Succeeding in the battery space is hard. One needs a technology that has some advantage over existing technologies; the advantage has to be large enough that one can compete with existing players, especially ones that are in Asia. The technology has to be manufacturable at a low cost so that one can compete without requiring a large cost premium. And one has to to maintain the advantage as competitors try to catch up.
But its not just about the technology. If you don't have a technology that satisfies a market demand, then its equally likely that the company will not succeed.
And in some markets your efforts may be stymied by the regulatory policies that may prevent the battery being developed from being used.
What this means is that to succeed, you need to have the right battery technology, the right manufacturing methods, go after the right markets, and use regulations to your advantage. Tall order for any one person to do by themselves!
So how does one learn about all of these things?
Say Hello to CalCharge: The consortium that Berkeley Lab and CalCEF have formed to accelerate innovation by forming a regional innovation cluster. Read about CalCharge here.
CalCharge has teamed up with San Jose State to start what we are calling "Battery University"- a professional educational program that will address the technology, market, and policy challenges. You can learn all about this and get the latest news about batteries in California at a kickoff event scheduled for next Tuesday Feb 12th at 6 PM at the Network Meeting Center in Santa Clara.
Former Senator Bingaman, who was the Chair of the Senate Energy and Resources Committee, will provide us his views on storage, the importance of regional innovation clusters, and the role the federal goverment can play. We also have a roster of great speakers from SJSU, Applied Ventures, and Proctor and Gamble.
More importantly, you may even have a chance to see me speak.
Learn all about it here.
It is the start of something great. Its a good way to learn about storage, and to network. We will even have a setup to watch the State of the Union at 6 PM before we launch into the program for the day.
So come join us to get charged up.
Venkat
