity combined with better properties

We at HPB are proud to be able to offer a solution with our HPB battery technology that is safer, longer lasting and greener than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

The life cycle assessment method is an important basis for comprehensive and transparent sustainability assessments. It analyzes all material and energy flows associated with the manufacture, use and disposal of a product - across its entire life cycle. This also makes raw material requirements and environmental impacts that are easily overlooked at first glance transparent and quantifiable. 

 
Up to 50 % better environmental balance

Independent life cycle assessments show that the HPB solid-state battery produces up to 50% less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Committed to responsibility

As a company, we also use our influence on environmentally friendly production by obliging our licensees to carry out a life cycle assessment at cell level.

Battery ageing also has an important economic consequence. A favorable storage price in euros per kWh of capacity can be misleading: The decisive factor is the price of the battery storage system as a whole, which is required for a specific use.
If you compare a conventional battery with a technologically advanced, genuinely fast-charging storage system, the former must be significantly larger than the latter for the same ease of use.

Already competitive at the time of purchase

A conventional battery may appear cheaper in terms of kWh - but in terms of the actual storage size required, the HPB Solid-State Battery is already competitive in terms of acquisition costs due to the lower quantity of kWh required. Added to this is the economic advantage that the longevity of the battery storage system brings in itself.

We are constantly developing our HPB Solid-State Battery so that it lasts as long as possible. When it comes to recycling, it scores highly thanks to the easy separability of the value-bearing components stainless steel (housing) and nickel (arrester) as well as the active masses.

External evaluation of the sustainability of recycling
HPB cooperates with cylib, a start-up company for holistic and innovative battery recycling. 

To create a sustainable circular economy, cylib's proprietary deep-tech and end-to-end recycling technology offers efficient resource- and climate-friendly recovery of all battery raw materials, including lithium, graphite and nickel from battery packs or production waste. As a result, recycled materials should have a smaller ecological footprint than new raw materials. The cylib process enhances this advantage through a patent-pending CO₂-efficient technology.
With the cylib process, HPB aims to improve the easy recyclability of the HPB Solid-State Battery through innovative and climate-friendly recycling processes through to the pyro- and hydrometallurgical extraction of raw materials. This enables an even more sustainable conversion of waste from old batteries or production scrap into marketable products. As the entire process is in one hand, it is also possible to process production waste and black mass.